Child Swap Questions....

[Mckys#1Fan]

We have been to WDW several times. However, this is our first time to use child swap. We will have our 2 year old grandson along on this trip (He is 37" tall).... Our dates are December 9-12. We have MVMCP for Dec. 10th.


To use child swap with a FP+, does the person waiting with the child have to have a FP+ as well?

I am assuming yes, but just wanted to be sure. I have not booked myself a FP on several rides due to waiting with him and booked a couple rides that he can go on instead.

I have read that either 2 or 3 people get to return with the adult waiting to ride..... Is it 2 or 3?

Since he is only 2, and we cant book FP's for him, what rides or characters do you think requires a FP to keep the wait times down? Just wondering in case I need to change anything that I may need a pass for a shorter wait time.

I know FP's cant not be used during the party, but can child swap be used?

Thanks a bunch... You guys are awesome!!

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

I'm not 100% sure I understand what you are asking but rider swap is intended to negate having two standby waits for one family while each one waits with the child. I'm not sure how it works in conjunction with FP+. If you are using FP+, everyone must have an FP+. I don't believe rider swap is used during the party since there is no FP line. The standby lines are short enough to take turns riding.

 

[DavidNYC]

No - they do not if they're waiting and only going to be riding the ride using the swap. You haven't said how many in your party so I'll give an example assuming it was just the two of you and the child. You would get a FP for the ride you want to ride. The other adult makes a FP for a ride to take the child on while you're riding. When both are done with that first ride, the waiting adult uses the swap pass to ride the first ride. You'll then either just wait with the child, ride something standby, or do something else for what is usually 15 minutes give or take if everything is running smoothly. The benefit to doing it this way is that you've each only used 1 FP and the child will be able to ride something using FP during the wait rather than having to wait for both adults. This can obviously be expanded to larger parties with splitting the FP between all.

The easy alternative is that you both just get a FP for the ride and show up early enough to both get through during the window. Much simpler but means you're limited to standby or other activities while both are riding.

One final twist - if you want to plan some adults rides while the child is napping in a stroller for example, you can each just get a FP for a height restricted ride using one each. As the swap passes are good all day (often the rest of the month), you can save using the pass for the second rider for child down time. What this does is, for example, allow you to get 2 FP all together for rides with the child and use the third FP split to get on two adult rides.

Split fastpasses give you a lot more benefit but does take a lot more work in setting up FP as you'll want to get two rides, and nearly the same times, ideally in the same general vicinity if you're going to try to take a child on a ride during the first FP. (Doesn't matter as much if you're splitting between two adult rides since the passes are good all day but then you have to worry about overlapping times in general for the passes you'll want to get together).

Now – there have been rare reports that a cast member at the FP line has demanded that everyone have a FP to get a swap. I never encountered that once in 6 years and those reports are far outnumbered by those who never have seen that. I think the general consensus is that it’s a rogue castmember when that happens. I wouldn’t worry too much.

(Edit to answer other questions: Pass is good for 3 people total. I wouldn't count on being able to use it beyond whatever time the park closes to non-party guests.