Child Swap ???

[Silverbelle990]

My sister and her family are going with us to the world in september. Our party will consist of Me, DH, DS3, DS6 and my DS her DH and DS.

Can someone please explain to me how to do the child swap. If you could take it step by step and walk me through it i would be greatful. So Lets say onthe RnRC ride. We start at the beginning and you tell me what happens next.

How many can ride with me after the first ride? Where i wait, how long i have to wait, and so on.....

Thank you in advance

 

[mariettadisney71]

It is like a FP. Go to the CM near the FastPass machines w/kids and mention you would like a "Child Swap" ticket. You need to waiting through the normal line for the 1st person and when they come out you get to go through the FP line. I am not sure how many tickets you can get though. We had 6 people in our party but only asked for 3.

Hope this helps

 

[teresajoy]

My sister and her family are going with us to the world in september. Our party will consist of Me, DH, DS3, DS6 and my DS her DH and DS.

Can someone please explain to me how to do the child swap. If you could take it step by step and walk me through it i would be greatful. So Lets say onthe RnRC ride. We start at the beginning and you tell me what happens next.

How many can ride with me after the first ride? Where i wait, how long i have to wait, and so on.....

Thank you in advance

Make sure that when you ask for the child swap pass, the CM can see the child and the person staying with the child. It sounds easy enough, but there were times when I would run up to get the child swap while Dh and dd stayed to the side. The CM needs to know you aren't just trying to get a free pass.

I would think you could get a swap pass for each adult staying with a child. And, when you go back on, you can take two other people with you too. So, one pass is good for three people.


ETA: Because I always like to know these things myself, I will tell you what we say. I go up to the CM in either the regular or Fast Pass lines and say, "We are doing the child swap."(point to child and adult) The CM will probably say, "Who is staying and who is riding?" You then tell them, they will hand you the pass while the rest of your party goes through the line. Pick a spot to wait for your party to get off the ride. They will come out the regular exit, so I usually just wait near it. Then, you and two other people take the pass and go through the fast pass line.

 

[Ellester]

RnR was closed while we were there, but I'll give you a step by step for Tower of Terror instead! We had three adults and three kids, one of which being ds who was 2 at the time. We all went up to the entrance to the queue and told the CM standing there that we would like a baby swap pass. He handed us the pass, much like a FastPass and then my mom took ds and they went to walk around/get a snack/go play on the playground or whatever. You can wait wherever you want, there is no designated area. My dh and I went through the queue with our older two kids and rode ToT. Then we met back up with my mom and son (if we didn't see them right at the exit, we called on the cell phone). My mom then took the baby swap pass and took the older two kids with her to the FastPass entrance and showed the baby swap pass. At this point, the baby swap pass works just like a FastPass. You can take two additional people with you, three total. You do not have to use the baby swap by a specific time, how long you have to wait depends on how long the queue is.

You can also do the baby swap in conjunction with a FastPass. In our case, we would get 5 FastPasses (little guy didn't have a ticket, so no FP) and return at our time. Then we did the same as above, but we would get to go through the FastPass line the first time as well. That saves bunches of time. It really is a fairly well run system. We had no problems with it during the week we were there.

 

[beattyfamily]

The rider switch pass is only available on rides with Fastpass.
The only rides with child swap are those with height restrictions.
So a ride like Pooh, HM, or Buzz that does have Fastpass doesn't have the rider switch pass because they don't have a height requirement.
However, you can create your own form of swapping by getting a Fastpass for each parent and then taking turns. Works pretty much the same as getting the rider switch pass.
Child swap (the rider switch pass) is available at rides with a height restriction and Fastpass.
They do not let children that do not meet the height requirement through the line (except on Star Tours).

My first advice is to tell the CM at the entrance to the attraction before you enter the ride line (either via Fastpass line or Standby line) that you want to use the swap feature and find out how they handle it; each ride or cm could handle it differently.

The parents and the child must approach the CM together. They must see the child who doesn't meet the height requirement. The CM may measure the child if they are close to the height requirement. The CM will give you a rider switch pass (if the child doesn't meet the height requirement) and the parent that is riding second can then leave with the child and to do something else while the first party rides. They could wait outside or wait at the exit of the ride (which is usually in a store) or do a different attraction. The second parent then returns, at their convenience, to ride via the FP line with the rider switch pass and can ride with up to 2 other guests; the rider switch pass is good for up to 3 guests total and good all day.

One exception is Star Tours where the entire party enters the line and they do the switch at the ride itself.

The purpose of child swap isn't a "head of the line pass" or to eliminate a double wait for a family that can't ride together but to shorten the wait for the second parent as much as the Fastpass line can and to make it more convenient by letting you come back later if you need/want to with up to 2 other guests to ride with you so you don't have to ride alone.

If your child is tall enough to ride but doesn't want to, then you can still create your own form of swapping by getting a Fastpass for each parent and then taking turns. Works just about the same as getting the rider switch pass.

Please note, you do not need a Fastpass for the parent riding with the rider switch pass; the rider switch pass is all they need to enter the Fastpass line. It takes the place of the regular Fastpass.

Hope this helps.

 

[Silverbelle990]

Thank you all for explaining it for me. I think i know what to expect and am anxious to start my trip. Too bad it is still about 2 months away!!!

 

[katiebsmom]

You can also do the baby swap in conjunction with a FastPass. In our case, we would get 5 FastPasses (little guy didn't have a ticket, so no FP) and return at our time. Then we did the same as above, but we would get to go through the FastPass line the first time as well. That saves bunches of time. It really is a fairly well run system. We had no problems with it during the week we were there.

