Just found out about Rider Swap change to digital returns

[LongLiveRafiki]

I also find it VERY interesting that this exact question was posed to the Disney's Mom's Panel (which is Disney run/maintained) and the Disney Mom clearly responded that group 2 did not need a fastpass. This was posted in late June 2018 - after the new electronic system was in place. I found this post pretty easily, if Disney was not going to abide by it, i'm sure this post would have been removed by now.

That question has been posted on mom's Panel numerous times with a plethora of different answers. The panelists answering those questions are independent contractors who have been given a free trip to Disney in return for answering questions on the website. Disney does not monitor the website or review the answers, and the panelists often have no idea what they are talking about. There's even a disclaimer at the bottom of the website about how their views do not reflect those of Disney and are not approved by Disney before being posted. The fact that you can search the same question and get opposite answers on there shows how unreliable they are. I really would not use them as a reliable source of information. Also, for the record, many of us have emailed, online chatted, or called Disney and asked about the rider swap/FP issue and gotten a variety of inconsistent answers. If you do a search on here, you can find our threads discussing the varied answers we've been given. All of this is to say that because there is no official PUBLICIZED policy, everybody from Disney customer service to mom's panelist to people on here and everyday guests interprets the policy in their own way. The ONLY thing that matters is how that particular CM working the specific ride at the exact time you ask for rider swap decides to handle it.

 

[PeacefullyContent]

Why stop at giving extra FPs to just families with small kids? How about those who take grandma/grandpa that can't do the "thrill" rides. Or those with certain disabilities/illnesses that can't ride certain things. Don't they deserve to have their dream vacation and be able to ride more to "justify paying thousands"? Most of the rides at WDW are family friendly that everyone can ride together anyway. Having small children is not some kind of burden or disadvantage that you should be entitled to more then any other family. We took our kids when they were young and experienced plenty of Disney magic, more so because we spent the time with our kids watching them enjoy the park. I really don't understand where this mentality of "I have small kids so you should all feel sorry for me and cater to us" comes from. I see it all the time. People act as if they invented having kids.

Lilsia, can i just tell you how much i LOVE your passion!

Actually i used kids/children as a generic term but i TOTALLY agree – for those taking care of anyone that cannot be safely left alone, those caretakers should have extra park perks. For the prices, everyone deserves to get as close to the dream as possible.
But, sorry, I keep it real 100% of the time and there are times when being a caretaker is indeed a burden and/or disadvantage - & to pretend those times don’t exist is a good way to end up in the looney bin! Ask a sick mom who caught a nasty ‘bug’ while her husband happens to be traveling whose head spins every time she tries to stand upright and still needs to be everything to her kids …. Or the daughter who can’t enjoy an evening out with coworkers because she has to rush home to take care of an elder, ailing parent who doesn’t even recognize her half the time. Thank GOD most in society realize - & empathize – that being a caretaker can be downright hard at times and are willing to put in special accommodations to make their lives easier. And caretakers that utilize while not abusing these special accommodations, doesn’t make them victims or entitled – it makes them grateful and smart! If you choose not to use any special accommodations available to you because of whatever situation you are in, good for you – to each her own, but please do not look down on those that do because I believe your irritation is misplaced. Blame Disney who makes strategic decisions on how to squeeze as much money from every type of family, in every type of situation, as possible. Because, I reiterate, park perks for caretakers would not be a thing if it didn’t financially make sense.
And hopefully this makes you feel a little bit better… someone actually calculated the numbers comparing a family w/no small children not using RS & a family w/small children using RS & taking advantage of the ‘extra’ FPs riding the same 6 rides – 3 that do RS & 3 that do not. In MK group 2 utilizing the extra FP’s saved only an additional 8 mins compared to group 1. In AK, group 2 took almost an hour longer even w/the extra FP’s. & this doesn’t even take into consideration how often parents need to stop for the rest room/snacks/accidents, etc.

So back to where we agree… most of the rides ARE family friendly so all of this is only relevant for a small portion of rides.

