Using FP With Rider Swap

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hey all,

A coworker of mine is trying to game the system and I have concerns that it might blow up in her face. She has split her FP reservations so that half her family has FPs for one attraction and the other half has FPs for a different attraction. Then she is planning to use Rider Swap so the whole family can ride both rides. For example, she has FPs for herself and some of her kids for Test Track. They ask to use Rider Swap so her husband can reride with the kids. Then, her husband has FPs for Soarin'. Repeat the process there.

I told her I didn't think Disney would allow for such an exploit. Should she change her FP reservations or did she find a loophole?
 

LuvtheGoof

Grill Master
Premium Member
I thought rider swap was only for one person, not an entire family.

ETA: According to the official WDW website:

If the person in Party 2 waited alone with the child, he or she may bring one other Guest back to ride the attraction with him or her. Please note that only 2 Guests are allowed per Rider Switch Pass.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Apparently this plan was documented at a site called .

http://*************.com/wp-content/uploads/riderswitchpinterest1.png

Edit: That site appears to be blocked. I also found this blurb at Touring Plans:

If you are switching off on an attraction where you have made a FastPass+ selection, only the initial rider(s) needs a FastPass+ reservation. The second rider(s) can use the Rider Switch pass to enter the FastPass+ queue. With some strategic planning, you can use this system to expand your FastPass+ ability by making simultaneous selections for the second adult and small child on a nearby attraction.

That makes it sound pretty legit
 
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jlsHouston

Well-Known Member
We use the crap out of your friends method. I feel whatever "gaming" we do is legitimate because waiting around or wandering around with an under 38" tall person ain't no walk in the park so to speak.
 

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
We did this. As long as you have somebody who can't or won't ride a ride with Rider Swap, it's completely within the rules. If you're pretending someone doesn't want to ride (to get the pass), but sneaking them on later... I'd have a problem with that plan.

Edit: That Touring Plans blurb makes it sound like you need a FP to use Rider Switch. You don't; you can ride standby, and get a pass so the rest of your party can go through the FP queue later.

Double edit: The website always says two people per pass, but in my experience, the pass itself actually allows three.
 
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jlsHouston

Well-Known Member
We did this. As long as you have somebody who can't or won't ride a ride with Rider Swap, it's completely within the rules. If you're pretending someone doesn't want to ride (to get the pass), but sneaking them on later... I'd have a problem with that plan.

Edit: That Touring Plans blurb makes it sound like you need a FP to use Rider Switch. You don't; you can ride standby, and get a pass so the rest of your party can go through the FP queue later.

Double edit: The website always says two people per pass, but in my experience, the pass itself actually allows three.

Yes it is 3. Or at least it still was last November.
 

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
Yes it is 3. Or at least it still was last November.
It was 3 on 7DMT just over a month ago too

fkuuwFh.jpg
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We did this. As long as you have somebody who can't or won't ride a ride with Rider Swap, it's completely within the rules. If you're pretending someone doesn't want to ride (to get the pass), but sneaking them on later... I'd have a problem with that plan.

Edit: That Touring Plans blurb makes it sound like you need a FP to use Rider Switch. You don't; you can ride standby, and get a pass so the rest of your party can go through the FP queue later.

Double edit: The website always says two people per pass, but in my experience, the pass itself actually allows three.

Rider swap w/o FP isn't an issue. The trick is using Rider Swap to effectively double your FPs. Mom gets FPs for one set of attractions, Dad gets them for a different set and then thanks to Rider Swap Mom and Dad get to experience all the attractions without anyone ever waiting in stand-by. I think it's sketchy, but if Disney is going to allow it I can't really blame anyone for gaming the system.
 

jlsHouston

Well-Known Member
Rider swap w/o FP isn't an issue. The trick is using Rider Swap to effectively double your FPs. Mom gets FPs for one set of attractions, Dad gets them for a different set and then thanks to Rider Swap Mom and Dad get to experience all the attractions without anyone ever waiting in stand-by. I think it's sketchy, but if Disney is going to allow it I can't really blame anyone for gaming the system.
I don't really consider it gaming the system. You might not be waiting in stand-by but you are waiting somewhere with that under 38" tall child. Figure every premium ride even with FP takes at least 30 minutes to get on and complete. You are standing by with that child for at least 30 minutes most of the time. For rides like SPACE, EE, RNRC, ToT, TT, and SOARIN you are waiting closer to 45 minutes . You experience plenty of standby. There is no trick to doubling FP rides, you can theoretically triple them if you start at park opening and stay in the park until close or in the smaller parks until there are no more available FP's for a ride. The only gain with the Rider Swap ticket generally is for the older kids in a travel party that includes a young one under 38" tall. The older kids are usually the ones that end up riding an attraction twice, once with their FP and the other time with the rider swap ticket with the other adult.
 

