I'm confused about rider swap

[jani3]

I thought the child swap is to be used at that time...adult 1 rides while adult 2 waits on side with child, ride comes back then adult 2 rides while adult 1 stays on side with child. I just saw another thread about receiving a paper pass to come back later? What is that?

 

[Alesia]

I thought the child swap is to be used at that time...adult 1 rides while adult 2 waits on side with child, ride comes back then adult 2 rides while adult 1 stays on side with child. I just saw another thread about receiving a paper pass to come back later? What is that?

You do not have to use it right away.

http://www.easywdw.com/forums/showthread.php?21115-All-about-the-Rider-Switch-Pass-(aka-Rider-Swap)

 

[BrianL]

I am no expert on rider swap, but Disney doesn't allow those not tall enough to ride into a line queue for an attraction at all. They will not let the the child enter, much less wait at the platform. You get the paper pass at the front to take care of that, and the party with the child must remain outside the attraction.

 

[dlavender]

We used it 3 or 4 times a few weeks ago. They just hand you a pass that looks like a legacy FP. There is no return time. When you enter the ride, just tell the FP CM or other CM that you want to do a child swap. They hand you a pass good for up to three people. You ride the ride, and return whenever you want and three people use the pass to go on the ride using the FP line. Works out amazingly.

 

[Kathryn777]

Yes, exactly what dlavender said. Occasionally we had to take a lanyard to the front of the line to turn in for a paper pass.

 

[wilkeliza]

Also just remember that you have to have the too short child (or sometimes tall enough but under 7) child with you to get the pass. The CM must actually see the child to get the pass.

 

[HopperFan]

On another discussion location a question came up about a family being given a green lanyard card right after someone got one of those red card lanyards we often are given to update wait times. A CM that works at the specific popular attraction responded that they are currently testing this new method of Rider Swap at their location. I don't want to post how the guests are gaming the system but they said they are and it's rampant enough, with enough confrontations, that the CM poster said they are looking at changing the process. It matches what PP stated above they experienced. Who knows if it continues and if so, will the return process change as well.

 

[dlavender]

Also just remember that you have to have the too short child (or sometimes tall enough but under 7) child with you to get the pass. The CM must actually see the child to get the pass.

We never had a CM confirm anything. I waited under the people mover track by SM, for example, while my wife and DD 7 went through the FP line. I asked my wife if they asked where we were, and she said no. Just pointing out that they don't hassle you. Some people maybe abuse this, but I'm glad that they don't make the whole party walk up there, and then go sit somewhere...

 

[wilkeliza]

We never had a CM confirm anything. I waited under the people mover track by SM, for example, while my wife and DD 7 went through the FP line. I asked my wife if they asked where we were, and she said no. Just pointing out that they don't hassle you. Some people maybe abuse this, but I'm glad that they don't make the whole party walk up there, and then go sit somewhere...

You got extremely lucky then. The proper procedure is to approach with the non-rider and ask for the ticket. I know that from being an ex-attractions CM as well as numerous reports here of people being denied because the baby wasn't with them.

 

[dlavender]

You got extremely lucky then. The proper procedure is to approach with the non-rider and ask for the ticket. I know that from being an ex-attractions CM as well as numerous reports here of people being denied because the baby wasn't with them.

I guess we did, then. This was our first time using the system, so our one time experience may not reflect the norm. (sounds like a nice disclaimer).

I will point out that I was actually waiting with our DD 1, and DS 3. We were not gaming the system....

 

[HopperFan]

We never had a CM confirm anything. I waited under the people mover track by SM, for example, while my wife and DD 7 went through the FP line. I asked my wife if they asked where we were, and she said no. Just pointing out that they don't hassle you. Some people maybe abuse this, but I'm glad that they don't make the whole party walk up there, and then go sit somewhere...

You got extremely lucky then. The proper procedure is to approach with the non-rider and ask for the ticket. I know that from being an ex-attractions CM as well as numerous reports here of people being denied because the baby wasn't with them.

Agree with wilkeliza.

My DS has a DAS. We have to approach the CMs just like child swap, wait our turn and go through the process. I can't tell you how many times I have seen the CM tell the guest they must go get the other rider and the child for them to see when they are not there before issuing a pass.

PS The people gaming the system do have a child there that will not be riding....

 

[wilkeliza]

Agree with wilkeliza.

My DS has a DAS. We have to approach the CMs just like child swap, wait our turn and go through the process. I can't tell you how many times I have seen the CM tell the guest they must go get the other rider and the child for them to see when they are not there before issuing a pass.

PS The people gaming the system do have a child there that will not be riding....

The biggest "game" to the system is people who have babies or toddlers who get multiple rider swaps. So after they get their first pass and exit the queue after a few minutes. Then they go up after a swap and do the same thing. They then use their passes to go through the FP queue. I think that is why they have the green cards now because it ensures you wait the entire length of the queue.

I know at SDMT for awhile they were making sure everyone had a FP if they tried to get riderswap for the FP line and would tell them you can go on the FP and they will wait. If the time goes up they can come up to me and get the pass at that point. People were pissed. I don't think they are doing that any more but a lot of people are also double and triple dipping by getting rider swap from FP waits when only 1 parent actually had a FP for that ride to begin with.

