Rider Swap Question

[Waters Back Side]

Next year my family will be in Disney World for a 4th time. Finally all of us are ready to experience some of the more thrilling rides like Everest in AK, Slinky Dog in HS, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in MK etc. There is 5 of us..2 adults and 3 kids (ages 12, 9,9). The plan is that ALL 5 of us go on the rides. As far as I understand it, Rider Swap is for a parent who intends to ride to stay behind in a 2nd group with a child who is not riding, and then the adult who stays behind has the option of riding with someone in the 1st group.



However...if ALL 5 of us want to ride and without rider swap, some of the rides with only 2 per row mean that it will have to be a child/parent, 2 children (12 year old and 9 year old) and then the other parent rides in a separate row with a single rider (or alone). My kids, are anxious and excited to go on the rides but all 3 want a chance to sit next to a parent. The 2 per row rides do not allow that for a family of 5. This is not by choice.

Are we allowed to approach a cast member at the ride entrance of a ride where we request:

1) we ALL have a fast pass for the ride at the same time slot
2) Tell them we want rider swap.
3) Parent A rides with 1 child (while 2 kids stay behind with Parent B)
4) Parent B rides with a different child
5) One of the two parents (who already rode the ride) goes on AGAIN with the last remaining child.

I was not sure if Rider Swap is ONLY intended for families who have a child who cannot or does not want to go on a ride and needs a parent who intends to ride to stay behind with them or if the above scenario is allowed because if so it would really make it a lot easier.

 

[Waters Back Side]

So on rides where they are strictly 2 per row and all 3 kids want a chance to ride next to a parent, 2 of them are out of luck basically. The idea of a kids being interested in a ride but not unless next to a parent is not an option. They either sit with a sibling or take one for the team and ride with a single rider?

 

[RememberWhen]

I’m not sure that is against the rules. There probably aren’t really any rules about this particular situation. Child swap is definitely intended to allow people to ride when traveling with someone who can’t.
It does feel sort of like cheating, but I see what you’re trying to do. I can understand that there might be situations where you need to have a kid ride with a parent.
I think you’ll need to budget a fair amount of extra time to do this. It’s a lot of just waiting around, but I think you can give it a shot.

 

[Dave B]

If you explained to the cast member what is going on, I would bet that most of the time they will allow this, if your children have that much anxiety about it, I am sure the team member will work with you for their first ride, when the you get off and the kids look at you and say we loved it, can we go again, I don't think you will be able to swap again, so be prepared for the regular line at that point, I would love to hear what happens, but my bet with the Disney Magic and pixie dust, they will allow you, AND it is not cheating the system, if you have a child that is nervous about the experience

 

[ELG13]

It doesn't hurt to ask. I think it's more for both parents to have the opportunity to ride with kids when one won't ride...not just to split up your party and make it more convenient. I would urge you to try and get the kids to be ok taking turns riding with parents just because while convenient it's not quite it's intended purpose but, I also understand the reason.....

 

[Waters Back Side]

No abuse of any system or rules were intended. The last thing I would want is for something like that. It was merely a question of curiosity because Disney is a magical place and I would want all 3 of my kids to have a chance to experience sitting next to their parent on the ride.

I would understand if they could not do this. It just eases my mind when I book fast passes for 5 of us 60 days in advance.

In fact I'm inclined to mention the hassle and time we would be allocating to doing this. While others with a family of 2 or 4 are on and off the ride in 2o minutes and onto something else, we would have to spend an hour just so all 3 kids can enjoy the ride next to a parent if I assumed 20 minutes each



In the spirit of honesty my 12 year old and 9 year old son would probably be fine together with me or.my wife and daughter behind them and I'm probably thinking way to deep about this. They would realize after the fact it was not a big deal and I could technically not even mention it to them until we were ready to get on the ride.

But having a family of 5 does have certain disadvantages and if we were willing to eat an entire 1 hour window that we all reserved fast passes for just so ONE adult can ride twice so specifically for the purpose that all 3 kids can enjoy being next to a parent that would be a nice memory.