Tebo

Member
Just got back and used rider swap with FP in Epcot and Magic Kingdom. The only problem we had was for Frozen ever after ride. Me and My son had fastpasses for it while my wife and daughter ( age 2) did not. We all went up to the fastpass entrance and I requested a rider swap saying my daughter did not want to ride as she did not like dark rides. They did not give us one ( it does say on the Disney website that Frozen ever after does offer it.) They said that if we all had fast pass then me and my son could ride then my wife could ride while I was waiting with my kids. That kind of goes against the point of the rider swap. So I don't know if it these attendants where told to do this or if this was their decision to treat it like this, or that they just did not know. We were very disappointed on how this was handled. Every other ride gave us riderswaps. Some ask to see the child who was not riding.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I don't really consider it gaming the system. You might not be waiting in stand-by but you are waiting somewhere with that under 38" tall child. Figure every premium ride even with FP takes at least 30 minutes to get on and complete. You are standing by with that child for at least 30 minutes most of the time. For rides like SPACE, EE, RNRC, ToT, TT, and SOARIN you are waiting closer to 45 minutes . You experience plenty of standby. There is no trick to doubling FP rides, you can theoretically triple them if you start at park opening and stay in the park until close or in the smaller parks until there are no more available FP's for a ride. The only gain with the Rider Swap ticket generally is for the older kids in a travel party that includes a young one under 38" tall. The older kids are usually the ones that end up riding an attraction twice, once with their FP and the other time with the rider swap ticket with the other adult.

Of course it is gaming the system. Not Rider Swap. That's totally above board. But splitting your FP's so that the adults double up is not how the system was intended to work. If Disney's not going to close that loophole, by all means, take advantage. But no matter how much standby you may experience using this method, it's less standby then other people who are not doubling up on FP's by gaming the system.

I have kids. The idea that someone is entitled to do this because they took their kids to Disney World (an argument my friend also made) mystifies me. Look around. There's a lot of people with kids there. I'm not going to lay a guilt trip on anyone for doing something Disney allows. I personally wouldn't do it, but that's because I'd be worried Disney would decide to close the loophole on us. I don't see it as an ethical issue since you're not breaking any rules.
 

lebeau

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just got back and used rider swap with FP in Epcot and Magic Kingdom. The only problem we had was for Frozen ever after ride. Me and My son had fastpasses for it while my wife and daughter ( age 2) did not. We all went up to the fastpass entrance and I requested a rider swap saying my daughter did not want to ride as she did not like dark rides. They did not give us one ( it does say on the Disney website that Frozen ever after does offer it.) They said that if we all had fast pass then me and my son could ride then my wife could ride while I was waiting with my kids. That kind of goes against the point of the rider swap. So I don't know if it these attendants where told to do this or if this was their decision to treat it like this, or that they just did not know. We were very disappointed on how this was handled. Every other ride gave us riderswaps. Some ask to see the child who was not riding.

That's what I was looking for. It seems like this approach works the majority of the time but there could be an issue.

Quite some time ago, we all had FPs for Test Track. We weren't trying anything funny to double up FP's. Everyone had one including my youngest who didn't want to ride. We asked to do a rider swap and the castmembers acted like we were up to something. Someone told us we couldn't do it, someone else said we could. There was a lot of confusion. Eventually it all worked out for us. (Sorry it didn't work out for you.) But it does seem like there is some risk involved if you split you FP reservations up and plan to let everyone ride by combining FP with Rider Swap. The risk seems to be minimal, but it is there.
 

Cosmic Commando

Well-Known Member
Sometimes cast members honestly just don't have a good handle on what's going on. I was using the dining plan almost a full year after they came out with that policy where you could substitute snack credit items for desserts at counter service restaurants. It worked great, but the one cashier at the restaurant next to the princess MnG in Fantasyland looked at me like I was crazy and didn't want to do it. Sometimes you run into things like that when you're doing something unusual, even if it's completely above-board.
 

Jared Augustine

New Member
Rider Swap can work that way. We had to show the child that was unable to ride the attraction. They than gave us a rider swap card that was good for up to three people. I asked why for three people? The cast member told me that three people can usually ride the attraction in the same row. (3 to a seat). The Rider swap card doesn't have to be used the same day. It was a great tool to utilize when a child is not tall enough for a ride.
 

21stamps

Well-Known Member
Have to bump this.. so what I’m understanding (I think) is that both adults do not need a FP?

Example- Father rides 7DMT with son.. both have a FP. Mother and daughter have a separate FP to meet a princess.. the mom and son can each get an “extra FP” in the form of a rider swap ticket.. and ride 7DMT together as well?
 

monykalyn

Well-Known Member
Have to bump this.. so what I’m understanding (I think) is that both adults do not need a FP?

Example- Father rides 7DMT with son.. both have a FP. Mother and daughter have a separate FP to meet a princess.. the mom and son can each get an “extra FP” in the form of a rider swap ticket.. and ride 7DMT together as well?
Thereby "doubling" amount of FP.

