Child Swap in Universal

[aliceg]

I understand that most on most attractions, the non-tall child waits in line with the group, then goes to a separate waiting room at the ride boarding area, with an adult, then the adults switch.

But I've also heard that SOME rides do the child swap at the beginning of the ride? Is that true? And which rides would do that?

And one more question. There are 5 of us. If one adult goes and waits with our youngest non-rider, can the waiting adult then ride with the other two kids (that have already ridden?)

Thanks!

 

[chimoe]

hi - we were at universal a few months ago and had a 1yr child.

pretty much all the rides that have height restrictions will have a separate waiting room for the kids and person watching over. Most of the times we all waited until we got to the end of the queue and than we split up, I think on 1 or 2 rides, we had the kid/watcher just walk through the exit and wait in the rooms instead of keeping the kids in the line.

Yes -when swapping, the 2nd rider can go with the rest of the group less 1 person staying behind. So many of the 1st riders can re-ride again. (Nice little perk)

 

[macraven]

Yes, the kids that rode the ride with the first adult, can reride with the second adult when using the child swap set up

 

[Disney_Alli]

We went in summer 2015 with a group of 11 adults and an 8-week old (Yes WEEK) on each ride we were directed AROUND the main line directly to the child swap room and then entered the line directly at the head of the line from there (4 people in the group did have express pass but the other 7 did not and we were never expected to separate. Once 10 of us had ridden we swapped for the adult who'd stayed back with the baby and as many people who wanted to were allowed to ride again (most often this was 7ish people but was sometimes 10 adults again. We found them VERY accommodating and loved that the baby could stay right in the carrier when we went through the "line" and into the baby swap room.

We constantly joke about renting a baby for our next Universal trip it was that easy with him!

 

[t_liz92]

I can't remember any rides that did the child swap at the front. Most have a dedicated room.

 

[wendlle]

They have a room which is great in the AC BUT I wish they would have kids shows or something on.
The worst for us was our fussy 19 month old (teething) and all they were playing on the TV was clips from Jimmy Fallon.
it's a CHILD SWAP room, can't they show clips from kids shows or have some toys or something other than a chair.

 

[smiths02]

They have a room which is great in the AC BUT I wish they would have kids shows or something on.
The worst for us was our fussy 19 month old (teething) and all they were playing on the TV was clips from Jimmy Fallon.
it's a CHILD SWAP room, can't they show clips from kids shows or have some toys or something other than a chair.

We didn't do Jimmy Fallon, but the HP rides had the HP movies playing, Jurassic Park had Land Before Time playing, Transformers had a Transformers cartoon playing. I see that they try to theme it to the ride, but I agree that they should make it child friendly.

 

[smiths02]

We went in summer 2015 with a group of 11 adults and an 8-week old (Yes WEEK) on each ride we were directed AROUND the main line directly to the child swap room and then entered the line directly at the head of the line from there (4 people in the group did have express pass but the other 7 did not and we were never expected to separate. Once 10 of us had ridden we swapped for the adult who'd stayed back with the baby and as many people who wanted to were allowed to ride again (most often this was 7ish people but was sometimes 10 adults again. We found them VERY accommodating and loved that the baby could stay right in the carrier when we went through the "line" and into the baby swap room.

We constantly joke about renting a baby for our next Universal trip it was that easy with him!

We went in April. We had Express, but we waited in the same line as any other express person for all rides (Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, Kong, Jurassic Park). Once in the ride loading area (where you tell how many in your party), some were directed to the child swap room and the others went on the ride. Those people exited into the child swap room, one person stayed behind with child who didn't want to ride and then went again immediately.
I just wanted to clarify because it seemed implied in your response that the wait time was shorter for you, it was not for us, but it was not any longer either. I also appreciate that the 2nd group didn't have to wait at all (unlike Disney where child swap generally means the other group goes through FP line).

One additional bonus is that we could avoid the lockers on several rides.

 

[Disney_Alli]

We went in April. We had Express, but we waited in the same line as any other express person for all rides (Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, Kong, Jurassic Park). Once in the ride loading area (where you tell how many in your party), some were directed to the child swap room and the others went on the ride. Those people exited into the child swap room, one person stayed behind with child who didn't want to ride and then went again immediately.
I just wanted to clarify because it seemed implied in your response that the wait time was shorter for you, it was not for us, but it was not any longer either. I also appreciate that the 2nd group didn't have to wait at all (unlike Disney where child swap generally means the other group goes through FP line).

One additional bonus is that we could avoid the lockers on several rides.

I’m not sure if we were sent through the express pass line - as I said only 4 of the 11 adults in our party had it - but we absolutely did not wait at all. I don’t know if crowds were just that low on August 14th 2015 that no one was in the express pass line or we were guided around people but we basically walked into the ride, straight to the child swap room and then boarded the ride. I have only been to Universal with a child that one time but that’s how it worked for us.

 

[bumbershoot]

I’m not sure if we were sent through the express pass line - as I said only 4 of the 11 adults in our party had it - but we absolutely did not wait at all. I don’t know if crowds were just that low on August 14th 2015 that no one was in the express pass line or we were guided around people but we basically walked into the ride, straight to the child swap room and then boarded the ride. I have only been to Universal with a child that one time but that’s how it worked for us.

You got massive amounts of mummy dust (universals form of pixie dust). That’s not how it’s supposed to work. People wait in the appropriate line then separate once they get to the swap room.

 

[Disney_Alli]

You got massive amounts of mummy dust (universals form of pixie dust). That’s not how it’s supposed to work. People wait in the appropriate line then separate once they get to the swap room.

It’s possible there weren’t any lines or we got mummy dusted. No idea. The day is kind of a blur - we got married the day before that at Disney and were running on maybe 5 hours of sleep.