Family of five on 2 seater rides

[Madame]

My kids are excited to try some of the 'big kid' rides when we go in March - we avoided them last trip as we didn't know how well they would handle them. Everyone did fine on TT last visit, we've gone through videos on-line & everyone meets height requirements. We had my MIL along in August, but this time it will be myself DH DD 7 & DS 5 & 5.

I'm trying to figure out ride configurations & how we'll get everyone on. I know that technically my DD could ride in a separate seat, but she is timid & does NOT want to sit with a stranger... So...

1. Can we squeeze 1 AD & 2 5 year olds on BTMRR?

2. Can my DD & one of my DSs 5 ride together if I sit alone in front of them & my DH & other DS 5 sit behind - I'm thinking about EE & Splash & SDMT (any other 2 seaters? Kali?)

3. I am very confused if rider swap will work for us - we all meet the height requirements & I know it varies whether or not you are given a rider swap pass if everyone can technically ride.

Any help especially from families of 5 with young children would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Dr.Mickey]

Awesome family. We missed out on the girl, but we have son 10 and twin boys 7. We were at disney nearly 2 yearss ago when the twins were 6. We had a mix of adventurers in our group.

They will let an adult and two kids ride on BTMRR (at least when we did it).

We also had a 6 and 9 yo ride together on Expedition Everest with me behind them.

And we have never had any problems in any variation of ride swap. I see the threads about specific rules and prickly CMs, but that has never once been our experience. I guess it could happen, just not to us.

It should be an awesome trip.

 

[staceyeileen]

1. Can we squeeze 1 AD & 2 5 year olds on BTMRR?

Sure, youd probably fit. I'm pretty sure I've ridden with me, DH, and DS 4 in one row.

2. Can my DD & one of my DSs 5 ride together if I sit alone in front of them & my DH & other DS 5 sit behind - I'm thinking about EE & Splash & SDMT (any other 2 seaters? Kali?)

Yes, this is your best bet. I was at MK with 2 4-year olds and just myself. I sat them together on 7DMT and I rode in front of them.

3. I am very confused if rider swap will work for us - we all meet the height requirements & I know it varies whether or not you are given a rider swap pass if everyone can technically ride.

You don't meet the requirements for rider swap. First of all you all meet the height requirement as you said, and second of all you all WANT to ride! Rider swap if for when one child can't/won't ride at all.

 

[DAZY3BYZ]

We are a family of 5 and often had this issue over the years. Most rides at Disney are very accommodating to families of 5. BTMRR and Splash you can definitely fit 3 in a seat as long as one person is a child. EE and 7DMT are strictly 2 seaters though. Kali you sit in a large raft side by side so that's not an issue. We also never had issues with using rider swap if we had a rider that wouldn't/couldn't ride. I think for most rides you'll be fine and will just have to be careful on a few as to who sits alone or with a stranger. Have fun!!

 

[DebbieB]

They have gotten more strict with under 7. They must ride with someone 14 or older. I was at Toy Story Mania and they would not allow an 8 year old to ride with his 5 year old brother. 5 year old had to ride with mom and the 8 year old ride on the other side alone.

 

[rlovew]

At 7 Dwarves your DD will ride with a stranger- there might be a slight possibility they would let her ride in the seat in front of you with another child but it is highly unlikely and they fill up the entire ride every time- they divide between even and odd parties and so the car will be filled with odd parties and she will ride with the odd person out from another group.

At TSMM again she will be stuck riding by herself unless one of you does not want to play- if your 5 year olds are small enough they might allow them on a lap but I find that to be unlikely. TSMM does not however add a stranger into the seat- she simply sits alone.

At Buzz you can sit 3 in the car and just have an adult in the middle with the joystick instead of shooting.

Everest will have her sitting with a stranger as well as they will fill in with the single rider line. If you choose to ride RnR the same thing will happen.

Those are the only rides that have 2 distinct seats in each vehicle and you can't squish a 3rd person in that I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Raenstoirm]

They have gotten more strict with under 7. They must ride with someone 14 or older. I was at Toy Story Mania and they would not allow an 8 year old to ride with his 5 year old brother. 5 year old had to ride with mom and the 8 year old ride on the other side alone.

I was going to mention something similar. If two kids can ride together on the big rides (not talking barnstormer here) is really an up to the minute thing. According to the rules, the answer is a solid no. HOWEVER in a lot of circumstances the cms let it slide. I would prep your 7 year old to ride alone and if she can sit with a brother call it a bonus.

