Would somebody please tell me how the ride switch off (or whateverthehell it's called) works? For parents with young children I mean. And which rides offer this option? Thank you. :D

Child Swap or Ride Switch works like this:

Two adults approach the front of the line and inform the ride operator they would like to do a child swap because they have a member of their party who is shorter than the height requirement. One adult stays behind with the child while the rest of the party rides the attraction. Upon exiting the vehicle Adult A who rode first will trade places with Adult B who stayed behind with the child. This allows Adult B to ride while Adult A watches the child. Sometimes if the ride operator is good at crowd control he or she can allow some other members of the party ride twice, one time with each of the two adults. Most all of the rides should be able to accomodate this child swap.

Would somebody please tell me how the ride switch off (or whateverthehell it's called) works? For parents with young children I mean. And which rides offer this option? Thank you. :D It's great if you have any older children because they usually get the do the ride twice in a row........once with Mom and once with Dad!

I ALWAYS tell a cast member when we first go in line that we are going to do the child hand off. They are really very nice about it!

My two oldest boys are excited the my four year old won't go on some of their most favorite rides so they can go two times in a row!

I am only speaking from years and years of experience at WDW but have been told that it is the same at Disneyland! We will find out next week!

So, do you tell the CM at the beginning of the line or do you wait in line together and tell the CM just before you get on the ride? Last time we were there, there was some confusion at Splash Mountain and the CM at the bottom basically told us to wait in line twice.

So, do you tell the CM at the beginning of the line or do you wait in line together and tell the CM just before you get on the ride? Last time we were there, there was some confusion at Splash Mountain and the CM at the bottom basically told us to wait in line twice. I always tell them at both the beginning of the line and right before we board the ride. There was one time where the CM at the front entrance gave me the wrong information for Test Track but the other cast members were quite helpful and we did not have to go back to the end of the line.

tell the greeter as well as every other cm working the attraction. each attraction handles it differently, but they all should support it.

tell the greeter as well as every other cm working the attraction. each attraction handles it differently, but they all should support it.

This was not my experiance a couple of years ago. We were told that only rides that had height restrictions would allow "ride switches". We had a sleeping one year old we did not want to take on the astro orbitors. One ride operator we saw earlier in the day said ride switching was not a problem. Another ride operator somewhat rudely informed us later that the ride did not offer ride switch. I would not assume that all rides offer this service.

Dave Mc

Do they allow strollers in line or do you have to carry the kid through the line the entire time? I was there last year but never tried waiting in line with a stroller.

This was not my experiance a couple of years ago. We were told that only rides that had height restrictions would allow "ride switches". We had a sleeping one year old we did not want to take on the astro orbitors. One ride operator we saw earlier in the day said ride switching was not a problem. Another ride operator somewhat rudely informed us later that the ride did not offer ride switch. I would not assume that all rides offer this service.

Dave Mc

I never tried it on a ride without height restrictions???? But I can certainly see your point when your child was sleeping!

Do they allow strollers in line or do you have to carry the kid through the line the entire time? I was there last year but never tried waiting in line with a stroller. I have never seen anyone in line with strollers. We always carried our little ones through. So I am thinking that they probably don't let you take the strollers in line. You have to park them in the section they reserve for that at each attraction.

This was not my experiance a couple of years ago. We were told that only rides that had height restrictions would allow "ride switches".

sorry for that, i'm sure you're right. i'm not sure what i was thinking when i said they all should. i think in my mind, i meant the ones that did support it, but somehow didn't manage to make it clear. i double-checked what i referred to and it does imply that the only rides to support this are ones with height requirements.

Generally rider switch is available only at rides with height restrictions. Those rides don't have them aren't set up for Rider Switch- they don't have the passes available. Because CMs rotate positions, you can't (and they can't) count on being able to remember you without a pass.

Strollers generally are not allowed in line. We've stood in line together with a stroller for Matterhorn- just until you get to the turnstile, because there's room in that queue, but no line would let you take a stroller all the way through.

Here's a more detailed explanation of how RS works:

You walk up to the "Greeter" CM at the entrance to the attraction. This might not be where the actual last person in line is. For example, if there's a long line at Big Thunder, the queue extends up the "road" from the attraction entrance. The Matterhorn Greeter is in front of the little "building" where the bobsleds load.

