Rider Swap - I know it's been asked but...

[Coreyjohnson2007]

Hope someone can straighten me out here. I have a 5yr old and 1yr old, and 4 adults going (wife and I and her parents).

So for combining FP and rider swap

If grandparents have a FP and my wife, I and son don't. Would two grandparents ride first, then the 3 or us ride after they get off...or does 1 person from the grandparents have to ride w the 2nd group?

Follow up ? does my son always need to ride in the first group or can the first group be just 2 adults and the 2nd group be the other 2 adults and the 5yr old?

 

[Crystal824]

We just did RS a few weeks ago. Any three people can ride in the second group as long as they get their band scanned for RS. They don't have to have had a FP. Doesn't matter who it is or if they rode in the first group. Just have to show them a kid that is too short to ride. We had my mom with us on our trip. On a few rides, DH and my older kids rode the first time with a FP. On some rides, My mom and myself would ride with RS. We never had an issue. You just have to know who is riding when and get the bands scanned. I suppose if you change your mind you could switch bands.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Unofficially the policy is, with the headliner rides that are super popular, everyone needs a FP.

No that is not what Disney's website says, but it's up to the CM's at the attraction, and most visitors have reported that everyone needs the FP to get in line, even when using RS.

 

[DrHickenlocher]

Basic Example on how to combine FPs with Rider Swap: Mom and Son have FP for Test Track, Dad has FP for Soarin'. Mom and Son use FP for Test Track and get rider swap card (Dad and baby need to be visibly present at the entrance, but Dad does not have to have a FP for Test Track). When Mom and Son return, Dad uses the Rider Swap (and Son gets to go again as a companion with Dad).

Then, Dad uses FP for Soarin' and gets rider swap card (Mom and baby need to be visibly present at the entrance. Son cannot go as he does not have a FP). When Dad returns, Mom uses the Rider Swap (with Son as companion).

 

[Crystal824]

Unofficially the policy is, with the headliner rides that are super popular, everyone needs a FP.

No that is not what Disney's website says, but it's up to the CM's at the attraction, and most visitors have reported that everyone needs the FP to get in line, even when using RS.

I did not do that and had zero problems on my last trip which was 2 weeks ago. We have a family of 6 (Me, DH, my mom, 3 kids (1,4,8). Since my son is only 1, he doesn't have a ticket. I booked three FP on Navi River Journey and 2 on FoP for roughly the same time. I put my mom on Navi because she wasn't sure if she wanted to do FoP. My son and my 4 year old daughter are too short for FoP. We all went up to the attendant at FoP. He scanned my band, my mom's and my older daughter's band for RS and gave us the return time. My DH and my older daughter then went through the FoP FP line. I then took my mom, son, and younger daughter on Navi River Journey with our FP. We then waited a bit for DH and older daughter to get off FoP. Then my mom, my older daughter, and I went on FoP while DH took our two younger ones to have a snack.

We did similar FP switch with Soarin. My middle daughter is tall enough for this- Everyone but me went on it with a FP, I booked my FP for Living with the Land and took my son on it - got a RS no problem- my girls rode again with me. For 7dMT and RRC we didn't do a RS because my mom doesn't like those- I booked her FP on Winnie the Pooh and she took my son while we did 7DMT and she just waited with my son at RRC because there really isn't anything near there. We didn't do any of the MK mountains this trip so I can't speak to those.

Things are obviously subject to change. I feel like this is how RS is meant to be used especially now that you can only hold one and you get a specific return time. I typically book something really close that my younger child can do because otherwise with the return time it would be hard to make the RS pass. I was honestly skeptical about the changes with RS, but it worked out fine for us at least on this trip. IF you had to book a FP for everyone, your too short kid would be just waiting an hour or so (depending on the attraction) letting everyone else do RS. If they have a ticket (like my 4 year old), she wouldn't be able to use her FP for another attraction because she can't ride alone.

 

[bkfamilyof5]

Unofficially the policy is, with the headliner rides that are super popular, everyone needs a FP.

No that is not what Disney's website says, but it's up to the CM's at the attraction, and most visitors have reported that everyone needs the FP to get in line, even when using RS.

But that makes NO sense - Rider Swap essentially mimics a FP for the people who can't ride the first time due to a small child... if everyone had a FP then you wouldn't need RS to exist.

 

[Crystal824]

But that makes NO sense - Rider Swap essentially mimics a FP for the people who can't ride the first time due to a small child... if everyone had a FP then you wouldn't need RS to exist.

Yes and No. You would still need the RS unless you could do both FP within the hour. With many attractions, you could do it with no problem especially if you showed up right at the start of the FP. With some attractions even if you were there right at the start time, you might not both make it within the hour. For instance Splash and Soarin'. The FP line can be long for these at times and then the attraction is sort of long. It is doable, but at times it might not work.

I think requiring everyone to get a FP actually allows the party to ride the attraction an extra time. For instance, if everyone in my party got a 7DMT FP. I have a child who is too short to ride so I get a RS. Now I can conceivably ride 7DMT with the FP and with my RS. Whereas if I used my FP for Winnie the Pooh or the teacups to take my child who is too short, I wouldn't have the ability to ride the more popular attraction again. This probably only works with fast rides like 7DMT given the time restrictions on the RS passes now. It might be hard to go through the FoP line twice within that time frame from the first FP and the RS given that FoP takes a while.

Also if the first person showed up toward the end of the FP window, you wouldn't be able to do both FP without RS. I think RS is really meant to be used in conjunction with FP so you can do something else with you little ones. Otherwise with the changes, you are asking the little to sit there for an hour or so (depending on the attraction) probably not doing much unless there is a low wait attraction happens to be nearby. For my one year old, he was fine doing whatever for an hour. He enjoyed going on the other attractions but would have been fine just sitting there. My 4 year old would not have been happy sitting for an hour or so while we switched off at FoP. She was already bummed that she was too short to go on the attraction. The fact that she got to go on a different ride lessened that a bit.