Rider Swap question

[brockash]

I know. I thought it did too. But FEA doesn't list one, which makes no sense as it's the same ride mechanics. I don't have any of the old info at hand so no way to check what Maelstrom showed (and heaven knows my memory on things is very faulty)

Maelstrom didn't have one either, although I'm pretty sure Disney had somewhere at some point it was for ages 3 and above (odd as everything else is height,) but regardless there wasn't one, I took our 2 month old on it the last trip we took when it was opened.

 

[tjmw2727]

What is this "swap at the exit" thing you speak of?

I had a feeling this got lost in the thread -

If the child is tall enough to ride and chooses not to the "rider switch" option is to switch at the exit. So in your case you all enter the line (FP+ if you all have one or standby if not) tell the CM your child doesn't want to ride and they will either give you the paper pass (discussed in length already!) or most likely instruct you to stay in line and tell the CM when boarding. The boarding CM will then instruct you as to where to wait while the fist parent and child rides and then the other parent can "switch" with the first parent and ride with, usually the child can ride again if they want.

So rider swap is available to everyone its the "paper pass" that allows access for 3 people via the FP+ line that is usually reserved for use when children are too small to ride and can't enter the line.

 

[brockash]

Whatever side of this you are on I do know one thing: Complaining and saying you saw a different policy/wording on the web site is going to get you nowhere.

I 100% disagree. It's the world we live in (even if their info. was accurate), and it's even more evident at Disney. If someone takes it up with guest relations, I'm sure 99% of the time, they're going to get fastpasses.

 

[gap2368]

What is this "swap at the exit" thing you speak of?

not sure what the PP was saying but in all my time at disney there was one time a family was allowed to swap at the exit and it did not turn out good

ok I will go into the story I will try not to confuse people ( so if you do not want to know the story do not read, like if you think it may confuse you)

any way I was going on BTMRR nd using the handicap entrance ( witch is the exit) there was a dad and his son ( guessing) behind me in a stroller ( they had a tag) dad had a rider swap and the CM said you can just swap at the exit if you like so your son dose not have to get out of the ride, I sat behind them train when to the other side to get off I got off mom ( I am guessing here) come to get on another guest that was waiting to board got very angry that they had to wait that they got to ride 2x the whole family got off and ( I do not know if they rode or not) but they all left together.

The CM was applagising for this and was saying they normally do not do this but thought it would be easer for the family since the little boy had some medical equipment and could not walk extra.

but as fair as I know there is no swapping at the exit as some times the exit entrance is in different places and it is not safe to be close to the track ( this is why there are while line gates thing like that for you to stand behind and often time there are too many people leaving a ride for you to get to it to get back on even if they allowed this. I think the times when they let a too scared child go thought the line it si a child that is old enough to wait by them self at the exit for the rest of th party to go on

 

[ArielSRL]

It is designed for a family with 2 adults and at least 2 children

Actually it works well for families with 1 child also. For example, Mom and Dad both want to ride an attraction with height requirement but their 1 child is to small.

 

[hultrain]

Wow, this thread is making my head spin. So, it sounds like, in OPs situation where she has a kid tall enough to ride, but too scared, she has the following options:
1) ask the CM for a rider switch (aka paper ticket), but it's likely the cm won't give her one; or
2) tell the CM when getting in line (or maybe at boarding? Or both?) that the one kid doesn't want to go on the ride. The family then all, including the "scaredy cat," go in line, and they can switch at the exit, so that Dad and non scared kid go on the ride while Mom and scared kid wait at the exit, then when Dad and non scared kid get off, the Mom can get on the ride with non scared kid without going in line again; or
3) the whole family can get FP+ for the ride, then Dad and non scared kid can go in the FP line near the beginning of the window while mom and scared kid wait, then when dad and non scared kid get off, scared kid can give her magic band to non scared kid, and mom and non scared kid can then get in the FP line.

Have I got it?

 

[AngiTN]

Yeah, pretty much.
Some of the rides with HR do have chicken exits (all may have them, I'm not really sure). They are there for those who chicken out, for whatever reason, after getting in line. Even a "planned chicken out" is ok. Since sometimes guests just want to stand in line together, even when someone isn't going to ride. Granted, as you point out, in that case all guests who enter the line will need a FP, even if they don't plan to ride. This is where this method differs significantly from Rider Swap

 

[photo_chick]

People mention the DAS. It won't work like the rider swap. The DAS is intended to eliminate the need to actually stay in line a guest who cannot handle waiting in line. While it's awesome for autistic kiddos (I have one so I know the horror a line wait can turn into) the person the DAS was issued for must board the attraction. So you can't use it like a rider swap for an autistic kiddo who won't ride if that autistic kiddo is the one you got the DAS for.

