Could somebody help me efficiently plan FP+ with rider switch?

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jk and ek

Mouseketeer
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Oct 2, 2008
Here is our crew:

-Mom (me)
-Dad
-Kid 1 (age 5, tall/brave enough for all thrill rides)
-Kid 2 (age 9.5 months)

THEN, midweek we add:

-MIL

I have the general gist of using rider swap to maximize FP+ but I'm still sort of confused as to how we should book. If somebody could kindly guide me using say....Epcot (we are interested in TT, Soarin', Frozen) or AK (FOP, Everest, and....whatever) as an example, I'd be super appreciative!
 
Here is our crew:

-Mom (me)
-Dad
-Kid 1 (age 5, tall/brave enough for all thrill rides)
-Kid 2 (age 9.5 months)

THEN, midweek we add:

-MIL

I have the general gist of using rider swap to maximize FP+ but I'm still sort of confused as to how we should book. If somebody could kindly guide me using say....Epcot (we are interested in TT, Soarin', Frozen) or AK (FOP, Everest, and....whatever) as an example, I'd be super appreciative!

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to do. FP+ and Rider Switch are 2 different things. Are you trying to get just 1 FP+ reservation for 1 person but also get a Rider Switch on the 1 FP reservation? I'm not sure that's possible and if it is it's skirting the rules.

Also, the 3 rides that you've mentioned for Epcot are all Tier 1 FP+ rides. You are only able to get a FP+ for one of these and the other 2 you will need to do Rider Switch using the regular standby line.
 
I'm not quite sure what you're trying to do. FP+ and Rider Switch are 2 different things. Are you trying to get just 1 FP+ reservation for 1 person but also get a Rider Switch on the 1 FP reservation? I'm not sure that's possible and if it is it's skirting the rules.

Also, the 3 rides that you've mentioned for Epcot are all Tier 1 FP+ rides. You are only able to get a FP+ for one of these and the other 2 you will need to do Rider Switch using the regular standby line.

I believe what OP is saying is say:

FP for Mom for TT, get rider swap because of baby - then Dad and kid ride.
FP for Dad for Soarin', get rider swap because of baby - then Mom & kid ride.

I don't know if that would work and certainly seems to be skirting the rules. I'm just clarifying what I think OP is asking.
 


I'm definitely not trying to skirt or break any rules, we are trying to maximize the combinations of people riding since we will be unable to ride any height restricted as an entire group due to the baby. Apologies if I'm not explaining myself well, we've never used rider switch before.
 
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I believe what OP is saying is say:

FP for Mom for TT, get rider swap because of baby - then Dad and kid ride.
FP for Dad for Soarin', get rider swap because of baby - then Mom & kid ride.

I don't know if that would work and certainly seems to be skirting the rules. I'm just clarifying what I think OP is asking.

It's within the rules, so I don't see how it's skirting them. We plan on doing something similar to this in June when we go.

We'll have a 13 month old with us and a 6 year old. People that gripe about this are ones that are able to go all day without pushing a stroller, breaks, diaper changes, feedings, tired temper tantrums etc. Just because I'll have basically 1 more fastpass using this method, it still means we have to wait for both combinations to ride the same ride, resulting in me not riding with my wife on a good portion of rides and not get around the park nearly as fast as people without young ones.

It's well within the rules.
 
It's one thing to maximize rider swap and do all of the rides by having one adult ride alone and then get the rider swap. It's another thing to have one kid sitting in the stroller bored to tears while one adult enjoys the ride individually (while the other watches 2 kids) and then the other gets to ride it with their other child. On a family vacation, I'd rather enjoy the rides riding with my entire family instead of by myself.

We only did 1 rider swap per park and had something for the non riding child(children) to do each time while they waited for one rider swap to finish.

Soarin - The Land
Star Tours - Meet Olaf
Seven Dwarfs - Tea Cups or Carousel
Dinosaur - Meet Donald
 
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It's within the rules, so I don't see how it's skirting them. We plan on doing something similar to this in June when we go.