 

[DISNEYD14]

I agree, we noticed how strict they got this year. DS 7yr got to ride with his 10yr DD but DH always rode alone when we were faced with two seater issues.

 

[ORMom2Four]

We are locals, and they are strict lately about not letting children ride together. The official rule is, if they are under 7 they must ride with someone 14 or older. It's strongly enforced now.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

As a PP said, rider swap is for people who cannot ride or don't want to. You can't use it just to fix the seating configuration sadly. I have read that they will no longer let 5 year olds ride with another child, even on the tame rides like Dumbo, so I think you may need to start talking your 7 year old into possibly having to ride with a stranger. Maybe if she knows you will be in front of her and Dad behind, it will make her feel better. Fortunately there are not many rides that only seat 2. Good luck!

 

[disney92013]

Geez....I just realized I have this same issue....DD7....DS & DD 4....that just plain breaks my heart....I can't imagine sending DD7 alone with some stranger....boo! i guess there is going to be no way around it on some of these rides

 

[Reddog1134]

Geez....I just realized I have this same issue....DD7....DS & DD 4....that just plain breaks my heart....I can't imagine sending DD7 alone with some stranger....boo! i guess there is going to be no way around it on some of these rides

In a few years, when they are able to ride things, I'll have the same (nearly identical) problem.

DS will be 3 in December, DS and DD will be born in February.

 

[Madame]

Thanks for the responses. I thought I'd read that they were now enforcing the rules about young kids riding together. I guess if she's really resistant we'll just have to do the SB line 3 times if they all want to ride EE & SDMT.

Maybe if we FP those two, DH & I can take each DS one at a time then do SB for DD. This definitely puts a spanner in the works. If we were going at a slower time it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but it's going to be a pain!

Not to be controversial, but I think they should allow rider swap in these situations-there is no way I would allow my 7 year old to wait alone while we ride and then take her back though after either. I hate to think of all the single parents taking two small kids alone! So we're kinda stuck- I guess we'll just play it by ear.

 

[NYEmomma]

This thread makes me sad as we have DD's 5, 2 & 2.

I don't like roller coasters so I won't ride most of the things in question, but that would leave DH with 3 kids on his own... what the heck would we do in this case (once the youngest 2 are old enough to ride)??? Two of them have to ride with strangers?

(*grumble*.... this was one of the reasons why I only wanted 2 kids, lol!!!)

 

[lroger01]

I feel for all those with odd sized groups! Disney must feel that some of the ride stoppages (and waits during breakdowns) in the past have been caused by young kids panicking and trying to get out. At least with an older person with them, there is a better chance that won't happen.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Last spring, my DD, who was nearly ten years old but very short for her age, was asked how old she was every single time she rode with her older brother, even on Dumbo and Peter Pan, so yes, they have gotten very strict.

I understand it's frustrating. I also have three kids. My littlest was sad that she couldn't ride with a sibling, but it would have been really hard if my oldest had to ride alone at age seven or eight when he was much happier with his five-year-old sister. I do think it's worth asking if the kids can ride together or you can have a rider switch pass. Some CMs are still willing to bend the rules to accommodate difficult situations.

 

[staceyeileen]

I guess my situation was different because I was the only adult riding with the 2 4-year olds? They let the kids sit together. This was just in late September. Really ,what was the alternative - not letting us ride at all? Making one of the 4 year old sit by themselves?

You could probably get around this by saying you are 1 party of 2 and 1 party of 3.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

Not to be controversial, but I think they should allow rider swap in these situations-there is no way I would allow my 7 year old to wait alone while we ride and then take her back though after either. I hate to think of all the single parents taking two small kids alone! So we're kinda stuck- I guess we'll just play it by ear.

I don't think that would be a great solution. I think it is a much better one to just allow 2 children to ride together as long as there is an adult on the ride with them. It shouldn't have to be the same seat, just the same cycle, but that is just my opinion.

 

[becd]

I have a similar problem - DS-7, Ds-7, and DS-5. They will let my twins ride together, but my youngest always has to be with either me or my DH. When we were there in October DS-5 was finally tall enough for pretty much everything, but he always had to be with me or DH. The only exception was on Splash Mountain and Space Mountain (yes I realize it is a single seat but I did not even have to be in his car). Even on BTMRR he had to be with one of his parents.

 

[Zooshoveller]

I can't remember which ride, but we were in between a family of 5 and a family of 3. After some friendly chitchat, they let us move ahead and they became a group of 8 and paired up the kids. They sat mom/dad, child from 3/child from 5, mom/child, dad/child. The paired kids were about the same age (8 or 9?).