Rider swap changing in preparation for new FP program

[yorkieteacher]

No idea if the referenced article is true, but honestly, why should anyone (child or adult) get to ride a second time? If the individual sitting out with the small child doesn't want to ride alone, then let the family decide who is riding in the first group and which one will wait with the person sitting out to ride with them. If true, my guess is that this, like so many other accommodations Disney has offered, was likely being abused.

Because while most adults will ride alone, I don't enjoy it a much as riding with a family member. I went with my adult daughter, her husband, and their four year old. On Tower of Terror, FOP, and Everest I would stay with my grandson while his parents rode. Then one of them would ride again with me. Much more fun experience. When I went with my son, his wife, and their 8 and four year old, I again stayed with my four year old granddaughter while son and his family rode, then usually grandson and I and one of the other adults rode. It was a perk for grandson to get to ride things twice, but not a deal breaker if this changes. But again, babysitter may not want to ride alone if possible.

 

[diskate10]

No idea if the referenced article is true, but honestly, why should anyone (child or adult) get to ride a second time? If the individual sitting out with the small child doesn't want to ride alone, then let the family decide who is riding in the first group and which one will wait with the person sitting out to ride with them. If true, my guess is that this, like so many other accommodations Disney has offered, was likely being abused.

I see what you're saying, but for many families like mine this wouldn't work (or would be a big bummer and would change our ride experiences). There are only 4 of us. When I stay with my little one and my husband rides with my 5yo, I don't want to ride by myself afterwards because half the fun is going on the ride with my child. There isn't anyone else in our party to stay and ride with me. So if Disney didn't allow anyone to ride twice, either my husband would be going by himself first or I would be alone second.

I do see the way Disney currently operates rider swap as a benefit for those with young kids, and I can totally see it being frustrating for some, but I'm very thankful Disney allows it as we go for the family experience. An adult waiting in line by themselves for an hour for the first ride, or 15-20 min for the second and not being able to go with anyone, would definitely change a lot for us.

 

[ChipnDale79]

I do see the way Disney currently operates rider swap as a benefit for those with young kids, and I can totally see it being frustrating for some, but I'm very thankful Disney allows it as we go for the family experience. An adult waiting in line by themselves for an hour for the first ride, or 15-20 min for the second and not being able to go with anyone, would definitely change a lot for us.

Quite honestly, the way disney did it, was one of the things that made them special. those are the small things that make such a big difference to a family.

 

[fancymouse]

To minimize the number of people entering the FP+ line. And in most rides, 2 is MUCH easier to accommodate than 3. The goal of rider swap was never to let multiple people re-ride (even if I used it for that many times).

And why do they want to do decrease the number of people using the FP+ line for free? Because once they start charging people to use the FP+ line, people are going to be angry if they have to wait >10-15 mins.

If this rumor true, then this does seem to be the motivation, but it’s such a weird thing to focus on. I would say something that is abused much more is families using RS in combination with FP and therefore getting more than 3 FP. This was very loosely enforced and probably made quite a difference in the FP lanes. CMs rarely enforced this. This rumor just seems like a very small thing to focus on when considering that massive amounts of people that use the FP lane for various reasons and the abuse that likely happens elsewhere.

 

[cakebaker]

I would say something that is abused much more is families using RS in combination with FP and therefore getting more than 3 FP. This was very loosely enforced and probably made quite a difference in the FP lanes.

We certainly maximized our FP's in conjunction with the switch pass. Despite all the claims here that everyone riding, including the person staying back had to have a FP, not once did that ever happen to us and we were using it when they supposedly made that change. I had many a "discussion" here on the Dis about it. They just did not enforce it, just like they didn't enforce the return times for FP. I don't consider it an abuse- we stayed within the framework of RS. It seems silly to us to get a FP for someone who was going to ride using RS. If that was not their intention, then it was a flawed system that allowed it to happen.

I do think they should allow 2 people to ride second. Lots of parents want to both enjoy riding attractions with their children. If that means someone gets to ride twice, so what.

 

[fancymouse]

We certainly maximized our FP's in conjunction with the switch pass. Despite all the claims here that everyone riding, including the person staying back had to have a FP, not once did that ever happen to us and we were using it when they supposedly made that change. I had many a "discussion" here on the Dis about it. They just did not enforce it, just like they didn't enforce the return times for FP. I don't consider it an abuse- we stayed within the framework of RS. It seems silly to us to get a FP for someone who was going to ride using RS. If that was not their intention, then it was a flawed system that allowed it to happen.

I do think they should allow 2 people to ride second. Lots of parents want to both enjoy riding attractions with their children. If that means someone gets to ride twice, so what.

