FASTPASS & Baby Swap?s WDW vs DLR

[thesoldtrain]

A question for those of you who frequent WDW.....we are going to be going in July to WDW for our first trip and traveling witha 5 yr old and 1 yr old takes a lot of planning, as I am sure you all know! My questions are regarding how to logistically use Fastpass and Baby Swap at WDW versus Disneyland, where we go often!

At Disneyland, a little known (or maybe not so little known fact) is that they allow you to use your Fastpasses even PAST the time indicated on the ticket. Example: Your time is 12:30-1:30 but you don't make it until 5 pm. They still let you ride (although this is not stated publicly for sure!). Is this the same at WDW or are they strict with times?

Also, we take advantage of rider switch OFTEN at DLR. We go up with our baby and they will give us a paper ticket that allows myself or my husband to ride (good for 2 people) after one of us waits in line at the queue. The other parent waits OUTSIDE the queue with the little one (or goes for food, what have you) and then gets to enter the Fastpass line with the paper. Is this how WDW works, too? Unofficial Guide says that in order to baby swap, the entire family waits in line and then they switch where the ride loads? Doesn't sound like too much fun with the baby, so I am hoping they use the Rider Switch pass, too.

Thanks for your time in letting us know how WDW works!
Jeanette

 

[madhouserobey]

used baby swap in mgm on rockand roll rollercoaster last nov and the whole family did not have to stand in line.i went first while dw took kids to find to cm to trade pins with .when i got off and found her she went right to fp line with ticket the cm had given us when i first got on. hope this helps

 

[brunoflipper]

If you go get both fastpasses and babyswap tickets for important rides... (Now I realize I will be harassed for this but oh well)... If you and your husband want to ride and the five yo wants to as well, walk up to the CM (all of you including the stroller, and request the babyswap ticket)... Then go park the stroller, if you want to ride the ride right then, go using the fastpasses... The other parent can then go again with the 5 yo or, as we do, hang on to the swap ticket and come back later when you want to ride...

Or if you don't have fastpasses (here is where I will get hassled) after you get your swap ticket and you are about to park the stroller "so you can wait in line" you simply disappear into the crowd and ride something else that you have a fastpass or swap ticket for... You can return to the original ride you had a swap for later... It is underhanded but it works and you can repeat the process over and over without standing in any lines... As an aside, some rides (most of the MK ones and Epcot) have generic babyswap tickets that had no time or date markings (MGM rides do expire) so check when you get them because you use them throughout your trip... You can also do this when the 5 yo has no intention of riding the ride but you or your husband do, just act like you are going swap... Think what you will but we figured this out on our trip a couple of weeks ago and rode more rides in 10 days than we had ever been able to before... It may not be fair but it works... It works especially well when one of the adults has no desire to do the ride... Oh yeah, the swap tickets are good for you plus two other people...

So the short answer is not only do they not check to see if the entire family waited in line, they don't check to see if anyone waits in line...

Also, I have never been denied for an expired fastpass...

As an aside, at IOA they make you wait at the exits of the rides in a babyswap area so you can't pull stunts like this...

Flamesuit on...

 

[thesoldtrain]

Oh my, it looks like I may have opened up a ca of worms, but THANK YOU for the advice!

Jeanette