Do we both need FP+ for rider swap?

[10CJ]

Could be, though as one who does disagree the common interpretation of the RS policy, I don't think it's the case. When it's popped up it has come very organically -- someone asking a question about it being unusual.

Like I've said before, I believe WDW will discontinue this policy before much longer and require that if you're getting a RS from the FP line, then the parent benefiting from RS to have a FP as well. But I could be wrong.

So you don’t think the child too short to ride should be able to use their own Fastpasses?

 

[Nimbus]

It seems strange to me that both parents wouldn't have to have a FP. You're basically then getting a two for the price of one deal on every FP then, no?. If each parent booked 3 separate FP's, it's tantamount to each parent holding six FP's at once. Seems like cheating the system to me. The whole premise of RS is that if a parent has waited hours in a line, the other parent shouldn't have to as well. If the original parent had a FP, it's really not an issue to begin with, so RS doesn't make sense in such a circumstance, right?

 

[KrazeeK120]

It seems strange to me that both parents wouldn't have to have a FP. You're basically then getting a two for the price of one deal on every FP then, no?. If each parent booked 3 separate FP's, it's tantamount to each parent holding six FP's at once. Seems like cheating the system to me.

Some families get a FP for the second parent and the too-short child to do a ride while the first parent and the tall-enough child ride.

For instance, Dad and tall child have a FP for 7 Dwarves while Mom and short child have a FP for, say, the Little Mermaid ride. Then Mom uses the rider swap pass to ride 7Dwarves (tall child can go with her if they want).

I don’t personally have a problem with people using rider swap in this manner. That way, Short child has something to do during at least one of the parent rides, and short child can use all of their fast passes.

 

[DizneyMommy]

It seems strange to me that both parents wouldn't have to have a FP. You're basically then getting a two for the price of one deal on every FP then, no?. If each parent booked 3 separate FP's, it's tantamount to each parent holding six FP's at once. Seems like cheating the system to me.

Ok that’s kind of shady, that’s a sucky thing to do. We have a 2yo, and it never occurred to me to NOT have a FP for everyone who will ride, even though we do use RS. But at age 2 I didn’t buy her a park ticket, she’s not “losing” a FP. If she was 3 or older and I was paying for her, I see no problem with getting a FP for an alternate nearby ride for myself and her to ride while everyone else rides something she’s too small for with their FP, and then getting RS so I can have a turn. Obviously Dad isn’t going to get a RS for something a 3 year old can ride, so it’s really not the same as your scenario where someone games the system to get double FP’s. We have done it this way at DL for years when our older 2 were small, and never once had a CM bat an eyelash. The alternative is the 3yo has to sit around forever while the rest of the party rides a ride twice that she can’t do. That’s not really fair to her either

 

[MickeyWaffles]

How does that work if my four-year-old daughter is too short for a ride? If we have to get a FP+ for my husband, 6 year old and myself then will she just have to lose out on one of her fast passes since we won't have one available to go with her?

Well, another option is that your husband takes your 6 year old on the big ride, you take the younger child on something else. Or visa versa. Someone else gives something up, if you’re worried about the youngest not having a FP. As our oldest is starting to be tall enough for things, that’s how we’re handling it. Rider switch takes time and coordination and is just not for us. We will each take a kid - one parent will have a FP with the oldest on SDMT, the other parent will do a different FP with our little guy who isn’t tall enough yet.

For the record, I don’t care either way if both parents need a FP for RS or not. I understand both sides and think both sides have valid arguments.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Well, another option is that your husband takes your 6 year old on the big ride, you take the younger child on something else. Or visa versa. Someone else gives something up, if you’re worried about the youngest not having a FP. As our oldest is starting to be tall enough for things, that’s how we’re handling it. Rider switch takes time and coordination and is just not for us. We will each take a kid - one parent will have a FP with the oldest on SDMT, the other parent will do a different FP with our little guy who isn’t tall enough yet.

For the record, I don’t care either way if both parents need a FP for RS or not. I understand both sides and think both sides have valid arguments.

That’s the whole original point of RS though, so no one has to sit out. It was created just for that exact scenario.

If they require everyone to have a FP, then in many cases on busy days the child who isn’t tall enough is going to be sitting out the same way a parent would have to without RS because without a FP the standby lines would be prohibitively longer than the FP party’s, so it’s just solving a problem by creating another.

This is why we can’t have nice things. Seriously people, gaming the system will ruin it for those of us who need it the most - parents with toddlers AND teenagers!! Lol

 

[MickeyWaffles]

That’s the whole original point of RS though, so no one has to sit out. It was created just for that exact scenario.

If they require everyone to have a FP, then in many cases on busy days the child who isn’t tall enough is going to be sitting out the same way a parent would have to without RS because without a FP the standby lines would be prohibitively longer than the FP party’s, so it’s just solving a problem by creating another.

This is why we can’t have nice things. Seriously people, gaming the system will ruin it for those of us who need it the most - parents with toddlers AND teenagers!! Lol

I get that’s why it was created. We just decided we’re not RS people and haven’t looked back. We are happy to each book a different FP with each kid for now and someday we’ll all ride together. But, my 2 kids are only 18 months apart so they’ll be both tall enough before we know it.

I don’t think the FP+RS system is perfect and I understand all arguments. If both parents need FP, a little kid misses out on a FP. If only one parent needs a FP, people can game the system and take advantage of it. If people choose not to do rider switch, a parent misses out.

