Thoughts for rope drop/child swap with slow-moving stroller?

[A (squared)]

I think I know the answer to this, but I'm not sure and I can't seem to find the answer in my forum searches, so advice would be fantastic. There are 8 of us going to WDW later this week (!!!), 5 adults, 2 teens, and an infant. We're planning on doing rope drop, and for most days our first ride will use child swap (e.g., Soarin'). My question is, does the person staying with the baby have to be with the rest of the group to request the rider swap fast pass? Or let's say the baby needs to be fed/changed, can the rest of the group go ahead and get in line, while the adult with the baby comes a little later and requests the rider swap pass? My guess is that there needs to be at least one person to get in the actual line coming with the adult + baby to 'show' that we need the rider swap pass, but I figured it was worth asking, since it would be handy to have the flexibility of the adult + baby not needing to stay with the group at rope drop. Thanks!

 

[MomTo3PrincessesInNJ]

I've always had to show the too short child with my group of riders and in several instances "prove" she wasn't tall enough (Splash mountain and RnRC come to mind from my trip 2 weeks ago)

 

[Kathryn777]

We always have to show the child who won't ride. We rush with our (fast moving ) stroller, usually our fastest walker takes the stroller. Then he gets the rider swap and by the time he's done that the rest of us are there. Then the adult waiting deals with feeding/changing the baby, and meets at a designated spot.

 

[Alesia]

The CM will need to see the baby.

 

[A (squared)]

Thanks all! But I think I wasn't clear - the CM needs to see the baby, but do they need to see any other adults? Or can a lone adult with the baby get the pass?

 

[Kathryn777]

I'm trying to remember, pretty sure we generally did have to have one more adult with the adult +baby. But since you're getting right in the line (and trying to "beat" the build up of the line) most of your party should already be there anyway?

 

[lilbuddy88]

Yes they will need to see the baby and see someone getting in line. As for some of the rides now they give the person standing in line a lanyard that they will exchange for the rider swap pass when they are boarding the ride.

 

[A (squared)]

I'm trying to remember, pretty sure we generally did have to have one more adult with the adult +baby. But since you're getting right in the line (and trying to "beat" the build up of the line) most of your party should already be there anyway?

Makes sense. And yeah, the rest of the group should be there already, I was just hoping that they wouldn't have to wait to get in line until we got there with the baby. I know I always feel antsy being at a ride and seeing other people get in line in front of me - of course, I'm just terrible at waiting in general, so that may mostly be me projecting!

 

[brockash]

Thanks all! But I think I wasn't clear - the CM needs to see the baby, but do they need to see any other adults? Or can a lone adult with the baby get the pass?

Yes, they need to see 2 adults and a baby. When you go up, they'll ask who's riding first, many times insisting that person get in the line and they will not give the baby swap or the lanyard thing to get the baby swap until that person enters the line. We just returned and honestly it can really kind of be a pain as you're basically forced to block the entrance of the line while you have a conversation with the CM about your 2 adults and baby swap. I'm not sure how it could be improved, but yes you'll need both adults and baby (which for Soarin is even worse, because you can't have a stroller in there so you'll be carrying/holding the baby and any of their gear you'll need the entire time.) There were a few times we just passed on Soarin, because the baby was sleeping in the stroller and I didn't want to have to get her out and wake her up.

 

[Kathryn777]

It usually goes pretty fast... And really, one person can catch up to the rest. Most rides have looooong wait line spaces so it is quite a walk when there isn't a line (generally speaking)

 

[A (squared)]

Yes they will need to see the baby and see someone getting in line. As for some of the rides now they give the person standing in line a lanyard that they will exchange for the rider swap pass when they are boarding the ride.

Great, thanks for the info. I figured, but also figured it couldn't hurt to ask the all-knowing DIS boards.

That's also really interesting about the lanyard - any idea what the rationale is for that?

 

[A (squared)]

Yes, they need to see 2 adults and a baby. When you go up, they'll ask who's riding first, many times insisting that person get in the line and they will not give the baby swap or the lanyard thing to get the baby swap until that person enters the line. We just returned and honestly it can really kind of be a pain as you're basically forced to block the entrance of the line while you have a conversation with the CM about your 2 adults and baby swap. I'm not sure how it could be improved, but yes you'll need both adults and baby (which for Soarin is even worse, because you can't have a stroller in there so you'll be carrying/holding the baby and any of their gear you'll need the entire time.) There were a few times we just passed on Soarin, because the baby was sleeping in the stroller and I didn't want to have to get her out and wake her up.

Seriously??? I have to get a sleeping baby out of a stroller (or take a screaming baby inside, LOL) just to say I want to ride this later? That seems really badly designed. But thanks so much for the warning, so I can hopefully have him ready ahead of time on our Epcot morning.

 

[lilbuddy88]

I pretty sure people must have been getting the rider swap pass at the beginning of the line but not staying in line to actually ride the ride. And then maybe come back with the pass shortly later and just get to skip the line. They have actually been doing it in Disneyland for years but last year was the first time the lanyard came out at WDW. My biggest issue is that after you stand in line 20 or more minutes me and my family always forget about exchanging the lanyard for the pass. Most of the time the CM catches it but it has been a time or two where I'm running back up the exit to exchange the lanyard

 

[lilbuddy88]

Seriously??? I have to get a sleeping baby out of a stroller (or take a screaming baby inside, LOL) just to say I want to ride this later? That seems really badly designed. But thanks so much for the warning, so I can hopefully have him ready ahead of time on our Epcot morning.

And if your child is anything like mine no matter what time of day it is they always seem to fall asleep right when we get to this area of EPCOT where the stroller is not allowed. It never fails.

 

[serene56]

Rider swap for soaring takes so long. What we did-- I had everyone "run" ahead of us to get to soaring. They rode Standby- and we showed up with the baby and as they were coming off the ride I asked for a rider swap and was given the pass.

 

[A (squared)]

Rider swap for soaring takes so long. What we did-- I had everyone "run" ahead of us to get to soaring. They rode Standby- and we showed up with the baby and as they were coming off the ride I asked for a rider swap and was given the pass.

Very interesting, thanks for letting me know how it worked for you!

 

[Princess Roo]

Yes, Soarin' is a pain with child swap due to the stroller rule. But Living with the Land is right there, which is a fun ride for littles. So, we usually take the baby/small child on that ride twice while the adults do Soarin. Or you can do the Land once and then stop for a little snack in the food court down there.

Overall, child swap is SO helpful!

 

[A (squared)]

Thanks all - I thought I was just asking about rider swap, and turns out I also found out useful info for infants in strollers at Soarin! If anyone has any other tips to keep in mind for infants/child swap on other rides, I would be delighted to hear them - this is our first trip with a baby (at least since I went in the early 80s with my sister who's 3 years younger, LOL), so have been trying to mine the DIS boards for any and all tips. I love the collective wisdom and willingness to share that we have here.

 

[Maxpowers]

I only needed to show the child once the last time I was there and that was at the ToT. Otherwise, I'd just ask and they'd give me the rider swap. I think it depends on the ride and the CM you get. I'm sure official policy is to have the child there.

 

[Zurginator]

I also found that ToT were there most strict with the child swap. Always had to have the small child and other parent right there. At the other rides we could sit on a bench close by and the person asking for the rider swap would just point them out. They do always need to see that someone will be staying with the child however regardless which ride you are going on.

Don't waste your time getting rider swap at Expedition Everest. My wife and I utilized the single rider line and both rode it 3-4 each times in roughly 35-40 minutes. And this was with the standby line posted at a 45 minute wait.