Knowing Disney and how magical the place is I'm sure they probably would allow this scenario on a ride like Everest or even Slinky Dog.

My apologies if I came off as someone trying to abuse the system.

 

[RememberWhen]

No abuse of any system or rules were intended. The last thing I would want is for something like that. It was merely a question of curiosity because Disney is a magical place and I would want all 3 of my kids to have a chance to experience sitting next to their parent on the ride.

I would understand if they could not do this. It just eases my mind when I book fast passes for 5 of us 60 days in advance.

In fact I'm inclined to mention the hassle and time we would be allocating to doing this. While others with a family of 2 or 4 are on and off the ride in 2o minutes and onto something else, we would have to spend an hour just so all 3 kids can enjoy the ride next to a parent if I assumed 20 minutes each



In the spirit of honesty my 12 year old and 9 year old son would probably be fine together with me or.my wife and daughter behind them and I'm probably thinking way to deep about this. They would realize after the fact it was not a big deal and I could technically not even mention it to them until we were ready to get on the ride.

But having a family of 5 does have certain disadvantages and if we were willing to eat an entire 1 hour window that we all reserved fast passes for just so ONE adult can ride twice so specifically for the purpose that all 3 kids can enjoy being next to a parent that would be a nice memory.

Knowing Disney and how magical the place is I'm sure they probably would allow this scenario on a ride like Everest or even Slinky Dog.

My apologies if I came off as someone trying to abuse the system.

I think you were clear about not wanting to cheat the system. There are people who do spend a lot of time trying to get away with things that aren’t really fair to everyone else.
I do think you’re right about the timing. If you and your family want to spend an hour doing SlinkDog, go for it. I wouldn’t want to do it for every ride. It would just take forever.
Disney Magic is out there. Good luck and have a nice trip!

 

[Eamethyst]

No abuse of any system or rules were intended. The last thing I would want is for something like that. It was merely a question of curiosity because Disney is a magical place and I would want all 3 of my kids to have a chance to experience sitting next to their parent on the ride.

I would understand if they could not do this. It just eases my mind when I book fast passes for 5 of us 60 days in advance.

In fact I'm inclined to mention the hassle and time we would be allocating to doing this. While others with a family of 2 or 4 are on and off the ride in 2o minutes and onto something else, we would have to spend an hour just so all 3 kids can enjoy the ride next to a parent if I assumed 20 minutes each



In the spirit of honesty my 12 year old and 9 year old son would probably be fine together with me or.my wife and daughter behind them and I'm probably thinking way to deep about this. They would realize after the fact it was not a big deal and I could technically not even mention it to them until we were ready to get on the ride.

But having a family of 5 does have certain disadvantages and if we were willing to eat an entire 1 hour window that we all reserved fast passes for just so ONE adult can ride twice so specifically for the purpose that all 3 kids can enjoy being next to a parent that would be a nice memory.

Knowing Disney and how magical the place is I'm sure they probably would allow this scenario on a ride like Everest or even Slinky Dog.

My apologies if I came off as someone trying to abuse the system.

Maybe this will help. At the Magic Kingdom allot of the rides are designed for 2 riders but there are rides that more then 2 people at a time can ride. For instance: Space mountain. You don't sit directly next to a person. people sit one in back of each other. I believe each car rides 3 people times 2. 6 people at a time. Splash mountain: 2 people sit directly next to each other. When this happens maybe your oldest child will be ok with sitting not directly next to you but sit in the same log. I believe 8 people can ride at a time. Sometimes there are single riders. Some kids like to ride by theirselves and not with their parents. So if there is another kid that is riding by him/herself then maybe you can ask that person to ride with one of your kids or an adult will do it. I've ridden with other peoples kids in the past.