I think it’s a tough one.

 

[whiporee]

There's a simple solution to this -- don't get FPs for rides your whole party can't use. If you're worried about the 3-year-old being able to maximize their FP, then only get FPs for rides the whole family will enjoy. There are plenty of them. Then use the standby line for your RSs. You still have one parent a d child set waiting in line, but that's better than both of you having to do it. That way the 3-year-old gets to have fun with the whole family, and no other family is penalized by losing time to people who combine FP with RS.

it's not as though not having a FP for a ride negates ones ability to ride it. So this way there's no potential confusion at all with RS, the young kid gets just as many FPs as any and every other guest.

 

[Nimbus]

For instance, Dad and tall child have a FP for 7 Dwarves while Mom and short child have a FP for, say, the Little Mermaid ride. Then Mom uses the rider swap pass to ride 7Dwarves (tall child can go with her if they want).

I absolutely think it’s perfectly acceptable for mom to get that FP and ride with smaller child in a separate ride. I do not, however, believe mom should then be able to RS to 7 dwarves; not when dad used a FP, anyway.

A RS pass basically says “one parent waited in line, so we will give credit to the other parent as if they waited in line because they were unable to”. The problem with FP ride swap where only one parent has FP is the first parent actually waited in a super short line, and a line that the second parent wouldn’t actually even have been able to wait in unless (s)he has a FP. So a “swap” in this case doesn’t actually make sense to me.

 

[whiporee]

So you don’t think the child too short to ride should be able to use their own Fastpasses?

If the choice is a 3-year-old not getting to use a FP for Little Mermaid versus an adult and two other kids getting a total of three extra FPs for 7DMT, then yes.

Besides, this isn't about a child to making a sacrifice. It's about a parent making a sacrifice to maximize their child's enjoyment. No one's denying a kid a FP; it's making a parent make a choice between their child having to miss out on a FP ride or missing out on a FP one themselves.

 

[Nimbus]

Besides, this isn't about a child to making a sacrifice. It's about a parent making a sacrifice to maximize their child's enjoyment. No one's denying a kid a FP; it's making a parent make a choice between their child having to miss out on a FP ride or missing out on a FP one themselves.

Exactly! I don’t think anyone is suggesting the younger kid not get to Use a FP. But that if mom and older son go on 7 dwarves w FP’s, then dad and younger son go on Peter Pan w FP’s. Everyone has a FP.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

As for the 4 adults and one child situation, I'd be surprised if a CM gave or accepted two adults and a child with a RS pass. Clearly not the intent, and I could see them saying no without hesitation.

Why would the fact that it's two adults and a child be an issue? I'm really confused by this. Are you saying no more than one adult should ever be allowed to stay back with a child? We never had an issue with this on our last trip as a party of 4 adults, 1 tall enough child and 1 too short toddler. 2 adults would ride with the child using fastpass while the other 2 adults stayed back with the toddler and did a different ride. Then those 2 adults could ride the first ride later with the rider swap. I would imagine many people do it like this when they travel as two couples or parents and grandparents with a too short kid. It makes it easier having a second set of hands to help out with the little one(s).

There's a simple solution to this -- don't get FPs for rides your whole party can't use. If you're worried about the 3-year-old being able to maximize their FP, then only get FPs for rides the whole family will enjoy. There are plenty of them. Then use the standby line for your RSs. You still have one parent a d child set waiting in line, but that's better than both of you having to do it. That way the 3-year-old gets to have fun with the whole family, and no other family is penalized by losing time to people who combine FP with RS.

it's not as though not having a FP for a ride negates ones ability to ride it. So this way there's no potential confusion at all with RS, the young kid gets just as many FPs as any and every other guest.

The problem with this is, especially for the really long standby lines (which are most often going to be the ones with height requirements that would necessitate a rider swap), it's not really going to be realistic for families. Most families choose to fastpass over standby these lines so they don't have to be separated from the rest of their family for hours at a time while someone is in line. Family time is valuable, especially at Disney. Look at something like FOP which can have 3+ hr standby lines. Then for the second parent to ride with the rider swap, they could still be gone for another 30-45 mins. That's 3.5+ hrs separated just to ride one ride. With using fastpasses in 2 groups on our last trip, it took about an hour and 15 mins for everybody to ride FOP. So in the standby scenario, no, the toddler is not getting to have fun with the whole family when they are separated for half the day just trying to ride one ride. Why shouldn't families be able to use fastpasses for the rides that generally have long standby queues just like every other person who tours the parks wants to do? By getting a rider swap for the person who has to stay behind, they're still having to wait in the fastpass line twice as long as any other person with a fastpass in order to get both parents through.

Sure, the family could just forego all height-restricted rides, but the entire purpose of rider swap was so families could have the opportunity to ride things and not have to essentially wait twice. If a family uses the standby line and rider swap, it still takes longer for the whole party to ride than for a group of people who don't need the swap. The same is true for fastpass and rider swap. It still takes longer for the whole group to ride than for a group utilizing fastpass without rider swap.

In regards to others being penalized by losing time to people who use fastpass and rider swap, how exactly is this happening? How is this making your wait any longer than if all of them used fastpass without rider swap or someone did standby and got a riderswap for the other person? Either way, the same number of people are going on the ride. No matter what, it takes them longer to ride, but I don't see how it's impacting your wait.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

OP's question has been discussed / answered from multiple angles and perspectives, so closing this thread. Thanks everyone.