Does Baby Swap extend your FP+ return time?

shaycamp21

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Jan 14, 2005
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We have FP+ for: BTM, SM, ToT, RnR, TT, Soarin' (managed to snag these a little while ago when the tiers at EP and HS seemed to be lifted for that day), all of which our 2 1/2 year old won't be able to ride. So my understanding of baby swap is that we all go to the FP entrance and let them know we need baby swap and some go through and ride while some wait with the little one (our plan is that one parent and one dd wait with our youngest while the other parent and dd ride so that no one has to ride alone). So my concern is that with the parks probably going to be pretty busy (we arrive this Wednesday) if the first set of riders finish the ride past the return time will the baby swap extend the return time. Say for example our FP+ is from 1-2 but for whatever reason we don't get to that ride until say 1:45 and by the time the first set of riders get out it's past the return time will the second set get to ride? Sorry if my question is confusing but I just want to make sure I understand how it works as I have never used baby swap before.:confused3
 
We have FP+ for: BTM, SM, ToT, RnR, TT, Soarin' (managed to snag these a little while ago when the tiers at EP and HS seemed to be lifted for that day), all of which our 2 1/2 year old won't be able to ride. So my understanding of baby swap is that we all go to the FP entrance and let them know we need baby swap and some go through and ride while some wait with the little one (our plan is that one parent and one dd wait with our youngest while the other parent and dd ride so that no one has to ride alone). So my concern is that with the parks probably going to be pretty busy (we arrive this Wednesday) if the first set of riders finish the ride past the return time will the baby swap extend the return time. Say for example our FP+ is from 1-2 but for whatever reason we don't get to that ride until say 1:45 and by the time the first set of riders get out it's past the return time will the second set get to ride? Sorry if my question is confusing but I just want to make sure I understand how it works as I have never used baby swap before.:confused3

There is no return time on rider swap. When the second party goes through, they had the rider swap pass to the CM at the FP line. That's all the CM looks at as far as getting in the second set of people.
 
The FP+ return time doesn't matter if you're using a rider swap pass, as the returning party only needs the RS pass to get back in the line. Many times, especially with Soarin', we found it would have been near impossible to get our entire party on Soarin' in our FP window unless we arrived right at the beginning. Make sure to get the pass at each of the rides you can just incase the second half of your party misses the window.

Just incase you don't already know, the RS passes are good for anytime after you receive them. The ones we received in early February are good until the end of the month. They also get 3 guests in with one pass, none of those 3 needing a FP.
 
So does this mean that only one of us needs to use FP+ For each ride?
 

So does this mean that only one of us needs to use FP+ For each ride?

Are you 2 adults and one child? As of now, yes, only one of you needs to FP each ride. Keep in mind you need to bring the too short child to the entrance of the line to get the pass.
 
You do not all need to have FP+ for the rides you are swapping. The people riding first will need FP+ which will be scanned as normal. The rest of you will be given a rider swap ticket that looks like the old FP, and it is good for 3 people to return and ride. You can then go ride something else with a different FP+ reservation.

For example: DH and DS(1) had FP+ for Big Thunder Mt from 10-11 am. Me and DS(2) had FP+ for Jungle Cruise during the same time. We arrived at BTMRR at 10:15, got rider swap ticket, hubs and son rode while me and other son went to do Jungle Cruise. We then went back and DS(1) and I did BTMRR after dinner. This way the young child can be doing other things, not sitting around waiting for part of the group to return. It is the only way I know of to really maximize FP+
 
Hoping for some similar help... We are a large family going on our first disney trip the first week in April... It's my wife and I and our 7 kids (ages 13,12, 8,6,4,2 and 1)... Is there a way I can in theory get twice the FP+ by using child swap... For most the rides my 1 and 2 year old won't go... My wife says when you child swap you can bring up to 3 other people with you... So can I along with a few kids get the FP+ for a ride then childswap and my wife go one with the other kids after and then my wife FP+ another ride and do the same thing, allowing us 6 FP+ for our family?
 
Are you 2 adults and one child? As of now, yes, only one of you needs to FP each ride. Keep in mind you need to bring the too short child to the entrance of the line to get the pass.

Yes just me, dh and DS 4. Sorry another question if they are tall enough but too scared to ride can you still get a rider switch pass?
 