Disney’s official policy is that RS is an accomodation for standby lines. Having the first person use a FP is not a standby line. If you want to use FP then you don’t have to do RS as both people already have a FP. In that case you just switch on your own. Sometimes if we were towards the end of our FP window, we told the CM at the front so that second person wasn’t shut out of switching (which may not even have been an issue if they don’t care about the times like you pointed out). That’s the way it’s supposed to be used. But like you said, they hardly ever enforced it. This is a substantial place they could cut down on the number of people using the FP lane, so I just think it’s silly to focus on cutting one person out of the RS return instead of the misuse in an area like this.

 

[cakebaker]

Disney’s official policy is that RS is an accomodation for standby lines.

The problem is, Rider Switch never translated very well with FP or FP+ and Disney never did anything to enforce any policies. If that was their official stance, then they really should've made the policy clear and then enforced it. They never did and still to this day have not. Perhaps that will change if we EVER GET FP+ BACK! Sorry for the yell, a bit frustrated at this point. At any rate, we're sadly well past the rider switch days, so no matter to me personally what they do with it.

But there is the argument to be made that no matter what advantage families with young children get, they will never outpace adult only groups or groups with older kids. We are a much slower moving group and tend not to do near the number of rides others can get in. I don't begrudge them a little edge where they can get it.

 

[BrianL]

But there is the argument to be made that no matter what advantage families with young children get, they will never outpace adult only groups or groups with older kids. We are a much slower moving group and tend not to do near the number of rides others can get in. I don't begrudge them a little edge where they can get it.

That's always how I feel. I mean, so what if there is a system that certain groups can take advantage of a little? At the end of the day it doesn't affect me (or barely) and I am perfectly happy not needing to rely on such systems in the first place.

 

[Craig Larson]

Disney’s official policy is that RS is an accomodation for standby lines. Having the first person use a FP is not a standby line. If you want to use FP then you don’t have to do RS as both people already have a FP. In that case you just switch on your own. Sometimes if we were towards the end of our FP window, we told the CM at the front so that second person wasn’t shut out of switching (which may not even have been an issue if they don’t care about the times like you pointed out). That’s the way it’s supposed to be used. But like you said, they hardly ever enforced it. This is a substantial place they could cut down on the number of people using the FP lane, so I just think it’s silly to focus on cutting one person out of the RS return instead of the misuse in an area like this.

Not exactly true about it not being for FP. If you hit the ride at the end of your FP window, when you exit it may be too late for the other rider to be inside the window. This is why you can do RS with FP. This is where the abuse took place and a few years ago they changed that if using FP for the initial group, the member(s) sitting out the first run needed a valid FP as well. Using FP or not was only for which line the initial group entered.

 

[shawthorne44]

But, if they weren't enforcing the FP requirement on the second group when the first group used FP, then families with two adults and two kids could translate the beginning 3 FPP's into 6 FPP rides for each adult and 9 for each child. Dad and ChildA gets FPP's for three rides 1, 2 and 3. Mom and ChildB get a totally different three FPP's for rides 4, 5 and 6.

Dad and ChildA ride #1 using FPP and then Mom and *both* kids ride it using Child Swap.
When you repeat that for each ride, they'll have never waited in a standby line and done 6 FPP attractions with each kid getting two rides on half of them. Even if they had the rule, but didn't enforce it, it wasn't a rule. So, I am all for any changes.

 

[Craig Larson]

But, if they weren't enforcing the FP requirement on the second group when the first group used FP, then families with two adults and two kids could translate the beginning 3 FPP's into 6 FPP rides for each adult and 9 for each child. Dad and ChildA gets FPP's for three rides 1, 2 and 3. Mom and ChildB get a totally different three FPP's for rides 4, 5 and 6.

Dad and ChildA ride #1 using FPP and then Mom and *both* kids ride it using Child Swap.
When you repeat that for each ride, they'll have never waited in a standby line and done 6 FPP attractions with each kid getting two rides on half of them. Even if they had the rule, but didn't enforce it, it wasn't a rule. So, I am all for any changes.

They did change and start enforcing. I know because in 2018 I ran into this. We needed to have a FP for all who were going to ride, even the adult of the second group.

 

[DisLiss]

Because while most adults will ride alone, I don't enjoy it a much as riding with a family member.

But according to the OP, the new rules allows for only one extra adult to ride instead of two (extra), which I take to mean that when the babysitting adult rides they CAN still take one other person with them (the one "extra"), and therefore do not have to ride alone.

 

[fancymouse]

Not exactly true about it not being for FP. If you hit the ride at the end of your FP window, when you exit it may be too late for the other rider to be inside the window. This is why you can do RS with FP. This is where the abuse took place and a few years ago they changed that if using FP for the initial group, the member(s) sitting out the first run needed a valid FP as well. Using FP or not was only for which line the initial group entered.