 

[bumbershoot]

We never had a CM confirm anything. I waited under the people mover track by SM, for example, while my wife and DD 7 went through the FP line. I asked my wife if they asked where we were, and she said no. Just pointing out that they don't hassle you. Some people maybe abuse this, but I'm glad that they don't make the whole party walk up there, and then go sit somewhere...

That is abnormal and not the actual procedure. I bet the CM helping you had happened to notice the family with you and made an exception. Don't expect it in the future.

 

[Ava]

CMs can also deny a rider swap pass if the standby wait is short. We had it happen at Splash in August when the SB wait was posted at 10 minutes. The CM refused to give us a swap pass and said they don't issue them until the SB wait is at least 15 minutes. I was really annoyed because Splash is such a long attraction at 18 minutes on-ride time that by the time the first group gets off the SB wait is bound to have jumped up a lot, especially at ~10am in August. Which I tried explaining to the CM, but he wouldn't budge. DW decided to just skip the ride and the rest of us went SB, so DD6 only got to ride once.

ETA: I'm all for cutting down on abuse of the system (people getting the pass then jumping out of line to go through the FP line instead, etc) but it also sounds like they are trying to cut down on people using the passes later in the day or even on a subsequent day. I wouldn't be surprised if they at least start making the passes only good on the day issued, if not giving specific return windows similar to how they issue return times for the DAS card.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

We never had a CM confirm anything. I waited under the people mover track by SM, for example, while my wife and DD 7 went through the FP line. I asked my wife if they asked where we were, and she said no. Just pointing out that they don't hassle you. Some people maybe abuse this, but I'm glad that they don't make the whole party walk up there, and then go sit somewhere...

Were your wife and daughter using the rider swap or were they getting the rider swap pass? I ask because you said that they went through the FP line which makes me think that they were using the rider swap pass. I was never asked to show my daughter when I returned to use the rider swap pass, but did have to have her with me when I collected the pass.

 

[jwolfpack]

You are given a rider swap paper ticket -- either at the ride entrance or somewhere through the queue via the lanyard method discussed above -- to use for 3 people, at any time before the end of the month. I think its great that you don't have to use the paper ticket immediately. Several times on our recent trip, my 2 year old and I would show up at a ride with my husband and older kids to get the paper fastpass, then we'd go do something else. It would have rarely been convenient (and definitely not very fun or productive) for us to have to wait around for them to finish and then for the 2 yo to have to wait around again while I rode with the older kids (even if it was through the fp line). We would save our rider swap tickets for later in the day or later in the trip -- to use whenever was convenient or whenever made sense for us. I hope that abusers don't ruin it for everyone.

 

[mrsdrmorgan]

I had a "friend" that just got back from WDW tell me how much they loved the rider switch system, because her husband figured out how to game the system and they were able to take their 5 year old on SDMT 5-6 times with no wait. They would get a rider switch, wait in line for just a few minutes until no one was looking, and then hop out of line, claiming that the little guy had to use the potty. They would then go ride another ride for a few minutes and then hop back in the FP+ line to ride.

"Um… that's really not how that's supposed to work…" I said. "Well… it worked great for us!!" I just shook my head and walked away.

 

[wilkeliza]

I had a "friend" that just got back from WDW tell me how much they loved the rider switch system, because her husband figured out how to game the system and they were able to take their 5 year old on SDMT 5-6 times with no wait. They would get a rider switch, wait in line for just a few minutes until no one was looking, and then hop out of line, claiming that the little guy had to use the potty. They would then go ride another ride for a few minutes and then hop back in the FP+ line to ride.

"Um… that's really not how that's supposed to work…" I said. "Well… it worked great for us!!" I just shook my head and walked away.

And that right there is why they are testing the you don't get a rider swap pass until you have gone through the whole line system.

 

[jwolfpack]

I think its a fine idea to make you wait for the ticket until you get through the line. People that are using it honestly have no need for the ticket until the first group in their party exits the ride.

 

[dlavender]

Were your wife and daughter using the rider swap or were they getting the rider swap pass? I ask because you said that they went through the FP line which makes me think that they were using the rider swap pass. I was never asked to show my daughter when I returned to use the rider swap pass, but did have to have her with me when I collected the pass.

DW and DD7 were using their FP+ to ride SM. When they went to the FP line, they said that we were doing a rider switch. They gave her the ticket. Later, myself and DD7 went on the ride using the pass. Maybe she pointed to us, and didn't mention that to me. Either way, the system is easy to use and works great.

I had a "friend" that just got back from WDW tell me how much they loved the rider switch system, because her husband figured out how to game the system and they were able to take their 5 year old on SDMT 5-6 times with no wait. They would get a rider switch, wait in line for just a few minutes until no one was looking, and then hop out of line, claiming that the little guy had to use the potty. They would then go ride another ride for a few minutes and then hop back in the FP+ line to ride.

My sister said she did this. She only did it once. I said, you are are going to ruin it for the rest of us....

Actually, come to think of it, my avatar is of myself and DD1 waiting for DW and DD7 during our switch.