Caution about Baby Swap

[shelby_36]

When we went we asked the CM about it and he didn't have a clue what we were talking about. I wouldn't depend on it at all. there was no CM at the beginning of the ride so the first time we saw one we asked and then he called ahead and asked someone else and they apparently didn't know what we were talking about either. thankfully the line wasn't TOO awfully long so when Hubby had to leave line he wasn't too perturbed. just a warning..don't depend on Babyswap.

 

[mjmcca]

I have never ever had a problem with baby swap on any ride at WDW.

 

[SueM in MN]

The official name of it isn't Baby Swap (even though that's what most people call it). I think officially it's called something like Switching Off, so it's possible you got a clueless CM who had not been asked about it before under that name.
Also, it's not available on all attractions. I believe it's only available on rides that have a height requirement, but I'm not sure. On the park maps I have, it's called Parent/Guardian Switch; it doesn't indicate on the map which rides it's available for and just says to ask the CM at the attraction.

 

[shelby_36]

I explained what I meant in addition to calling it babySwap..He looked at me like I was crazy or something.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I'm curious -- What ride was it?

 

[mjmcca]

I'm curious -- What ride was it?

Me too??

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I've never had a problem on ANY ride and we've used it on several trips on almost every ride except maybe the baby rides in which our youngest could always ride! (baby rides not to be offensive- I say baby rides as in those that don't require a height minimum)

They call it parent swap though- atleast that's what I've seen at the ones that give you a fast pass looking ticket -it says parent swap on it. Maybe that's why they didn't understand you? But really I think they should have "got" what you meant anyway.

 

[beattyfamily]

I LOVE baby swap and use it all the time with no problems at all. Maybe you just got a CM who didn't work the rides and just never heard of it. That's weird though if that is the case.

I do know that for some rides, if your child is tall enough, they will make you all go in the line and do the swap at the ride itself. They made us do this at ToT and Splash Mountain because our 4 year old was tall enough to ride it. So we got no baby swap special Fastpass for those 2 rides. Every ride handles baby swap differently too. Always ask the CM at the entrance to Fastpass or the ride itself to see how they handle it.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I do know that for some rides, if your child is tall enough, they will make you all go in the line and do the swap at the ride itself. They made us do this at ToT and Splash Mountain because our 4 year old was tall enough to ride it. So we got no baby swap special Fastpass for those 2 rides.

Oh wow- I didn't know they'd do that. Even if the child is tall enough, if they aren't going to ride it why make them wait in line? One person(s) still has to wait in line- you just get to swap with them (leaving the child(s) that isn't riding to not ride the 2nd time either) to ride afte they've gone through the line. To make a child stand in a line for however long that isn't going to ride it... that seems silly to me. ToT is one we've done the parent swap at many times and they never made us go through the line. That is one I'd be UPSET about if they made us do that- the pre-show is just as scary (if not scarier) than the ride itself! My youngest wouldn't want to stand in that line for us to do the parent swap later on!

 

[shelby_36]

It was the Haunted mansion. I don't think they have a height requirement for that one but I still don't understand why they don't offer it.... i mean there were people FORCING their kids to go through that attraction and threatening to spank them when they got outside if they didn't hush up. the CM I asked was the first one right before you go inside..at the turnstile, I think. and he called ahead to the lady at the door and neither had a clue. I didn't try it on any other ride because I figured i must have been doing tit worng and I didn't want hubby and daughter to have to stand in line for nothing again.

 

[kelmac284]

I was always told it was for a ride that they were either too short OR if it was too scary. Like Haunted mansion or something. I have also never had a problem. I can't remember if we did it at DW but I am sure we must have cuz my kids were 1 and 2 when we went last time but we do it at disneyland ALL the time and have NEVER had a problem. They never even have seen my other daughter. I just go up and ask for a pass and they give it to me. I guess they figure the average person doesn't know about it unless they actually have to do it. Once in awhile I have had them ask to see the child but of course we always have one.

I know my little one should be tall enough finally to go on most things but she might be too scared to go on splash or TOT so we should still be able to use it for that.

I am curious too which ride it was that said no. I have never tried it for things like peter pan or snow white which are just scary but have no height requirement cuz my kids are very rarely afraid.

Anyway that is strange but I think it general it is not a problem.

 

[lovethattink]

It was the Haunted mansion. I don't think they have a height requirement for that one but I still don't understand why they don't offer it.... i mean there were people FORCING their kids to go through that attraction and threatening to spank them when they got outside if they didn't hush up. the CM I asked was the first one right before you go inside..at the turnstile, I think. and he called ahead to the lady at the door and neither had a clue. I didn't try it on any other ride because I figured i must have been doing tit worng and I didn't want hubby and daughter to have to stand in line for nothing again.

They also don't have a baby switch at Kilamanjaro Safari either.

 

[julia & nicks mom]

I LOVE baby swap and use it all the time with no problems at all. Maybe you just got a CM who didn't work the rides and just never heard of it. That's weird though if that is the case.

I do know that for some rides, if your child is tall enough, they will make you all go in the line and do the swap at the ride itself. They made us do this at ToT and Splash Mountain because our 4 year old was tall enough to ride it. So we got no baby swap special Fastpass for those 2 rides. Every ride handles baby swap differently too. Always ask the CM at the entrance to Fastpass or the ride itself to see how they handle it.

