Child ride swap with a kid who could technically ride

[cakebaker]

You can still do the child swap with a child that is just too scared (but tall enough), they just handle it differently. When I was there this summer, everyone wanted to ride TOT except for my 4 year old, who said she was too scared. We went up and asked, but the CM wanted to measure....I really had forgotten that she was over 40"! What they did was make her wait through the line with us and then when we got to the boarding area, we told them we needed to do a rider swap because she wouldn't be riding. Therefore, they still are "following their rules" by allowing a rider swap for children that are too scared, but aren't clogging up the FP line with all of the extra people entering through. They still told me I was allowed to bring 2 back through to ride with me, so I didn't have to ride alone either.

As for single rider lines, they are only available at a handful of rides, and then they aren't necessarily guaranteed to be available at all times (I've seen the EE one closed when the SB line is short). I know they have single rider at EE, Test Track and RNR but can't think of any other rides at the moment that have a single rider line.

People should be away that sleeping babies can be an issue at Soarin'. They don't allow strollers inside and if the baby is asleep, you will either have to skip the baby swap or wake him up. It's something I keep meaning to complain to Disney about- we skipped it both times this year because we didn't want to wake him up just to get a swap pass. It should not be that way. Easy enough to load the CM at the entrance with passes.

 

[Fata turchina]

If you have a child who is tall enough to ride, but doesn't want to, it will usually be a lot faster to do the internal rider switch. You would be able to stay together in line and see the preshow of the ride and the start of the ride itself. Sometimes seeing the ride can make an unsure rider make up their mind better. Once you get to the area where the CM asks how many in your party (when you can see the ride itself), you can say "we have one riding and then so-and-so doesn't want to go, can we do the internal rider switch please." The child and adult waiting out first can then go through a hallway and wait in the gift shop until the first rider is done. Then the adult who waited in the gift shop will return the same way they first exited.

The single rider line at Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is a fickle creature. It is physically as long the fastpass queue (in distance), but you cannot see inside to guess how long the wait will be. It is a gamble since it all depends on how many even and odd numbered parties are in the other queues. My rule of thumb for singles is to see if the line is backed up far outside, because that means it is probably backed up inside. Ask other guests as well that might be entering because a lot of times we will just keep going through singles if the line is short inside (I'll ride 4 or 5 times if it isn't backed up). Because you're not going to be riding together anyway, your whole party could go in the single rider queue and do the internal switch from there in theory, which would be faster than having one person in the single rider queue and then using the rider switch as the fastpass the second time. Just keep in mind, if your son changes his mind and decides to ride in the single rider line, they won't let you ride together.

I hope this helps!

 

[sunshinehighway]

People should be away that sleeping babies can be an issue at Soarin'. They don't allow strollers inside and if the baby is asleep, you will either have to skip the baby swap or wake him up. It's something I keep meaning to complain to Disney about- we skipped it both times this year because we didn't want to wake him up just to get a swap pass. It should not be that way. Easy enough to load the CM at the entrance with passes.

Both times I did child swap on Soaring, we went to the desk to the left of the ride entrance and got the passes.

 

[cakebaker]

Both times I did child swap on Soaring, we went to the desk to the left of the ride entrance and got the passes.

Good to know, thanks! The cm out front both times told us it was either wake him up or no swap. In a nicer way of course.

We will definitely give that a shot next time- I assumed it was just how they always did it since it happened twice and both times we let them know we weren't happy about it.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Both times I did child swap on Soaring, we went to the desk to the left of the ride entrance and got the passes.

I believe the point the PP was trying to make is that the ride entrance is inside the pavilion. You can't take strollers inside the pavilion. So if a family has a child sleeping in the stroller, they can't bring the child to show the CM to receive a rider swap pass without picking the child up out of the stroller (and likely waking them in the process).

 

[cakebaker]

I believe the point the PP was trying to make is that the ride entrance is inside the pavilion. You can't take strollers inside the pavilion. So if a family has a child sleeping in the stroller, they can't bring the child to show the CM to receive a rider swap pass without picking the child up out of the stroller (and likely waking them in the process).

