Rider Switch & Fast Pass - Summer 2019?

[_Sarah_]

Has anyone used rider switch in combination with fast passes during summer 2019? I've always heard that you didn't need fast passes for the second group with rider switch if the first group had them, but now there's someone answering questions on the Disney Moms Panel saying everyone in the entire party needs FP to use rider switch in combination. That just makes no sense to me. If you already have FP for the second group, what would be the advantage of using rider switch if the second group could already skip the line and go through FP? I know their answers are wrong a lot, so I wanted to see if anyone has used it in the last month or two and had success. We go in a week and I'm worried all my FPs are messed up now...

 

[MooseBucks]

The advantage is the older child can ride again with a different adult plus the rider swap gives you an all day window to use BUT you can only have 1 rider swap at a time.

That said recently with 2 adults and 3 kids in our party no one really asked if we all had FPP they just asked who was riding second and to present ALL magic bands for those riding on the rider swap. The only place that was an issue was Kali and they didn’t want to give me a rider swap only my daughter so when it came time for my daughters (2 yo and 6yo) to ride my FPP time was up but not my daughters rider swap - that was fun to explain they refused me a rider swap since I had a FPP for Kali.... yeah. Otherwise you could easily double up (one group of adults book TT and the other book sorin etc then use rider swap for both groups to ride both) even if I don’t think your supposed to

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Used it last week, no issues. We walked up to CM at FOP, asked for RS for 3 in our party, she zapped those 3.
3 of us had FP and rode first, the other 3 had FP for River ride, they rode FOP when we were done.
Used it at BTMRR and SDD as well but we all had FPs, so some rode 2x.

 

[_Sarah_]

Used it last week, no issues. We walked up to CM at FOP, asked for RS for 3 in our party, she zapped those 3.
3 of us had FP and rode first, the other 3 had FP for River ride, they rode FOP when we were done.
Used it at BTMRR and SDD as well but we all had FPs, so some rode 2x.

Thank you!! That's exactly what I hoped someone would say!

 

[bfost87]

This is one thing I've always wondered about, but I've never had a child to think about Child Swap (I do now) - I'm just paranoid that if my wife has one set of FP and I have a different set, the CM is going to want to make sure we both have FP for the attraction we're using Swap on, even though countless reports indicate this isn't the case

 

[Crystal824]

Used it last week, no issues. We walked up to CM at FOP, asked for RS for 3 in our party, she zapped those 3.
3 of us had FP and rode first, the other 3 had FP for River ride, they rode FOP when we were done.
Used it at BTMRR and SDD as well but we all had FPs, so some rode 2x.

I have always used RS like this. Our last trip was in March, but we had no issues. We generally book a FP everyone who can ride the attraction and then a FP for something nearby that the too short child and one adult can do.

 

[_Sarah_]

This is one thing I've always wondered about, but I've never had a child to think about Child Swap (I do now) - I'm just paranoid that if my wife has one set of FP and I have a different set, the CM is going to want to make sure we both have FP for the attraction we're using Swap on, even though countless reports indicate this isn't the case

I know, that's my fear too. This is our first trip to use it, and I'm really hoping it all works out. Thankfully I set my son and husband to ride together first on the important things (slinky dog, test track, mine train, etc.) so my 5 year old would get to have two rides, then I'm alone on the things that are fun but not as big of a deal for him (soarin, big thunder, etc.). It's going to be a bummer if it doesn't work for some reason, but all the positive experiences posted have me hopeful!

 

[chimoe]

We did rider swap on many of the rides Nov last year and didn't have any issues. We did FPP splitting. At that time the digital program was new so we were a bit worried since staff training wasn't that well. It all worked out easy. I've always wondered, what's the difference if the 2nd party doesn't have a FPP?.

Let's look at this worse case scenario. If no one in the party has a FPP. you are still seeing the same person to process the rider swap, the only difference is the 2nd rider group is going to have a FPP start time that's the same as the standby? but in reality 1st group does have a FPP so they can just go straight through the FPP queue and scan their bands. (BTW, typical the CMs processing swaps are somewhat outside of podium area. At SDD it was about 30ft in front of the entrance.)

What am I missing?

 

[_Sarah_]

Just an update... we got home Sunday and combining FP with rider switch worked like a charm! I was so pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. Almost every cast member asked if we were using FP and set the return time for rider switch to 10-15 minutes from the time we set it up so we could use both together. Nobody asked if the second group had FP at all. My only hiccup was that for Flight of Passage, the cast member didn’t ask if we had FP and set the return time for 2 hours later. I saw it in my app and went right back, and she changed it to 15 minutes from then. I was so nervous, and was really happy with how it worked! It was my 5 year old son’s first time to be big enough to ride a lot of things, and he was able to do everything he wanted!

 

[Disneyliscious]

This is a much debated topic that I have read up on a lot myself. At the end of the day the answer lies in the fact that if the whole party needed FP there would be no need for rider swap. The entire party having the same fp completely nullifies the use of rider swap so therefore rider swap exists so that the other half of the party does not need fp’s.

Furthermore, people with children wait in line twice as long as people without children for each ride. So no ones cutting any corners or getting any special treatment.

 

[CT Disney]

This is a much debated topic that I have read up on a lot myself. At the end of the day the answer lies in the fact that if the whole party needed FP there would be no need for rider swap. The entire party having the same fp completely nullifies the use of rider swap so therefore rider swap exists so that the other half of the party does not need fp’s.

Not quite true...requiring both parties to have FP does not nullify rider swap. Two members of your party will still get a second ride. Also, the second party gets extra time to ride. Rider swap would still have value even if everyone needed a fast pass.

Furthermore, people with children wait in line twice as long as people without children for each ride. So no ones cutting any corners or getting any special treatment.

Yup, they wait in line twice...but two members of the party get to ride twice.

Getting to split and double up on fast passes is getting special treatment.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

At the end of the day the answer lies in the fact that if the whole party needed FP there would be no need for rider swap.

There is still a reason to use rider swap if everyone who can ride has FP.

Let’s say group A enters the line toward the end of the FP window - or even in the middle of the window. Without rider swap, the FP window could end while group A is riding - and before group B is able to ride. Rider swap ensures that both groups get to use their FP. Some rides can take 20-30 minutes with FP. Rider swap still holds value if everyone tall enough has FP. It is guaranteed both groups get to use their FP even if the FP window ends before the first group is off the ride.

 

[Disneyliscious]

Not quite true...requiring both parties to have FP does not nullify rider swap. Two members of your party will still get a second ride. Also, the second party gets extra time to ride. Rider swap would still have value even if everyone needed a fast pass.




Yup, they wait in line twice...but two members of the party get to ride twice.

Getting to split and double up on fast passes is getting special treatment.

Everyone, regardless of if they have children or not, has the opportunity to split their FP’s up. There is no “doubling up”. The parents don’t get to ride together. It’s no different that a childless couple getting FP’s for separate rides. Sure, the other children get to ride twice but none of their ride photos have both mom and dad in them. They don’t get to experience the fun with both parents. So if that child riding twice is enough to make someone whine about special treatment then by all means knock yourself out. The fact is, RS does not give anyone any special (beneficial, preferred, whatever you want to call it) treatment.