Is taking away the park perks for caretakers really that serious if they’re only saving an extra 8 mins over everyone else, at best, on a handful of rides??? (totally a rhetorical question)

 

[PeacefullyContent]

That question has been posted on mom's Panel numerous times with a plethora of different answers. The panelists answering those questions are independent contractors who have been given a free trip to Disney in return for answering questions on the website. Disney does not monitor the website or review the answers, and the panelists often have no idea what they are talking about. There's even a disclaimer at the bottom of the website about how their views do not reflect those of Disney and are not approved by Disney before being posted. The fact that you can search the same question and get opposite answers on there shows how unreliable they are. I really would not use them as a reliable source of information. Also, for the record, many of us have emailed, online chatted, or called Disney and asked about the rider swap/FP issue and gotten a variety of inconsistent answers. If you do a search on here, you can find our threads discussing the varied answers we've been given. All of this is to say that because there is no official PUBLICIZED policy, everybody from Disney customer service to mom's panelist to people on here and everyday guests interprets the policy in their own way. The ONLY thing that matters is how that particular CM working the specific ride at the exact time you ask for rider swap decides to handle it.

Agreed. Disney has not taken an official stance on this specific topic. And the responses given to this exact question has been all over the place whether you call the park, ask the mom's panel, or ask a CM while in the park. However, while the views of the mom's panel may not reflect disney's (just in case they say something inappropriate), prior to becoming an official mom's panelist, they are required to come to the resort for some form of training. And, upon becoming a panelist, disney is allowing them to answer policy & process questions on their behalf; in fact, throughout disney's website you will find where they refer guests to the mom's panel link. With that said, once in the park, referring to the mom's panel while explaining to the CM you planned your trip based on what you saw there, i can't imagine Disney not ruling in your favor.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Agreed. Disney has not taken an official stance on this specific topic. And the responses given to this exact question has been all over the place whether you call the park, ask the mom's panel, or ask a CM while in the park. However, while the views of the mom's panel may not reflect disney's (just in case they say something inappropriate), prior to becoming an official mom's panelist, they are required to come to the resort for some form of training. And, upon becoming a panelist, disney is allowing them to answer policy & process questions on their behalf; in fact, throughout disney's website you will find where they refer guests to the mom's panel link. With that said, once in the park, referring to the mom's panel while explaining to the CM you planned your trip based on what you saw there, i can't imagine Disney not ruling in your favor.

My point is that the mom's panel has numerous posts about rider swap and while some say Group 2 doesn't need FP, there are just as many that say Group 2 does need a FP. So frankly, your whole argument about how they must have proper training in regards to policy is flawed. My personal experience has always been that Group 2 did not need FP and I staunchly support the idea that Group 2 shouldn't have to have FP, but bringing up a response on the mom's panel to a ride CM is unlikely to do a darn thing.

 

[Lilsia]

Lilsia, can i just tell you how much i LOVE your passion!

Actually i used kids/children as a generic term but i TOTALLY agree – for those taking care of anyone that cannot be safely left alone, those caretakers should have extra park perks. For the prices, everyone deserves to get as close to the dream as possible.
But, sorry, I keep it real 100% of the time and there are times when being a caretaker is indeed a burden and/or disadvantage - & to pretend those times don’t exist is a good way to end up in the looney bin! Ask a sick mom who caught a nasty ‘bug’ while her husband happens to be traveling whose head spins every time she tries to stand upright and still needs to be everything to her kids …. Or the daughter who can’t enjoy an evening out with coworkers because she has to rush home to take care of an elder, ailing parent who doesn’t even recognize her half the time. Thank GOD most in society realize - & empathize – that being a caretaker can be downright hard at times and are willing to put in special accommodations to make their lives easier. And caretakers that utilize while not abusing these special accommodations, doesn’t make them victims or entitled – it makes them grateful and smart! If you choose not to use any special accommodations available to you because of whatever situation you are in, good for you – to each her own, but please do not look down on those that do because I believe your irritation is misplaced. Blame Disney who makes strategic decisions on how to squeeze as much money from every type of family, in every type of situation, as possible. Because, I reiterate, park perks for caretakers would not be a thing if it didn’t financially make sense.
And hopefully this makes you feel a little bit better… someone actually calculated the numbers comparing a family w/no small children not using RS & a family w/small children using RS & taking advantage of the ‘extra’ FPs riding the same 6 rides – 3 that do RS & 3 that do not. In MK group 2 utilizing the extra FP’s saved only an additional 8 mins compared to group 1. In AK, group 2 took almost an hour longer even w/the extra FP’s. & this doesn’t even take into consideration how often parents need to stop for the rest room/snacks/accidents, etc.

