New Rider Switch Policy is Terrible

[maria_wdw2012]

Glad it got sorted out. Just out of curiosity, did you try to talk to a CM working Splash Mountain at the time? That really sounds like the sort of thing they'd make an exception for if they heard your tale of woe at the time it happened

The cast member only said the rider switch had just rolled out and they were still working out the kinks.

 

[maria_wdw2012]

Would it be possible to leave the kids at home? Problem solved.

Haha! Yes, I've been dreaming of a solo trip for years now! Just don't have the heart to leave the little ones behind.

 

[jaklgreen]

Haha! Yes, I've been dreaming of a solo trip for years now! Just don't have the heart to leave the little ones behind.

That feeling will pass. LOL I have been going solo for a few years now leaving the kids with dad. I was thinking back to when our kids were little. I don't think we ever even used rider swap. We had gone to WDW a few times already by the time they came around and knew we would be back so we just skipped the rides they could not go on. But I can see it being very useful to those who do not go often. Sorry your kids had a meltdown at a bad time. I probably would have still left them with dad.

 

[larryz]

Again, not trying to game the system but just asking for a little flexibility.

Look at it this way... how many people wait in line at the attraction, then get to the load point, and ask "Say, would it be OK if I just postpone my ride until later tonight?" and expect the CM to say "Sure! Just come right back here without waiting in line again."???

You were accommodated with flexibility -- a one-hour window to take care of your kids and swap off. They didn't even have to give you an hour. Other parks I've seen put the waiting parent and kids on the unload side and make them swap on the first parent's return.

 

[correcaminos]

I'm not sure it's worked for thousands of other people. It just rolled out this week. In fact at the beginning of the week we received a paper rider switch good for anytime that same day. It wasn't until today that they scanned my band for the switch and said it had to be used within one hour of the first parent riding. Again, not trying to game the system but just asking for a little flexibility. I wonder in the past how many parents were using the paper rider switch immediately versus returning at a later time.

You get flexibility though. You don't have to go on immediately after, you get an hour window.

I'm sorry to say as a parent, it was your own doing that caused you to miss the window. You had a fully capable adult (and in this case parent) to take the children and you choose not to use the swap.

 

[Willmark]

Update...I talked to our concierge desk at POP and they were able to schedule a fastpass for me later today. I tried scheduling my own fastpass to make up for it but MDE wouldn't let me because I had the rider switch tied to the experience earlier.

I'm sure the rider switch policy change will still work for most people, but we needed a little bit more flexibility. We weren't looking to game the system at all.

You might not be, but there are plenty of people who are.

 

[jaklgreen]

You get flexibility though. You don't have to go on immediately after, you get an hour window.

I'm sorry to say as a parent, it was your own doing that caused you to miss the window. You had a fully capable adult (and in this case parent) to take the children and you choose not to use the swap.

I just told my hubby about this and he laughed and said that the OP should have just left the kids with the dad. LOL He should be just a capable of handling his kids as Mom is. But the good news for the OP is that the ride is still there and she can go on it at any time.

 

[justintheharris]

Or maybe my kids are just terrible. But today I tried to do rider switch with my husband for Splash Mountain. I was told I only had one hour to redeem it. Long story short, I have twins toddlers who had a meltdown after Dad left and I couldn't get them to settle down within the hour window to use the pass.

I get that people are abusing it and they had to crack down but it seems to restrictive to me, especially with little ones who may not be so crazy about sitting out a whole hour plus so mom and dad can ride. Come on Disney at least give us the option of redeeming it later I the day!!!!

In all honesty, I'm surprised the cast members didn't take the issue into consideration. Usually if you tell the cast member about an issue like that they'll understand. Though I have recently had some questionable situations with Splash Mountain in regards to their customer service. If you didn't try it, in the future if it happens with another attraction, go tell the cast members at the front about the ordeal and I would imagine they'd be sympathetic about it.

 

[jaklgreen]

OP, I am glad that they helped you out and you got a fastpass for the ride. It was very nice of Disney to do that. This is not a personal bash but just an observation. I don't think things like this would have even come up 20 years ago. People used to do what they could and if they had issues, or children or whatever that caused them to miss a ride,event, movie(list goes on and on) then they were disappointed but took it as part of life. The place I work has had this woman call up and place an order and ask that we bring is outside for her because she had little kids and did not want the hassle of taking them out of the car! When did it become a thing that a person's kids(problems) are everyone else's problem?

 

[RememberWhen]

I’m interested in this as we have a trip coming up Christmas week with our 6 year old and 18 month old. An hour *should* be enough time unless the line is really long. I’m assuming it’s an hour from when the first group goes in, not when they come out. So if the wait for SDMT is 75min and you don’t have a FP, you just skip? We can do that, it’s just good to know going in.
I’m sure they’re working out some kinks.

