Rider Swap questions?

[hsmamato2]

Ok, I haven't used this feature in many years.... but our upcoming trip we have 14 people, 3 of whom will be 5 and younger(2 are actual babies) How am I supposed to figure out rider swap options? We plan to try for overlapping FP times for our group in general- how does this coordinate with swap? I'm reading many different things on many places. So 5 different family groups total- we each have our own MDE,but I'm managing the FP aspect for us overall.
1- is it per person? so say we have 2 babies, we go separately to the line and get 2 swap passes, so we can all ride within a reasonable time?I would send 2 different parents to get their passes?
3- If our 5yo is too small for some rides, do we get a swap pass for him,and the baby,or just one for both of them? We could,I assume get 3 swap passes,one for each kiddo and 'their adults' with them?
2- If it's a big ride that uses FP, we ALL need the FP to go to the line,and request the swap pass?
3- If we DON'T all have FP, and the 2nd group wants to enter using the swap pass, will they use the standby line, or the FP line? How does that work?(I'm assuming we all need Fp at the start)
4- And is this correct, the swap pass doesn't have to be used right away, it can be used later that day,or even another day that same week?(???)
Thanks for any advice on this.... My family is relying on me to be Julie the cruise director here,and I don't have recent experience with this one!

 

[Kathlita]

With 14 people, I would say just figure out who wants to ride and who wants to be with the babies and take turns. If a smaller group approaches a ride and wants to use the swap, they can. I think the limit to your group size for RS is six, and only 3 people can use a RS pass. No, it doesn't have to be used right away. Yes, you could break into three groups, but that seems pretty complicated.

We took a group of 11 and just took turns. I never even thought about using RS. This time, with 6 and a baby, we may ask for a RS pass, but we will all have FP+ for the rides we use it for, so we may not even need it. (It could come in handy if it looks like the 2nd group will miss their FP+ window.) I will personally volunteer to watch the baby during roller coaster rides, no RS necessary!

 

[tinkerjo]

I would split into 3 groups and utilize that RS on those bigger rides. The adult that stays back can take 2 others with them ( so with your party up to 9 people can ride 2x with zero wait) I might get flamed for this strategy but it works. We did it once or twice when we took a large group with 2 babies a couple years ago. Obviously it only is beneficial for a few rides and we would sometimes take the babies on a smaller ride to keep them busy while the 2nd group went

 

[hsmamato2]

I would split into 3 groups and utilize that RS on those bigger rides. The adult that stays back can take 2 others with them ( so with your party up to 9 people can ride 2x with zero wait) I might get flamed for this strategy but it works. We did it once or twice when we took a large group with 2 babies a couple years ago. Obviously it only is beneficial for a few rides and we would sometimes take the babies on a smaller ride to keep them busy while the 2nd group went

How does the swap line even work? I'm so unfamiliar with it- once the first people ride, then the ones left with the pass go into standby,or do we do the FP line(if we hold the FP too)? I do think I'll have each family get the swap pass when needed, so that we can all get on the ride within one time frame. Maybe we'll do moms ride first,dads ride with the swap pass after kind of rotation(?)

 

[tinkerjo]

basically one adult takes the baby (yes the CM needs to see the kid too small to ride) and they will give you a ride swap paper type FP, good for anytime that day for the adult staying with the child and up to 2 other riders to share the experience with the one who had to stay behind. So the wait is only as long as the FP+ line. My older kids loved this, they always got to ride everything x2. Once with my husband and then once with me. If you have a FP+ I THINK the other adult has to have a FP for the ride as well but I'm not positive. I haven't done it in a while

 

[Kathlita]

I think you're supposed to all have a FP, but it depends on each CM. If you all have a FP, you can still do moms first, then dads, with no RS.

 

[hsmamato2]

Haunted Mansion...can someone give advice please? I know it has no height requirement, so no rider swap option here for kids too scared to right....correct?

 

[AFwifelife]

 

[Kathlita]

Haunted Mansion...can someone give advice please? I know it has no height requirement, so no rider swap option here for kids too scared to right....correct?

Apparently too short matters, too scared doesn't? If it helps at all, we rode with my youngest way back when and put our hands over her eyes for the scary parts. She just had to promise not to peek!

 

[WaterLinds]

View attachment 300217

Wait, FEA doesn't have a height requirement, does it? I wasn't expecting to see that on the list.

 

[Kathlita]

Wait, FEA doesn't have a height requirement, does it? I wasn't expecting to see that on the list.

What is the reasoning behind that? Are young children allowed on FEA, or not?

 

[ForEver2016]

Curious about why FEA has a rider switch too!

What is the reasoning behind that? Are young children allowed on FEA, or not?

 

[neverlandsky]

We all had FP for EE and DS (14) chickened out last minute. DH asked to RS and they wouldn't let DH. So DH lost his FP. I convinced DH to do SR on EE and all was right in the world again. On Space Mountain, we all had FP and DS chickened out last minute again. CM let me RS. So given our experience, I would say it depends on the CM and it seems it was okay for me as "mom" taking a kid out vs. DH as "dad" taking a kid out.

 

[KrazeeK120]

What is the reasoning behind that? Are young children allowed on FEA, or not?

They are.

Maybe it has something to do with the drop? At 18 months, it completely freaked my son out. I wished afterward that we hadn’t taken him on it.

I know that POTC also has a drop, but the theme of that ride isn’t aimed squarely at small kids the way Frozen is. The fact that rider swap exists may cause some parents to re-evaluate whether or not the ride is really appropriate for their little kid(s).

Obviously I have no proof of anything, but that’s just my thoughts.

 

[Kathlita]

All I found out about FEA is that "Children younger than 7 years old must ride this attraction with someone who is 14 or older". Whew. My granddaughter loves "Let it Go". She will be excited!

 

[KrazeeK120]

All I found out about FEA is that "Children younger than 7 years old must ride this attraction with someone who is 14 or older".

That’s true of all rides, not just FEA.

 

[WaterLinds]

They are.

Maybe it has something to do with the drop? At 18 months, it completely freaked my son out. I wished afterward that we hadn’t taken him on it.

I know that POTC also has a drop, but the theme of that ride isn’t aimed squarely at small kids the way Frozen is. The fact that rider swap exists may cause some parents to re-evaluate whether or not the ride is really appropriate for their little kid(s).

Obviously I have no proof of anything, but that’s just my thoughts.

Thank you for confirming that there aren't restrictions! I had seen the must ride with someone older posting for it, but no other one, so it seemed really weird to see it on that list. Especially given how many other potentially scary rides don't have rider swap--and how unpredictable it can be what a kid will find scary.

Your theory makes more sense than anything else I can think of, for sure.

 

[10CJ]

I have never done it with that many people. At times we had two kids who could not ride but we only got one rider swap ticket, we did not really need a second ticket. The return ticket was good for three people to go thru the fastpass line. If you need more then one, then yes, you would need to go up in groups. First group goes up. Those going on the ride first would need fast passes to in the fast pass line. Baby and adult not riding need to go up with the group riding to get the rider swap ticket. Then the next group does the same. It seems unlikely that you would need one per person, assuming the groups are trying to ride together. From my experience those not entering the line do not need a fastpass. We try to book a nearby ride FP for those not riding at an overlapping time. Ex. Mine Train and Winnie the Pooh.

Ours were good for at least a few days. If you are there at the end of the month it might just be good for that day if it is the last day of the month.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

We would collect the rider swap passes but honestly it was so time consuming to stand around and have a second group go through that we rarely used them.