Rider swap near park closing time

[DTW2WDW]

We are a party of 7 staying offsite in April so the Big 3 fast passes are of course not available at 30 days out. We will only be rope dropping Magic Kingdom so our plan to ride Slinky Dog and Flight of Passage is to either:

A) Get lucky refreshing MDE OR more likely..
B) Use standby line just before park close

Other considerations, we have a 13 month old in our party so 1 or 2 others will hang back with her.

So, assuming "B", is using rider swap feasible or would we have to ensure that the 'supervising party' is back in line before park close? Also, it's been a while since we used rider swap, aren't they good for a few days? Thanks in advance!

 

[gap2368]

We are a party of 7 staying offsite in April so the Big 3 fast passes are of course not available at 30 days out. We will only be rope dropping Magic Kingdom so our plan to ride Slinky Dog and Flight of Passage is to either:

A) Get lucky refreshing MDE OR more likely..
B) Use standby line just before park close

Other considerations, we have a 13 month old in our party so 1 or 2 others will hang back with her.

So, assuming "B", is using rider swap feasible or would we have to ensure that the 'supervising party' is back in line before park close? Also, it's been a while since we used rider swap, aren't they good for a few days? Thanks in advance!

rider swap is now on your MB and is good for one hour, ( I belive) not sure what happens if you try to use it at the end of the night I would try to get in line 30 minutes before park close and talk to the CM at the ride about rider swap at the end of the night

I am sure someone has had this issue too and can let you know more

 

[Alesia]

The first group would have to be finished before the park closes, so you're probably looking at getting in line at least a couple of hours before closing.

Rope drop would be a better option

 

[chloelovesdisney]

You can't use a fast pass past closing time so I'd guess it would be the same for a rider swap. I don't think anyone is joining the line past closing time.

 

[Mindalynn]

I’m a long time lurker and just made an account so I could add my experience to this question! We just got back from a trip to WDW and used RS extensively. I only had one experience of trying to get a RS right before closing, and that was on Space Mtn. I asked if it was possible to do TS since the first group wouldn’t be done until after closing time. She said yes but they’d just do an internal rider switch instead, where we all waited in line together and then they had DH wait with the baby inside right after the exit and swap out with me.

I asked this question on another forum before our trip and one person reported they had asked if they could do RS with FoP at closing and were told yes—that they’d be given a regular RS and that the ride would stay operating long enough to let the second RS group through. This person didn’t end up actually staying until closing in the end so she couldn’t confirm that’s what actually happened but that’s what the CM told her.

Also, some general info on the digital RS: what happens is you approach a CM at the line start (they usually had a designated RS/DAS person with a tablet to the side of the FP line) and ask for a rider switch. You tell them who is riding first and second, and they scan the magic bands of the people riding second, which adds the RS to their account. It has a starting time designated, which is set to be about when the first party is done riding. There was NO ending time set—but had to be used that day. (Early reports of the digital RS said they were only good one hour. If this was the case, it has changed since then. We definitely did NOT have an hour time limit.)

However, it’s very important to note that you can only hold *one* RS at a time. So even though you have all day to use it, you can’t try to use RS on a different ride until you have used the first. (If you do, the new one will replace the old one.)

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

I’m a long time lurker and just made an account so I could add my experience to this question! We just got back from a trip to WDW and used RS extensively. I only had one experience of trying to get a RS right before closing, and that was on Space Mtn. I asked if it was possible to do TS since the first group wouldn’t be done until after closing time. She said yes but they’d just do an internal rider switch instead, where we all waited in line together and then they had DH wait with the baby inside right after the exit and swap out with me.

I asked this question on another forum before our trip and one person reported they had asked if they could do RS with FoP at closing and were told yes—that they’d be given a regular RS and that the ride would stay operating long enough to let the second RS group through. This person didn’t end up actually staying until closing in the end so she couldn’t confirm that’s what actually happened but that’s what the CM told her.

Also, some general info on the digital RS: what happens is you approach a CM at the line start (they usually had a designated RS/DAS person with a tablet to the side of the FP line) and ask for a rider switch. You tell them who is riding first and second, and they scan the magic bands of the people riding second, which adds the RS to their account. It has a starting time designated, which is set to be about when the first party is done riding. There was NO ending time set—but had to be used that day. (Early reports of the digital RS said they were only good one hour. If this was the case, it has changed since then. We definitely did NOT have an hour time limit.)

However, it’s very important to note that you can only hold *one* RS at a time. So even though you have all day to use it, you can’t try to use RS on a different ride until you have used the first. (If you do, the new one will replace the old one.)

Did you actually do the internal swap on Space or just ask about it? You mentioned a baby, so I'm assuming the little one was not tall enough to ride. The reason I'm asking is this is the first account I've heard in recent years of someone not tall enough to ride being permitted to enter the line, so I'm curious if you did it and if any other CMs you encountered in the line/ride seemed surprised by it. Thanks for your report. It's always great to hear about what's currently happening in the parks with rider swap.

 

[Mindalynn]

Did you actually do the internal swap on Space or just ask about it? You mentioned a baby, so I'm assuming the little one was not tall enough to ride. The reason I'm asking is this is the first account I've heard in recent years of someone not tall enough to ride being permitted to enter the line, so I'm curious if you did it and if any other CMs you encountered in the line/ride seemed surprised by it. Thanks for your report. It's always great to hear about what's currently happening in the parks with rider swap.

Yep! We actually did the swap internally. None of the CM seemed surprised and they just directed us where to go. We also saw another couple with a baby doing the internal swap as well. It was really just before closing so clearly this was a different protocol than other times.

 

[Mindalynn]

PS Our baby is only 4 months old and the other couple’s we saw was maybe a year? so both not anywhere close to tall enough to ride!

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Yep! We actually did the swap internally. None of the CM seemed surprised and they just directed us where to go. We also saw another couple with a baby doing the internal swap as well. It was really just before closing so clearly this was a different protocol than other times.

Great to know, thank you!

 

[DTW2WDW]

Thanks all for the responses (and to the mod who initially moved this post). The internal rider swap sounds like a nice time saver for the rest of the party when the lines are reasonable for a baby to wait in.