Get the rider swap or go straight to Joy & Sadness?

[OFF2NVRLAND]

We will be at Epcot May 28th and my original plan was to split up in two groups at rope drop because we have one toddler that is not tall enough for TT.

We have TT fastpasses for all of the adults later in the day, but with Soarin' closed if would be nice if everyone could ride TT twice.

Would it put us too far behind in the Joy & Sadness line if we went to get a rider swap pass and then head to Character Spot? I'm not sure if it would be worth it. Would they give us four rider swap passes or is that too many? I've never used rider swap but it would be for 3 adults and 1 child. I'm not even sure if that's allowed. TIA

 

[wilkeliza]

You only get 1 rider swap per a too short child. Each rider swap is for up to 3 people.

 

[wilkeliza]

Adding in that if you do not plan to ride TT right then you will not get a rider swap as group 1 will need to go through the actual line and then group 2 (group staying with too short child) will get the rider swap.

 

[Dis703]

Only 3 people can ride with a rider swap, but like pp mentioned you also can't get one unless the first group (or at least one person) rides first. They have to get in line in order to get the rider swap pass.

 

[OFF2NVRLAND]

You only get 1 rider swap per a too short child. Each rider swap is for up to 3 people.

Adding in that if you do not plan to ride TT right then you will not get a rider swap as group 1 will need to go through the actual line and then group 2 (group staying with too short child) will get the rider swap.

Well, that won't work then. On another thread I thought I read where people had paper passes that they even used on other park days. Looks like I will be heading to Character Spot. Maybe we can try again that night if we want a second ride. Thanks!

 

[CMNJ]

We will be at Epcot May 28th and my original plan was to split up in two groups at rope drop because we have one toddler that is not tall enough for TT.

We have TT fastpasses for all of the adults later in the day, but with Soarin' closed if would be nice if everyone could ride TT twice.

Would it put us too far behind in the Joy & Sadness line if we went to get a rider swap pass and then head to Character Spot? I'm not sure if it would be worth it. Would they give us four rider swap passes or is that too many? I've never used rider swap but it would be for 3 adults and 1 child. I'm not even sure if that's allowed. TIA

We went to Epcot on May 1st. With Soarin down huge crowds headed to TT at rope drop. We rode TT then headed over to Joy and Sadness. We got there around 9:30 (because a couple members of our party insisted on playing with the car stuff at the end of TT) and the wait was already 40-50 min so we saw Baymax instead. If you plan to just go to the entrance with the group that is riding and then immediately head to Joy and Sadness (once they enter the line) it might not be too bad. If you meant to wait until they go through the line and all walk over together I suspect you will find a much longer wait like we did. I checked Joy and Sadness a few times when we were at Epcot and the line was always longer than the one I saw at 9:30 when they said it was 40-50 min

 

[CMNJ]

Well, that won't work then. On another thread I thought I read where people had paper passes that they even used on other park days. Looks like I will be heading to Character Spot. Maybe we can try again that night if we want a second ride. Thanks!

You do get a paper pass BUT only once the first group goes through the line. When you show the too short rider you are issued a lanyard at the entrance that is exchanged for the paper fast pass (good for up to 3 riders until the end of the current month) near the end of the line. They have to do it this way because people would go up show the short child and get the swap pass then walk away and come back a few minutes later to use it-the point of the system is to not make the party with a small child wait twice not to give unlimited fast passes to those with small children. If only those not riding TT at rope drop want to meet Joy and Sadness your plan will work as they can leave as soon as the cast member see the too short child and gives those riding the lanyard. If everyone wants to meet Joy and Sadness then you may want to try later that night like you suggested or use the single rider line (assuming the child riding is 7 or older and you don't mind riding with strangers)

 

[wilkeliza]

Well, that won't work then. On another thread I thought I read where people had paper passes that they even used on other park days. Looks like I will be heading to Character Spot. Maybe we can try again that night if we want a second ride. Thanks!

You do get a paper but you only get it if Group 1 is riding right then. You also get 1 pass and will not get another when you turn in the pass. So yes Group 2 can come back and ride it later but if everyone wants to see Joy and Sadness before riding Test Track it won't work as Group 1 actually needs to be riding when you get the pass.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

You can still all ride TT twice if you all have FP+ for it: have two (or one) adult(s) ride with a FP and show the too small child to get a swap pass then have the second group ride with FP+ and get a second rider swap pass by showing the child at the entrance again

 

[OFF2NVRLAND]

We went to Epcot on May 1st. With Soarin down huge crowds headed to TT at rope drop. We rode TT then headed over to Joy and Sadness. We got there around 9:30 (because a couple members of our party insisted on playing with the car stuff at the end of TT) and the wait was already 40-50 min so we saw Baymax instead. If you plan to just go to the entrance with the group that is riding and then immediately head to Joy and Sadness (once they enter the line) it might not be too bad. If you meant to wait until they go through the line and all walk over together I suspect you will find a much longer wait like we did. I checked Joy and Sadness a few times when we were at Epcot and the line was always longer than the one I saw at 9:30 when they said it was 40-50 min

That's what I was afraid of. I guess I will stick to my plan of going straight there. I would hate to wait in line that long first thing in the morning. Thanks!

