Child Swap ??

[Bronte]

Planning my nieces first visit ... SOOOO EXCITING !!!!

Both my daughters are in college now so it has been sometime since I had to plan for a little one so I need a refresher course !!!
Details:
Those attending will be Mom, Dad, child (age 3 at 40 inches tall) myself, DH, 2 DD's and Grandpa !!!!
Dates are December 10-14
Questions:
We all want to go on the rides with her but most only seat 2 people (dwarf ride, dumbo, carpet ride, under the sea, barnstormers, Toy Story, etc...)
1. Exactly how does child swap work ???
2. Do I have to have fast passes for all the rides we want to try to experience with her. We have no problem waiting in line with her but we do not want to have to wait over and over and over again for the same ride ... once for Mom, once for Dad, once for Grandpa etc...
3. If she is not tall enough to ride do they still give out a certificate for the next visit. Years ago they use to do this and it was like a fast pass next time you came. We are planning a longer trip with her again in May before her parents are sent overseas again (military)
4. If we are using our fast pass for something we all want to do with her what if by the time the last person goes with her our fast pass time window is expired?
5. We have not been there with little ones for a long time. Which of the Meet and Greets/Experiences that have fast passes are really worth it ??? I know she is a big Frozen fan and loves Monsters Inc..

We will only be at the parks for four days (3 at MK and 1 at HS) so here our priorities. This is not in order of priority and if we do not get it all in no worries we are going at the child's pace. Everyone in the party except her has been to disney many many times and will be going many many more times

Magic Kingdom:
Peter Pan
Winni the Pooh
Barnstormer
Dumbo
Tiki Room/Bear Jamboree
Magic Carpets
Seven Dwarf Ride
Pirates (maybe)
Buzz Lightyear
Under the Sea with Arial
Big Thunder Mountain (maybe)
Splash Mountain (maybe)
Haunted Mansion (big maybe)

Hollywood Studios:
Frozen Sing Along
Toy Story
Disney Jr. Live on stage
Beauty and the Beast on stage
Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Fantasmic (if she can stay up that late)

 

[MommyMK]

Are you saying you all want to take turns sitting next to the child to ride the same ride over and over? This is NOT what child swap is and it's not possible unless you wait in the standby line over and over. I can't even understand this mindset? Who wants to spend an hour riding one ride? And why would the 3 year old want to ride one ride over and over? Just take turns sitting next to her? Child swap is for when a child is too short for a ride, the adults can all ride without having to wait in line twice.

 

[Bronte]

So Sorry ...
Like I said it has been years since my children have been this small.
So child swap is only for people with multiple children one of which does not meet the hight requirement (thanks)

We will just wait in line then multiple times because yes Mom wants to ride dumbo with her only daughter and Dad wants to ride Dumbo with his only daughter and Grandpa wants to ride Dumbo with his Granddaughter for the first time as well (he just lost his wife, my mother, so right now he wants to do everything with the granddaughter.)
Many three year olds like doing things over and over again ... I taught pre-school for many years and repetition is not an uncommon behavior at that age plus if they like it why should they not ride it over and over again esp. if the line is short.

What about the other questions ...
I would assume fast pass for rides will not be what we want to do now so perhaps suggestions on other uses would be GREAT ... Thanks for any input.

 

[MSSANDRA]

I understand your questions and mindset, but it really does not work that way. Baby swap only works on rides where the child is too short to ride and allows each parent to ride the ride without having to wait twice as long. If there is another child old enough to ride, he or she can ride with each adult. At 40 inches there are only a couple of rides that would even apply to. It does not apply if she is tall enough but does not want to ride. I understand everyone wanting to ride with the child, but yes, that would mean riding that ride, and standing in the line for each ride. FP would only be helpful for one time as the child, at three would also need a FP. It may be more practical to take turns on different rides, though with three days, you should have time to repeat many of them more than once. It can be just as special to watch Dumbo fly by and be the one making pictures. Without a FP (remember you would only have one for DGD, you would have to do the wait, ride cycle 7 times. Estimate 45 minutes for Dumbo....45X7= crazy amount of time on Dumbo. No one would be happy with that one! You can make a picture in the stand alone elephant with each person.

 

[JMSMommy]

For what it's worth, Pooh, Peter Pan, Small World, Pirates, and a few others you can fit 2 adults and a small child together easily.

Dumbo will need to be separate rides, but I could see doing a Dumbo ride in the morning, then later that afternoon doing it again with another person riding with her. When my oldest was small and the only child/grandchild, we ended up each choosing the one ride we must ride with him and split it up that way. Then, if we (or he) wanted to ride again we'd swap out the adult with him. This meant that by the time he had discovered Buzz Lightyear ride and was on his 10th ride we were drawing straws to see who HAD to take him... For what it's worth, while my kids loved re-riding their favorite rides, even they got really tired of the same ride when it was back to back to back to back (except my son and Buzz Lightyear).

Previous posters are correct about child swap, it's more of a swapping of the duty of watching a child while the adult rides. I do think, though, if you have a child that is tall enough to ride but refuses to and yet is too young to be left alone, then they will do a child swap for that as well. I'll be able to tell you for sure after our next trip as our oldest daughter refuses to ride any roller coasters and this will be the first time that she is eligible height wise). If we can't do child swap, no biggie but it will definitely be a big let down for some of us. I'm still hopeful that she will discover a love of rollercoasters this trip.

 

[Bronte]

Thanks for all the great suggestions ...

I forgot that on many of the rides that we can only fit two in because my DD's are 18 and 21 you can actually fit three when the child is young plus in this case Mom, Dad and child are all tall and skinny so they should fit no problem.
Perhaps fast pass is not out of the question either. If it is allowed my DD's and DH all volunteered to give up any and all fast passes if it means that Mom, Dad and Grandpa get to ride with her. We have been to the World over 25 times since 2001 and now live only 2 hrs from the mouse so we just love seeing, experiencing and sharing the magic/joy.
We are all staying on property so I should be able to book the passes at 60 days out for all 8 of us and if allowed we can give our magic bands to them when they get to the designated ride.