Thanks for this info...I wondered if you could do the FP with the first set of riders so that you don't have to wait for a looooong time in the standby line .

 

[mamatojon]

Thanks for this info...I wondered if you could do the FP with the first set of riders so that you don't have to wait for a looooong time in the standby line .

We recently had a CM require that we get in the standby line before she would give the child swap pass to my husband (who was waiting with my daughter). This was at Disneyland in CA, not WDW, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens at WDW too on busy days.

 

[dvcChrisVWL]

That is the point of the child swap.

The idea is that someone did not get to ride the ride with everyone because they had to stay behind to watch a child. So, the rest of the group goes and waits in line and rides the ride. So that the person who had to stay behind does not feel left out, you are rewarded for standing in line with a pass for the other person so that they do not have to wait in the long line (your groups already waited).

So, yes, they should not give you a child swap pass until your main party has waited in line - that is the point.

 

[nepatsfan73]

I have a young child who may be close to some of the height requirements, but won't/doesn't want to ride some thriller/dark rides (like Space Mountain, Tower of Terror and Dinosaur). If my child is close, but over or makes the limit, will they allow for the child swap or does the child have to be under the required height?

TIA

 

[beattyfamily]

I have a young child who may be close to some of the height requirements, but won't/doesn't want to ride some thriller/dark rides (like Space Mountain, Tower of Terror and Dinosaur). If my child is close, but over or makes the limit, will they allow for the child swap or does the child have to be under the required height?

TIA

If a person meets the height requirement and doesn't want to ride, then they will not issue the rider switch fastpass. They will tell you that you all have to enter the ride together and then you might be able to swap at the ride itself or at the exit or you could do what I suggested earlier and get Fastpasses and just take turns. It works pretty much the same as getting a rider switch pass.

My little chicken DD was measured at both Splash and ToT and we were told she had to enter the ride line with us and swap at the ride's loading area. We chose to get Fastpasses and take turns instead.

Like I said before, ask the CM at the entrance to the ride's line if you can swap and they will tell you how they handle it and will probably measure your child. Each ride (and each CM) might handle it differently (swap at the loading area, swap at the exit or no ability to swap at all).

 

[Ellester]

That is the point of the child swap.

The idea is that someone did not get to ride the ride with everyone because they had to stay behind to watch a child. So, the rest of the group goes and waits in line and rides the ride. So that the person who had to stay behind does not feel left out, you are rewarded for standing in line with a pass for the other person so that they do not have to wait in the long line (your groups already waited).

So, yes, they should not give you a child swap pass until your main party has waited in line - that is the point.

Yes, but if you have gotten FastPasses I don't think it is fair to make you go through the standby line if you want to do a babyswap. You planned ahead and got the FP's, you aren't "cheating". You are still waiting in line, just the FP line. By making you use the stand by line, Disney is penalizing the party for utilizing the child swap. JMHO

 

[beattyfamily]

Yes, but if you have gotten FastPasses I don't think it is fair to make you go through the standby line if you want to do a babyswap. You planned ahead and got the FP's, you aren't "cheating". You are still waiting in line, just the FP line. By making you use the stand by line, Disney is penalizing the party for utilizing the child swap. JMHO

You do not have to go to the standby line to be able to do child swap. Not sure what that other poster was talking about.

You just go to the first CM you see at either the standby entrance or the Fastpass entrance and ask them how to do child swap. That is when you get your rider switch pass. Then the parents can decide how the first parent will ride; either standby, Fastpass or even single rider if they want. Then the second parent will ride with the rider switch pass.

It's much simplier than it seems in these threads!

 

[Ellester]

I have a young child who may be close to some of the height requirements, but won't/doesn't want to ride some thriller/dark rides (like Space Mountain, Tower of Terror and Dinosaur). If my child is close, but over or makes the limit, will they allow for the child swap or does the child have to be under the required height?

TIA

Our son was actually right at 42", sometimes he made it, other times he didn't. In our case, he was never measured before they gave us the babyswap pass. We used babyswap on Test Track, Big Thunder, and Tower of Terror (and Space Mtn, but he was no where near 44"). He actually rode ToT once, not a wise choice on our parts. But, after his first ride we didn't make him go again. We just got the babyswap passes without any questioning from the CM's. I have seen many posts though where people were unable to use the swap if their child was over the height limit. I'm just telling you what we experienced.

 

[mamatojon]

You do not have to go to the standby line to be able to do child swap. Not sure what that other poster was talking about.

I was relating my personal experience with a CM who stated that we had to get into the standby line before she would give a child swap pass to my husband. I too have had CMs give us child swap passes without any questions or consideration for which line we were given in, and I have used them with fast passes myself - but this particular CM insisted that I needed to get into the standby line (which I was going to anyway, we didn't have fastpasses) before she would give the pass to my husband.

 

[beattyfamily]

I was relating my personal experience with a CM who stated that we had to get into the standby line before she would give a child swap pass to my husband. I too have had CMs give us child swap passes without any questions or consideration for which line we were given in, and I have used them with fast passes myself - but this particular CM insisted that I needed to get into the standby line (which I was going to anyway, we didn't have fastpasses) before she would give the pass to my husband.

Oh, I see. I guess you just never know what a particular CM is going to say or do but usually it's not the case.

I have seen CMs at EE in AK tell guests that they all must enter the standby line with their child and then at the point where it goes inside, they hand you the child swap pass. Not sure why they did it that way and I'm also not sure if they did that if you had Fastpasses; I was listening from a distance.

Luckily my two DD are brave enough and tall enough to ride most rides now although my 7 year old still won't ride Splash or Thunder and she's on the fence about ToT!