Just checked the WDW website. It doesn't say the child must be under the height limit. It says either too small or do not want to ride. Wonder if they're changing it. "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."
If they are changing it, it is a second change in the last year or two, because it used to say ONLY too small. Nothing whatsoever about not wanting to ride. When the site changed, when they started messing with the site around December 2012, it was at some point in 2013 that the wording changed,
The issue is that the CMs have only been trained on the "too small" use of rider switch.
So if it's changing, they are going back to the way it was from at least the time that I joined this site and started reading about it.
Rider Swap is for families with children that are to short to ride not children that don't want to ride. Where would you draw the line if it didn't matter if the were tall enough 10yo, 12yo, 18yo? The system would be abused if they let anyone that didn't want to ride get a rider swap.
It that is what it is for, their official information needs to reflect that. Official info is how a company disseminates info to their customers, and their official info does not say what you said.
Since FP started and they changed from the actual rider switch at the exit to the rider swap pass I have never ever been able to get a RS pass for a child who is tall enough to ride but doesn't want to. ...... again despite what the website says actual experience of this is rare.
I agree. But their site has said this for at least a year. Anyone wanting to use it should insist on their official rules being followed OR officially changed.
Now I am so confused. I asked this question on another thread and was told that not all people had to have the FP. I thought it seemed like people with small kids were getting an advantage (my kid is 4 so I liked this
) but was told that it was ok.
I'm confused too because as long as I have been reading these boards, there has been a difference in the use of FP and rider switch between wdw and dlr. at dlr you didn't/don't need FPs for the second group of riders, for WDW, you have needed them.
If this isn't true, it's a change, and I believe it's a change since FP+ if indeed it is that way. We haven't used rider switch at WDW because by the time we went DS was big enough for everything, but it was part of my constant, ongoing, research.
I don't think this is just for rider swap. We were there last week (5/30) and found the CM at the 7DMT to be particularly strict and downright rude. Our family had fastpasses, but when we arrived to the attraction it was down due to a technical problem. At that time the CM at 7DMT told us we could come back anytime that day and they would honor our fastpasses. OK, great, right? Seemed simple enough. Well. when we came back to ride the CM there at that time was quite curt and said NO. I was rather ticked, as our whole family of 6 originally built our entire day around riding the mine train. It wasn't our fault it wasn't working during our fastpass window! I had even seen on my iPhone & MDX app that I had a "bonus fastpass" for up to 6 people issued to me sometime during that day (I'd NEVER seen or heard of this before-surprised to see.) I tried to tell the CM this. She made my family stand off to the side and then told me I had to bring it up on my phone and show her to prove it. My battery was running low by this time and I was trying to hurry before it died. Then she tried to argue with me about how many people it allowed--she didn't see where it read "for up to 6 people." My whole family almost lost our on our 7DMT ride even though we legitimately had fastpasses. Make sure you have your phones on and you Apps up on the screen to prove your case guys.
Definitely bring your mobile device. I still have a notification on
MDE about a change to my barnstormer FP+ from our last trip.
If a child is tall enough for some attractions, you can do an internal rider switch with them. For the internal rider switch, everybody in your party goes through the queue and then at the load area, there is a bypass to the exit of the ride that the child not wanting to ride and an adult can go through and then wait at the exit. Once the party is done riding, the adults can switch off and up to three people (so the adult waiting and two others) can go back through without going through the queue again. They simply go back the way they came under the direction of the CM. I've seen this done at a couple of attractions, but I'm not sure if all attractions have an exit hallway or the internal rider switch option. You would think they would all have some sort of "chicken" exit. I think they have this system for children who are tall enough because it is faster for the family than having to go back in the queue (even the Fastpass queue). The rider switch card system works for kids who aren't tall enough to make sure the CM isn't held up checking heights when they are trying to load. It also makes sense to why rides without height restrictions don't have the rider switch cards. You could probably bring the child through and do an internal rider switch. Sometimes I wish WDW had a similar policy to
Disneyland where the first part of the party going through the queue for the rider switch gets a card that they exchange for the rider switch ticket once they get to where they collect fastpasses in the line, because this would cut down on people scamming for rider switches and make it easier for guests actually needing them.
I have never once heard of this. From how you worded it I get yes mom pressing that you've only seen it and haven't been a part of it, I think you likely were seeing something like the way the GAC card or
DAS was working for that family. Since so many rides board in entirely different places from where they offload, this wouldn't even be possible a lot of the time.
A few years back we used rider swap with my niece. She was def tall enough to ride EVERYTHING but too chicken. We were NEVER refused a Rider Swap. Guess it has changed.
Changed back.