I wasn’t trying saying you can’t use them together (which is why I said we check in before using our FPs), but yes, they are supposed to be checking if a group wants to use FPs for the first group. The system was not intended to give families an advantage. And regardless of the pace of your group, it is an advantage if you are choosing to split your FPs and work the system. I have kids and use RS and still feel this way. Yes, we have to go slower and yes, it takes us longer, but it was our choice to bring our kids and choose to do a Disney vacation and that choice brings challenges compared to our pre-child trips.

Any abuse of the FP lane definitely affects other guests. You can see the difference right now. With severely limited FP lane use, the standby line move soooo much faster. If it wasn’t for the fact that even the shorter 45 minute waits are difficult with a toddler, I would love it. Many people do. Just look at the amount of posts about never bringing FPs back. Even so, I am looking forward to some sort of FP returning because they work better for our family, but I’m not going to deny that FPs make standby lines longer and so limiting the amount if people in the FP lane is a good thing on the whole. I am thankful that Disney offers RS and will continue to use it in whatever way they offer it, but IMO they don’t need to be going after the one extra person in RS groups (especially if they are using it correctly) when it’s clear there are other ways they could cut down on the number of people using the FP lane by tightening their own systems.

They did change and start enforcing. I know because in 2018 I ran into this. We needed to have a FP for all who were going to ride, even the adult of the second group.

It was not enforced consistently. This was an official policy, but even on our trip right before Covid, when my husband and I would check in to RS (but we both had FPs), they never questioned us. They just gave me a RS pass and didn’t even ask about FPs or which lane he intended to use. U/Cakebaker had a similar experience. Because of this I’ve definitely seen people doing the math like the poster explained and trying to figure out how to get as many FPs as possible.

 

[cakebaker]

They did change and start enforcing. I know because in 2018 I ran into this. We needed to have a FP for all who were going to ride, even the adult of the second group.

Not for us, not once were we ever even asked or checked except for those riding first. 2018 was the last year we used it I believe.

 

[SarahWI]

I mean, so what if there is a system that certain groups can take advantage of a little?

The issue is how many certain groups are there - a critical mass of group A plus group B taking a little advantage adds up and can affect all groups.

 

[nkosiek]

No idea if the referenced article is true, but honestly, why should anyone (child or adult) get to ride a second time? If the individual sitting out with the small child doesn't want to ride alone, then let the family decide who is riding in the first group and which one will wait with the person sitting out to ride with them. If true, my guess is that this, like so many other accommodations Disney has offered, was likely being abused.

So that when little Timmy rides Space for the first time, he can go with Dad first and then he can experience it with Mom while she waits with Timmy's baby sister the first time. That's the point. The parks were built for families; this is one of Disney's most family friendly policies.

Even before I was married with kids, I never had a problem with people who did this.

 

[BrianL]

The issue is how many certain groups are there - a critical mass of group A plus group B taking a little advantage adds up and can affect all groups.

I mean, tehoretically, sure, but it's not really happening in practice. I doubt it's a drop in the bucket most of the time.

 

[yorkieteacher]

But according to the OP, the new rules allows for only one extra adult to ride instead of two (extra), which I take to mean that when the babysitting adult rides they CAN still take one other person with them (the one "extra"), and therefore do not have to ride alone.

Yes, I understand. I was responding to a poster who said they didn't understand why anyone should get to ride twice.

 

[Wendysofftoneverland]

No idea if the referenced article is true, but honestly, why should anyone (child or adult) get to ride a second time? If the individual sitting out with the small child doesn't want to ride alone, then let the family decide who is riding in the first group and which one will wait with the person sitting out to ride with them. If true, my guess is that this, like so many other accommodations Disney has offered, was likely being abused.

In our case, we have 2 adults, 1 child over 40 in, and 1 child under 36 in. If the older child doesn't get to ride again, one adult will end up riding by themselves (or skipping the ride because they don't want to ride alone). I am really appreciative of them letting 1 person ride again.

 

[Feberin]

But, if they weren't enforcing the FP requirement on the second group when the first group used FP, then families with two adults and two kids could translate the beginning 3 FPP's into 6 FPP rides for each adult and 9 for each child. Dad and ChildA gets FPP's for three rides 1, 2 and 3. Mom and ChildB get a totally different three FPP's for rides 4, 5 and 6.

Dad and ChildA ride #1 using FPP and then Mom and *both* kids ride it using Child Swap.
When you repeat that for each ride, they'll have never waited in a standby line and done 6 FPP attractions with each kid getting two rides on half of them. Even if they had the rule, but didn't enforce it, it wasn't a rule. So, I am all for any changes.

That doesn't work unless they have a third child who is too small to ride most rides and decide to only book Fast Pases for rides with height restrictions.