I have walked up before to get the child swap pass while my little girl and husband went into Beauty and the Beast at the ToT - they gave it to me and when I got out I gave the pass to my DH - maybe if your child is too tall you could do it this way and avoid waiting in line -

although I always go in off season where the line is never more than 15 minutes so they trust that you are truly using the child swap honestly - I guess in the summer if you don't have to produce a kid when you ask for the child swap there might be abuse of the system!

 

[beattyfamily]

I have walked up before to get the child swap pass while my little girl and husband went into Beauty and the Beast at the ToT - they gave it to me and when I got out I gave the pass to my DH - maybe if your child is too tall you could do it this way and avoid waiting in line -

although I always go in off season where the line is never more than 15 minutes so they trust that you are truly using the child swap honestly - I guess in the summer if you don't have to produce a kid when you ask for the child swap there might be abuse of the system!

Yes, that's true. Sometimes, depending on the CM, you do not have to produce a kid. I should have said that in my previous post, but as a warning, dpending on the CM, sometimes not only must you produce the child, they will measure them too, and they said that since she was tall enough she would have to go in line with us, which happened to us a few times at ToT and Splash.

I can see why they'd need to see the child, as with everything else, there are people who abuse the system.

 

[AydensMom]

I used baby swap quite successfully in December...If there was a ride with no restrictions like Buzz and we didn't want to take our 4 month old DS on, a cast member would give us a fast pass with baby swap hand written on it instead. We had no problems friends who were travelling with us got to ride twice.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I have never done the swap at the Safari- because even a baby can ride that in your lap/etc. (and we've done that LOL)
But I have done it at Haunted Mansion many times, including on our recent June trip- and they've never gave us any problems with it. Parent swap from what I have gathered is not just about being too little to ride it- like someone else said if the child is too scared, physically unable, etc. you can get a parent swap. In fact they have never asked our "reason" for a parent swap nor have they ever asked us to show the child and check their height/etc. It is just if you have a child that is NOT going to ride, you can do the parent swap in order to avoid standing in line twice in order for the rest of your party to enjoy the ride.

Maybe you got someone that was just covering for someone else & was just generally clueless (because it's hard for me to imagine anyone that has ANYTHING to do with ANY ride at WDW to not know baby swap means parent swap and know what that means!). I will say I noticed they were swapping out QUITE often on Haunted Mansion on the person that stands at the line taking fast passes, etc. I was standing there maybe 20 min for my oldest two to come off the ride and I saw them switch out 4 TIMES in that small time frame.... sometimes to CM's that did not have Haunted Mansion outfits on.

 

[cranbiz]

Haunted Mansion does not have fast pass any more. Therefore, no baby swap.

In fact, I don't think that HM ever had baby swap.

 

[judykay53]

Last June we did this on several rides as we had an almost three year old and a six year old tht could not ride everything . We found this to be very inconsistent. Star Tours went very smoothly - the second parent stood outside the entrance to the simulator and when the ride was over the first parent just went back and picked up the child. The others were not so smooth. When we went on Mission Space the CM's (they seemed to not know what we were talking about) kept sending the whole party through and when we got to the simulator and said we are not all riding they sent us through the simulator to the exit and was informed over there that there was a play area down the hall. Sometimes the second parent had to just go through the line as if we had no swap. We always had fast passes on those rides. Its was hit or miss and each one was different. Even with the confusion was still a great idea.

 

[SueM in MN]

It was the Haunted mansion. I don't think they have a height requirement for that one but I still don't understand why they don't offer it.... i mean there were people FORCING their kids to go through that attraction and threatening to spank them when they got outside if they didn't hush up. the CM I asked was the first one right before you go inside..at the turnstile, I think. and he called ahead to the lady at the door and neither had a clue. I didn't try it on any other ride because I figured i must have been doing tit worng and I didn't want hubby and daughter to have to stand in line for nothing again.

If Fastpass is being used, you should be able to find a CM to ask at the Fastpass entrance.
At the turnstile point (as far as I know) there isn't a place to let you out, so that might have been the problem. There is a spot just before you get to the turnstiles where there is a chain with a wheelchair symbol on it. That leads to the exit area where people with wheelchairs/ecvs board. I think that is probably also the baby swap location. People with wheelchairs have to skip the stretching room part, but for people who can walk and stand to go thru the rest of the line, there is a back entrance to the stretching room there.
We've sometimes had to wait at the chained area for 10 minutes or so, but someone does come eventually.

Another option (if it's a Fastpass ride, Fastpast is active and you only have 3 people riding) would be to have both parents get a fastpass. Then, one goes right away at the FP return time and the other waits until the first person comes out to use theirs.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Haunted Mansion does not have fast pass any more. Therefore, no baby swap.

In fact, I don't think that HM ever had baby swap.

I can't say about it not having fast pass anymore (we didn't get a fast pass- did they close that part down? I didn't pay attention if the FP machines were gone but why would they get rid of fast pass on that ride?) but it definitely has the parent swap... we just did it in June!