Rider Switch and FastPass+

Walt Disney World Attractions
21

Just going to chime in as someone who has toured with 2 young kids (DD3, DD1). We did not book a FPP for our whole party when we used Rider Switch. There was no time advantage to touring this way for us! Our progress through the parks was painfully slow. We rarely completed a touring plan, didn’t even use all of our RS passes because touring was just very slow thanks to a million potty trips, diaper changes, nursing, and all the other ‘fun’ small kid stuff. And it’s not a fast process often (the whole FOP process for both parties took over 90 minutes for us). We often just gave up on RS because our kids just couldn’t wait any more.

We hadn’t been in the parks since 2007 and things had changed drastically. While I had done a ton of planning, no other members of our party had. They had no clue where anything was in the parks.

Are there people who abuse the RS system? Sure, just like there are people who abuse any system. But your average family who doesn’t plan, doesn’t know their way around the parks, doesn’t even know about rider switch. I think the number of actual abusers is very small. Most people who use RS are families like ours who hope to ride at least one ride that moves faster than a crawl :joy:

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22

This is my point exactly! Personally, I’d be just as happy if they’d let the whole family go through the FPP line at once then switch at loading/unloading. That’s just not how Disney does it. It can take FOREVER to send 2 groups through the FPP line!

2 Likes
23

Update: I sent an email to WDW outlining my scenario of using a FP for my husband to ride TOT and then using ride swap for me to ride so that my 5 year old who is not tall enough to ride doesn’t have to wait while we use the standby line. I also explained if we both had to use a FP then our 5 year old would have an extra FP and neither of the adults would have a FP left to ride with him. In the reply email they just basically copied the rider switch policy off the website where it talks mainly about the standby line and how rs works. I will past it below. So they didn’t really answer my questions at all. They did give me a direct phone number which I may call! Haha

Reply from WDW:
Services | Theme Park Service | Parties with more than 2 Guests may be able to take advantage of the attraction Rider Switch program, which enables you to experience an attraction while another member of your party waits with the Guest who does not ride. You then “swap” to enable the other party member to enjoy the attraction without having to wait in line again. What Is Rider Switch? 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. Rider Switch is available at select attractions at all 4 Walt Disney World Resort theme parks. See a Cast Member at the attraction for more information. How Does It Work? Check that Rider Switch is offered at the attraction in question by asking a Cast Member. Enter the normal queue with your entire party. At least one adult member of your party and the Guest who will not be riding will then be issued a Rider Switch Pass and asked to wait in a designated area. This group is “Party 2.” The remaining party members, “Party 1,” ride the attraction. After riding the attraction, Party 1 locates Party 2. The non-rider is then “switched” to Party 1. Party 2 enters without having to wait in the regular queue a second time and boards the attraction. The Rider Switch Pass must be presented to a Cast Member at this time. If the person in Party 2 waited alone with the child, he or she may bring one Guest back to ride the attraction with him or her. Please note: Only 2 Guests are allowed per Rider Switch Pass.

1 Like
24

Wow - some great responses!

@BoilerMomPharmD - you make some great points!

@VFLnSFD - I think RS should work that way, too! Soooooo much more straight forward that way - plus the party doesn’t need to be split up!

@rbutler0920 - looks like the response you got was the same “copy/paste” of the Policy (from the website) that I got … minus the added blurb about it being important for all members of the party to have pre-booked FP+ if using RS through the FP+ queue. That’s amusing - but awesome - and I think it goes to prove the point @VFLnSFD made yesterday in believing Disney left the RS Policy gray on purpose.

At this point - I think I’d probably (personally) take the approach of booking FP+ for varied experiences - except for FoP and 7DMT. All other RS-eligible attractions, I may try RS this next trip! I just don’t want to take a chance on missing FoP if I get some CM that applies the “all guests need FP+” unwritten portion of the policy I received in my email response!

25

@brtaylor73 Wow, just wow! Thankfully you use your powers of deduction for good. I can’t imagine what crazy strategies you could come up with if you started reading how the room cancellation policy interacts with ADRs and FPP. I take off my hat to you sir.

My two cents: Rider switch already puts a significant time burden tax on anyone attempting it. My family uses it because my infant son can’t ride but I would trade any “advantage” in a heartbeat for the option of not having to wander the park aimlessly while waiting for my family. Some people may abuse it, sure, just the same way some people use throwaway rooms or cancel their room reservations after making the 60 day FPP selections.

2 Likes
26

So I had a great talk with Disney the other day. They are definitely cracking down. I’ve seen more and more reports on Lines Chat about this.

