This is a dumb question...

[KateMW]

When booking FPs for rides that we plan to child swap our son on, he doesn't need a FP right? So I would just be looking for 2?

Thx

 

[Tomh]

No, he doesn't need an FP, as he won't be riding. You'll just need the 2.

 

[Robo]

No, he doesn't need an FP, as he won't be riding. You'll just need the 2.

And, in some cases... just one.

(Having two is safer.)

 

[g-dad66]

OK, now I have a dumb question.

If both parents have FP, what's the need for a Rider Swap pass? Does it do something more than give access to the Fast Pass lane?

I understand the value if there are also older children tall enough to ride, as the Rider Switch will allow the older kids to ride with each of the parents.

But what's the need for it for a family of three?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Here’s a very recent thread where only needing 1 FP is discussed:
Do we both need FP+ for rider swap?

 

[Tksolomom]

Depending on the ride, you can get a rider switch pass with only one FP. FOP and 7DMT sometimes won’t give them out unless you have 2 FP.

 

[Spork24]

OK, now I have a dumb question.

If both parents have FP, what's the need for a Rider Swap pass? Does it do something more than give access to the Fast Pass lane?

I understand the value if there are also older children tall enough to ride, as the Rider Switch will allow the older kids to ride with each of the parents.

But what's the need for it for a family of three?

The value of the rider swap is that if person 1 doesn’t finish in timeand person 2 misses the FP window they can still ride. Also if your up against another hard time limit like a ADR you can come back after.

Even with FP depending on the ride it can take 30 min plus depending on time of day and whatnot to fully cycle through the ride and hand off the child.

 

[mustinjourney]

if it's just you, spouse and 1 child, I would recommend getting just 1 FP for each ride that has rider swap. It's not quite as helpful at magic kingdom since there are really only 4 rides that have rider switch (SM, BTMRR, 7DMT and barnstormer) -- but it works very well for DHS and epcot with the tiering. With epcot, one can grab soarin while the other gets test track (of course that means you'll have issues with Frozen). In DHS, you can split TOT and star tours and then both get FP for TSMM and then maybe the frozen show? With DAK, it would allow both of you to ride FOP and one of you to ride Navi with the kid.

Someone mentioned that FOP and 7DMT sometimes won't give them out unless you both have them, but I've been on FOP more than 7 times and 7DMT at least 12 times and never had an issue getting the rider switch. No one has ever asked either of us if the other person also has a FP for the ride. How would they even check? If they scan your spouses band, it would then show up as used, and then they wouldn't be able to use it later after you came out of the ride.

Do yourself a favor and maximize your FPs. The only reason you'd both get a FP is if you wanted to both ride it again (i.e., you each use your FP to enter...and each of you gets a rider switch ticket when you enter). If you can both get FPs for FOP, I would recommend doing that. The rider switch passes are good anytime before the end of whatever month you are in -- so they become very handy to collect and then use at your leisure during the rest of your trip.

And if you don't end up using them, well, then you get to sprinkle some pixie dust on some fellow guests. This past december, I handed out two rider switch tickets to a group of 6 at FOP and they about lost their minds. They were so happy.