You do get a paper but you only get it if Group 1 is riding right then. You also get 1 pass and will not get another when you turn in the pass. So yes Group 2 can come back and ride it later but if everyone wants to see Joy and Sadness before riding Test Track it won't work as Group 1 actually needs to be riding when you get the pass.

Oh yes, Group 1 would be riding then. They have no interest in the meet and greets. We are a group of 10 with 1 being too short. So if we only get 1 rider swap it wouldn't be worth it to us. No one would want to ride alone. She is 39 1/2 inches so this is the last trip to have to worry about it though. It will be nice to not have to break up into groups for the 40 in rides

 

[TinkLoverSam]

That's what I was afraid of. I guess I will stick to my plan of going straight there. I would hate to wait in line that long first thing in the morning. Thanks!



Oh yes, Group 1 would be riding then. They have no interest in the meet and greets. We are a group of 10 with 1 being too short. So if we only get 1 rider swap it wouldn't be worth it to us. No one would want to ride alone. She is 39 1/2 inches so this is the last trip to have to worry about it though. It will be nice to not have to break up into groups for the 40 in rides

Each swap pass is good for up to 3 ppl

 

[OFF2NVRLAND]

Each swap pass is good for up to 3 ppl

Sorry! I misread! This is what happens when I try to read with my 4 yr old in my ear, lol. Then we can do rider swap. I still think I will go straight to Joy & Sadness because of wait times, but we may try to do standby that night with rider swap. Thanks!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Sorry! I misread! This is what happens when I try to read with my 4 yr old in my ear, lol. Then we can do rider swap. I still think I will go straight to Joy & Sadness because of wait times, but we may try to do standby that night with rider swap. Thanks!

You should see me type when my 10 month old is trying to steal my phone!

 

[Dis703]

That's what I was afraid of. I guess I will stick to my plan of going straight there. I would hate to wait in line that long first thing in the morning. Thanks!



Oh yes, Group 1 would be riding then. They have no interest in the meet and greets. We are a group of 10 with 1 being too short. So if we only get 1 rider swap it wouldn't be worth it to us. No one would want to ride alone. She is 39 1/2 inches so this is the last trip to have to worry about it though. It will be nice to not have to break up into groups for the 40 in rides

Is that 39 1/2 with shoes or without? I was not expecting my 4 year old to hit the 40 inch mark on our last trip. He was 39 1/4 when measured at home. But he has sandals that added 3/4 inch to his height and sure enough he hit the bar for the 40 inch rides at Disney.

The rider swap is good for up to 3 people so no one would have to ride alone.

 

[OFF2NVRLAND]

Is that 39 1/2 with shoes or without? I was not expecting my 4 year old to hit the 40 inch mark on our last trip. He was 39 1/4 when measured at home. But he has sandals that added 3/4 inch to his height and sure enough he hit the bar for the 40 inch rides at Disney.

The rider swap is good for up to 3 people so no one would have to ride alone.

The last time I measured her was around a month ago and it was 39 1/2 with shoes. I'm going to measure her again before we leave to see what she is now. I know she wouldn't like any of the mountains, but I wish she wish could ride Star Tours and TT.

I'm glad to hear the rider swap is good for 3 people. I'm changing some of my plans now so we can use rider swap for the mountains that she isn't riding

You should see me type when my 10 month old is trying to steal my phone!

I know what you mean!

 

[amerikiwiroo]

Our experience was that you had to show the too short child at ride's line entrance and request the pass. Sometimes they gave us the paper pass at line entrance (but watched to ensure group 1 entered the line) and other times, they gave a lanyard to a member of group 1 that was then exchanged at ride boarding for the paper rider swap pass. The passes were all good for 3 people to return any time in the next couple of days.

You can have up to 6 people in your group ride twice without having them ride at rope drop. Group 1 rides with Fastpass and gets a rider swap. Group 2 arrives later with fastpasses and also gets a rider swap. So my advice if all 10 adults want two trips is to send 4 to TT at rope drop while the rest of your group goes to character spot. Then get the rider swaps with the fast passes later in the day. All 10 adults get one ride with a fastpass, 6 adults ride a second time on child swap passes, 4 adults get their second ride from riding Rope Drop and you still get DD to character spot at rope drop.

Be aware though that if she's borderline height, a CM may measure her before issuing the rider swap. Surprisingly this didn't happen to us personally as DS looked small--but we witnessed it several times.

As for height, my son was 38.5" at the doctors and at home with shoes on 3 day before our Disney trip, yet hit all the 40" rides at Disney. He missed out on rides the first two day as we just assumed he was too short and didn't try. It wasn't until DH had a morning solo with DS that he decided to measure him at Splash "just in case" and discovered our son had been pixie dusted with height during the trip. They even pulled him off Splash after boarding to measure him a third time as he just didn't look tall enough but he hit the bar every time.