For some reason I’m having trouble confirming this: With rider switch, is the party containing the non-rider required to wait by the queue entrance until the other party finishes, or can they go do whatever they want and come back later?
We’ll be bringing a 6 month old to DLR this summer, and we’d love grandma and grandpa to be able to take the baby around the park while we ride with our older kids, then they come back and ride just the two of them later.
Thanks!
You are not “tethered” to the queue. Once the first group enters, the rest of the group can go do something else. After the first group is off, you can return to the queue and hand-off for the second group.
Most likely they don’t care, but it is advised that you return pretty quickly after the first group gets off. In other words, don’t have the first group ride, get off, go to lunch, then come back for the second group. They might question that. Or…they might not.
I’ve never been to Disneyland but they won’t question it. It’s a Fastpass that’s good for the whole rest of the day. You can go back whenever you want. You just can’t get another until you use the first one.
Sounds like that’s the key bit of info, then!
Agreed, you can wait and use the RS pass later.
Note that any individual member of your party can only have one RS pass at a time – this means that if you have two adults, each of you could hold a RS pass for different attractions if you desired. But then you’d be maxed out and would have to use one before getting a new one.
This is perfect thanks all! Gotta put that baby to good use somehow. 
Great info so far, just wanna callout it’s been my experience that Rider Switch isn’t an all day thing. Unless that changed in the last 5 months. It’s always been tied to an hour window that starts when they estimate the first group should be done with the ride (and does have the same 15 min grace period as a Lightning Lane). If we’ve needed to use it later than that hour we’ve had to have a reason & ask for a CM who issues a RS to adjust the window.
They’ve historically been fairly flexible. But one of the reasons we don’t use RS as much these days (aside from the fact that DH & I have ridden plenty of times on most of the rides) is that they limit to an hour and sometimes that just feels harder to commit to & stay in the area so as not to miss the window.
I don’t remember having to do this at all! Our last visit to DLR was in October 2023. But maybe I am just always on time. 
But you definitely have more experience than me - so I’m not saying you are wrong, just surprised I didn’t pick up on this! I guess it’s possible it is inconsistent.
Once upon time it was all day with the paper passes and we LOVED the flexibility for that. And then the digital came around and ruined it and it was always specifically an hour. But as I said, we’ve used it a lot lot lot lot less and now I can’t remember if recently it wasn’t an hour. But I wanna say it was… I just don’t have a specific recent memory to back that up. So maybe it has gone back to being more flexible?
Nowadays, because it’s a lot harder with our 2 younger kids for just 1 parent to manage and we have yet to purchase G+ at Disneyland, we both stay back and the older 2 kids will wait what they’re willing for what thrill rides they really want and we meet them up them up at an agreed upon location or they come find us where we’re at with the younger ones. So I could be totally wrong now too.
We almost always use our rider swap passes right after the first group exits because we would rather not backtrack. I can’t think of a specific instance when we haven’t … but I also can’t specifically remember there being an end time. That said, I do remember that the start time for the RS is usually set to the same amount of time as the standby wait, I believe. Or sometimes a little less. (So you can’t just get a RS pass and then immediately get in the LL line.)
Yes very much this. We may or may not (particularly on rides like Rise when not all of us necessarily want or need to ride each trip), get a RS and then bail on the line at some point and go do something else close and then come back to use the RS once that start time has cleared. But our window for this use of RS is all but gone now that DD4 reached 40". She was just barely but sometimes not quite there the last time we were in DL, but definitely is now and so our rider switch days just might be behind us (YAY!!)
I often say “We are not fast,” in a very Baymax voice to describe us, because while DH & I and now DS12 can move really quickly, as a group it’s like pulling molasses along to get all of us up & moving so sometimes things happen (like urgent snack breaks to cull a hungry toddler or bathroom accidents/changes) that eat up the hour.
I feel this! Especially at bedtime though. 
OMG Dinner and bedtime and every Sun-Thur night always & forever yes. I love the weekends though because I don’t have to rush anyone to bed & we can have a little more fun. And if I try to have fun on weeknight, the kids I deal with the next morning when it’s time to be getting ready for school remind me not to ever plan anything for a weeknight ever again until they’re like 20 and gone.
Ha, great discussion and great info thanks guys! Sounds like we’ll expect the 1 hour window, and be pleasantly surprised if we get more flexibility than that! Very helpful all.