Same day rider switch?!

[ArwenMarie]

I liked the flexibility of using them during another day during our trip, depending on the time we had the FP for. Even with fp’s the time to get through and out can be upwards of 30 mins. Sometimes the 3 year old gets a little cranky if she sits out longer than that. We liked to leave the area and let her have some fun then return another day. Oh, well. Seems like some bad apples ruined the bunch!

I can see the appeal of being able to keep them

But can't you just go back and get another one the next day or whenever?

 

[dlavender]

I can see the appeal of being able to keep them

But can't you just go back and get another one the next day or whenever?

If you can get another FP....

They can be hard to come by, especially when you stay offsite.

 

[dlavender]

I asked the lady at tower of terror about the rider switch pass and how fop was same day, and she said soon they will all be that way. Obviously I take it with a grain of salt, but FYI.

 

[disneygirlsng]

If you can get another FP....

They can be hard to come by, especially when you stay offsite.

You don't have to have a FP to get a rider switch pass. Though I guess with FOP someone may not want to wait in the stand by line.

 

[mom2rtk]

Sounds like my rent-a-baby biz might be bust before it even gets off the ground!

 

[10CJ]

I can see the appeal of being able to keep them

But can't you just go back and get another one the next day or whenever?

Rider Switch can take a lot of time. So, I would say no, you can not necessarily just go back and get another one another day. You may have time for the first group to ride the first day and plan for the second group to ride at another time. You may not have a fastpass for the second day. Sure you could wait in the standby line, but that takes time too.

I am actually planning to try and do most of ours on the same day but there is one that I was not sure we would have time for that day. However we are planning to be in that park two other days after that.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Rider Switch can take a lot of time. So, I would say no, you can not necessarily just go back and get another one another day. You may have time for the first group to ride the first day and plan for the second group to ride at another time. You may not have a fastpass for the second day. Sure you could wait in the standby line, but that takes time too.

I am actually planning to try and do most of ours on the same day but there is one that I was not sure we would have time for that day. However we are planning to be in that park two other days after that.

But you can go back another day and get one. That's just a fact. If one was going to go back on another day to redeem the pass, one can get another on

I understand it would preferable to be able to hold on to them, but I think it's a small, reasonable change

 

[10CJ]

But you can go back another day and get one. That's just a fact.

If you have time to wait in standby to get one, sure. Then you would still need to do that ride twice on that day to actually use it.

 

[ArwenMarie]

If you have time to wait in standby to get one, sure. Then you would still need to do that ride twice on that day to actually use it.

Right. Ride twice. That's the switch part. Maybe I'm not understanding what people were doing

 

[10CJ]

Right. Ride twice. That's the switch part. Maybe I'm not understanding what people were doing

Riding twice takes time. Sometimes you do not always have time in your schedule to ride twice right in a row. My understanding is it can take 30 minutes to go through FOP with a FP. If you have an ADR to make, you may not be able to spend an hour at that time to do the ride twice. However you can fit in two 30 minute rides over two days.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Riding twice takes time. Sometimes you do not always have time in your schedule to ride twice right in a row. My understanding is it can take 30 minutes to go through FOP with a FP. If you have an ADR to make, you may not be able to spend an hour at that time to do the ride twice. However you can fit in two 30 minute rides over two days.

Right, of course riding twice takes time.

My only point was this isn't unexpected or unreasonable. FPs don't carry over to the next day or the end of the month. You miss it, you miss it.

 

[dlavender]

But you can go back another day and get one. That's just a fact. If one was going to go back on another day to redeem the pass, one can get another on

I understand it would preferable to be able to hold on to them, but I think it's a small, reasonable change

No ride is worth 180+ min wait.

We will just have to change how we plan around this ride. Probably just skip it moving forward until the littlest is tall enough to ride, if we can’t plan on riding it back to back.

 

[mom2rtk]

My guess is they're tightening up policies in anticipation of SWL opening next year. FPs will be much harder to come by and tiering will become a big issue for many, so I can't say I'm surprised. It would be a bummer if I had been used to using it as part of my touring plan. Policy tightening always is.

