Child Swap Logistics...

[pixiedustaholic]

My family which consists of myself, DH, DD19 and DS15 is traveling with family friends which consist of 2 adults, child age 8 and an 11 month old. Will it be a problem to wait in line together and then my family ride, get off, have them hand off their infant to us so the 3 of them can ride together or vice versa with them riding first? I remember using child swap when my children were little but it was just the 4 of us and not a group. I didn't know if it would just be easier to wait outside the attraction and swap off ourselves. I don't want to waste time unnecessarily but also don't want it to be a big mess either.

For what it's worth, we will not be spending our entire vacation touring together since our children have such a wide age gap. We are going to spend some time touring with them though.

Thanks for any info. or tips you can offer up.

 

[TellTheHubbyLater]

The small child cannot enter the queue. Is that what you are asking?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

It has been a few years since last we used it, but we did it with a big group. Sometimes, we had one person stay with the child, while everyone else rode, then the baby sitter went with two re-riders. Sometimes the rest of the group did a minor ride in the meantime. WE always paired Soarin' with Living with the Land and snacking. We paired Space Mt with the TTA. Other times, someone was willing to skip a ride for the sake of the group.

It is up to you, and the comfort of your group, but the only thing that kind of didn't work well was if one parent got stuck with ALL the baby sitting. That isn't much fun. At 11 months, this child may very well be nursing! Mom might enjoy some quiet time to nurse, but she would probably ALSO enjoy a break, or some company.

In our case, we usually had a few kids in the kind-of-young range, so they also didn't mind waiting off a few rides. for example, over by Splash there's a little playground, and sometimes characters (or was). Often the kids would choose to stay together.

Other times, child swap time = nap time- if the child will nap in a stroller. Other times, we made other practical use of babyswap time like using restrooms, diaper changing, snacking, gift shopping, taking the toddler to see a small show. Like sometimes the parks have street performers, or the afternoon parade.

The other no-no was to do thrill ride after thrill ride. We did a few early (old FP), then made sure we all rode something together.

Truly, at WDW, there are many options for the 11 month old.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

The small child cannot enter the queue. Is that what you are asking?

Star Tours was an exception. At least in the past. otherwise this poster is correct. Cell phones make post-ride meet ups easier.

Also, Universal uses child swap waiting rooms, so small kids also enter part of the queue there as well. (I know not asked, but worth mentioning.)

 

[mickeyluv'r]

New FP+ makes some options more challenging. Under old FP, it was easy to time thrill rides during nap time.

I think - one plus of swap passes is that they are good all day (or were). In your case, you could let mom and dad go on the thrill rides, then let most of your group ride later that day (after they depart) via the swap pass.

Another idea is just to avoid (most) thrill rides while with them.

Everyone In your group is old enough to take a turn baby sitting.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

The small child cannot enter the queue. Is that what you are asking?

Okay, I did not know this. When my children were small, they waited in the queue all the way up until it was our turn to ride, one parent stayed with the child and the other rode. When the ride was over, we just switched off. Apparently things have changed and I need to do more research. Thanks!

 

[TravelingTotMom]

There are several ways you can split up the group, but if you use child swap, the important thing to remember is that the rider waiting can go on the ride with up to an additional two people (so three people total on the pass).

So it would not work using child swap if their whole family went, but your family waited with the infant (since there are 4 of you).

You could get child swap and have one adult wait with the infant, and then that adult can ride with up to two additional people.

However, the best way to deal with this - if you want to keep each family together - would be to make FastPasses for the height restriction rides you want to go on. Arrive at the beginning of the FastPass window and let one family ride with FastPasses while the other waited with the infant. Then let the other family ride using their FastPasses when they are done. This isn't using child swap with a pass, but it also isn't breaking up the families.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Because Child/Rider Swap is very advantageous when splitting up FPs (3 ride on the Swap without needing FPs), I'll move this to the FP board to get more strategy replies.

 

[nco91590]

The way we did RS on our last trip with the kids was my husband got FP's for the thrill rides while my daughter and I had FP's for all the princess M&G's and more "kiddie" rides. I tried to arrange it so that our FP's were around the same time. Make sure that you go up to the CM at the ride's entrance and request the RS ticket. Your family should be close by as I was instructed to point them out to the person giving out the tickets.

