Fast Pass & Child Swap

RandomPrincess

Keep Moving Forward
You mean CS is only for rides where she's not tall enough to ride? I believe she's tall enough to ride everything at 45".

Yes it is. There are a few bigger rides she won't be able to ride but the majority of rides she will be tall enough for.

There may be other tips we can give you to help with making this trip successful. Millions of families go to Disney every year and wait in lines if you could give us some details about your trip we might be able to help give you some ideas to make it easier.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
You mean CS is only for rides where she's not tall enough to ride? I believe she's tall enough to ride everything at 45".

Not everything, but pretty much everything.

At 45", she can't do Primeval Whirl ("Coaster" at Animal Kingdom), Summit Plummet (waterslide at Blizzard Beach), Double Dipper (waterslide at Blizzard Beach), Crush'n Guster (waterslide at Typhoon Lagoon), Kowabunga (waterslide at Typhoon Lagoon), Pinball Slam (Disneyquest), Astroblaster (Disneyquest), Cyber Space Mountain (Disneyquest).
 

PurplePizza1

Active Member
Original Poster
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. One day in each park starting next Monday. We're not doing any water parks. We have lots of water parks in our hometown. We're not planning any time in anything extra we have to pay for. We just don't have the money. We are going to Downtown Disney one evening for a few hours just to look around and see the Lego store. Other than that, one day in each kingdom, nothing extra, and we're done.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. One day in each park starting next Monday. We're not doing any water parks. We have lots of water parks in our hometown. We're not planning any time in anything extra we have to pay for. We just don't have the money. We are going to Downtown Disney one evening for a few hours just to look around and see the Lego store. Other than that, one day in each kingdom, nothing extra, and we're done.
What's your first park on the schedule?
 

RandomPrincess

Keep Moving Forward
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. One day in each park starting next Monday. We're not doing any water parks. We have lots of water parks in our hometown. We're not planning any time in anything extra we have to pay for. We just don't have the money. We are going to Downtown Disney one evening for a few hours just to look around and see the Lego store. Other than that, one day in each kingdom, nothing extra, and we're done.

You are going at a very busy time of year my best tip is to get to the parks about 30 minutes before they open ready with a plan. I would pick out 4 or 5 must do things for each park and do those first. Anything after that should be seen as extra fun. Try to eat during off times. Don't go to lunch at 12:00 the lines will be crazy. Bring snacks into the park with you to save money - water too. It will also help hold you over until you eat if you want to eat at off times. We like to eat at lunch around 2:00 it helps with he crowds a lot and you get out of the heat.

If you post you make a seprate thread with your must dos for each park. More people will see it and can give advice on which attractions to hit first etc.
 

PurplePizza1

Active Member
Original Poster
What's your first park on the schedule?


She put us in Epcot Monday, Animal Tuesday, Magic Wednesday, Hollywood Thursday. I wish we could have afforded a park hopper. It looks like we could do E & A in one day and have two days for Magic Kingdom. Even though we're staying on property, she said the crowds were the lowest for each park on the day she put us in each one. Does that make sense? We have a character breakfast at Tusker Tuesday (so no early arrival to park that day), a lunch at Crystal Palace, and a dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-in (two different days). So we only have Monday where we need to eat lunch & dinner in the park.
 

weird

Member
Maybe you can get your daughter to ride the Goofy roller coaster. It is, to me, a very mild roller coaster. I was able to get my DD to love roller coasters by sitting with her on a mild one. By my next to her, gave her the security she needed to try it.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Maybe you can get your daughter to ride the Goofy roller coaster. It is, to me, a very mild roller coaster. I was able to get my DD to love roller coasters by sitting with her on a mild one. By my next to her, gave her the security she needed to try it.

This was exactly what I was going to suggest (hence why I asked what park was planned for the first day)...

The Goofy Barnstormer coaster at MK is a fantastic "first ride" to test the thrill ride waters with. Then move up to Space Mountain...if she can handle Space, she can pretty much handle all of them.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
She put us in Epcot Monday, Animal Tuesday, Magic Wednesday, Hollywood Thursday. I wish we could have afforded a park hopper. It looks like we could do E & A in one day and have two days for Magic Kingdom. Even though we're staying on property, she said the crowds were the lowest for each park on the day she put us in each one. Does that make sense? We have a character breakfast at Tusker Tuesday (so no early arrival to park that day), a lunch at Crystal Palace, and a dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-in (two different days). So we only have Monday where we need to eat lunch & dinner in the park.

Yeah, it's pretty common for people to use crowd calendars to plan out their days on the parks. I, personally, will look at them, but not use them to define my trip.

More concerning to me is that all of the restaurants you listed are inside parks and will require park admission... Tusker is at Animal Kingdom, Crystal Palace is at Magic Kingdom, and Sci Fi is at Hollywood Studios.