Disney does a great job of accommodating special needs guests who want to board an attraction. They do very little to take care of the families who have a special needs guest that does not want to ride. Which means if you're a parent and have a special needs kiddo who can't/won't ride then one parent has to suck it up and not ride or you leverage fast passes. It is kind of irritating since special needs families often miss out on a lot of "normal" as it is.

Our usual method is to get two sets of FP's. One of us will take our fearless daughter to go ride the attraction our son doesn't want to ride while the other takes our son on a ride he loves.

 

[mshanson3121]

People mention the DAS. It won't work like the rider swap. The DAS is intended to eliminate the need to actually stay in line a guest who cannot handle waiting in line. While it's awesome for autistic kiddos (I have one so I know the horror a line wait can turn into) the person the DAS was issued for must board the attraction. So you can't use it like a rider swap for an autistic kiddo who won't ride if that autistic kiddo is the one you got the DAS for.

Disney does a great job of accommodating special needs guests who want to board an attraction. They do very little to take care of the families who have a special needs guest that does not want to ride. Which means if you're a parent and have a special needs kiddo who can't/won't ride then one parent has to suck it up and not ride or you leverage fast passes. It is kind of irritating since special needs families often miss out on a lot of "normal" as it is.

Our usual method is to get two sets of FP's. One of us will take our fearless daughter to go ride the attraction our son doesn't want to ride while the other takes our son on a ride he loves.

Yes, this. I really appreciate the DAS as there's no way DD could wait in the lines. She doesn't do well a) waiting or b) with people really close to her like that.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I would prefer she be able to use all 3 of her FP +. If I do this, her brother gets 4 and she gets 2. Not exactly fair.

That makes sense. I was thinking with the DAS she would be picking FPs there too

 

[allysetraskos]

Thanks to this little guy we maximized the child swap option, the older 2 kids got to go on everything double!
I would call myself a child swap master at this point.

 

[mshanson3121]

That makes sense. I was thinking with the DAS she would be picking FPs there too

Yeah, true. I definitely don't think I would want to plan on Rider Swap, that's for sure.

 

[FredtheDuck]

Actually it works well for families with 1 child also. For example, Mom and Dad both want to ride an attraction with height requirement but their 1 child is to small.

Thank you for clarifying this - I was just about to ask about that stipulation, since we're going with an 18 month old in a couple of months. Just the two of us and the kiddo.

 

[tbholc81]

ok thank you - the first response confused me saying only 2 people go through the line.

There is always a CM at the FP and regular line entrance. You just need to approach them (with everybody in your party including the non rider) and they will give you some sort of tag. If the non rider is not there they will not give you the rider swap. The children that is too small stays behind (with an adult) and then you and your other kids take the tag all the way through the line. When you get to where the FP line intersects a CM will take the tag from you and give you a paper FP that is good for up to 3 people for the rest of the day. Sounds complicated but its a really simple process and great if you are visiting with small children.

 

[photo_chick]

Yes, this. I really appreciate the DAS as there's no way DD could wait in the lines. She doesn't do well a) waiting or b) with people really close to her like that.

My DS is the same. He can do maybe 20 minutes in line but that's his limit. And people can't crowd in on us or it's all over.

 

[famy27]

So, not to further muddy the waters, but we haven't had to show that we have small child with us to get RS swaps in our last three trips. This was what we encountered at all the 44 inch and higher rides we did (EE, RNRC, and Space) on multiple days over a two-month time period. DH kept waiting for someone to ask him to produce the small child, but we had no issues. I was prepared to skip riding if he was denied the RS pass, but luckily, it ended up working out perfectly for us. In our many years of using RS, this has been a new experience, as we always need to show our baby/toddler in the past.

Note: we do have a small child, but I didn't want to drag her around AK to EE to get the RS pass when she wanted to go to Rafiki's Planet Watch or to meet Mickey & Minnie. I figured I just wouldn't ride EE if we couldn't get the pass. Once it worked at AK, we decided to try it at the other parks because it's so much more convenient than having to drag the small child to the ride entrance.

 

[mshanson3121]

So, not to further muddy the waters, but we haven't had to show that we have small child with us to get RS swaps in our last three trips. This was what we encountered at all the 44 inch and higher rides we did (EE, RNRC, and Space) on multiple days over a two-month time period. DH kept waiting for someone to ask him to produce the small child, but we had no issues. I was prepared to skip riding if he was denied the RS pass, but luckily, it ended up working out perfectly for us. In our many years of using RS, this has been a new experience, as we always need to show our baby/toddler in the past.