Hubby went on the big rides while I took my daughter to the M&G's. Later on in the trip, I would ride the bigger rides solo. You have up to 30 days to use the RS return ticket and you can bring (I think) up to 3 additional people. So only ONE of you really needs to stay back. The others can ride with you later.

I did get some push back on Toy Story Mania using RS because technically there isn't a height limit. But I was not comfortable with all the herky jerky motion with my 15 month old.

 

[nikkij]

So I read on easy WDW that you can essentially double book fast passes using rider swap...Is this accurate??

It's just DH and DS ( who will be 1) and while this trip is to celebrate my DS birthday, my hubby and I still want to hit some of the thrill rides.

So make fast passes for just one adult for the rides with rider swap and then we just swap and take turns baby sitting?? What about mine train?? It's not listed on the Disney website but I've read other things that says it's available.

And one more question...do you need rider swap if the ride has single rider? I'm thinking it might be pointless for rides with single rider...

This will be our 4th visit, but first with an infant and using RS.

 

[Day-Day]

The way we did RS on our last trip with the kids was my husband got FP's for the thrill rides while my daughter and I had FP's for all the princess M&G's and more "kiddie" rides. I tried to arrange it so that our FP's were around the same time. Make sure that you go up to the CM at the ride's entrance and request the RS ticket. Your family should be close by as I was instructed to point them out to the person giving out the tickets.

Hubby went on the big rides while I took my daughter to the M&G's. Later on in the trip, I would ride the bigger rides solo. You have up to 30 days to use the RS return ticket and you can bring (I think) up to 3 additional people. So only ONE of you really needs to stay back. The others can ride with you later.

I did get some push back on Toy Story Mania using RS because technically there isn't a height limit. But I was not comfortable with all the herky jerky motion with my 15 month old.

We used child swap end of May and beginning of June. The return ticket was good for a total of 3 riders, so 2 additional people. Also, the ticket was good until the end of the month so the number of days depended on how many days remained in that particular month.

In all of our uses of child swap with fastpasses, the person waiting with the child did not have to use their FP. The person who rode first would use the FP and carry the lanyard and tag in line and give it to the CM before boarding to receive the rider swap pass. This may not always be the case (i.e. maybe both people would have to use the FP in order to get rider swap) but always worked for us. We were confident enough to have one adult get a FP for one ride while the other adult got a FP for a different ride.

 

[hiroMYhero]

So I read on easy WDW that you can essentially double book fast passes using rider swap...Is this accurate??

Yes, it's accurate. Parent #1 books 3 FPs for height-restricted rides and Parent #2 books for another set of rides. Each non-FP parent rides on the Swap without needing a FP, just the Swap Pass.

 

[nikkij]

Yes, it's accurate. Parent #1 books 3 FPs for height-restricted rides and Parent #2 books for another set of rides. Each non-FP parent rides on the Swap without needing a FP, just the Swap Pass.

What would do I do for mine train? Book a fast pass for each adult then since it doesn't have RS?

 

[hiroMYhero]

What would do I do for mine train? Book a fast pass for each adult then since it doesn't have RS?

There have been posters who have used RS for Mine Train because there is a height restriction. Disney never added it to the list for some reason but CMs do allow it.

 

[TellTheHubbyLater]

What would do I do for mine train? Book a fast pass for each adult then since it doesn't have RS?

It has a height restriction. Off the top of my head 36 or 38 inches? So you should be able to RS with a 1 year old.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Check Kenny the Pirate's list: Mine Train is listed: http://www.kennythepirate.com/2015/01/05/how-to-use-child-swap-or-rider-switch-at-walt-disney-world/

 

[nikkij]

Disney needs to get it together and update their website.

This makes planning slightly more difficult, but will help to maximize park time and let mommy and daddy have some thrill.

 

[brooke789]

We did something similar to what you're originally asking at Tomorrowland Speedway. All 5 of us waited together. (I believe we had fast passes). When it was our turn to load DH and DS go in their car, DD, me and DS2 got in the next car. DS2 would not sit on the seat of the car, so we were not allowed to ride. They allowed the 3 of us to wait there on the platform until DH and DS returned and we were able to switch off so DD and I (and now the older DS too) were able to ride.
But the rest of the time we used the regular rider swap without issue. It does take literally double time even when you originally had fast passes. So, I don't see your family wanting to wait around on the other while they all get to ride...