You show the greeter your child too young to ride and ask for a Rider Switch pass. The CM will give it to you and should explain to you where to return. If the CM doesn't tell you, just ask. For Matterhorn, it's the HCA entrance. For other rides it might be the Fast Pass entrance.

You and the too young child (or someone and the too young child) go ride another ride or sit on a bench and wait. They actually do not allow too young children in the official queues once you pass the height check station. Some people don't want to "have" to wait in line together and don't want to. Some people don't want to have to be separate from their groups. So some of the people will like this policy, others won't.

After the first group rides the attraction, two people may return with the rider switch pass to wait in a shorter line and ride.

HTH,
Adrienne

This was not my experiance a couple of years ago. We were told that only rides that had height restrictions would allow "ride switches". We had a sleeping one year old we did not want to take on the astro orbitors. One ride operator we saw earlier in the day said ride switching was not a problem. Another ride operator somewhat rudely informed us later that the ride did not offer ride switch. I would not assume that all rides offer this service.

Dave Mc

My dd and I were told the same thing at the POTC when we were there last May. Since there were no rider restrictions we were not able to do the child swap on that ride - we had a baby sleeping too who, of course, we did not want to have to wake up :) The baby swap idid worked great on the rides with height restrictions. We just asked the CM at the FastPass line at Splash Mountain and at the Mattahorn the CM at the gate - don't remember clearly if we ended up using the child swap any other rides - oh yes we did on Soaring over CA and again got the child swap from the CM at the FastPass line entrance.

One ride operator we saw earlier in the day said ride switching was not a problem.

I've spoken to CMs who have said that any CM can let you do it on any ride, really. But it really depends on who is working whether you can do it- obviously some CMs are going to be friendlier than others, work better together, have better communication with each other when they rotate positions, etc, etc. And I think the length of the line would affect how well they can communicate with each other and remember you to make it work without the paper passes.

Adrienne

Do they allow strollers in line or do you have to carry the kid through the line the entire time? I was there last year but never tried waiting in line with a stroller.

We did not attemp to bring the stroller in line either. We had asked the greeter and they had said for my wife to wait by the handicap exit. After I had waited in line for 30 minutes the loader looked at me like I had two heads when I said I wanted to ride switch. I suppose I was a bit frazzled at the end of the day. We have 5 kids and at the time they were were 7, 5, 4, 2 and 1. It was an interesting trip. We are returning this summer and looking forward to a better time as they are a bit older. I would expect that with more of them able to ride the height restricted rides we will be taking more advantage of ride switching this time around.

Are we talking DL or WDW? There is a difference - DL uses mostly "passes" but WDW uses mostly station-swaps, where the whole party waits, one rides, child is passed through the station (sometimes the ride vehicles itself) or auxilary walkway or something to the exit area and the other parent rides.

In any case - ask the ride host EVERY time you ride a ride, as things are subject to change.

The thread was originally in the Disneyland forum and then moved to Parenting. I just wish that the parks had a set policy. Perhaps they could even place some information about on the maps that are handed out (Ducking in case it's already there)

Are we talking DL or WDW? There is a difference - DL uses mostly "passes" but WDW uses mostly station-swaps, where the whole party waits, one rides, child is passed through the station (sometimes the ride vehicles itself) or auxilary walkway or something to the exit area and the other parent rides.

In any case - ask the ride host EVERY time you ride a ride, as things are subject to change. This is good to know as we have only done this at WDW and are going to be at Disneyland for the first time next week. I will warn my boys that they probably won't get to ride twice at Disneyland like they can at Disneyworld.

I'll clarify the thread title in a minute.

F5LD: Yes, people can ride two times in a row at DLR. The Rider Switch pass is a paper pass at DLR.

One group stands in line to ride the attraction the first time. When they come off the ride, they meet up with Parent and Too Young Kids. The Rider Switch Pass is good for two people. So if Dad and kids went the first time, Mom can take a kid who just came off the ride and use the rider switch pass for the second ride.

Does that make sense?