Specifically the comment highlighted above...concerns me.

So, if you have a dinner at Sci Fi on two different days...but you only have Hollywood Studios (HS) planned for Thursday, and you don't have park hopper tickets...then something is askew with your plan.

Also, if you wanted Park Hoppers for one day, why not just buy a 3 day ticket, and then a 1 day ticket with park hopper? Of course, I'm not sure what discount packages you may have...but, it's a possibility without upgrading to park hoppers for your whole trip. Though, come to think of it, probably way to close to travel time for you to fiddle with it now. Just a suggestion.
 

englanddg

One Little Spark...
Maybe you can get your daughter to ride the Goofy roller coaster. It is, to me, a very mild roller coaster. I was able to get my DD to love roller coasters by sitting with her on a mild one. By my next to her, gave her the security she needed to try it.

Just adding for the benefit of the original poster...

This was my daughters first rollar coaster...she was 5, two months shy of 6, at the time. I thought it might help to see a reaction from a child around a similar age.

After this, she was HOOKED on coasters! In fact, the only thing that still scares her at WDW is Stitch...oh, and she doesn't like Bugs Life much either.

 

PurplePizza1

Active Member
Original Poster
Yeah, it's pretty common for people to use crowd calendars to plan out their days on the parks. I, personally, will look at them, but not use them to define my trip.

More concerning to me is that all of the restaurants you listed are inside parks and will require park admission... Tusker is at Animal Kingdom, Crystal Palace is at Magic Kingdom, and Sci Fi is at Hollywood Studios.

Specifically the comment highlighted above...concerns me.

So, if you have a dinner at Sci Fi on two different days...but you only have Hollywood Studios (HS) planned for Thursday, and you don't have park hopper tickets...then something is askew with your plan.

Also, if you wanted Park Hoppers for one day, why not just buy a 3 day ticket, and then a 1 day ticket with park hopper? Of course, I'm not sure what discount packages you may have...but, it's a possibility without upgrading to park hoppers for your whole trip. Though, come to think of it, probably way to close to travel time for you to fiddle with it now. Just a suggestion.



I'm sorry...I meant we have Crystal Palace one day and Sci Fi for dinner another. Three out of four days we have reservations for a meal. Each time it's in the park we'll be in. Sorry about the confusion.
 

PurplePizza1

Active Member
Original Poster
You are going at a very busy time of year my best tip is to get to the parks about 30 minutes before they open ready with a plan. I would pick out 4 or 5 must do things for each park and do those first. Anything after that should be seen as extra fun. Try to eat during off times. Don't go to lunch at 12:00 the lines will be crazy. Bring snacks into the park with you to save money - water too. It will also help hold you over until you eat if you want to eat at off times. We like to eat at lunch around 2:00 it helps with he crowds a lot and you get out of the heat.

If you post you make a seprate thread with your must dos for each park. More people will see it and can give advice on which attractions to hit first etc.


I'm a teacher and it's the only time we can go. I wish I could do it in November. That would be great!
 

docdebbi

Well-Known Member
here is a synopsis for you of what everyone has told you-

you are only entitled to a child swap "ticket" if your child is shorter than the required height for the ride. some CMs at the entrances however, will sometimes feel bad for you and give you one anyway if you look pathetic enough/cry hard enough/beg hard enough

first time going on the ride- the parent may go either stand by line or fast pass line if you have a fast pass, just like anyone else in the park

second time going on the ride- the other parent (and up to three others although you don't have three others) go to the fastpass line and show that child swap "ticket" and go right on the ride. yes, some fast pass lines have a little wait, but it is usually almost nothing- basically you walk on

you seem worried about going a second time, the fast pass line is usually quick, don't worry.
you seem worried about your child being impatient, disney usually has some type of entertainment or play area near most rides. utilize them. for example, have dad go on splash mountain while child plays in the really cool play area there, then vica versa. your daughter will be entertained while both of you ride. when you pick up the child swap ticket, ask the CM for closest entertainment or play area. they'll know

while i understand this is your first trip to WDW, you may want to limit the number of rides you do without your little one. pick the biggies- skip those not that important to you

but don't push your kid to do things she doesn't want to. i have seen from personal experience, once they are afraid on a ride you told them they wouldn't be- all trust is lost, and getting them on ANYTHING else, even small world is darn near impossible.

but yes, despite your prior post, there IS a major advantage of child swap. they are fast passes for four. you just may not qualify for many of them
 