So in what she was talking about, I'd still have to bring the stroller in? Yeah, not going to do that. No swap for any ride is worth waking this child up. He gets picked up, he's awake. I wish they had fp+ for naps!

 

[Angel Ariel]

So in what she was talking about, I'd still have to bring the stroller in? Yeah, not going to do that. No swap for any ride is worth waking this child up. He gets picked up, he's awake. I wish they had fp+ for naps!

To my knowledge, there is no way to get a rider swap without entering The Land pavilion. Strollers are not allowed in the land (or any of the FW pavilions, I believe) - you have to park them in stroller parking. So unless they have added a place outside the entrance of THe Land, which they did not as of October 2013, there's no way to get a RS when the eligible child is sleeping in a stroller unless you pick the child up. I'll be happy to check out the situation when we are there next week, but that would be a major change and I'd think we would have heard more about it.

 

[mesaboy2]

To my knowledge, there is no way to get a rider swap without entering The Land pavilion. Strollers are not allowed in the land (or any of the FW pavilions, I believe) - you have to park them in stroller parking. So unless they have added a place outside the entrance of THe Land, which they did not as of October 2013, there's no way to get a RS when the eligible child is sleeping in a stroller unless you pick the child up. I'll be happy to check out the situation when we are there next week, but that would be a major change and I'd think we would have heard more about it.

Yep.

And the assumption earlier that the child-swap info on the website is the last word is, unfortunately, misguided.

 

[cakebaker]

Yep.

And the assumption earlier that the child-swap info on the website is the last word is, unfortunately, misguided.

I'm not sure what to tell you- it says it on the website, they confirmed it in chat and most importantly, it works when I'm there.

 

[cakebaker]

To my knowledge, there is no way to get a rider swap without entering The Land pavilion. Strollers are not allowed in the land (or any of the FW pavilions, I believe) - you have to park them in stroller parking. So unless they have added a place outside the entrance of THe Land, which they did not as of October 2013, there's no way to get a RS when the eligible child is sleeping in a stroller unless you pick the child up. I'll be happy to check out the situation when we are there next week, but that would be a major change and I'd think we would have heard more about it.

This was certainly the case as of late September and has been ever since we've had a baby to get a swap with. I don't like it much, but just the way it is.

 

[Bektasmic]

Yikes! I keep reading on different threads and forums about saving a FP+ if you are planning a rider switch. DD will definitely not want to ride ToT but is tall enough. Seems the advice here would be I might need 4 FP+ if my DH and I both want to make sure we get to ride with our older DS? (Or take our chances in standby). Do I understand that correctly? (Just speaking theoretically-I think that's a first tier so I know we would either have to use Dd's FP or book as our 4th if it's avail)

Any experience on if the CM's seem to be stricter on rider switch on certain rides or in certain parks?

 

[mesaboy2]

Yikes! I keep reading on different threads and forums about saving a FP+ if you are planning a rider switch. DD will definitely not want to ride ToT but is tall enough. Seems the advice here would be I might need 4 FP+ if my DH and I both want to make sure we get to ride with our older DS? (Or take our chances in standby). Do I understand that correctly? (Just speaking theoretically-I think that's a first tier so I know we would either have to use Dd's FP or book as our 4th if it's avail)

Any experience on if the CM's seem to be stricter on rider switch on certain rides or in certain parks?

There is no discernible pattern.

I will reiterate--CMs do not give dodgy info on a website preference over their own training, which appears inconsistent at best.

 

[cakebaker]

There is no discernible pattern.

I will reiterate--CMs do not give dodgy info on a website preference over their own training, which appears inconsistent at best.

What specifically is dodgy about it? And on A website??? It's the official WDW website- not joe blows tricks of the day..it's clear and consistent.

What I definitely would NOT do is say- hey, I read on the dis....

Poster is free to do what he/she wants. If it were me, and I couldn't make up mind and the clear verbiage on the website didn't reassure me nor did a chat where I have written proof- I'd call and confirm. Then you have it 3 ways.

CM's at ride entrances don't make policy, they follow it. Policy says you can do it. People are free to do whatever they think is best.