The Too Young Kids don't wait in line with the rest of the group. You have a choice: you can just hang out by the exit and wait for Group#1 to finish the ride or you can go to the bathroom, eat, shop, ride another ride, etc. In fact, there's no time limit on the Rider Switch Pass, so you could come back hours later and the second group can ride.

They do change the colors of the passes, so you can't hold on to them and use them the next day. Each day is a different color.

Does that part make sense?

Adrienne

I'll clarify the thread title in a minute.

F5LD: Yes, people can ride two times in a row at DLR. The Rider Switch pass is a paper pass at DLR.

One group stands in line to ride the attraction the first time. When they come off the ride, they meet up with Parent and Too Young Kids. The Rider Switch Pass is good for two people. So if Dad and kids went the first time, Mom can take a kid who just came off the ride and use the rider switch pass for the second ride.

Does that make sense?

The Too Young Kids don't wait in line with the rest of the group. You have a choice: you can just hang out by the exit and wait for Group#1 to finish the ride or you can go to the bathroom, eat, shop, ride another ride, etc. In fact, there's no time limit on the Rider Switch Pass, so you could come back hours later and the second group can ride.

They do change the colors of the passes, so you can't hold on to them and use them the next day. Each day is a different color.

Does that part make sense?

Adrienne
yes, and it's nice that the youngest doesn't have to wait in the line. I can remember some of my boys being scared to death thinking that I was going to make them go on the ride (especially rides where you might get a glimpse of the ride from the waiting line)

IN REGARDS TO STROLLERS
In most cases strollers are not permitted in line because of fire/panic safety. Especially when the queue line will shrink down to a single file line or goes inside of a enclosed building (including a "patio" like area as seen in some Fantasyland queues). The best thing to do is have a scout from your group try and scope out the queue line prior to getting in line to see if it is safe for a stroller. The most obvious thing to check first would to check for a stroller parking area near the main entrance to the ride. If you do take the stroller with you in the queue line be prepared to fold it up before boarding the ride vehicle. Some rides, such as IASW, have guests board on one side of the vehicle but exit the other side so you may be able to leave the stroller on the other side. Keep in mind that taking the stroller with you can cause traffic flow problems when people have to fold/unfold strollers.

IN REGARDS TO CHILD SWAP (sleeping child or otherwise)
All rides should be able to accomodate a child swap feature. In the case of the Astro Orbiters story with two seperate CMs giving conflicting answers would be best explained as a difference of opinions or training of the CMs. Some attractions operators are either forgetful about child swaps or (for some odd reason) can't integrate the swap into the flow of queue line guests. If they say no, they mean no. I used to train attractions operators and came to the conclusion that everyone learns and works differently. Some can't handle multitasking so these types would refuse to offer child swaps. Others, whom I didn't train, had no clue what a child swap was. It could be boiled down to how they were trained.



I may be reitterating information that was stated in previous posts, but I thought I could mention some things that were not stated. I hope this is helpful information for people to keep in mind. It is not intended to be the final word on the matter, but rather a helpful hint to keep in mind to keep things running smoothly throughout the visit to DLR. :)

With all due respect, sdfilmcritic, much of the information you gave in that last post was inaccurate.

As others have already pointed out, child swap is generally only available on attractions with height restrictions and very few, if any, attractions allow strollers to be taken into the queue. You most certainly are >not< allowed to park your stroller at the unload area for Small World, as you implied in your post.

-Jeff

If you do take the stroller with you in the queue line be prepared to fold it up before boarding the ride vehicle.

This information would be accurate for all of TWO rides: Monorail and DLRR.


Some rides, such as IASW, have guests board on one side of the vehicle but exit the other side so you may be able to leave the stroller on the other side.

Who wrote this? That's funny.

I used to train attractions operators and came to the conclusion that everyone learns and works differently.

Where did you get this information?

It is not intended to be the final word on the matter, but rather a helpful hint to keep in mind to keep things running smoothly throughout the visit to DLR. :)

Actually, it's really misleading. Where did that come from?

Adrienne

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This was all very helpful. Especially the part about the second party not having to wait in line with the first riders!! That is great news. I couldn't imagine having to wait in line holding my autistic toddler (that likes to bolt, fast as lightening!) and my four month old. I love Disney.:D