Hoping for some similar help... We are a large family going on our first disney trip the first week in April... It's my wife and I and our 7 kids (ages 13,12, 8,6,4,2 and 1)... Is there a way I can in theory get twice the FP+ by using child swap... For most the rides my 1 and 2 year old won't go... My wife says when you child swap you can bring up to 3 other people with you... So can I along with a few kids get the FP+ for a ride then childswap and my wife go one with the other kids after and then my wife FP+ another ride and do the same thing, allowing us 6 FP+ for our family?

The rider swap tickets I got in Jan were only good for 3 people- so you plus 2 kids. You will have to do some thinking about how to maximize with 7 kids.
 
Yes just me, dh and DS 4. Sorry another question if they are tall enough but too scared to ride can you still get a rider switch pass?

This really depends on the CM at the entrance. Some CM's will give you one, some won't. Some will only do it if a child doesn't meet the height requirement. It wouldn't be something I planned on, it would be pixie dust if you got on for a scared child.
 
The rider swap tickets I got in Jan were only good for 3 people- so you plus 2 kids. You will have to do some thinking about how to maximize with 7 kids.

Ahhh... Thanks for the info, might be able to get a few extra FP+ using on the rides the little kids won't go on so the older kids can go on all the rides they want...
 
This is making me nervous. I have an eight year old who will not ride several rides because he is afraid of heights. What about the stand by line? If all four of us wait together can we still swap when we get to the ride itself? We will be getting there early so we can head to those rides first thing.

I guess we can just split up if we have fast pass and either me or my husband can ride alone....but that would really suck. It's only a few rides (Tower of Terror, Rockin Rollercoaster, Expedition Everest) but they are also rides with really long lines.
 
We were there last week, and the rider swap passes we received at Epcot were actually good for several days. So yes, it does extend your return time. I had a couple in my pocket we didn't have time to use and when I looked at them on departure day I realized they were still good. So I gave them to another family at the resort.
 
This really depends on the CM at the entrance. Some CM's will give you one, some won't. Some will only do it if a child doesn't meet the height requirement. It wouldn't be something I planned on, it would be pixie dust if you got on for a scared child.

Actually, that's not correct. According to WDW policy, it is for the family of any child that wishes not to ride for any reason regardless of height. There are particular rides that have this option and it is not at the CM's discretion. I would suggest that you print a copy of the WDW official policy to politely show a CM if they suggest that they would not let you do this. I have a ten year old with epilepsy that can't ride some things and chooses not to ride others. I know it would be fine to leave some 10 year olds at the exit while we ride, however it would not be appropriate for her.
 
The problem is that the CMs weren't trained by the page on the site. They were trained that it is by height.

That page showed up at some point while the website was changing around. The info there had never been on the site before. It had always been height, and anything else was an exception.
 
Which is why you kindly show them their own policy, don't really see how they can argue with that.
 
I have a quick question. When making FP+ selections and using RS. Does the child riding have to have the FP+ selection to ride the first time? Trying to figure out how to ride soaring and test track on the same day. It will be my husband and I and our 2 daughters ages 7 & 2.

When using the tiered selections you can only pick soaring or test track so I was gonna have my husband go with my daughter first on TT then get RS for me later. Then have me and my daughter go on Soaring first and do RS for my hubbie later. How do we make this work using FP+?
 
I have a quick question. When making FP+ selections and using RS. Does the child riding have to have the FP+ selection to ride the first time? Trying to figure out how to ride soaring and test track on the same day. It will be my husband and I and our 2 daughters ages 7 & 2. When using the tiered selections you can only pick soaring or test track so I was gonna have my husband go with my daughter first on TT then get RS for me later. Then have me and my daughter go on Soaring first and do RS for my hubbie later. How do we make this work using FP+?

Book your husband and 7 year old for one ride and you for the other. Get RS passes at both rides, and the group who does not hold FP for that particular ride goes second with the RS pass. Your 2 year old does not have FP selections unless she turns 3 before you go.

With your groups make up I would not use RS at TT. Instead I would have 7 year old and whichever adult rides with her have the FP and other adult rides single rider. TT has a fairly long wait after the FP merge point, and if the adult riding solo doesn't care about making their vehicles there's no point in them going through the FP line. The adult riding single rider can use their FP for Soarin', getting a RS pass for 7 year old and other parent.

ETA: 7 year old could have a bonus ride on whichever ride she holds a FP for because of the RS pass, but sending 2 groups through Soarin' and TT can be pretty time consuming which is why personally I would go the single rider line route.
 


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