Maxpass and rider swap questions

[Last91]

Hi, we are travelling to DL in May. There will be 7 of us total (5 adults, 1 seven year old and a 12 month old). We are planning on purchasing Maxpass but are confused on how it works with Rider Swap... Does everyone riding the attraction need to have a FP in order to receive the Rider Swap pass? Or do you just need a FP for the first 'party' of riders and then the other 'party' gets a Rider Swap via CM at FP entrance and then proceed through the FP line? And how many people can be included in the second party of riders?

Thanks!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

A search brought up this thread which answers a lot of your questions (keep in mind MP has gone up in price since this thread was posted): Fast/max pass and rider switch.

 

[sunshiinedaydream]

I emailed Disney and their response to me was that all riders whether first or second party need an FP to use FP with RS. However it seems to be whatever the CM at the line says at the time

 

[Last91]

I emailed Disney and their response to me was that all riders whether first or second party need an FP to use FP with RS. However it seems to be whatever the CM at the line says at the time

Hm. This seems to be my confusion... Some say everybody needs one, some say only the first party. If the former is the official rule, it just seems silly to even offer Rider Swap in conjunction to FPs then? Seems like more work to have to go up to CM and get it all sorted than it is to just get FPs for everybody and use them for 2 different groups. It would really only be beneficial for those using Standby..

I guess we will have to play it by ear when we get there, it seems.

 

[dieumeye]

Hm. This seems to be my confusion... Some say everybody needs one, some say only the first party. If the former is the official rule, it just seems silly to even offer Rider Swap in conjunction to FPs then? Seems like more work to have to go up to CM and get it all sorted than it is to just get FPs for everybody and use them for 2 different groups. It would really only be beneficial for those using Standby..

I guess we will have to play it by ear when we get there, it seems.

Here’s the idea: mom, dad, kid, baby. The kid is tall enough to ride but the baby is not. Mom, dad, kid get FP for the ride. Mom and kid ride, dad stays with baby. Then they swap so dad rides with kid, and mom stays with baby.

Without rider swap, Someone in that scenario would have to ride alone. With rider swap, everyone gets to ride with a family member, there’s always someone to watch baby, and as a bonus the kid gets to ride twice. That’s the basic idea behind rider swap.

You could not do this with FP alone, because, say, dad and kid ride while mom waits with baby, that leaves mom alone with a FP and no one to ride with.

Technically, everyone in the FP queue needs a FP, whether they are doing rider swap or not. Is it the case that sometimes CMs allow someone to “sneak in“ for one reason or another? Yes. But that is not something you should count on.

I don’t know why, but there are some things at Disneyland that seem to have very ill-defined rules. You’ll be told one thing on the phone, but then day to day, or even attraction to attraction, the rules are different. FP Rider Swap combo is one of those things. YMMV.

 

[sunshiinedaydream]

Here’s the idea: mom, dad, kid, baby. The kid is tall enough to ride but the baby is not. Mom, dad, kid get FP for the ride. Mom and kid ride, dad stays with baby. Then they swap so dad rides with kid, and mom stays with baby.

Without rider swap, Someone in that scenario would have to ride alone. With rider swap, everyone gets to ride with a family member, there’s always someone to watch baby, and as a bonus the kid gets to ride twice. That’s the basic idea behind rider swap.

You could not do this with FP alone, because, say, dad and kid ride while mom waits with baby, that leaves mom alone with a FP and no one to ride with.

Technically, everyone in the FP queue needs a FP, whether they are doing rider swap or not. Is it the case that sometimes CMs allow someone to “sneak in“ for one reason or another? Yes. But that is not something you should count on.

I don’t know why, but there are some things at Disneyland that seem to have very ill-defined rules. You’ll be told one thing on the phone, but then day to day, or even attraction to attraction, the rules are different. FP Rider Swap combo is one of those things. YMMV.