Note: we do have a small child, but I didn't want to drag her around AK to EE to get the RS pass when she wanted to go to Rafiki's Planet Watch or to meet Mickey & Minnie. I figured I just wouldn't ride EE if we couldn't get the pass. Once it worked at AK, we decided to try it at the other parks because it's so much more convenient than having to drag the small child to the ride entrance.

So what did you do?

 

[famy27]

So what did you do?

DH and older DD just went to the ride entrances while younger DD and I were meeting characters, eating, playing at the Boneyard, etc. DH would tell the CM at the entrance that he needed a RS, and the CM would hand him the card on the lanyard to exchange for the paper pass right before boarding the ride. Most of the time it was DH and older DD riding first, and then I swapped to the ride, but at Space, I went first. All I said to the CM at the entrance was, "I need a RS pass" and they handed the card right to me. Didn't glance up to look for a small child, didn't ask where the child was, just handed over the lanyard. This has only been our experience since they switched to the lanyard card method. Back when they gave you the paper pass right at the ride entrance, we always had to show the small child. I have no idea if this is new official policy, but this worked for us at least ten times in the past few months. We go pretty frequently, so if it didn't work and one of us couldn't ride, it wouldn't be emotionally devastating for us. I would definitely suggest a backup plan if you really want to ride, because one never knows what the policy or practice will be.

 

[MDH]

This type of conflicting information is absolutely ridiculous and totally unprofessional. We encountered the same situation on our trip and it is very frustrating. I just sent the following message to disney, I will update this thread when I receive a response:

Hello, I require clarifications on one of your policies. Specifically the "rider switch" option. In the past I have travelled to disney world with a child who did non meet the minimum height requirement for some rides, and simply felt uncomfortable going on others. Where she did not meet the height req. we were given a rider switch ticket. However where she was simply uncomfortable the CM would not give us a ticket, insisting the guest must be under the height req for a ticket to be issued. This was the statement given to us every time we tried. I felt I had read something contrary to this on the disney website however. Well now that I am planning our next trip in 2018, and said child is still very afraid of riding some of the rides, i decided to try find the info. Directly on the disney world website under the rider switch information is the following statement:

if a child does not meet the height requirement or a Guest does not wish to board a particular attraction, no problem! With Rider Switch, one adult can wait with the non-rider (or riders) while the rest of the party enjoys the attraction. When the other adult returns, they can supervise the non-riding Guests, and the waiting adult can board the attraction without having to wait in the regular line again!

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/

That is clearly in direct opposition to the stance being taken at the parks. Can someone please clarify what exactly policy is, and ensure that either policy in park matches what is stated on your website, or that the website is changed to properly reflect the practises in park. It is very confusing and aggravating as it currently stands. Thank you.

 

[KrazeeK120]

This type of conflicting information is absolutely ridiculous and totally unprofessional. We encountered the same situation on our trip and it is very frustrating. I just sent the following message to disney, I will update this thread when I receive a response:

Hello, I require clarifications on one of your policies. Specifically the "rider switch" option. In the past I have travelled to disney world with a child who did non meet the minimum height requirement for some rides, and simply felt uncomfortable going on others. Where she did not meet the height req. we were given a rider switch ticket. However where she was simply uncomfortable the CM would not give us a ticket, insisting the guest must be under the height req for a ticket to be issued. This was the statement given to us every time we tried. I felt I had read something contrary to this on the disney website however. Well now that I am planning our next trip in 2018, and said child is still very afraid of riding some of the rides, i decided to try find the info. Directly on the disney world website under the rider switch information is the following statement:

if a child does not meet the height requirement or a Guest does not wish to board a particular attraction, no problem! With Rider Switch, one adult can wait with the non-rider (or riders) while the rest of the party enjoys the attraction. When the other adult returns, they can supervise the non-riding Guests, and the waiting adult can board the attraction without having to wait in the regular line again!

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/

That is clearly in direct opposition to the stance being taken at the parks. Can someone please clarify what exactly policy is, and ensure that either policy in park matches what is stated on your website, or that the website is changed to properly reflect the practises in park. It is very confusing and aggravating as it currently stands. Thank you.

If you go to the information about a specific attraction on disney's website, it does say that rider switch is for children too small to ride. So they've got conflicting information on their website. I wouldn't take anything on the website as official policy, honestly.