Honestly, if they didn't feel there was something not working for them the way it was, they probably wouldn't be changing it.

 

[Kingdome8]

YEAH I totally get why it’s one day. When we were there in June we used it and my kids were able to ride it twice in 30 mins while there was a 3 hour wait. TALked to different people in different ride lines who said they were sad they couldn’t get on. Easily could have sold it. I wouldn’t have of course. LOL

 

[randumb0]

Other theme parks require you to wait on the other end so there is no coming back later in the day

 

[bebec22]

When I was getting ready for my December trip someone in my FB group mentioned people selling rider switches on eBay. I did a quick search and couldn’t believe how many I saw for sale and how much they were going for! While it stinks a bit I can definitely see why Disney is doing this.

 

[AFwifelife]

Right. Ride twice. That's the switch part. Maybe I'm not understanding what people were doing

Agreed. Whenever we used them, it would be to ride right after each other. The person staying back with the non riders would do something with them and we would switch out wherever they are.

 

[dlavender]

Other theme parks require you to wait on the other end so there is no coming back later in the day

This is how Uni does it. We prefer it as you have a dedicated cool space to sit or play while they have a movie on.

Helps the 3 year old (and waiting adult) to be more patient...

 

[Gentry2004]

Back when we could use rider swaps, I was surprised that you COULD save them for other days. I don’t really see this as that big of a deal. Like other posters said, at our local amusement park the waiting parent has to wait at the exit and doesn’t get to take 2 people with them on the ride.

 

[HopperFan]

It seems like they should be linked to the Magic Band or cards. I feel like Disney could figure something out to prevent them from being sold.

Yes. This would solve a few of the problems. When DAS was on a card, you could save your times for the next day. Once they moved it to the MDE/MB system ... they expire at midnight. So moving this to the system would not only keep a control of it, would enforce the expiration so front line CMs don't have to deal with it ... you would also be able to see it on your MDE and not having to keep up with the paper or worrying about passing it off. And no sharing/selling outside your MDE group.

I asked the lady at tower of terror about the rider switch pass and how fop was same day, and she said soon they will all be that way. Obviously I take it with a grain of salt, but FYI.

Absolutely would not surprise me based on conversations the last year or so.

Riding twice takes time. Sometimes you do not always have time in your schedule to ride twice right in a row. My understanding is it can take 30 minutes to go through FOP with a FP. If you have an ADR to make, you may not be able to spend an hour at that time to do the ride twice. However you can fit in two 30 minute rides over two days.

And you will have to take this into consideration when asking for one, just look at it as booking another FP+ except instead of a window of one hour you have the rest of the day. Everyone knows which rides they are going to request this on, so build in the extra time.

YEAH I totally get why it’s one day. When we were there in June we used it and my kids were able to ride it twice in 30 mins while there was a 3 hour wait. TALked to different people in different ride lines who said they were sad they couldn’t get on. Easily could have sold it. I wouldn’t have of course. LOL

Think about how many they print out for the month for these. Then they have to compute these into the system without really knowing when they will be used. Those computations impact the number of FP+ offered to others via the system. Then the actual usage will impact the SB line. At this point with crowds I am okay with Disney getting control of some of their loose strings.

Agreed. Whenever we used them, it would be to ride right after each other. The person staying back with the non riders would do something with them and we would switch out wherever they are.

Us too. And that was the original point when they removed the ability at some rides to swap at the entrance/exit.

We all have to remember that when RS/CS was implemented by Disney there was no such thing as FP. EVERYONE waited in the STANDBY lines. This was implemented so a group didn't have to split up and then wait in STANDBY TWICE. That was a very fair offer to keep the "too short" ones out of the line, and not have to offer a swap location or wait room (Universal style).

Once FP started, Disney should have changed the entire program's implementation to keep it in check. They didn't. It has now likely gotten out of control, as we can read here and other places. 7DMT, Pandora ... soon enough TSL and SWL, then Tron and who knows what else.

I would not be surprised if they are now going to slowly change the program to be more in line what it originally was in anticipation of the huge use of it the next few years.