The situation I was going to use it for would be two different rides. Try to follow me here...

Mom gets FP for GOTG, dad and toddler get FP for RSR. Infant is left out of both rides. Mom rides GOTG and gets RS for dad. Then dad rides. Later Dad and toddler ride RSR and get RS for mom and toddler to ride again after. This would be one of the only instances we would use this “tactic”. Same goes for Indy at DL.

My toddler is technically tall enough For GOTG but is only 3.5 and would not like it. Mom and dad haven’t ridden it since the change from TOT so this is one of my musts at least once during visit.

Based on the email I received though mom and dad would both need FPs and forfeit using toddlers FP until after we ride.

 

[dieumeye]

The situation I was going to use it for would be two different rides. Try to follow me here...

Mom gets FP for GOTG, dad and toddler get FP for RSR. Infant is left out of both rides. Mom rides GOTG and gets RS for dad. Then dad rides. Later Dad and toddler ride RSR and get RS for mom and toddler to ride again after. This would be one of the only instances we would use this “tactic”. Same goes for Indy at DL.

My toddler is technically tall enough For GOTG but is only 3.5 and would not like it. Mom and dad haven’t ridden it since the change from TOT so this is one of my musts at least once during visit.

Based on the email I received though mom and dad would both need FPs and forfeit using toddlers FP until after we ride.

Yes. Doing what you describe essentially allows you to use rider switch to get additional fast passes. Basically booking one pass at two rides at the same time, but getting two rides at each ride and avoiding the wait between pulling fast passes.

Rider switch is not meant for this. And that’s why technically anyone entering the fast pass line needs a fast pass.

Will you get away with it if you try? Maybe. People claim they have done it. But technically it’s not supposed to work. Rider switch is meant to make sure no one has to ride alone if there is a non-riding minor in the party, not to cheat the fast pass system.

 

[Insaneinthemombrain]

Here is how we did it as a family of 5 including a baby just this last week. We would book all 4 of us who had tickets(me, dh, dd6, ds4) for lets say big thunder mountain. I would then take dd6 and ds4 through the fastpass line and ask a cm at the entrance of the fp line for a rider swap. Cm would then scan Dh’s, dd6’s, and ds4’s ticket and the rider swap would show up for an hour after that scan. So then dh would take the kids and ride right after. If there was time left on the original fp booking, we’d have a leftover ticket that was never used so dh could technically ride again but we found time has usually expired by then anyway. And why would he want to ride by himself?

So then here is scenario 2. Now some people think this is cheating for some reason so bear with me. Ds4 is not tall enough for Matterhorn. So we would book dh and dd6 for Matterhorn while I would book buzz and ride that with ds4 and baby while they did Matterhorn. Then I would ride with dd6 on Matterhorn with the riderswap that dh got for me. I didn’t get a rider swap for buzz because they don’t do riderswap since everyone can technically ride.

Now the cms never cared or looked at whose tickets they were scanning. Sometimes I think I accidentally scanned the 2 kids for incredicoaster even though one of them isn’t tall enough and neither are old enough to ride without an adult. But if you have a larger party than it makes it easier for you to keep track if you just scan the correct ticket of who is riding. But they never stopped us or said anything when we accidentally scanned the wrong one. I used my dh’s More times than my own I think just because his was the first one that would pop up. And on a ride like toy story midway mania where everyone can ride, it’s just easier to have one person do all the scanning for the party anyway. I also would sometimes scan the same people who were riding the first time just for convenience sake to move the line along and the cm never batted an eye. I think they are more concerned with helping people at the scanner and don’t really pay much attention when you ask for a rider swap because they are just trying to keep things moving.

 

[sunshiinedaydream]

Yes. Doing what you describe essentially allows you to use rider switch to get additional fast passes. Basically booking one pass at two rides at the same time, but getting two rides at each ride and avoiding the wait between pulling fast passes.