 

[maria_wdw2012]

Look at it this way... how many people wait in line at the attraction, then get to the load point, and ask "Say, would it be OK if I just postpone my ride until later tonight?" and expect the CM to say "Sure! Just come right back here without waiting in line again."???

You were accommodated with flexibility -- a one-hour window to take care of your kids and swap off. They didn't even have to give you an hour. Other parks I've seen put the waiting parent and kids on the unload side and make them swap on the first parent's return.

You are right. At our local six flags they

OP, I am glad that they helped you out and you got a fastpass for the ride. It was very nice of Disney to do that. This is not a personal bash but just an observation. I don't think things like this would have even come up 20 years ago. People used to do what they could and if they had issues, or children or whatever that caused them to miss a ride,event, movie(list goes on and on) then they were disappointed but took it as part of life. The place I work has had this woman call up and place an order and ask that we bring is outside for her because she had little kids and did not want the hassle of taking them out of the car! When did it become a thing that a person's kids(problems) are everyone else's problem?

We've used rider switch dozens of times before and it worked great for us because of the flexibility of using it at a later time. We always redeemed it the same day but just not immediately after the first parent rode. It isn't always easy to ride something back to back in a one hour time frame with little ones. I wasn't prepared as they had just literally changed the policy one day to the next on us. Again, I understand the need to crack down and reduce to return window time. It was until the end of the month. They could have just reduced it to the same day.

 

[KrzyKtty]

I am glad that you got to ride the ride, and that Disney helped you fix it. I probably would have totally ditched the meltdown to ride, but I admit I won't win mother of the year. There were a couple of times I was happy to escape my 4 year old for a couple of minutes lol.

So does it start one hour from when the first parent enters the line, or one hour from when they get on? Just curious because some lines are longer than an hour.

 

[maria_wdw2012]

I am glad that you got to ride the ride, and that Disney helped you fix it. I probably would have totally ditched the meltdown to ride, but I admit I won't win mother of the year. There were a couple of times I was happy to escape my 4 year old for a couple of minutes lol.

So does it start one hour from when the first parent enters the line, or one hour from when they get on? Just curious because some lines are longer than an hour.

The cast member told us it was one hour from when they scanned the first parents band which was before getting in line. Not sure what happens if the line is over an hour long. Maybe they add the hour window to the existing wait time?

 

[Lets Respect]

Did you have to scan everyone's Fastpasses? Or do you still get to double up on them?

 

[maria_wdw2012]

Did you have to scan everyone's Fastpasses? Or do you still get to double up on them?

It was just like the old rider switch where all parties riding first with a fastpass had to scan it. Then the cast member scanned the returning party's band to register the switch as a fastpass in the MDE system. I noticed the fastpass showed up immediately in MDE but with no return time showing. There was also a link to read Redemption Details for it that was not working. I'm sure they're still working out the kinks in MDE.

 

[nickys]

I believe from other reports that for rides where the FP line is longer than usual, the hour return period would start a bit later. So for FoP, the return window is around half an hour later than the scanning time.

Similarly where people are using this without FPs, they use the SB posted time as the return window starting point.

 

[Disvillain63]

Prior to fastpasses, the family entered together or the parties riding first went through the line while the other parents and small child went through the exit and waited for the first party. There wasn't even the grace period of an hour. The new policy is fine. Either you choose to ride during the window given, or you choose not to ride....up to you.

 

[MichWolv]

Or maybe my kids are just terrible. But today I tried to do rider switch with my husband for Splash Mountain. I was told I only had one hour to redeem it. Long story short, I have twins toddlers who had a meltdown after Dad left and I couldn't get them to settle down within the hour window to use the pass.

I get that people are abusing it and they had to crack down but it seems to restrictive to me, especially with little ones who may not be so crazy about sitting out a whole hour plus so mom and dad can ride. Come on Disney at least give us the option of redeeming it later I the day!!!!

Didn't know they had changed it to such a restrictive window. That does sound too restrictive to me. Mine are older now, but there were certainly times when they were younger that the one hour window to reuse would have been very difficult to work with. My guess is that they'd be lenient if you explained the meltdown, but there's no guarantee of that.

 

[nickys]

Didn't know they had changed it to such a restrictive window. That does sound too restrictive to me. Mine are older now, but there were certainly times when they were younger that the one hour window to reuse would have been very difficult to work with. My guess is that they'd be lenient if you explained the meltdown, but there's no guarantee of that.

Ordinarily I'm sure they would be fairly lenient.

But it sounds like there are some teething problems, and CMs aren't able or don't know how to modify the electronic RS.

I even saw one report where the RS had been added for the wrong ride! The CM ended up just handing out a paper pass instead, and they still kept the RS.

 

[21stamps]

I don’t understand the problem. Isn’t the point of the rider switch to accommodate the older child and other parent? I don’t see how an hour window is a problem. If someone can’t trust their spouse to handle a meltdown then that doesn’t quite sound like a Disney issue.
Sorry if that’s harsh, but rider swap shouldn’t be used as an anytime FP.