 

[momto3boysillbe]

Last fall my then 6 year old chickened out of TOT while we were in line. The CMs offered me a rider swap without my asking even though he was tall enough. I didn't end up taking them up on it because I wasn't in the mood to ride it after that but just an FYI of my experience.

 

[mesaboy2]

Last fall my then 6 year old chickened out of TOT while we were in line. The CMs offered me a rider swap without my asking even though he was tall enough. I didn't end up taking them up on it because I wasn't in the mood to ride it after that but just an FYI of my experience.

I don't doubt this happens, and I'm glad it would have worked for you if you exercised the option.

My caution to all readers is that they should not expect that quoting "policy" off the website or anonymous phone CMs will get them anywhere. Attraction CMs are trained to act a certain way and that training likely doesn't include learning the supposed policy off the public-facing site. As mentioned by a PP, this particular piece of website info has been questionable for quite a while now. Of course, everyone can choose to listen to my advice or not.

 

[jake1year]

I do understand that not all the cm's follow their policy. As I read it on their own site it is their policy though. So what would you guys recommend if we come across a cm not willing to give us a rider swap? Ask for supervisor, go to guest service? I would assume they will eventually make it right. It does say it on their site!

 

[MermaidMommy]

What specifically is dodgy about it? And on A website??? It's the official WDW website- not joe blows tricks of the day..it's clear and consistent. What I definitely would NOT do is say- hey, I read on the dis.... Poster is free to do what he/she wants. If it were me, and I couldn't make up mind and the clear verbiage on the website didn't reassure me nor did a chat where I have written proof- I'd call and confirm. Then you have it 3 ways. CM's at ride entrances don't make policy, they follow it. Policy says you can do it. People are free to do whatever they think is best.

Except, isn't "policy" as stated on the WDW website that only 2 people are allowed per rider swap? But in actuality, it's for three people. So, clearly Disney ignores their own policy in that regard, and the CM's allow three people based on their training. Why wouldn't the same be true on the flip side? If the CM's are trained that rider swap is only for riders who don't meet the height requirement, then they aren't going to care about what the website says. Really, the website isn't consistent at all.

Of course, I doubt than anybody is going to whip out a copy of the website's verbiage to protest when they're allowed to ride with more people than "official policy" permits, though.

 

[cakebaker]

I don't doubt this happens, and I'm glad it worked for you.

My caution to all readers is that they should not expect that quoting "policy" off the website or anonymous phone CMs will get them anywhere.

I don't believe I said arguing policy with a CM will get you anywhere.

I highly suggest not arguing with cm's at the entrance. It clogs up the entrance.
If I had an issue with a CM, I'd tell them ever so nicely that I'm going to go to guest services and discuss it there, and then I would.

 

[mesaboy2]

I do understand that not all the cm's follow their policy. As I read it on their own site it is their policy though. So what would you guys recommend if we come across a cm not willing to give us a rider swap? Ask for supervisor, go to guest service? I would assume they will eventually make it right. It does say it on their site!

I know in this day and age websites have a lot of cred. Disney's is generally good, but there are holes in it--and this is one of them. If you have an issue and it is important enough to you, I recommend going to Guest Relations to resolve it. I would not debate supposed policy with the CM that is most likely trying to do their best to both follow the policy they were trained with and to make guests happy.

The assumption that most here are making is that what the site says agrees with what they are trained to do. I agree they should, I just don't agree that they necessarily do.

 

[cakebaker]

I do understand that not all the cm's follow their policy. As I read it on their own site it is their policy though. So what would you guys recommend if we come across a cm not willing to give us a rider swap? Ask for supervisor, go to guest service? I would assume they will eventually make it right. It does say it on their site!

That's exactly what I suggest you do and it's what I would do as well. If a CM tells you something you think is wrong- arguing with them will do no good most likely. They think they're right- and honestly, I don't want them just giving me what I want because I'm being a pain. Go to guest services or ask for a supervisor. I prefer guest services because I think it causes less of an issue. I don't want to be standing in the park discussing a problem.

When you read a policy on their website, then you get confirmation thru chat- that is easily tracked by Disney- not anonymous at all- then one would reasonably expect that they've gone above and beyond what is necessary in order to know the correct procedure.

Yes, I expect they would make it right.