Rider Swap with Fast Pass Question

[Commodore]

Hello, this is my first post so go easy on me! I will be travelling to Disney World in June with my family 5 - 3 kids. 2 of the kids will be under the height requirements at some of the rides we'd like to go on (e.g, 7 dwarves mine train, splash mountain). From this site I understand how rider swap works, but am having trouble understanding how it works with fast passes. Basically, my question is: do I have to make a fast pass for all 5 in my party (even the one or two that cannot ride) in order to get the rider swap vouchers? Or can I make, for example, one fast pass for a group of 2 for my wife and my oldest to ride the ride with height requirements, and another past pass for a group of three in the same window so that I can ride something else with the kids at the same time, and then still get a rider swap voucher for the first ride so that I can ride it with my oldest? I know in the latter scenario we'd all have to show up for the height-restricted ride, but am hoping we could get the rider swap voucher and take the little ones to do something else without waiting in a long line. Does it vary based on ride (some comments indicate a at least some rides make everyone in the party have the fast pass)?

Really appreciate the help!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I'll give you the easy answer, followed by the disclaimer
Easy answer....no, the entire group does not need FP. Make the FP for the 2 people who will be riding and get a RS. The other 3 can use their FPs for a different ride/attraction.
Disclaimer....there have been some recent reports of needing a FP for the entire group on FOP and SDMT. These reports are fairly infrequent.

 

[Duck143]

We were there in Fall 2016 and used RS and we were never all required to all have FP for a ride. We went on 7DMT and got a RS while the little ones and an adult had a FP for PP or went on Pooh. I don't quite understand why you would need a FP for a ride that you are going to get a RS for, because then you can't get a FP with the little ones.

 

[Duck143]

Hello, this is my first post so go easy on me! I will be travelling to Disney World in June with my family 5 - 3 kids. 2 of the kids will be under the height requirements at some of the rides we'd like to go on (e.g, 7 dwarves mine train, splash mountain). From this site I understand how rider swap works, but am having trouble understanding how it works with fast passes. Basically, my question is: do I have to make a fast pass for all 5 in my party (even the one or two that cannot ride) in order to get the rider swap vouchers? Or can I make, for example, one fast pass for a group of 2 for my wife and my oldest to ride the ride with height requirements, and another past pass for a group of three in the same window so that I can ride something else with the kids at the same time, and then still get a rider swap voucher for the first ride so that I can ride it with my oldest? I know in the latter scenario we'd all have to show up for the height-restricted ride, but am hoping we could get the rider swap voucher and take the little ones to do something else without waiting in a long line. Does it vary based on ride (some comments indicate a at least some rides make everyone in the party have the fast pass)?

Really appreciate the help!

When is your FP booking day?

 

[Commodore]

Thanks everyone!

Duck143 - my past pass booking date was a week ago - I went ahead and booked the hard to get ones for everyone figuring I could always remove people once I figured out how it worked, and it seems like many of the ones with no height restriction are fairly easy to get FP for. Sounds like I can go ahead and release the fast passes I booked for the little ones for some of the rides (though maybe I will keep them for 7DMT). Why do you ask?

 

[Duck143]

Thanks everyone!

Duck143 - my past pass booking date was a week ago - I went ahead and booked the hard to get ones for everyone figuring I could always remove people once I figured out how it worked, and it seems like many of the ones with no height restriction are fairly easy to get FP for. Sounds like I can go ahead and release the fast passes I booked for the little ones for some of the rides (though maybe I will keep them for 7DMT). Why do you ask?

I'm going in 2 weeks and thought I might be able to give you accurate info for RS since we are using it for some attractions. MY 2 DS are tall enough for 7DMT, but still too short for some of the other ones including FoP.

 

[hsmamato2]

Here's my (not) simple answer based on last weeks trip...... sometimes. For the BIG rides like FoP and dwarves they insisted on both parents having fp to get that swap pass. For the others, it seemed no one cared. Just saying what we experienced. My point is the big draw rides are pickier than the others. I have no idea the hows or the whys but it's what happened with us.

 

[Commodore]

Thanks for the recent info - I really look forward to hearing more from anyone with recent or experiences in future. For now I think I am going to keep the fastpass for entire group at 7DMT but will replace break up the other ones. We currently don't have a fast pass on FoP because all of us can ride Navi River Journey and only my eldest can ride FoP -- will we completely regret that? I know I am interested in FoP but am basically hoping we can snag a later fast pass for FoP for the adults and the oldest after we have finished our initial 3 FP in the morning.