I had an idea I wanted to run by you all to poke holes in. Here goes:

– If you request RS thru SB, you get paper ticket but it expires that day
– If you request RS thru FP, all who intend to ride, including Party B, must tap in. Everybody in Party B gets a swap ticket good for 1 rider. If Party B is only 1 person, then they can return with 1 guest so they don’t have to ride alone. Easy way around this, a ticket with a hole punch is good for only ticket holder. A ticket with no hold punch is good for holder and a guest.
– To address concern about FP for little ones being wasted, any FP for a little one (under 7 - can’t ride alone) is good for LO and 1 accompanying parent, even if parent doesn’t have FP (because they needed their FP scheduled for RS usage).

Example: Family of 5 has Dad, Mom, older daughter, two young son’s. Dad, Mom and daughter have FP for SM. Dad and daughter ride first, request RS. Mom taps in - gets RS ticket. Since Mom is solo, she gets RS ticket without hole punch, allowing her to bring a guest later. Mom then takes two littles to PP, where they have FP. Mom is allowed in to ride with littles on PP, even tho Mom doesn’t have FP for PP. It’s still only one car being used - so no impact on PP wait time allowing Mom in. Later, Mom and older daughter ride SM with RS.

Thoughts?

27

Sounds fine. 1 and 2 are as expected.

I doubt whether 3 will happen on the ground. I don’t see a CM at a popular ride like PP will let anyone through without an FP.

The theory is all wel and good. All the chat about “what should happen” - we’ve already done that lol! It’s the CMs who implement it that determine what actually happens.

Yet to see anyone (on various forum sites) report that they could ride with a youngster with only one FP between them as you describe.

28

Okay @brtaylor73 here are my emails.

Dear Maren,

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort!

Normally, the strollers are parked in a designated area by the attraction.

We are looking to seeing you Real Soon, as Mickey would say.

If you have any other questions or challenges, please do not hesitate to contact us by replying to this email or by calling us at 407-939-7765 and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

Sincerely,

Salma Carrillo
eCommerce Sales and Service Team

PLEASE NOTE: All information is subject to change without notice and should be confirmed just prior to your visit.

Original Message Follows: ------------------------

So I can take my son who is too small to ride the ride with us through the fast pass lane? Can we take his stroller as well?

Sent from my Sprint Phone.

------ Original message------
From: Walt Disney World Guest Mail
Date: Thu, Mar 1, 2018 12:20 PM
To: Maren Shaw;
Cc:
Subject:Re: Annual Passholder Information

Dear Maren,

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort and thank you for being Annual Passholders!

If you are proceeding through the FastPass+ line each parent must have a FastPass+ to ride the ride. At the conclusion of the ride, the parents simply change places, permitting the second parent to also experience the Attraction.

If you have any other questions or challenges, please do not hesitate to contact us by replying to this email or by calling us at 407-939-7765 and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

Sincerely,

Clarice Brown
eCommerce Sales and Service Team

PLEASE NOTE: All information is subject to change without notice and should be confirmed just prior to your visit.

Original Message Follows: ------------------------

But it used to be that just one parent and the older child needed a fast pass, while the other parent and the small child waited and that parent was than able to use the RS. Cause my younger child is 2, so he doesn’t have any fpp he can use. I used to take him on Winny Poh with my fpp, while my husband and my daughter went on 7 DWARF and when they were done, I was able to ride with the ride swap. But now my son will loose out on his experience because my husband, daughter and me need a FPP to ride. If we all need a fpp, what do I need the RS for than. Than my husband and daughter can go, and I wait till they are done and use my fpp when they come out. Very sad for my son, who can’t have fun anymore and has to just sit and wait, cause he is too little and I need a fpp for what I didn’t need one before. If this is the new procedure I don’t think we can renew our AP for next year, which would be very sad.

Sent from my Sprint Phone.

------ Original message------
From: Walt Disney World Guest Mail
Date: Wed, Feb 28, 2018 12:56 PM
To: Maren Shaw;
Cc:
Subject:Re: Annual Passholder Information

Dear Maren,

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort!

A “child swap” procedure is in place at our Theme Park Attractions, which enables parents to take turns experiencing our rides when a small child is in the party. After proceeding through the standard queue area at each Attraction, one parent experiences the presentation while the other remains behind with the child or children who cannot ride. Or if you are proceeding through the FastPass+ line each parent must have a FastPass+ to ride the ride. At the conclusion of the ride, the parents simply change places, permitting the second parent to also experience the Attraction. However, in fairness to all Guests, we ask that only those individuals who did not ride with the first parent accompany the second parent riding. The following Attractions offer “child swap” procedure at this time.

Magic Kingdom® Theme Park: Frontierland® Area: Splash Mountain® Attraction Big Thunder Mountain Railroad® Attraction Fantasyland® Area: The Barnstormer Attraction Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Tomorrowland® Area: Tomorrowland® Indy Speedway Space Mountain® Attraction Stitch’s Great Escape! Attraction Epcot® Theme Park: Mission: SPACE® Attraction Test Track® Attraction Soarin’® Attraction Disney’s Hollywood Studios® Theme Park: Star Tours®-The Adventure Continues Attraction Rock 'N Roller Coaster® Starring Aerosmith The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park: Kali River Rapids® Attraction Expedition Everest-Legend of the Forbidden Mountain® Primeval Whirl® Attraction Dinosaur Attraction Attractions are subject to change without notice.
Applicable Sites: WDW

If you have any other questions or challenges, please do not hesitate to contact us by replying to this email or by calling us at 407-939-7765 and we will be more than happy to assist you further.

