rider swap on FOP?

[anomamatt]

Sounds like you have a FP for everyone, and no one has to ride alone. Doesn't sound like you need rider swap. Rider swap is in place so that no one has to stand in standby twice or ride alone (provided that there are more than 2 people in your party riding).

Doesn't need one. But can certainly get one. Or two. ;-)

And if it's only for people waiting standby, why do the fastpass queue CMs have lanyards (and the paper passes at the merge)?

 

[pooch]

Good to know as my 6 year old DGS is not as adventurous as his older brothers and might not want to ride some of the stuff they will. The only ride he is too short for is RNR but I can see him having reservations about Expedition Everest.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Doesn't need one. But can certainly get one. Or two. ;-)

And if it's only for people waiting standby, why do the fastpass queue CMs have lanyards (and the paper passes at the merge)?

It's not only for people in standby. But it's designed so that multiple people in the same party don't have to ride standby.

It's also designed so that no one has to ride alone. So, if your party is parents and 2 kids, one of whom is too short, and the 3 tall enough people have FP, Mom and tall kid can go through FP and then Dad can also go through with his FP and take tall kid with him so that he doesn't have to ride alone.

 

[Robmom]

I wish I thought of this when I went. I wanted to go on FOP, but I had to watch my 18 month old granddaughter. I don't know why this didn't cross my mind. Next time!

 

[DisneyLoverBda]

I asked this in another thread but got no response. If we can't get fastpasses for FOP and end up doing the AK Night Tour, would we still be able to get rider swaps for all of the rides? I'm assuming that the tour will move on after the first ride but could we circle back after the tour (or use them on another day) so that the other parent can go on the rides? I would obviously not want to pay for both parents to do the tour if one is missing out on all of the rides.

 

[saramoodt]

My best friend and I are going with my 2 year old. He can't ride...so when she goes through the fastpass que she can get a rider swap pass then a paper voucher for later use? That either one of us can use at a later time?

 

[lovewdwfun]

We just did rider swap a week ago. We had three FP for FoP, for me, DD, and DS. Then my husband and younger son and baby had FP for Navi River journey. We got a rider swap and then DH and little kids went on River journey while we rode FoP. The Rider swap was good for 3 people, so my husband took the two older kids after we finished riding and I waited around with the little kids.

It is generally valid until the end of the month. If your trip is in the same month, you could save it and go a later day if you prefer. I have done this on other rides when we both have Fastpasses that work out. In this case, the ride took a long time, even with a Fastpass. I think it works out well to do Navi with younger kids at the same time because waiting for two groups of people to do a half hour ride in a row.

 

[nj disney family]

My best friend and I are going with my 2 year old. He can't ride...so when she goes through the fastpass que she can get a rider swap pass then a paper voucher for later use? That either one of us can use at a later time?

yes. the paper rider swap fp is good for up to 3 people.

 

[saramoodt]

yes. the paper rider swap fp is good for up to 3 people.

Thank you! Soooooo excited!!!!

 

[pooch]

Ok once slowly for the brain dead , does the person waiting with the baby have to "use" their fast pass when we get the rider swap? Or can they just wait and use it in conjunction with the 3 rider swap passes? I have 3 DGSs who will fight over who gets to go again if I don't have a 4th pass for an adult to accompany them.

 

[Ouida]

This is crazy, I never looked at ride swap like this. So my son is tall enough, but too scared to ride FOP, so I bring him up and get a rider swap. But they have to see everyone in the party right? So how do we get the second swap? Or for that we'd need a second child who did not want to ride?

 

[KrazeeK120]

This is crazy, I never looked at ride swap like this. So my son is tall enough, but too scared to ride FOP, so I bring him up and get a rider swap. But they have to see everyone in the party right? So how do we get the second swap? Or for that we'd need a second child who did not want to ride?

You may or may not be able to get a swap pass for a child who is tall enough, but does not want to ride. It's at the discretion of the CM.