 

[KTK]

My wife and I have three kids. We have been going to WDW since they were 3 and 4 y/o (they are now teens). We just would rotate who sat with each parent and there was never any problems. Unless one child doesn't want to ride something, that is when you use rider swap. Everest, Mine Train, Slinky Dog only sit two per row but you can sit in consecutive rows. On these rides, would recommend one of the adults sit alone because they will place a single rider with you (wouldn't want children as young as yours sitting with a complete stranger). But there are many rides that can sit 3-5 together (Pirates, Small World, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Pooh, Tea cups, Mermaid, Dumbo, Haunted Mansion, Soarin, Test Track, Mission Space, Safari, Flight of Passage, Navai River, Rapids, Dinosaur, TOT, Star Tours, Rise of the Resistance, and even more).

 

[Hcalvert]

Maybe this will help. At the Magic Kingdom allot of the rides are designed for 2 riders but there are rides that more then 2 people at a time can ride. For instance: Space mountain. You don't sit directly next to a person. people sit one in back of each other. I believe each car rides 3 people times 2. 6 people at a time. Splash mountain: 2 people sit directly next to each other. When this happens maybe your oldest child will be ok with sitting not directly next to you but sit in the same log. I believe 8 people can ride at a time. Sometimes there are single riders. Some kids like to ride by theirselves and not with their parents. So if there is another kid that is riding by him/herself then maybe you can ask that person to ride with one of your kids or an adult will do it. I've ridden with other peoples kids in the past.

I was able to ride with two kids on Splash Mountain. Of course, this depending on the size of everyone. Also, I had three kids ride in front of two adults.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

My wife and I have three kids. We have been going to WDW since they were 3 and 4 y/o (they are now teens). We just would rotate who sat with each parent and there was never any problems. Unless one child doesn't want to ride something, that is when you use rider swap. Everest, Mine Train, Slinky Dog only sit two per row but you can sit in consecutive rows. On these rides, would recommend one of the adults sit alone because they will place a single rider with you (wouldn't want children as young as yours sitting with a complete stranger). But there are many rides that can sit 3-5 together (Pirates, Small World, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Pooh, Tea cups, Mermaid, Dumbo, Haunted Mansion, Soarin, Test Track, Mission Space, Safari, Flight of Passage, Navai River, Rapids, Dinosaur, TOT, Star Tours, Rise of the Resistance, and even more).

This is exactly right. I have found there aren't too many rides where this is an issue and the ones that it is, just try to have them ride in the same vehicle at least so they are in front or behind you.

 

[ELG13]

On splash we were always able tonride with 3...two adults and a kid in the middle. Same with all the dark track rides (Ariel, pan, Pooh). Buzz is two per seat. Pirates and small world you may be able to fit all in one row but those aren't scary so I think they would be ok.

 

[Waters Back Side]

I really created animosity over asking if something was allowed because I was not sure if what it was intended for.

I understand it now. It is not a problem for 2 of my 3 kids to sit together and they take turns to ride with a parent.

Gee whiz. Some people get hot headed at the thought that there might be another person looking to abuse the system. Some of you people actually make me stop caring about how you feel lol.

My kids have been in Big Thunder and lots of coasters similar like space mountain. Big Thunder two my kids are small enough at the time where they both rode with a parent (3 in one row). They loved the ride and it basically meant they are fine taking turns sitting with their sibling.

I never thought trying to get clarity on something would turn into an arguement in a Disney forum.

 

[The Mom]

Please stop the argument. Thank you.

 

[carriebeth]

The only thing that makes me wonder if it would work is I believe it’s stated the rider swap is for children not tall enough to ride and most if not all rides in recent years have wanted to see the parent staying back and the child that was too small while the other group riding entered the que. so I have 8 children and if I wanted each to ride with a parent it would mean one parents would ride 4 times or 6 times or whatever depending if you divided the re-rides in half between parents or what. So if they let your party do it would they let mine? See what I am saying .... it becomes a point where other guests might end up in a tizzy because I am riding splash mountain or Everest or whatever 4 or more times bypassing regular cue and the same with my husband. Yet I am doing nothing different than you I just happen to have more children. Are they going to say families with 3 or fewer kids can ride with each of their children. What’s the line they draw there? Not fighting just pointing out another aspect of it all