I was just told myself when I was on the phone with the CM this weekend that what is supposed ot happen and what does varies. She said with most the newer rides, the cast members are following the rules. I said my son is tall enough and just doesn't care for them but too young to wait by himself. She said that the swap only applys to infants. That I would need to get a FP for him too even if he doesn't want to ride because he is tall enough. I was like what? I wish it was black and white because now we have to just be safe and waste some of his fast passes because I can't have him waiting alone if they apply that rule to us. Blah
Remember that the CMs who answer the phone are offsite, most likely out of state, might never have been to or worked in the parks, and do NOT necessarily know how things work in the parks, just her use of the word infants tells me she doesn't know what she is talking about,
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you on this! We went in May with DS2, who was only 36". At WDW using the RS was great because we could get the RS pass and then go off to a play area or ride that he could enjoy while one of us could ride, then switch off (or use whenever it was convenient- even different days!). At UO, we used baby swap at Transformers and Spiderman. He had to wait in the standby line with us then at the end of the line wait in their baby swap area. He was (somewhat) disappointed that he didn't get to ride, plus there's not much to do in the waiting areas. It's not a huge deal and he was ok with not riding, but I would have much preferred being able to take him to do something he could actually enjoy rather than making him wait in a long, hot line for nothing. Again, not bashing Universal's rules, but saying their baby swap "blows Disney out of the water" is totally off IMO.
On the other hand, your family didn't
T have to split up for the entire length of the queue and ride. You got to spend that time together. And that is why many people appreciate universal's situation vs disney's. For us it wouldn't work either, because the rides have queues that would have freaked out my son. He is coming up on 5 feet, is 10, and won't go near the entrance to The Mummy because it freaks him out. For the rides he would want to go on, it would have upset him to see the lines without being able to ride. Doesn't work for your family or mine, but for most people who comment on it, it absolutely does blow wdw's away.
There is a difference between a Rider Switch Pass and a Child Swap. With a Rider Switch Pass the child is too small and the adults swap outside the ride. With a Child Swap the child is tall enough but too chicken and the adults swap at the front of the ride inside the ride. Disney's policy that you copied combines the two into one policy.
I rarely disagree with you Robin, but I do here. IMO the only way there are separate things is in the wording people use.
I agree with this. We are going in a week and a half and my 3 year old son will miss the 40" rides by less than an inch. :-( I'm a Disney specialist
travel agent and my boys live and breathe WDW every day around my house because of what I do. All my 3 year old talks about is riding Star Tours and Test Track and he won't be able to do it this trip. Sure, the other two will get to ride those rides twice, but dealing with the rider switch takes a lot of time and we'd much rather be able to ride all together as a family and be done with each ride with one ride through. Truth be told, what I'm REALLY looking forward to is next summer (2015) when my 13 year old will be 14 and old enough to ride with the (then) 4 year old and my 6 year old will be 7 and old enough to sit by himself. That means that my husband and I will actually be able to sit next to each other on a thrill ride (as mild as some of them at WDW may be). That hasn't happened in almost 15 years, LOL! -Astrid
Are you talking about exactly where the kids sit while the whole family is on a ride? Have you ever gotten to the seating area and not been allowed to be seated? As far as I know it's rides where you are out of of sight of the older people that have limits on where younger kids can be seated. So on TSMM you have to have a 14+ With the younger but you could have an 11 year old sit with the younger on BTMRR while the adults sit in the car behind.
I also think that the perceived rider switch "advantage" for too small children (and again I don't think it is much of an advantage) is that it is only for a FINITE period of time. Basically those couple of years until the child is big enough to do the rides. I think that a majority of families would much prefer riding together than splitting up constantly with a too small child. With an adult that doesn't want to ride, that can go on indefinitely....and as other posters have pointed out, there are plenty of non-riding activities an adult can engage in that a child just cannot.
Agreed.
If you think that rider swap is really this huge advantage then you either haven't travelled to WDW with small children or have the best behaved and most patient babies and toddlers ever. Rider swap was nice for some rides but the reality is that I rarely got to use my rider swaps because the littles had enough waiting by the time my DH and the older kids were done. I have a stack of old FPs and rider swap passes at home from our trips that I never got to use because the kids were done waiting.
Agreed. I hated the rider switch days. Poor DS having to be entertained two separate times each time his parents wanted to ride big ride. We rarely did it.
Agreed. We don't use RS but if I did, you'd bet that I'd walk around with a printed version of that, and make an issue of it. That's ridiculous that they're going to measure a child in a stroller. I mean, I can see if I'm walking up with a teenager on a new ride, but even still, their written policy as it stands now says if you don't want to ride, you can use RS. They need to change it if that's what they're gonna do.
Absolutely. If I were in need of the policy, I would print it out I would travel with a charged mobile device with the page bookmarked, and that would be shown to anyone necessary to have their official policy followed.
Yes you can get some extra FP+ but it takes so much time to use them (and many times we don't because the little one is DONE at that point) that it doesn't really give much if any advantage.
I do see how it can be seen as an entitlement if you are travelling with a much older child and using the strategy to "scam" the system. 