You can only get one swap pass at a time per ride, regardless of how many too-short kids you have.

 

[anomamatt]

You may or may not be able to get a swap pass for a child who is tall enough, but does not want to ride. It's at the discretion of the CM.

It's not supposed to be at the discretion of the CM. Per Disney, Rider Switch is for "guests who can't or don't want to board" (emphasis mine, source: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/).

That said, I have read a couple reports here of people being denied when the reason for child swap was fear (as opposed to being too short). But I have used rider swap, well, a lot... And never had a problem. For example, getting one for FEA (with no height restrictions) because one of my kids is scared of the ice monster, no problem.

If a CM ever did deny me, I would politely show them WDW's Rider Switch page. It's very clear that a child not wanting to ride is eligible for Rider Switch.

 

[CarolynFH]

You may or may not be able to get a swap pass for a child who is tall enough, but does not want to ride. It's at the discretion of the CM.

You can only get one swap pass at a time per ride, regardless of how many too-short kids you have.

It's not supposed to be at the discretion of the CM. Per Disney, Rider Switch is for "guests who can't or don't want to board" (emphasis mine, source: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/).

That said, I have read a couple reports here of people being denied when the reason for child swap was fear (as opposed to being too short). But I have used rider swap, well, a lot... And never had a problem. For example, getting one for FEA (with no height restrictions) because one of my kids is scared of the ice monster, no problem.

If a CM ever did deny me, I would politely show them WDW's Rider Switch page. It's very clear that a child not wanting to ride is eligible for Rider Switch.

Alternatively, if the child is tall enough but doesn't want to ride, you may be offered an "internal rider swap," which is done at the loading dock. This happened to us on RnR with DGS, after we asked the CM at the entrance whether we could get a rider switch pass for him. Fortunately, we all had FP so all went through the queue together, then at the loading dock DGS and DS were taken by a CM through the chicken exit and were waiting for us when we got off the ride. DS was then taken by the CM to board the ride. So we all had to have FP, including DGS who didn't want to ride but was tall enough. I don't know what would have happened if I had not booked FP for DGS.

 

[KrazeeK120]

It's not supposed to be at the discretion of the CM. Per Disney, Rider Switch is for "guests who can't or don't want to board" (emphasis mine, source: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/).

That said, I have read a couple reports here of people being denied when the reason for child swap was fear (as opposed to being too short). But I have used rider swap, well, a lot... And never had a problem. For example, getting one for FEA (with no height restrictions) because one of my kids is scared of the ice monster, no problem.

If a CM ever did deny me, I would politely show them WDW's Rider Switch page. It's very clear that a child not wanting to ride is eligible for Rider Switch.

The website is not official policy. You can politely show them something if you want to, but that doesn't mean they'll grant you the switch pass.

It really is at the discretion of the CM.

 

[anomamatt]

The website is not official policy. You can politely show them something if you want to, but that doesn't mean they'll grant you the switch pass.

So you really think if I were denied a rider swap while following the posted WDW rules, guest relations would say the CM was correct?

CMs do stuff against official policy all the time... it doesn't mean the policies posted by WDW are not official just because a CM chooses not to follow the official policy.

If I understand you, you think that rider swap is only for kids who are too short to ride? If that is your position, why does FEA offer rider swaps?

EDIT -- Well... I just saw this on WDW's site:

"If the person in Party 2 waited alone with the child, he or she may bring one other Guest back to ride the attraction with him or her. Please note that only 2 Guests are allowed per Rider Switch Pass."

Yeah, that is wrong... it's 3 per pass, as printed on them. So... I don't know what to think now... why can't WDW be consistent about anything!

 

[Ouida]

You may or may not be able to get a swap pass for a child who is tall enough, but does not want to ride. It's at the discretion of the CM.

You can only get one swap pass at a time per ride, regardless of how many too-short kids you have.

