We're going to WDW for the first time this December, so I'm not speaking from experience but rather from what I've read on other posts... Some people have described a 'holding zone' of sorts on the rides where you could wait with a not-wanting-to-ride child while your spouse rides, then switch off and get on the ride immediately, rather than having to wait in the fast pass line after the others get off the ride. If everyone who wanted to ride had Fast Passes, wouldn't this be a lot faster (assuming you could get the little ones who aren't riding to wait in the line)? Is this option offered still, and is it only offered on certain rides?
Thanks in advance to anyone who has info to share!
That is precisely how it works at some attractions. So it's a bit different on different attractions.
For example, on RnRC, you tell the CM at the head of the queue that you want to do child swap. They will direct you to a room that has two doors, one on the load side, and one on the exit side. They will tell you to go through to the exit and wait for the other person (or persons - we do this with my older DD, and she gets to ride twice!).
When the first person (or persons) finish, the one who was watching the child who doesn't want to (or can't) ride, the other goes back through the two doors and tells the loading CMs that they just swapped a kid, and then you get to ride right away.
At ToT, you tell the load CM that you want to child swap, and one person is escorted on an elevator (a NORMAL elevator - although the CM usually has a joke of some kind about it) down to the exit area. You wait with the child who's not riding, pass him or her off, then you ride the elevator back upstairs to the head of the queue, possibly with a second person who gets to ride twice.
At Dinosaur, you are directed to wait in the gift shop, then are escorted back through the exit to the head of the queue.
Each attraction has a slightly different arrangement. I believe on Dinosaur, you have a choice to wait in the gift shop, or to meet up outside, and then use a special pass to go back through the pre-show. And there may be some variations.
I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to kid swap on virtually any attraction, whether it has FP or not. I could be wrong, but I thought that that was the policy. You may have to all wait on line together, carrying an infant, for example, but at the head of the queue, I'm sure there is a way to use the "chicken exit" to kid swap on virtually every ride.