Child swap waiting areas and a toddler

[troydjames]

I am planning a trip in September and have 3 kids 7,3, and 22 months at time of travel, my question is do both parents and all 3 children have to wait in line and then do the swap, or can the parent waiting with the child that can't ride go straight to the waiting area and bypass the line. And can fastpass be used with the child swap?

 

[Lexxie&Nicky]

Oh good questions that will help me as well. Thank you for asking.

 

[steelfish535]

I think it depends on the ride, but here is what we encountered:
For most rides (Space Mountain, Soarin, Rock N Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror) we got a fast pass early in the day for however many people wanted to go on the ride: myself, hubby and my DD...my son was 3, so we wouldn't get a FP for him. When our FP time came, we'd go to the attendant at the entrance to the ride and tell them we wanted to baby swap. They'd give us the extra tickets and then the person with my son could go somewhere else to wait. He never had to wait on line. I hope this helps and wasn't too confusing.

 

[tzolkin]

No, they don't wait in line. The whole family approaches the CM at the entrance and asks for a rider switch pass. (They have to verify that you have a baby/child that cannot ride.) The first parent and older kid(s) either use fastpasses or go through the standby line to ride. Parent 2 and baby sit in the shade, walk around, go on another ride while waiting for the first group to come out. Then Parent 2 and older kid(s)--up to 3 people-- take the rider switch pass and go to the fastpass line to ride.

If you use fastpass, the first parent and baby should only have to wait a few minutes (10-15?) for the first group to exit the ride. We never split up. We usually just stayed close to the exit and waited the few minutes. Our youngest liked to just look around and eat some snacks in his stroller while the older kids were riding. There is a toddler play area near Splash Mountain for parents to let the little one play while others are riding Splash and BTMRR.

The only exception to this is Star Wars. There everyone waits in line and then you swap at the ride.

 

[CapnJacksGirl]

It's really a pretty simple process. I was a little concerned about making it work before we went last year, but I didn't need to be. Just get FPs like you would normally, i.e. as soon as possible, then all head off to the attraction together. If you have FPs, the wait with the little one is really manageable and can be rather relaxing! My DH and I found ourselves offering to NOT ride, just to have a chance to sit and relax or grab a cold drink! After you use the child swap once, you'll understand how easy it is.

ENJOY!

 

[Moeluv4u7]

Is this intended for one parent to ride w/ a child who can ride while another parent waits w/ the child who can't? & then parents can swap kids and then parent rides on own or kid who can ride gets to ride w/ parent #2 also?

I have just started seeing posts about child swapping- not sure I understand so much...

We have a 7 yr old who may not be tall enough for some rides- at King's Dominion or Carowinds I usually don't ride and take him to a different ride while my DH and other kids ride the big rides - usually we are done and back at original ride before they are off (longer lines for big rides at KD and no fastpass)
It would be nice to do the waiting area thing- IF my 7 yr old would handle it well (not riding the "cool" ride and sitting for a few minutes perhaps w/ a Mickey Bar or something)...

Please keep this one going for more info- Is this a good option as well when using a stroller? We hadn't planned to use one, but I see threads mentioning 6 yr olds who sometimes need it after a day in the park- He's very energetic and actually I think if we get to where they are complaining of walking we may need a resort break and pick up again after a couple hours of downtime...
Suggestions?

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Is this intended for one parent to ride w/ a child who can ride while another parent waits w/ the child who can't? & then parents can swap kids and then parent rides on own or kid who can ride gets to ride w/ parent #2 also?

I have just started seeing posts about child swapping- not sure I understand so much...

We have a 7 yr old who may not be tall enough for some rides- at King's Dominion or Carowinds I usually don't ride and take him to a different ride while my DH and other kids ride the big rides - usually we are done and back at original ride before they are off (longer lines for big rides at KD and no fastpass)
It would be nice to do the waiting area thing- IF my 7 yr old would handle it well (not riding the "cool" ride and sitting for a few minutes perhaps w/ a Mickey Bar or something)...

Please keep this one going for more info- Is this a good option as well when using a stroller? We hadn't planned to use one, but I see threads mentioning 6 yr olds who sometimes need it after a day in the park- He's very energetic and actually I think if we get to where they are complaining of walking we may need a resort break and pick up again after a couple hours of downtime...
Suggestions?

Yes, exactly, it's for parties with a child that is under the height requirement. Children who do not meet the height requirement are not allowed into the attraction queue. I use my waiting time to have a snack and drink of water and make a restroom trip.

Your 7-yr-old probably makes the height requirement for everything at Disney. In the main 4 parks, the tallest requirement is 48" (the water parks have a couple a little higher) and that's for Rock-N-Roller Coaster and Primivel Whirl. Everything else is 40" or 44". If he is tall enough, just chooses not to ride, you aren't eligible for a Child Swap.

The stroller issue is strictly dependent on the child. My oldest was 6 last year on our trip and he did not need a stroller. If he was tired, we rested a little while or got a little snack to pep him up. But, I've heard that many kids prefer the stroller at WDW since it is a lot of walking. Try it without, and if you need to, get one. At the rental prices, I'd do whatever I could to avoid it, though!

 

[Moeluv4u7]

Thx! Yeah! I figure we would wing it on the stroller- He is a very energetic 7 yr old (what boy isn't)- We never had an issue at any other theme park- & again if it got to that point I think we'd let the teens go on and explore if they wanted to while we took a nice rest at the resort- It would be funny if that is what we do and my teen boys couldn't make it to the end of the night while our youngest would be all pepped up and rareing to go again- LOL

 

[harriettb]

For what it's worth I was able to get fastpasses even for my granddaughter who wasn't tall enough for RnRC....we just put all the tickets through the machine and it didn't kick any of them out as ineligible. We also go the child swap pass and that way somebody got to ride twice.

The child swap was very easy....just got a little long a couple of times when even the fastpass line was long.

Regarding the child who is tall enough to ride, but chooses not to: You can take that child through the line with you and they will allow one parent to ride while the other stays with the child and then you can swap when the ride returns. We watched it happen at ToT. The only restriction is on taking a child who is not tall enough to ride through the line.

 

[doconeill]

Full details of using a Rider Switch pass can be read on my Fastpass page linked below.

For attractions that don't offer Rider Switch, or for cases where a child simply chooses not to ride but is tall enough, there MAY be other options, but it varies from attraction to attraction, and perhaps even CM to CM. Ask the greeter CM what options may be available to you.