PurplePizza1

Active Member
Original Poster
here is a synopsis for you of what everyone has told you-

you are only entitled to a child swap "ticket" if your child is shorter than the required height for the ride. some CMs at the entrances however, will sometimes feel bad for you and give you one anyway if you look pathetic enough/cry hard enough/beg hard enough

first time going on the ride- the parent may go either stand by line or fast pass line if you have a fast pass, just like anyone else in the park

second time going on the ride- the other parent (and up to three others although you don't have three others) go to the fastpass line and show that child swap "ticket" and go right on the ride. yes, some fast pass lines have a little wait, but it is usually almost nothing- basically you walk on

you seem worried about going a second time, the fast pass line is usually quick, don't worry.
you seem worried about your child being impatient, disney usually has some type of entertainment or play area near most rides. utilize them. for example, have dad go on splash mountain while child plays in the really cool play area there, then vica versa. your daughter will be entertained while both of you ride. when you pick up the child swap ticket, ask the CM for closest entertainment or play area. they'll know

while i understand this is your first trip to WDW, you may want to limit the number of rides you do without your little one. pick the biggies- skip those not that important to you

but don't push your kid to do things she doesn't want to. i have seen from personal experience, once they are afraid on a ride you told them they wouldn't be- all trust is lost, and getting them on ANYTHING else, even small world is darn near impossible.

but yes, despite your prior post, there IS a major advantage of child swap. they are fast passes for four. you just may not qualify for many of them


Thanks for all of the information. Believe me, I'm not the parent who pushes. I'd never just throw her in the pool to get her to swim or push her on a rollercoaster to 'get her over the fear'. We'll have fun, I'm just very disappointed with my Disney Specialist who is still telling me that we are eligible EVERY TIME to do child swap on a FP ride. Even when I brought up the fact that she's taller than the minimum. It's sad someone is getting paid by Disney and doesn't even know the rules.
 

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
I'm getting concerned.... it sounds like we're going to have a very different experience than I thought we would have. This sounds positively awful. Double Fast Pass lines? Maybe told 'sorry you just miss out on the ride because your kid changed her mind." Our Disney travel person said it was soo easy to do Child swap and it was sooo fast and there would be short lines because we were basically going to be doing Fast Pass rides. Now I'm feeling like it's absolutely not like that at all.

I have a 6-year-old (i.e. impatient, impatient, impatient). That means my DH and I won't be doing much of anything for our vacation except trying to avert meltdowns and whining. I'm very disappointed and now very frustrated. Wishing we hadn't planned this trip and spent all this money to not be able to do much of anything. My kid is awful at waiting. I've been coaching her for months about Disney World, and how it's hurry up and wait for rides, but until we get there and she sees it and experiences it, I won't know how she will handle it. This sounds like a seriously bad situation. :eek:

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if your kid is that difficult, maybe Disney is not the trip for you or at least not until she's older. I say that only because it is a lot of money to spend if you may not enjoy it. But, we were there just last week and I have a 10 year old who chickened out on some rides and they let him wait in the child swap area. Of course I wouldn't let a 6 year old wait alone. There's a lot of kiddie type rides that she can enjoy. We have found that if you make/encourage/persuade the child try a ride (within reason of course) that they end up liking it and get over their fears about it.
 

PurplePizza1

Active Member
Original Poster
Please don't take this the wrong way, but if your kid is that difficult, maybe Disney is not the trip for you or at least not until she's older. I say that only because it is a lot of money to spend if you may not enjoy it. But, we were there just last week and I have a 10 year old who chickened out on some rides and they let him wait in the child swap area. Of course I wouldn't let a 6 year old wait alone. There's a lot of kiddie type rides that she can enjoy. We have found that if you make/encourage/persuade the child try a ride (within reason of course) that they end up liking it and get over their fears about it.


She's not difficult. She's just 6. With 6 comes impatience and meltdowns when they get tired. Maybe you got lucky with your kid! My daughter isn't the type who can be encouraged or pushed into doing something that scares her. It eventually has to be her decision and then she's fine. I understand what you're saying, and we'll stick to rides she'll hopefully do.
 

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
Every kid is different, and parents know their kids better than anyone. I think the OP is wise to anticpate potential issues with her daughter, and seems quite prepared to deal with them effectively without traumatizing anyone.
 

nolatron

Well-Known Member
When we child swapped one trip with friends we would get a fast pass first, come back later at the designated time and then get a child swap ticket. That way both could use the fast pass line. Worked great and wasn't a huge wait for either of us.

Our friends did same too so we could take turns watching each other kids while the couples got to ride together.

This worked well too cause we only had to get 2 fast passes for each ride instead of 4. so we could really make use of getting fast passes for two different rides near simultaneously.
 

PurplePizza1

Active Member
Original Poster
When we child swapped one trip with friends we would get a fast pass first, come back later at the designated time and then get a child swap ticket. That way both could use the fast pass line. Worked great and wasn't a huge wait for either of us.

Our friends did same too so we could take turns watching each other kids while the couples got to ride together.


That sounds like a great idea! I may take my sister and her husband next time. That would work out perfectly in that case! Thanks!!
 

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