Rider Swap Questions

[JC0712]

We will be going to Disney in May with a large party that includes a 2 year old and I have a few questions on Rider Swap.

It is my understanding that up to four people may ride with the rider swap. Do all four need to have their magic bands scanned or just one person?

Is the return time based on the current wait time? And how long is the window to return?

Thanks,

 

[fancymouse]

So with Rider Swap there is no return time. Everyone involved in the swap will visit the CM at the entrance to the ride. They’ll need to confirm who is riding first and who is waiting etc. Then they’ll put a FP on the MB of the person who is waiting and up to 3 other people (I think? I can’t remember the exact number of people allowed to return). Then group one will wait in line. When they are done, the person waiting and the others can go through the FP lane. The second group can also just return at a different time if that works better for your schedule. You’ll have the FP on your MB, so that’s what actually allows you to “swap”, but they don’t need to be done back to back.

 

[wilkydelts]

Unless something has just recently changed in 2 months you can only get 3 people on for rider swap. The person who is staying with the child will scan magicband first then two others will scan as well in order to join them. You may only have one rider swap pass on a magicband at a time.

 

[KrazeeK120]

So with Rider Swap there is no return time. Everyone involved in the swap will visit the CM at the entrance to the ride. They’ll need to confirm who is riding first and who is waiting etc. Then they’ll put a FP on the MB of the person who is waiting and up to 3 other people (I think? I can’t remember the exact number of people allowed to return). Then group one will wait in line. When they are done, the person waiting and the others can go through the FP lane. The second group can also just return at a different time if that works better for your schedule. You’ll have the FP on your MB, so that’s what actually allows you to “swap”, but they don’t need to be done back to back.

I’m pretty sure the second group has to ride within an hour.

 

[fancymouse]

I’m pretty sure the second group has to ride within an hour.

That’s never been my experience. Confusingly, we did it once for ToT and we had FPs, but we were near the end of our FP window so we still checked with them about Rider Swap so I ended up with RS and a FP. When I scanned my band to ride after my husband, it took my FP not the RS, so hours later when we went to set up RS for RotR, they had to remove my ToT RS in order to set up RotR RS. Same thing happened after we set up
RS for SDD. I decided not to ride after my husband did and the pass just stays on your account. I think the distinction is you can only have one at a time. They don’t really care when you use it.

When you think about it, logistically the time thing doesn’t work as well because under normal circumstances a line could be 90 minutes long, so I’m not sure what “within the hour means”. There’s nothing that officially knows when your first party got off so they can’t really set a time to your pass as the ride could break down etc. and your first party could wait longer (or shorter) therefore making your pass possibly not function depending on the scenario.

 

[KrazeeK120]

That’s never been my experience. Confusingly, we did it once for ToT and we had FPs, but we were near the end of our FP window so we still checked with them about Rider Swap so I ended up with RS and a FP. When I scanned my band to ride after my husband, it took my FP not the RS, so hours later when we went to set up RS for RotR, they had to remove my ToT RS in order to set up RotR RS. Same thing happened after we set up
RS for SDD. I decided not to ride after my husband did and the pass just stays on your account. I think the distinction is you can only have one at a time. They don’t really care when you use it.

When you think about it, logistically the time thing doesn’t work as well because under normal circumstances a line could be 90 minutes long, so I’m not sure what “within the hour means”. There’s nothing that officially knows when your first party got off so they can’t really set a time to your pass as the ride could break down etc. and your first party could wait longer (or shorter) therefore making your pass possibly not function depending on the scenario.

OK, so they changed that then. I wasn’t sure. A couple of years ago, when they went to the digital rider swap, there was a time limit on it and I thought it was an hour (I wasn’t sure on the exact time). The CM at the entrance would have discretion if the ride had broken down or whatever. I haven’t been in a few years, so I wasn’t sure what the current situation is.

 

[jenmsmith]

OK, so they changed that then. I wasn’t sure. A couple of years ago, when they went to the digital rider swap, there was a time limit on it and I thought it was an hour (I wasn’t sure on the exact time). The CM at the entrance would have discretion if the ride had broken down or whatever. I haven’t been in a few years, so I wasn’t sure what the current situation is.

Currently, you do not need to use it within the hour. However, you can only have one at a time (kind of like DAS).