What should happen is family chooses their normal 3 FP for the high volume rides knowing one of the kids is not able to ride. All go to FP entrance and "tap in" and the waiting party with non riding kid get rider switch. First party rides, 2nd party rides when convenient to them (essentially no time limit).

Or- whole party goes to standby line-CM sees the non-rider and gives rider switch pass. First party rides, second party utilizes RS pass at time convenient for them using the FP line. I could see the parent with the non rider of the FP ride going here and waiting standby and getting a rider swap for rest of party. That's not trying to get extra FP at this point as one party has waited standby.

But I've seen many arguments from parents of young kids arguing that they have to "waste" a FP on a non rider now and that's not fair whine whine whine. How is it "wasted" when the kid wasn't going on it anyway? Ooh you thought you'd get essentially 6 preplanned FP for the "bonus" of having a too short child.... yeah I see how that can suck, but I've done Disney with as young as 16 months and her 6 year old sister, there WILL be waiting involved.
However it seems Disney hasn't yet been consistent on this policy although I did see more reinforcement of it around Thanksgiving and some PO'd parents!
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
If you have a kid who legitimately will not ride, this makes sense. If not, and you intend to actually bring all of your kids on (just without riding together as a family), I personally find a moral dilemma here. I am in effect telling my children that they (and their parents) are important enough to skip double the normal number of lines to get on as many rides as possible, and to hell with all of us riding together on a family vacation. I am then asking my children to be complicit to the deceit by also lying to CMs saying they don’t want to ride when they intend to.

If you like teaching your children to lie so they can get on more rides without waiting, more power to you. One day they’ll have to go to the DMV and society will set them straight, anyway.
 

Disneyfan003

New Member
Has anyone gone to Disney recently and utilized this system? We are a family of 2 adults and 2 young children. My husband and I would like to go on Flight of Passage and we want to take our kids on Navi River journey. Could one adult FP FOP and get a rider switch and the other adult go with two kids FP on Navi River Journey and that adult then use the rider switch for FOP? Or, would both adults need fastpasses for FOP? Seems like the rider switch would not apply to our family or does it when we use our fastpasses? Called Disney and they say both adults need fastpasses...but do you really both need the fastpasses or could we utilize rider switch? Would cast members be more strict on this popular ride?
 

nickys

Premium Member
Has anyone gone to Disney recently and utilized this system? We are a family of 2 adults and 2 young children. My husband and I would like to go on Flight of Passage and we want to take our kids on Navi River journey. Could one adult FP FOP and get a rider switch and the other adult go with two kids FP on Navi River Journey and that adult then use the rider switch for FOP? Or, would both adults need fastpasses for FOP? Seems like the rider switch would not apply to our family or does it when we use our fastpasses? Called Disney and they say both adults need fastpasses...but do you really both need the fastpasses or could we utilize rider switch? Would cast members be more strict on this popular ride?

There have been reports that they are being stricter on rides like 7dmt and FoP recently. I've seen more saying the rider switch expired at the end of the day, whereas usually they are good for a week or even a month. Something to do with some ****s putting them up for sale on eBay! But also being told everyone intending to ride needing an FP.

For FoP I probably wouldn't risk it unless one of you is prepared either not to ride or to do stand-by.

I haven't used rider switch since before FP+ though. Back then it was very much a case of allowing both parents to be able to ride. Our youngest wailed at HM that it would be too scary, so CM explained if we all redeemed our (paper) FPs then one of us could come back later on and ride, with the eldest again if he wanted, thus meaning we could all go on and get another FP together. You could only have one at a time (unless the return time was very long, 3 hrs maybe?).

It was always intended as a way to allow both parents to ride. The argument about the younger one "missing out" doesn't come into it, as far as the intention behind rider switch goes; they get to do something else with Mom or Dad.

If WDW wanted to they could impose much stricter enforcement without notice. I suspect the numbers using the "get-around" aren't enough for them to care just now.
 

meggo819

Well-Known Member
My opinion on this depends on how exactly the child swap works...

I would have assumed that both adults would enter the line (and scan fastpasses, if applicable) together and wait in line together until boarding. At that point, I assumed one adult & the child(ren) who aren't riding would wait in a designated place near the loading area and then swap immediately after the first group has ridden. In other words, you all wait in the line together, just once, and the second group boards immediately after the first group is done.

But it sounds like how it actually works is that you get the rider switch pass before you enter the line? And then the second person still has to go through the FP line? If that's the case, I wouldn't feel at all bad using this "strategy", since you're essentially waiting in the FP line twice and not saving any time compared to just riding in two separate groups. And for a couple with only one child, no one is riding twice, so there's no benefit at all (when using FPs).

The first way makes more sense, if the point is to not make your party wait in line twice. I know it might not work logistically for some rides, like RNRC or TOT, where you load and unload in different places, but it seems like more often than not, it would be fine.

I'd appreciate if someone could confirm which way it works, since we're taking our baby for the first time in September!
 

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