We'll have a 13 month old with us and a 6 year old. People that gripe about this are ones that are able to go all day without pushing a stroller, breaks, diaper changes, feedings, tired temper tantrums etc. Just because I'll have basically 1 more fastpass using this method, it still means we have to wait for both combinations to ride the same ride, resulting in me not riding with my wife on a good portion of rides and not get around the park nearly as fast as people without young ones.

It's well within the rules.

Disney allows it, it's not against any rules. We booked FP with rider swap in mind, although once there we didn't really want to spend so much time at one attraction or return to the rides later and rarely used them. Try to plan around the baby's nap time to make it easier.
 
Can I piggyback with some more rider swap questions? We will have 4 adults, 1 kid who is big enough for nearly everything, and 1 toddler who is too short for most/all height restricted stuff.

Can you use swap for more than one adult at a time? So if two of us ride the first time, we swap with the other 2?

And am I right in recalling that the big kid can ride both times, with the original adult(s) and with the swapped adult(s)?

Are there any rides where swap is tricky for any reason? How do the logistics work for something like FoP, with the length of the full experience--if I ride first, my husband and toddler would need to be in the queue with us, then wait in that area while I'm on the ride so he can have his turn? Not sure if our younger son would be patient enough to make that worth it.

We had just planned on a divide and conquer schedule, with the thrill-averse adults doing more rides with the toddler, but there probably are a few rides everyone wants to do. I've just been booking all 5 of us for the same FPs until we sort out who wants to ride what, I hadn't even considered the possibility that you could "stack" FP and rider swap as described above. Interesting.
 
It's one thing to maximize rider swap and do all of the rides by having one adult ride alone and then get the rider swap. It's another thing to have one kid sitting in the stroller bored to tears while one adult enjoys the ride individually (while the other watches 2 kids) and then the other gets to ride it with their other child. On a family vacation, I'd rather enjoy the rides riding with my entire family instead of by myself.

I feel like if you're bored at Disney while one person is on a ride and you're not, you might be doing something wrong? :rotfl:

There's so much to do and see!!

Unfortunately with our youngest only being 9 months old at the time of our trip, we have quite some time until my entire family can enjoy every ride together. This will be our first trip that our eldest will be able to ride anything he'd like to...my husband and I are already very familiar with riding certain things alone.....or not at all (I was pregnant our last trip!!)
 
Can I piggyback with some more rider swap questions? We will have 4 adults, 1 kid who is big enough for nearly everything, and 1 toddler who is too short for most/all height restricted stuff.

Can you use swap for more than one adult at a time? So if two of us ride the first time, we swap with the other 2?

And am I right in recalling that the big kid can ride both times, with the original adult(s) and with the swapped adult(s)?

Are there any rides where swap is tricky for any reason? How do the logistics work for something like FoP, with the length of the full experience--if I ride first, my husband and toddler would need to be in the queue with us, then wait in that area while I'm on the ride so he can have his turn? Not sure if our younger son would be patient enough to make that worth it.

We had just planned on a divide and conquer schedule, with the thrill-averse adults doing more rides with the toddler, but there probably are a few rides everyone wants to do. I've just been booking all 5 of us for the same FPs until we sort out who wants to ride what, I hadn't even considered the possibility that you could "stack" FP and rider swap as described above. Interesting.

If a toddler doesn't meet the height requirement they aren't allowed in the line at all. You have to all go to the FP entrance together, but then one adult with the toddler can go off and do something else.

Anyone can go on the first time, the rider swap pass allows three guests, doesn't matter which three they are.
 
I feel like if you're bored at Disney while one person is on a ride and you're not, you might be doing something wrong? :rotfl:

There's so much to do and see!!

Unfortunately with our youngest only being 9 months old at the time of our trip, we have quite some time until my entire family can enjoy every ride together. This will be our first trip that our eldest will be able to ride anything he'd like to...my husband and I are already very familiar with riding certain things alone.....or not at all (I was pregnant our last trip!!)

