Rider Switch

[TheLittles]

It just seems so complicated. I thought that honestly you just walked up to the CM and said hey we want to do rider switch (with a 2 yr old in hand) and they gave it to you....end of story.

 

[Ava]

See..that link says they heard of it happening once under legacy FP-, but not since FP+. My experience has been the opposite...CMs didn't require the 2nd rider group to have FPs under the legacy system, but I am seeing *more* reports now that CMs are checking the entire group's MBs for a FP+ when they go to obtain the RS pass. This is why I'm concerned.

Read the bottom paragraph... it seems (at least as far as wdwuntangled can tell) that there is no official policy regarding how the combination of FP+ and Rider Switch should be used. It's apparently been up to CM discretion. Perhaps during the high crowd times of summer they've started checking that everyone has a FP+.

It's frustrating that there's no policy. We have 2 adults, a 44" tall 5yo, and a 1yo. There are two instances (in parks with a lot of height-restricted rides) where we were planning to FP+ a RS-eligible ride for just two of us, and get a RS pass for the other adult (and 5yo to ride again if she wants). This is what was being reported as the way things worked a few months ago when I started planning this trip. Disney needs to create a policy for these types of things so its consistent across the board.

It's also not really fair for children who are too little for the height-restricted rides, but old enough to have to pay for a park ticket, to miss out on using their own FP+ (or for one parent to miss out on all the headliners in order to take their little one on other rides).

 

[wn01aa]

It just seems so complicated. I thought that honestly you just walked up to the CM and said hey we want to do rider switch (with a 2 yr old in hand) and they gave it to you....end of story.

That is exactly how it worked when I went this past Christmas. I walked up to a ride with my 3 children and wife (1 child only 2 and too small to ride anything over 35") and asked for a rider swap ticket and after looking at my daughter, the cm gave me a ticket and then either myself or wife would take the other 2 children on the ride. I did this at every rider swap ride and it work just like this every time. Am sad that it is becoming more complicated and at the whim of the cm's decision and not based on policy.

I wish they would just set out the rules and make sure that every CM in charge of ride entrances knows the policy and follows it consistently.

Rider swap in theory, isn't even for just height requirements but most CM's wouldn't give you a ticket for example if a child was scared to go on Haunted Mansion and 1 parent needed to stay behind (which is what should happen based on policy). From the Disney site "If Guests in your party don’t want to board an attraction, you don’t have to miss out. One adult can wait with the non-rider while the rest of the party experiences the attraction. The waiting adult can then board the attraction without having to wait in the regular line again when another adult in the party returns to supervise the child or children who do not ride—either because they do not meet the height requirement or simply do not wish to ride." https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/

 

[wn01aa]

Read the bottom paragraph... it seems (at least as far as wdwuntangled can tell) that there is no official policy regarding how the combination of FP+ and Rider Switch should be used. It's apparently been up to CM discretion. Perhaps during the high crowd times of summer they've started checking that everyone has a FP+.

It's frustrating that there's no policy. We have 2 adults, a 44" tall 5yo, and a 1yo. There are two instances (in parks with a lot of height-restricted rides) where we were planning to FP+ a RS-eligible ride for just two of us, and get a RS pass for the other adult (and 5yo to ride again if she wants). This is what was being reported as the way things worked a few months ago when I started planning this trip. Disney needs to create a policy for these types of things so its consistent across the board.

It's also not really fair for children who are too little for the height-restricted rides, but old enough to have to pay for a park ticket, to miss out on using their own FP+ (or for one parent to miss out on all the headliners in order to take their little one on other rides).

Exactly! By them doing it this way it basically renders my 3 year old's (who is too small at 37") FP+ useless. She can't use hers with the rest of us on the headliners and if we selected hers for other rides like Peter Pan, there is nobody who can take her on her FP rides (doubt they would let a 3 year old board alone so she can use her 3 FP+).

 

[adventurous6]

I will have a 3 and 4 yr. old (old enough to have to purchase tickets) but who will only be 38'' tall at the time of our trip. They will not be able to ride most headliners (splash, space, btmrr). I think I'm going to chance it by only having Fastpasses for the initial riders unless I hear enough reports to believe this is widespread/most cm's are requiring it. If they won't accept it, I'll change the fastpass to something else and go on that ride on our MNSSHP day with hopefully a low wait.

 

[wn01aa]

I will have a 3 and 4 yr. old (old enough to have to purchase tickets) but who will only be 38'' tall at the time of our trip. They will not be able to ride most headliners (splash, space, btmrr). I think I'm going to chance it by only having Fastpasses for the initial riders unless I hear enough reports to believe this is widespread/most cm's are requiring it. If they won't accept it, I'll change the fastpass to something else and go on that ride on our MNSSHP day with hopefully a low wait.

I wonder what they would do if you actually took a 3 or 4 year old to a ride and told CM they have a FP+ and the child wants to ride and paid admission just like everyone else. Nobody in your party would have a FP+ to go the ride with them since the CM at a headliner made you use up your FP+ for rider swap. Would they CM make the child go alone, allow a parent to go on, or refuse the child from being able to use the FP+ that they are entitled to use like everyone else.

 

[wn01aa]

I just learned something new (I think) while reading the rider switch page on the disney website. When I went last December, the ticket I was given was for "up to 3 guests". According to the website, it is now only for 2 people max.

From the site: "If the person in Party 2 waited alone with the child, he or she may bring one Guest back to ride the attraction with him or her. Please note: Only 2 Guests are allowed per Rider Switch Pass."