My only thought is a child or adult with a mental disablily or fear should be allowed a swap regardless of height. At soarin, this happen in front of us. The mom and dad wanted to ride, so they left their adult disabled son by the upstairs bathrooms. He very much scared my daughter when he grabbed himself in a very lewd way close to her, sitting on the bench. I looked for a CM but couldn't find one. Not because I was angry, but felt the wrong person may have hurt him. I would rather see them (his family) get a swap, then leave him along.

 

[tjmw2727]

So you really think if I were denied a rider swap while following the posted WDW rules, guest relations would say the CM was correct?

CMs do stuff against official policy all the time... it doesn't mean the policies posted by WDW are not official just because a CM chooses not to follow the official policy.

If I understand you, you think that rider swap is only for kids who are too short to ride? If that is your position, why does FEA offer rider swaps?

EDIT -- Well... I just saw this on WDW's site:

"If the person in Party 2 waited alone with the child, he or she may bring one other Guest back to ride the attraction with him or her. Please note that only 2 Guests are allowed per Rider Switch Pass."

Yeah, that is wrong... it's 3 per pass, as printed on them. So... I don't know what to think now... why can't WDW be consistent about anything!

I am one who was denied a RS pass on TOT for a 4 yo child who was barely 40, we were offered some type of internal switch but my nephew was to afraid to even wait in the line. Since I don't really like TOT much I just took him for ice cream while the rest of our party rode.

We did visit Guest Relations - not so much to complain but to clarify so that we could proceed the rest of the vacation with good information and GR backed up the TOT CM. Their stance was that when a family can not ride together because of an imposed restriction (height) then RS was offered to avoid a double wait for the family and so that the 2nd adult didn't have to ride alone. Since my nephew could ride but chose not to then RS was not an option. Also - the paper RS pass is good for up to three guest to return to that attraction anytime that day and sometimes valid longer despite what the website says.

Not looking to debate - just sharing our first hand experience. I have read the reports of people that are able to get a RS pass with a child who can ride but chooses not to but - honestly based on our experience I wouldn't count on it. I would make FP+ choices based on not being able get the RS pass if the child is tall enough, then if you do get one consider it a bonus/pixie dust....

 

[anomamatt]

I am one who was denied a RS pass on TOT for a 4 yo child who was barely 40, we were offered some type of internal switch but my nephew was to afraid to even wait in the line. Since I don't really like TOT much I just took him for ice cream while the rest of our party rode.

We did visit Guest Relations - not so much to complain but to clarify so that we could proceed the rest of the vacation with good information and GR backed up the TOT CM. Their stance was that when a family can not ride together because of an imposed restriction (height) then RS was offered to avoid a double wait for the family and so that the 2nd adult didn't have to ride alone. Since my nephew could ride but chose not to then RS was not an option. Also - the paper RS pass is good for up to three guest to return to that attraction anytime that day and sometimes valid longer despite what the website says.

Not looking to debate - just sharing our first hand experience. I have read the reports of people that are able to get a RS pass with a child who can ride but chooses not to but - honestly based on our experience I wouldn't count on it. I would make FP+ choices based on not being able get the RS pass if the child is tall enough, then if you do get one consider it a bonus/pixie dust....

Thanks for the report. Fascinating that guest relations agreed with the CM. I wonder what guest relations would say if you had shown them their website (or maybe you did)?

Just for my data points, I've gotten more than 20 rider swaps over 5 trips this year when one of my kids is tall enough but doesn't want to ride. I did it twice on TOT because my 4 year old won't even enter that queue. I've done it on pretty much every attraction that allows rider swap. I guess like everything else in WDW, your mileage may vary...

 

[pooch]

Ok once slowly for the brain dead , does the person waiting with the baby have to "use" their fast pass when we get the rider swap? Or can they just wait and use it in conjunction with the 3 rider swap passes? I have 3 DGSs who will fight over who gets to go again if I don't have a 4th pass for an adult to accompany them.

Answer anyone?