Rider switch is not meant for this. And that’s why technically anyone entering the fast pass line needs a fast pass.

Will you get away with it if you try? Maybe. People claim they have done it. But technically it’s not supposed to work. Rider switch is meant to make sure no one has to ride alone if there is a non-riding minor in the party, not to cheat the fast pass system.

I don’t see where you would be getting extra FPs or riding twice. One parent would go at a time taking turns. And we’d be giving up the toddler’s FP during that time if everyone needed FPs. Basically, what’s the point of RS (which works like an FP) if you all need an FP anyways? It looks like RS only makes sense for standby riders, which isn’t gonna happen with babies in tow. So it’s not useful anymore unless the wait is 10 min or less.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Basically, what’s the point of RS (which works like an FP) if you all need an FP anyways?

The way/reason RS would still be useful for a family is if there are older children who will get to ride twice - once with each parent (or any other older family members - basically, just saving someone from riding alone by giving SOMEBODY an extra ride). Their “bonus” second ride is the “perk.”

In theory, RS as it is now supposed to function doesn’t have a lot of value (due to both the set “return window” and the alleged requirement of all parties having a FP loaded). In practice, many people are still using it to “double books” FPs, but again, that can be challenging with the return windows...

 

[sunshiinedaydream]

The way/reason RS would still be useful for a family is if there are older children who will get to ride twice - once with each parent (or any other older family members - basically, just saving someone from riding alone by giving SOMEBODY an extra ride). Their “bonus” second ride is the “perk.”

In theory, RS as it is now supposed to function doesn’t have a lot of value (due to both the set “return window” and the alleged requirement of all parties having a FP loaded). In practice, many people are still using it to “double books” FPs, but again, that can be challenging with the return windows...

I see so most people are maxing out how many are in their second group. In my hypothetical only one person would get an “extra” ride (that being my 3yo toddler on RSR). The RS would be first and foremost a way for the two adults to rude an adult ride (GOTG). Just seems a little dramatic in that hypothetical to say we are ruining the system. RS kids in FP lines are a minority. Why the big fuss..

Maybe maxpass shouldn’t be so expensive for the younger crowd. They aren’t taking advantage of photopass and can’t ride most of the big ticket FP rides.

 

[boomtown83]

This has been a really helpful thread! To make sure I'm understanding, can I run my scenario by you guys?

We are a party of 3 - my husband and I, and toddler that doesn't meet height requirements (so no second child who could theoretically ride twice). Husband and I both want to ride Soarin' (this is really the only ride we're considering using rider swap since I'm pregnant and can't ride most of the other "big" rides anyway). Both husband and I get FPs for Soarin', one of us rides while the other does something else with toddler. Then once the first person is done they stay with toddler, and the other person uses their FP to ride.

Would rider swap be helpful at all in this situation? Thanks all.

 

[Rich M]

This is a very interesting thread and it is kind of more interesting because of the addition of max pass at Disneyland. We took my gs a year ago to Disney World and he was 23 months. We were a party of 6. We would get FP for 3 of us in the party for one ride and the FP for 2 of us for another ride. We would then get a CS for each of those rides and the 2 that sat out for the first FP would then ride that ride and then on the 2nd ride the 2 would go on using FP and grab a CS for the other 3. It really cut down on our waiting times and it did give us a useage of a lot more FP. I can see why some would feel that it was cheating the system but we were just trying to make sure that my GS would not have to be waiting for long periods of times. The rides he could go on we would get a FP for everyone in the party for those rides. We are taking him to DL in May and it will be interesting to see how the CS with the MP will work for us.

 

[agamble]

In our experience CMs just want to see the non riding children and adults. We've never been asked for FP for non riders or second party riders. The big change last year is that rider swap has a time limit.