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

 

[lizard1]

Rider swap in theory, isn't even for just height requirements but most CM's wouldn't give you a ticket for example if a child was scared to go on Haunted Mansion and 1 parent needed to stay behind (which is what should happen based on policy). From the Disney site "If Guests in your party don’t want to board an attraction, you don’t have to miss out. One adult can wait with the non-rider while the rest of the party experiences the attraction. The waiting adult can then board the attraction without having to wait in the regular line again when another adult in the party returns to supervise the child or children who do not ride—either because they do not meet the height requirement or simply do not wish to ride." https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/rider-switch/

When I was there at the end of June, they were accommodating this, just differently. I had 1 that was barely over 40" but too scared to ride TOT. She was also not old enough (7 according to Disney) to wait alone. What they did for this was not issue a Rider Swap, but did an internal rider swap instead. This means that the entire party waits in the line (we had FP) and then when you get to the ride, you notify them that you need to do a swap. They instruct the 2nd rider where to wait and how to return once the first rider is done on the ride. In this case, they had my husband go back up the elevator and he was able to ride along with our one child who wasn't scared of the ride.

 

[lizard1]

I just learned something new (I think) while reading the rider switch page on the disney website. When I went last December, the ticket I was given was for "up to 3 guests". According to the website, it is now only for 2 people max.

From the site: "If the person in Party 2 waited alone with the child, he or she may bring one Guest back to ride the attraction with him or her. Please note: Only 2 Guests are allowed per Rider Switch Pass."

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

The tickets I was given last month still say that they are good for 3 guests.

 

[wn01aa]

The tickets I was given last month still say that they are good for 3 guests.

Looks like they might be changing this system in the very near future or seeing how it plays out with only giving a pass for "up to 2 guests"
Instead if 3.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

Wait. Who?? Whaaaa??

Good grief. When did this change? And why? It basically renders rider swap useless. What's the point? Ugh. Time to change all of my FP+ around. Super.

Can someone link me to the thread on the Family Board that discussed this? Thx.

 

[DopeyDame]

Wait. Who?? Whaaaa??

Good grief. When did this change? And why? It basically renders rider swap useless. What's the point? Ugh. Time to change all of my FP+ around. Super.

Can someone link me to the thread on the Family Board that discussed this? Thx.

Yup - it absolutely makes the rider swap useless in most situations.

Here's the thread from the family board (sorry for the dig on the themepark board folks ): http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3300518

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

Thanks. Grrrr. So irritated by this.

 

[lizard1]

Exactly! By them doing it this way it basically renders my 3 year old's (who is too small at 37") FP+ useless. She can't use hers with the rest of us on the headliners and if we selected hers for other rides like Peter Pan, there is nobody who can take her on her FP rides (doubt they would let a 3 year old board alone so she can use her 3 FP+).

I think it all depends on how you choose to view the situation. You are looking at your child's FP as being useless. It is only useless if you choose to use everyone else's FP for a ride that she can't ride. You may also choose to use everyone's FPs for a headliner because in making that choice, you won't have to wait as long and that in turn will free up more time for other rides that your child will be able to enjoy as well. In turn, you could choose to use everyone's FP on a ride that everyone is able to ride, even if that is not the most efficient use of the FP for everyone else. We chose to use a FP for A&E, even though my son doesn't like Frozen because his sisters wanted to see them and wasting his FP on them was a better choice than waiting in a 2 hour line so that he could use the FP on something he was interested in. I also made choices for rides other than the headliners because not everyone in our party can ride them...since it is a family vacation, we chose to make FP for some rides that I usually would not have.

I think that in making everyone scan their bands they are trying to make the use of the FP line as fair as possible so as not to overwhelm the system and to be able to ensure that people who do have a FP are not waiting a substantial amount of time.

 

[DopeyDame]

Thanks. Grrrr. So irritated by this.

Yup, me too.

 

[mummabear]

My suggestion is to email guest relations and request clarification, you may need to email a second time as I often find that the first time they will just copy and paste from the website, then if the answer is that only the initial group needs FP+ to use rider swap then do so and print it out and take that with you.

 

[Angel Ariel]

It just seems so complicated. I thought that honestly you just walked up to the CM and said hey we want to do rider switch (with a 2 yr old in hand) and they gave it to you....end of story.

That is what it used to be...that's all we did in march and October 2013

 

[Angel Ariel]

With regard to your last paragraph- I think someone else reported that they scanned your FP+ before giving you any RS pass; therefore, you couldn't use your FP+ later or change your FP+ because it was marked as used prior to getting the RS pass.

As someone else said, I did not think the fp+ was actually used until it was scanned at the second checkpoint.

 

[Angel Ariel]

The tickets I was given last month still say that they are good for 3 guests.

The website and the tickets in the park have said different things for a while, IIRC.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

How about this??? When Disney asks people to plan in an insane amount of detail 180/60 days out, they QUIT changing the rules all the time. Or if they do, maybe they should actually take the time to let people know of the rule changes. Thank God for DISBoards (and that I happened to stumble upon this thread). I would have arrived with useless FP+ that I spent hours planning and not been able to experience several attractions with my "newly tall enough" 4 year old. I would have been :furious.

As it is, I will have to spend today trying to rearranging every single day of our meticulously planned vacation. I am seriously doubtful that I am going to be able to get FP+ now for some of the attractions for the time slots I picked weeks ago.