 

[hsmamato2]

Thanks for the recent info - I really look forward to hearing more from anyone with recent or experiences in future. For now I think I am going to keep the fastpass for entire group at 7DMT but will replace break up the other ones. We currently don't have a fast pass on FoP because all of us can ride Navi River Journey and only my eldest can ride FoP -- will we completely regret that? I know I am interested in FoP but am basically hoping we can snag a later fast pass for FoP for the adults and the oldest after we have finished our initial 3 FP in the morning.

in our group,only a few of us rode NAvi, the rest we just never hit it right. I can say the reports were FoP was a 10+ and Navi was about 2....I don't mind waiting for another trip.If you have the option I'd go for Fop, you and one other in your party get FP for that,which gives you a swap pass, the the rest do the boat ride, with the possibility of snagging an extra fp later on for that one.

 

[Crystal824]

We were at WDW last week. We also have a family of 5. 3 kids, 2 of which are too short to ride some of the rides. We only had four tickets though because my youngest is only 10 months. For the attractions my two youngest can't do (my middle daughter can do a lot now because she is exactly 40 inches!!!), I usually book 2 and 2. For instance at FOP, I booked 2 FOP and 2 Navi River Journey. DH and my oldest went on FOP and I took the younger two on Navi River Journey. I did get a RS with no issue at FoP. Myself and my oldest used it. DH and my oldest did not ride Navi River Journey at that time. We are DVC Members and they did get to ride it during the Moonlight Magic Member event, but did not ride it that day in the park because the line was 120 min. I did the same with Everest. 2 for Everest and 2 to meet Mickey. We did the same at Rock n' Roller Coaster. 2 for it and 2 for the Disney Jr. show. We did the same for Space Mtn. 2 for SM and two for Buzz.

We actually used RS a lot more than just these examples, including at 7DMT. My 10 month old doesn't care if we just stand there so I did book FPs for everyone on the rides that everyone could ride. My oldest kids rode twice, once with each parent. It was just easier than trying to meet up later, but I could have booked 1 FP with no height limit. That is what I did on our last trip when my middle child was too short to ride many attractions and old enough to realize she was too short. For instance, with her I booked 2 on 7DMT and 1 on Winnie the Pooh. During our last trip, my middle daughter was 2 so she didn't need a ticket.


After reading reports on here, I was worried, but I had no issues at all. No one ever asked if we all had FPs or required everyone to scan for a FP. This was just my experience. YMMV.

 

[Tink1017]

We have had just 1FP for FOP on more than one occasion and have never been asked about the swap person needing a fastpasses, most recent time about 3 weeks ago. I wouldn’t worry!

 

[StarSeven7]

We used rider switch on FOP on Sunday and they did not ask for the non-riding adults to have a fastpass. I would strongly suggest getting a fastpass for FOP now (if you can) if you possibly want to ride. It will be almost impossible to grab one the day of.

 

[hayesdvc]

I needed some clarity. In my family is myself, wife and infant daughter. Wife and I both have FP+ for a ride with height restrictions. Since daughter can't ride, will they still scan my band to add the rider swap to it?

 

[DisneyOma]

I needed some clarity. In my family is myself, wife and infant daughter. Wife and I both have FP+ for a ride with height restrictions. Since daughter can't ride, will they still scan my band to add the rider swap to it?

I'm confused - why would you need RS if you both have FP for it already? Is there someone else in your party you want to bring along so you don't ride alone?

 

[KrazeeK120]

I'm confused - why would you need RS if you both have FP for it already? Is there someone else in your party you want to bring along so you don't ride alone?

I can’t answer for the poster you quoted, but I’m in the same situation. If I’m fortunate enough to get FPs for FoP, we may still use RS if we end up running closer to the end of the FP window in order to ensure that I’ll be able to get on the ride via the FP line.

 

[Twitterpaited]

In June, WDW changed to digital Rider Switch. The PPs from April may not hold true with the change.

 

[tiggerpals]

I'm curious about this as well, and wondering about the changes to digital RS since we were there last year.

 

[wishinon3stars]

Can anybody who has been recently shed any light on the rider swap protocol now?