Sincerely,

Monica Rodriguez
eCommerce Guest Care Team

PLEASE NOTE: All information is subject to change without notice and should be confirmed just prior to your visit.

Original Message Follows:

We used to have a fpp for my DH and DD5 for 7DmT and got a ride swap for me whil waiting with DS2 (too small to ride). My friend was in the park today and they told her, her whole party needed a fpp for 7DMT and scan their bands before getting a ride swap ticket. Is that correct?

Reservation number:
Maren Shaw [marenshaw@hotmail.com]
Phone Number: 9415184135

Client Information

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 5.1.1; LGLS675 Build/LMY47V) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/50.0.2661.89 Mobile Safari/537.36
Username: marenshaw@hotmail.com

Will post more as I get them back.

29

I think this way would also be fair for my situation. It might prevent abuse of the ‘bigger’ rides that the littles cannot ride. But would the ‘abuse’ now shift to the child friendly rides? (Not sure how unless parents start selling the ability to ride with their kids on PeterPan or Winnie the Pooh - lol)
However, as with any WDW policy, I can see CMs not understanding it or following it correctly. Perhaps, something like the DAS system could be implemented where it would all be done via MDE and CMs would no longer need to be properly trained??

30

This is how Universal handled rider swap when we visited and I agree it was MUCH better. We all went through the line together. At loading my husband and daughter stepped to a little room to the side of the ride. I rode with my son and then as soon as we unloaded my husband and daughter were loaded into that same car we had exited from. No waiting through any extra line whatsoever. I was disappointed to find that Disney does not do it that way. Thankfully we have now outgrown the need for it.

31

This should read “my husband and son” - not daughter, as she was the one too afraid to ride.

32

I’m confused. If you and your son rode and then your stand and daughter rode, why did you not all just ride at the same time?

Edit to add: Never mind. Just read the correcting post.

33

What makes me chuckle is - the Lines Chat has a thread where somebody said Disney emailed them and told them the whole family would need to go thru together and swap at loading - and folks got upset about that, too! Can’t please everyone…

34

Lol! You definitely can’t please everyone. I guess we just liked the Universal way better because we wanted to all stay together as a family.

35

That was from my email. At least Universal jas a special room where tje little one can be entertained. Love it. And how others mentioned on lines, the CM who wrote me the email must have never been to Disney. Cause how are you supposed to swap at the ride, if the 1st parent doesn’t exit the ride where the 2nd parent is waiting.

36

What also bothers me is the inconsistency not only with CM but also with different rides. Still get RS for me (if waiting with DS2) for BTMR with only my DH and DD having a fpp, but not for 7DMT.

37

I actually really like this idea. I understand some will say that now it’s notbfair that a parent will ride 3 rides without FP. But most rides that do not have a height requirement (which is what most use rider switch for) are not headliners and wouldn’t be effected by one person going through FP with their child who has a FP. Main exceptions would be PP and TSMM. Perhaps Disney could say that those two are exceptions and all guests must have FP to ride. I don’t know whether they’ll ever implement something like that but I think it fixes almost all issues people currently have with RS.

Edit to add: At HS, EP, & AK they could simply say this option is not available on tier 1 attractions. This would eliminate TSMM, FEA, & NRJ which always have long wait times.

38

I agree universal rider switch was convenient. If Disney had an area at the rider switch rides where families could wait that would be good. But that would require some major refurbing. Also some liners were saying that his is tough for children who are old enough to WANT to ride but just not tall enough. Since now they have to sit and watch all their family members go on the ride without them.

39

This is frustrating for planning purposes! Plus who’s to say that CM who usually works at 7DMT won’t be working the queue at BTMM for some reason when I visit?

40

Please help me out. I initially read a blog about some “ninja plan” to optimize your fpp’s, and it definitely got me thinking. Not because I’m not trying to scam the system, but because my husband and I have two sets of kids who are age appropriate for different types of rides. We have 4 kids - two that are tall enough to ride all the big ride and twins that are 4&1/2 and not tall enough, although they are not babies by any means. There are a couple of things the 4&1/2 year old twins would like to do (princess meet and greets) that would be good uses of their fast passes. If my husband AND I both want to ride the big rides, but one of us need to stay with the twins, is all this saying we BOTH need to get FPP’s before we can ask for rider switch? Then we are supposed to send the 4&1/2 year olds down the FPP for their meet and greet by themselves? Sorry, but this seems crazy.

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