Disney World with a 3 year old, Fast Passes

[4GEM]

Is it just me, or does it seem on first impression that a fast pass for our 3 year old winds up going to waste, even if my wife and I do ride-switch, which I'm really fuzzy on the details about... Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Not a waste if you make FP+ for the rides they will ride! There is a FAQ on Rider Switch as well...
what are you trying to accomplish? Mom and dad getting all the rides? Little one riding anything & everything they are tall enough for? Anyone with motion sickness who may be sitting out?

 

[4GEM]

Sorry I worded that poorly. Personally our goal is to do two FPs of all three of us together on his rides, and then in some instances do the ride swap for a ride he's unable ride. But in that case is where his 3rd FP is "wasted" because he's unable to ride anything alone. I wonder if Disney allows a parent to ride with him for those cases? This scenario also presents a situation where he doesn't fulfill his third FP in order to get more 1X FPs along with us the rest of the day? Interesting to say the least, and very much eager to hear back on best practices! Many thanks!

 

[SG131]

Sorry I worded that poorly. Personally our goal is to do two FPs of all three of us together on his rides, and then in some instances do the ride swap for a ride he's unable ride. But in that case is where his 3rd FP is "wasted" because he's unable to ride anything alone. I wonder if Disney allows a parent to ride with him for those cases? This scenario also presents a situation where he doesn't fulfill his third FP in order to get more 1X FPs along with us the rest of the day? Interesting to say the least, and very much eager to hear back on best practices! Many thanks!

He will still have an open fastpass for the day so he could schedule for another ride at the same time you guys do as long as it's not a tier 1 ride. The other option if you want a tier 1 which unless he's tall you may not need would be to schedule him for the same ride as you and scan his band in anyway (or one grown up can ride twice). If you schedule him for a different ride elsewhere the adult with him would also need a fastpass.

 

[4GEM]

This is helpful, thanks. So based your response, I'm making the following assumptions:

a) that if he hasn't used his third FP but each of us have, he can still tag along with our 1x extra FPs by using his 3rd and so forth.
b) a grown up can ride in his place to use one of his FPs on that same ride if he's tall enough that is? Am I reading that part in parenthesis correctly?

 

[KayaWildfire]

A. To answer a, it is better to tap his magicband at the scanner of a ride, even of he isn't tall enough so the fastpass is used. Then you can continue to book additional fastpasses.
B. To answer b, the previous poster means that someone who is tall enough for a ride can take his magicband and scan it and ride the ride. So someone can ride twice. Your son doesn't need to be tall enough.

 

[4GEM]

Oh, wow - I had no idea you could do that... B. I thought the FPs were protected by tandem fingerprint scan that prevented another rider from using someone else in their party's FP. That is good to know if true.

 

[KayaWildfire]

Nope, fastpasses are not fingerprint protected. Anyone can use someone else's fastpass. The only requirement is that the person whose fastpass you are using has entered the park that day.

 

[Tink9721]

Oh, wow - I had no idea you could do that... B. I thought the FPs were protected by tandem fingerprint scan that prevented another rider from using someone else in their party's FP. That is good to know if true.

There are no fingerprint scanners at the FP checkpoints, only when entering the park. I do this all the time; my mom can't do some of the thrill rides, so I use her band and ride twice. It's never been an issue.

 

[2019TripIdeas]

I'm sorry if this sounds silly, but does that mean that someone could cruise through the fastpass checkpoint wearing two magic bands on an arm without a cast member being concerned about it?

OP: We are in similar situation with a 5, 3, 2 year old and trying to figure this out (and how to make sense of the B fastpasses at Epcot and HS- I recently posted a thread). Not as straightforward as you'd think at all!

 

[shaunacb]

Assuming it is the three of you, you should get 1 adult a FP for a thrill ride (ie FOP), and the other adult and your child two FPs for a non-thrill ride (ie Navi). Use Rider swap so the other adult can ride FOP (This worked for us using rider switch without a second FP. It makes no sense for the rider switching adult to require a FP, otherwise they wouldn't need to ask for a rider switch!). Or get a non-thrill ride for all 3 of you (ie Safari).

 

[Tink9721]

I'm sorry if this sounds silly, but does that mean that someone could cruise through the fastpass checkpoint wearing two magic bands on an arm without a cast member being concerned about it?

I'm not sure they'd even notice, honestly. But when my mom and I do this we just swap bands when I'm using her FP and then swap back after.

 

[Heather07438]

I'm not sure they'd even notice, honestly. But when my mom and I do this we just swap bands when I'm using her FP and then swap back after.

Yes, we do the same. If someone in our party decides not to go on a ride, someone else will takes their band to ride a second time.

CMs don't care at all. You can go thru with 10 MBs on your arm, it doesn't mean anything (just make sure not to accidentally scan extra FPs that you still plan to use). All FPs are paid for already in ticket/pass price so it doesn't matter who uses them. If Grandma and Grandpa want to join you in the park but not so keen on riding, it's 100% fine to use their FPs. Like Kaya said above: The only requirement is that the person whose fastpass you are using has entered the park that day.

ETA: Disney states that MBs and FPs are non-transferable but I think they spell it out that way to avoid other issues. We've swapped MBs all the time and have never come across an issue. The CMs at the FP podiums watching us have never shown any concern.

 

[Tink9721]

Yes, we do the same. If someone in our party decides not to go on a ride, someone else will takes their band to ride a second time.

CMs don't care at all. You can go thru with 10 MBs on your arm, it doesn't mean anything (just make sure not to accidentally scan extra FPs that you still plan to use). All FPs are paid for already in ticket/pass price so it doesn't matter who uses them. If Grandma and Grandpa want to join you in the park but not so keen on riding, it's 100% fine to use their FPs. Like Kaya said above: The only requirement is that the person whose fastpass you are using has entered the park that day.

Exactly. Whether my mom and I both ride or I ride twice, the ride is still taking the same number of riders that hour.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Assuming it is the three of you, you should get 1 adult a FP for a thrill ride (ie FOP), and the other adult and your child two FPs for a non-thrill ride (ie Navi). Use Rider swap so the other adult can ride FOP (This worked for us using rider switch without a second FP. It makes no sense for the rider switching adult to require a FP, otherwise they wouldn't need to ask for a rider switch!). Or get a non-thrill ride for all 3 of you (ie Safari).

This used to be our approach, but now that I've been hearing some rides require anyone getting a rider switch to have a FP for the ride, I'm afraid to do that. So we all have FoP and are going to RD Navi because I don't want to bank on the CM allowing us to get a rider switch for my mom if she doesn't have a FoP FP.

 

[parasail_of_congress]

Assuming it is the three of you, you should get 1 adult a FP for a thrill ride (ie FOP), and the other adult and your child two FPs for a non-thrill ride (ie Navi). Use Rider swap so the other adult can ride FOP (This worked for us using rider switch without a second FP. It makes no sense for the rider switching adult to require a FP, otherwise they wouldn't need to ask for a rider switch!). Or get a non-thrill ride for all 3 of you (ie Safari).

While you might be able to get away with this, you are basically doubling up on your FPs if you do this, and it's not how you should operate. Imagine the scenario where you are alone at the park but see a family of two adults and two children waiting in line. You have them join your party, go to the FP line and request Rider Switch.

When you go to the FP line for Rider Switch, it is assumed that all members who plan to ride have the FP. Kids who "switch" get to ride twice - it makes no sense to assume that a kid should get two FPs just because a parent has a FP.