DGS2 will be the only child on our upcoming trip. What I would like to do for a few rides is this:
We all get in-line together
2 adults ride with DGS, while the other 2 adults still wait in line
Those 2 adults “hand-off” DGS to the waiting adults
The second set of adults ride with DGS
My thinking is that we will not be taking up anymore space than if we were 2 separate parties riding the same ride. DGS can’t get an LL because of his age/ no ticket. It’s only going to be for smaller attractions where the queue is right there by the actual ride vehicles. Here’s the list:
Alien Swirling Saucers
Dumbo
Mad Tea Party
Magic Carpets
TriceraTop Spin
With the exception of AS, none of us have a desire to ride the ride with out DGS. We could always just go through the line twice but it would be nice to save time. I know I can ask once we get there but just trying to plan out our days in advance.
Has this worked for anyone?
Dumbo is tricky to do with the way the queue is now. Once they assign you to a ride vehicle, they will not like it if you introduce more people into the queue (even if it doesn’t change the number of ride vehicles you need), and it’s hard to do a handoff elsewhere in the queue, though not impossible.
I also remember at Dumbo this past trip they specifically told us that you had to keep your whole party together when you left the play area – you couldn’t send adults ahead and then grab your kids later. Which makes me think it will be tougher to do nowadays.
My advice is to scout it out when you’re there and if you think you can pull it off, go for it. Worst case, someone tells you no.
Good advice. I may just ask on that one. When you time is called, is it just for one ride around? Or do the call multiple at once to queue? In this instance, I could explain we would like consecutive rides vs being on the same “go round”. We are technically 2 parties. We would all atay together in line. We could always do 2 seperate rides theough LL and the other adults take a bathroom or snack break while the others are riding. Maybe I’ll plan that for Dumbo to avoid the issue.
The way it worked when I was there most recently (which is different than how it used to be with buzzers or whatnot) is that you would wait in line for a few minutes until you get to the play area, where a CM is holding the line until there’s room to admit more people. Once you get to that point, you would be admitted to the play area or you could skip it if you wanted and immediately join the last part of the queue prior to boarding.
If you opted to go to the play area, whenever your kids were done playing, you could report back to the queue together. They don’t know who is in your party so half of you could just hang back and wait to join the last part of the queue until you think enough time has passed. Or you could all go together and the second party could let people pass them until the handoff is complete.
There is a part of the queue after the play area and before you are assigned a seat where you could hang out while party 1 rides, then do the handoff, then party 2 could be assigned seats. You may have to loop all the way back around to enter the standby line, because you pass that “corral” on your way into the tent. You wouldn’t necessarily be able to pass the child over the rail on your way out of Dumbo after riding.
Follow the red line to the X, which is where Party 2 will be waiting. This all depends on you getting assigned to the left set of dumbos. If you get sent to the right I’m not sure how you get back over there without waiting in the line again. In fact, if you get sent to the right, you may have to ditch the plan and just ride together.
This is all good intel! Thank you. I think for Dumbo we will plan for 2 rides- maybe even on 2 different days. We are planning on 4 half days in MK (4-5 hrs each, tops). DGS will just be 2. He will need resort naps and downtime. He may enjoy breaking it up in 2 different days anyway.
Yeah, I have my magic Kingdom days tentatively set as half a day, every other day. Normally we plan to make sure we ride everything once. But I’m thinking because we’re skipping so many of the big people rides. We will definitely be able to experience some famously toddler rides twice.
A couple weeks ago I find out you are not a doctor. And now I learn you are a grandparent … you don’t look old enough to be a grandparent. Full of surprises.
In any event, based on my experience at WDW with a 2 year old, he may want to ride Dumbo, Magic Carpets and Triceratops Spin over and over.
I don’t know of a rule for or against what you would like to do. It will likely depend on the CM.
