Child Swap

[DO2G]

Can someone explain how this works for the parents to ride a roller coaster when the child is too small.

 

[bicker]

As you enter the attraction, you'll be stopped by a CM who won't allow the child in. At that point, ask for a Child Swap. The CM will give the parent staying with the child the Child Swap pass, and the other parent (and other members of the party) can continue into the queue for the attraction. After that first parent exits the attraction, the second parent (and up to two other members of the party) can enter the FastPass queue for the attraction, by showing the Child Swap pass.

 

[Jazz-E-Cat]

All of you go through the line. When you see a CM as you get closer to the loading area let them know you want to do a "child swap". One parent will stay behind with the child while the other one rides. When the ride is over, the parent who stayed behind can ride without having to go through the line again. Also, if you have a second child who wants to ride, they can ride twice. Once with each parent.

Update: The situation I described is when all family members are tall enough to get on the ride, but one child does not want to do it. It sounds like "bicker" explained it best for your situation.

 

[Tink]

Our family does the child switch a lot. We have a DD who is 7 but isn't into anything fast (her 4 year old sister can't get enough of the fast rides). It works really well. One hint: I have found that it's faster to use the single rider line at Test Track. Ask the cast member for a baby swap pass, then go on the single rider line. Of course this only works if one of you are going, the other sitting with the kid(s).

 

[bicker]

There have been many reports that you cannot do get a Child Swap pass if the "child" is tall enough for the attraction. The Child Swap isn't intended for cases where people don't want to ride the attraction, but rather for cases where people aren't eligible to ride the attraction and cannot be left unattended. While some CMs sometimes let this slide, that's not the general case, according to the reports from some folks who have tried.

 

[MammaNicholas]

So you mean to tell me my 5 year old dd (who has been tall enough to go on most rides at WDW since she was 4), if she's too scared and doesn't want to go on a ride like Tower of Terror or Test Track, we can't use child swap because she got my mil's genes? She's very tall for her age, I'm 5'6" and she reaches me at my shoulders, but she has all the charistics of a 5 year old.

 

[beattyfamily]

So you mean to tell me my 5 year old dd (who has been tall enough to go on most rides at WDW since she was 4), if she's too scared and doesn't want to go on a ride like Tower of Terror or Test Track, we can't use child swap because she got my mil's genes? She's very tall for her age, I'm 5'6" and she reaches me at my shoulders, but she has all the charistics of a 5 year old.

Yes, that was my experience. My DD, age 6, didn't want to ride ToT or Splash for our last 3 trips and at both rides they measured her and told us that because she was tall enough, she had to go in the line with us and then we could swap at the ride itself.

Parent/child swap (special swap pass I mean) is really meant for those with children too short to ride the ride.

 

[Ready to go in Ok]

When I first glanced at this thread, I thought OMG what happened to the poor child's hand! I really need to get more sleep....

 

[DO2G]

As you enter the attraction, you'll be stopped by a CM who won't allow the child in. At that point, ask for a Child Swap. The CM will give the parent staying with the child the Child Swap pass, and the other parent (and other members of the party) can continue into the queue for the attraction. After that first parent exits the attraction, the second parent (and up to two other members of the party) can enter the FastPass queue for the attraction, by showing the Child Swap pass.

Perfect....Thank you