Ex. You pull 4 FP for Space Mtn. Everyone goes to Space. The CM sees your little non riders. CM will scan the ticket of the waiting party member and 2 other guests who want to ride again. This scan puts a "special" FP on the ticket with a designated return window. The second ride party must use those passes in that winxow and typically enters at the FP queue. Tickets are scanned just like with FP. Also they can be shared just like a FP. So if the same person wants to sit off with baby and you have an extra FP the first group could all potentially ride twice while one adult spent time with the kids in Fantasyland. It is gaming the system a bit, but it is possible. Although Rider swap is a nice offering, I find that the reality is we DO wait in line twice as we generally use FP anyway. It isn't as big of a time saver as people often think it is.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Just to add here: CMs are enforcing the return window times. We've seen a few meltdowns recently where people have tried to use RS returns that had expired way earlier in the day (like 6 hours earlier?). The people were using hysterics, tears, whining, you name it, to get their way, but CMs were trying very hard to stand firm.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

The reason RS is better than getting FPs for everyone and just taking turns is time constraints. Say you have FPs for Soarin for a return between 1 and 2, and the first adult gets in the FP line at 1:40. By they time they are done riding and come out to find you and take the non-riding child, you FP would have expired. So you would either have to ride at the very beginning of your ride window or stagger getting your FPs, both of which sound really rough. Even if you went at the beginning of your ride window, what happens if the FP line takes a long time or the ride goes down?

With RS you know that when you show up and get in line, you will be able to ride no matter how long it takes the first party to get through. If the line takes a really long time or the ride breaks down the CM will be able to adjust your RS time.

 

[Cera1234]

This has been a really helpful thread! To make sure I'm understanding, can I run my scenario by you guys?

We are a party of 3 - my husband and I, and toddler that doesn't meet height requirements (so no second child who could theoretically ride twice). Husband and I both want to ride Soarin' (this is really the only ride we're considering using rider swap since I'm pregnant and can't ride most of the other "big" rides anyway). Both husband and I get FPs for Soarin', one of us rides while the other does something else with toddler. Then once the first person is done they stay with toddler, and the other person uses their FP to ride.

Would rider swap be helpful at all in this situation? Thanks all.

I'm no expert, however when we were 2 adults and a toddler we didn't use Rider Swap, just FP. If you're using FP anyways, I don't see the point (in your particular case) of using RS.

 

[EmJ]

In our experience CMs just want to see the non riding children and adults. We've never been asked for FP for non riders or second party riders. The big change last year is that rider swap has a time limit.

Ex. You pull 4 FP for Space Mtn. Everyone goes to Space. The CM sees your little non riders. CM will scan the ticket of the waiting party member and 2 other guests who want to ride again. This scan puts a "special" FP on the ticket with a designated return window. The second ride party must use those passes in that winxow and typically enters at the FP queue. Tickets are scanned just like with FP. Also they can be shared just like a FP. So if the same person wants to sit off with baby and you have an extra FP the first group could all potentially ride twice while one adult spent time with the kids in Fantasyland. It is gaming the system a bit, but it is possible. Although Rider swap is a nice offering, I find that the reality is we DO wait in line twice as we generally use FP anyway. It isn't as big of a time saver as people often think it is.

My son won't be tall enough to ride Indiana Jones. I was contemplating getting the Rider Swap pass, having one parent ride IJA while the other parent takes him to Tiki Room, and then switching and having the other parent ride IJA while the first parent takes him to Tarzan's Treehouse. Is this a good plan or a bad plan?

 

[Rich M]

My son won't be tall enough to ride Indiana Jones. I was contemplating getting the Rider Swap pass, having one parent ride IJA while the other parent takes him to Tiki Room, and then switching and having the other parent ride IJA while the first parent takes him to Tarzan's Treehouse. Is this a good plan or a bad plan?

I think that is a great plan. I do believe that Indiana Jones does offer single rider.

 

[EmJ]

I think that is a great plan. I do believe that Indiana Jones does offer single rider.

Thanks! Would you recommend Single Rider over Rider Swap?