For those who have used Rider Swap....

[HollyMD]

How much longer does it take you to get through the parks? We have an 11 yr old and a 9mo old(when we go) and will be using RS, taking turns. I know this will take us a bit longer, but trying to anticipate approximately HOW much longer.

 

[2Gma]

It shouldn't take double the amount of time if that's what you are wondering. What basically happens is that you all arrive at the attraction together. Tell CM at ride entrance you need to do rider swap, they give you a fastpass/rider swap ticket. First parent and 11 yr old go through regular standby line and then go on ride. When they come out 2nd parent uses FP line (11 yr old could ride with 2nd parent again). So essentially you wait in the standby line once and fastness line one for each ride. How long it takes depends on how fast the line is moving for each ride.

From my experience, at times it does seem to take awhile. Sometimes I wait outside the ride and sometimes we all stand together in standby, 1st parent gets on ride and 2nd parents goes through chicken exit per CM request and then 2nd parent goes back through FP line once 1st parent/child is finished. It is what it is. It was the only way DH and I could both experience some rides our younger child could not.

 

[mrzrich]

Was at AK today and saw that on EE they were not giving the rider swap ticket right at the ride entrance. They were giving a green lanyard, like the red ones that they give to calculate wait time. The first rider doesn't get the switch pass until right before they board. I guess there was some abuse, and this prevents people from saying that they are going to ride just to get the switch pass.

 

[tjmw2727]

I guess you have to add the time it takes the 2nd parent to ride via FP+ to your plans but its hard to say.

One thing to note is that the 2nd rider doesn't have to ride right away as the rider swap is always good for the day and sometimes longer (expiration will be printed on the RS pass). You could take the baby to do something else, diaper change, snack, parade etc and ride again anytime that day (or sometimes that week or month) and return to ride when it is convenient. So yes it does take some extra time to ride but the nice thing is you can both experience the ride with your older child and the other parent gets 1-1 time with the baby.

 

[tjmw2727]

Was at AK today and saw that on EE they were not giving the rider swap ticket right at the ride entrance. They were giving a green lanyard, like the red ones that they give to calculate wait time. The first rider doesn't get the switch pass until right before they board. I guess there was some abuse, and this prevents people from saying that they are going to ride just to get the switch pass.

They were doing this at Soarin last fall as well and I think it is a good idea to make sure the first party is actually riding before giving out the swap. This prevents folks from just walking up to get the pass without actually switching.

 

[krm222]

We would try to coordinate with some other activity: my son and hubby went on BTRR while I gave my daughter lunch. I took my son to meet Baloo and King Louie while hubs rode EE (son didn't want to go again). We'd split rides too: Tiki Room for my daughter and 7DMT for son.

The passes are good for a few days so we'd exhaust whatever FP+ we had then save the swap passes for later in the day.

 

[HollyMD]

Great! Thank you all so much for your responses.

 

[tjmw2727]

Great! Thank you all so much for your responses.

Wanted to add - that some attractions take longer than others even with FP+ especially the rides with pre shows. Maybe it would help you to know that say RnRC always takes what I consider a long time with FP+ I don't ride that one any more but my kids do and it seems like I wait forever!

As I recall EE is fast with FP+ as is BTMR and Space can go either way depending on where they merge with the standby line.

EE, RnRC and TT have single rider lines, we avoid RnRC single as it can be really long and they don't always give you an estimate. The time estimate on TT is usually close and this can save time as you avoid the design a car (although you may want to do this) and you can see the EE line from outside and this is usually pretty quick.

 

[tinkerbella16]

Wanted to add - that some attractions take longer than others even with FP+ especially the rides with pre shows. Maybe it would help you to know that say RnRC always takes what I consider a long time with FP+ I don't ride that one any more but my kids do and it seems like I wait forever!

As I recall EE is fast with FP+ as is BTMR and Space can go either way depending on where they merge with the standby line.

EE, RnRC and TT have single rider lines, we avoid RnRC single as it can be really long and they don't always give you an estimate. The time estimate on TT is usually close and this can save time as you avoid the design a car (although you may want to do this) and you can see the EE line from outside and this is usually pretty quick.

I agree, RnRC takes forever with the Single Rider line, because they wait for a spot to open up and take one person at a time.

Great responses! We'll be using the Rider Swap when we go since we'll have an 18 month old with us. I don't know why the way it works was really confusing me lol. Never had to use it before.