So back to where we agree… most of the rides ARE family friendly so all of this is only relevant for a small portion of rides.

Is taking away the park perks for caretakers really that serious if they’re only saving an extra 8 mins over everyone else, at best, on a handful of rides??? (totally a rhetorical question)

I think you are confusing being a caretaker for someone with medical issues, with being a parent. I KNOW that caring for someone is difficult. Up until 3 months ago, I was the caregiver for my 92 yo grandmother, while working and taking care of my own family. It is beyond the hardest thing that I have had to do in life. Compared to the last few years, having small children at WDW is a breeze. In fact, I took my kids solo when they were toddlers more then once. Again, you are missing my point. The point is not that it is not hard, it's that one person's problems or hardships are not more important then the next person's. I can almost guarantee you that a good percentage of people that visit WDW have some kind of hardship. And having small children is at the bottom of the list of any "hardship". I say that because I don't consider having kids as a hardship. It is not like they are some kind of illness or injury. Yes, kids are hard, but not a hardship. And I am not unsympathetic to those with hardships, again, that does not include being a parent. What I don't like is people who feel like they are owed something because they have kids. If you can't ride space mountain this trip because you chose to have kids, that is how it goes. Grown ups should be able to rationalize this and not make it out to be a big deal. Enjoy this time in your life where your children are small.

 

[tjmw2727]

Can't agree with the above post more -

When you have kids you just can't do and see everything (actually no guest can ) but I just don't see it as a problem. We know this going in when we buy tickets as the height requirements are easy to find and plan for and we know our travel party. The planner has to pick and choose those 3 FP+ per day wisely. For us its definitely different when Nana joins us but we would all trade FOP for any day at any park on any ride with Nana

A family of 4 with one child who doesn't meet the height requirement can choose to get all 4 FP+ for a height restricted ride and use RS allowing the 2 parents to ride and the rider to ride twice; once with each parent. This does mean the non rider waits for 2 full cycles without riding. That is the planners choice not Disney's.

Alternately you can choose to get FP for one parent and the rider for a height restricted ride while the other parent takes the non rider on another attraction. Yes this may mean both parents don't get to ride all the height restricted rides but each parent does get 1-1- time with each child. That was a trade off we made without even thinking about it. One example DH loved space mt so he rode that with older dd while I did something with younger and I like splash so we switched, win - win imho. Riding Peter Pan with my youngest for her first time was better than any thrill ride ever.

If you take a chance and book 2/2 with hopes of using digital rider swap for the 2nd parent it seems like you will be ok "most of the time" but I would be prepared to be denied and if an attraction is a must do I would book FP+ for everyone. (Maybe non rider gets a special treat for being a good sport?)

Otherwise in real world park time it will come down to the CM working the attraction at the time how they handle Digital RS and then maybe the "lead CM" if you decide to escalate. Anything read online anywhere will not influence their decision as their job is at stake. Then you have to decide how much time you want to take out of your day to go to Guest Relations and complain that a CM didn't do what you read they might do on a website (even the Moms panel). In the meantime you could have been having fun with family in the parks.....

Finally in my extensive experience there is no "digital RS" for guests who meet the height requirements but can't or don't want to ride, this includes those who can't ride for medical reasons as well a guests who may be just slightly over the height restriction but are fearful. Occasionally a CM "may" grant one but consider that pixie dust, the rest of the time since the guest can wait in the queue they will be asked to do so and then the riders / non riders will switch prior to boarding in whatever manner the CM at that attractions advises.