Sometimes you have limited options for the non-riding child (children if you only have 1 FP+) in the middle of the day. "Let's go walk through this gift shop, but you can't buy anything while mommy rides Avatar for 30 minutes", sometimes doesn't go over very well.
 
I think it just depends on the kid! That scenario is the least of my concerns, I'm more worried we aren't going to get any FOP FP+ at all for our whole trip because we will only be there 5 days and during one of the busiest weeks of the year (week after Easter..which is the main reason I'm trying to figure out how to navigate rider switch and use it to our best advantage). If any of us manages to end up on that ride AT ALL, I'll be pleasantly surprised! :laughing:
 
I think you need to be careful about planning to use RS to FP two Tier 1 rides at Epcot. We've heard storied lately of CMs requiring that everyone in the queue have a FP if you're trying to get a RS pass from the FP line (if you wait standby it's not an issue). So if DH doesn't have a FP for the ride, a CM could easily say there's no reason to give him a RS from the FP line.

I don't know if this will happen, but we have heard reports of it around here.
 
We'll have a 13 month old with us and a 6 year old. People that gripe about this are ones that are able to go all day without pushing a stroller, breaks, diaper changes, feedings, tired temper tantrums etc. Just because I'll have basically 1 more fastpass using this method, it still means we have to wait for both combinations to ride the same ride, resulting in me not riding with my wife on a good portion of rides and not get around the park nearly as fast as people without young ones.

I read this argument a lot and it's crazy. Having kids and bringing them to an amusement park comes with consequences. Of course you won't be able to do everything someone without kids will be able to do -- that's a given. The idea that using a kind policy designed so that both parents are able to experience a ride as a way to pick up an additional FP -- even if it's just one -- somehow is okay because it balances out the inequities YOUR OWN CHILDREN bring to your experience is ludicrous. WDW allows it for now so go for it if you wanna, but don't try to rationalize it to the rest of us, and don't be overly surprised if a CM says no in the not-too-distant future. Extra Tier 1 FPs is not what RS was designed for, and anyone who is intellectually honest has to admit that.
 
We'll have a 13 month old with us and a 6 year old. People that gripe about this are ones that are able to go all day without pushing a stroller, breaks, diaper changes, feedings, tired temper tantrums etc.

Yeah. I have a DD9, DD7, DD5, DD2 & DS6 months. ETA: this will be their ages when we go in May, not current ages. This will be our 3rd trip since 2014 to WDW. I certainly hope that comment above wasn't directed at me.

The way I look at it is this: Disney is kind enough to offer rider swap. A lot of amusement parks do not. Disney is kind enough to offer FP, again, a lot do not. I personally do not believe that it is intended for people to combine them to get extra tier one FP to compensate for them having to take care of their kids.

If Disney wanted guests with young children to have extra FP, they would give us extra FP. That's the way I look at it at least.
 
I believe what OP is saying is say:

FP for Mom for TT, get rider swap because of baby - then Dad and kid ride.
FP for Dad for Soarin', get rider swap because of baby - then Mom & kid ride.

Wrong again. Frozen does have rider switch! (you learn somethin' everyday)
 
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OP we have 4 kids with a spread in ages. This has allowed us to maximize fastpasses using RS for years. There are always people on each side of the argument for or against this topic. Ignore them and go along with your plans. If everyone needs the party had a FP, you wouldn’t need the RS...so I don’t get the argument.

You basically schedule yourself and your child on one ride with FP. Schedule your hubs on another. RS both rides and your older child can ride twice. Rinse and repeat. Keep in mind RS takes awhile...getting two sets of people thru. I am always shocked how long it feels like I am waiting on my family to get off splash when I am the one waiting behind. Just plan for that. You can always fp something for the non rider and baby to do while the others ride the thrill ride too.
 
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