Or is it called a baby switch pass?

What are your feelings on this one?

Originally posted by justagrrl
Or is it called a baby switch pass?

I believe they call it a baby switch. MM calls it a baby swap, which sounds wrong to me. It just makes it sound like your trading your kid in for a different kid. LOL!

I think it'd be fine. They did it with Rocket Rods, and the 2 times I rode that "attraction" (and I use the term losely), it did not seem like a problem. As long as it's set up in a way as to not be disruptive. It worked well on RR because they just used that little side entrance through the shop. Out of the way, it wasn't a big production. I think parents should be allowed to enjoy their day at the park as well as their kids.

AdrienneK, our Parenting in the Park columnist, refers to it as the "baby switch pass." She swears by it, and has written about it in her columns (http://www.mouseplanet.com/akrock/) in the past.

Actually, I started calling it "Rider Switch" because that's what Disneyland calls it. Technically it's for anyone. If you have a member of your party who is afraid to ride the attraction or can't for health reasons, you can still get one, so technically, "It's not just for babies anymore".

We've used it a lot and we like it. The thing I don't like about it is that you cannot take a baby through the line at all. For example, my older son just rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time a few weeks ago. I wanted to walk through line with Matthew and Kevin so I could take pictures of Matthew in the train car on the platform. They would not let Spencer (our 10 month old) in line AT ALL. Even to "walk through" off the platform. So that annoyed me.

Otherwise, we like it. After his first ride on BTMRR, Matthew wasn't ready to go on it again. After lunch, he was feeling brave again and we went back so he could ride it with me.

In the past, you used the exit to ride the second time. Now, most rides with rider switch also have Fast Pass, so instead of the exit, you just go through the Fast Pass line.

Adrienne K

I should have been more specific... do you see the potential for easy abuse of the system...

Could it be easily abused? YES.

Is it? I don't think so. The CM's keep pretty tight control on the passes. Usually they need to see the people you are with going on the ride. On rides with lines outside outside the building (Splash/Rocket Rod) you would need to stand in line with your party until they passed the CM at the entrance to the building.

What are your feelings on this one? I love it.

Do I see ways it could be abused? Kinda. But I have an "attitude." As a mom with small children at Disneyland, I am not moving around Disneyland as fast as people without kids.

It takes us a lot longer to move from one ride to the next because we have to deal with our stroller (getting through crowds, parking the stroller, unbuckling the kids, taking the purse/camera off the stroller to go get in line, finding the stroller after the ride, getting the kids and bags back in the stroller, etc.)

So, in general, if you have people in your party who are too young to ride a ride or have other physical conditions that keep them from riding a ride, I don't see a whole lot of room for abuse. There's a lot less room than with wheelchairs because: 1- you're limited to only 2 people who can use the rider switch pass to "get out of line." and 2- you can't really fake having a kid. They have to see your child who isn't going to ride the ride before they'll give you the pass.

There are not many rides that even offer Rider Switch. I was told that Haunted Mansion Holiday version would offer Rider Switch. When we were there, they didn't. So I think that there are some rides that should offer it but they don't. That ride was much too scary for my young son.

Currently, it's a lot harder to "abuse" it because most rides that use it don't use the exit anymore but the Fast Pass entrance, so CMs are there to watch who is coming and going with the passes. I'm much more concerned about people abusing SA passes and wheelchairs myself.

Adrienne K

I've used rider switch passes for quite a while now (my oldest is 5 years old) and I don't really see how it could be abused. The only thing I could see getting away with is letting one person in your party ride twice. But I don't really see that as "abuse."

Example: Family of four - Mom, Dad, Boy, Girl - Girl is too short for the ride but Boy isn't. Mom and Boy ride while Dad and Girl sit out with a rider switch pass. When Mom and Boy exit Dad and Boy go back through. So Boy gets to ride twice with only one wait in line. Even if Boy is an adult, I don't see anything wrong with it.