Changes to the Rider Switch system

[alkel2730]

Originally Posted by Firstxmastrip

god knows unless it was a longer window on that one?

i think if they gave maybe a 3 or 4 hour window on the pass, even if it was digital it would work better. still wouldn't be able to give them away but more time to go do something with the littluns in-between.

See more...

Yes, that would be perfect for us. Maybe they used to have longer dates? We booked one FP last year for hubby for FOP but then Irma hit and we lost it and couldn't get another. Queuing the 3hrs wasn't an option so we skipped it.

I always think Disney are really clever and have developed systems that make things as fair as possible. With the tiers I imagine the vast majority of parents with younger kids or non riders use their FPs for family rides so using the RS is minimal. It is for us anyway as Frozen and illuminations are T1s at EPCOT, Navi at AK and TSM st HS. Then at MK there's so many kids rides to cover we use very little on big rides. We try and do any we want to at RD throughout the holiday and use single rider. I'll be interested to see how the new system works.

[Firstxmastrip]

Originally Posted by alkel2730

Yes, that would be perfect for us. Maybe they used to have longer dates? We booked one FP last year for hubby for FOP but then Irma hit and we lost it and couldn't get another. Queuing the 3hrs wasn't an option so we skipped it.

I always think Disney are really clever and have developed systems that make things as fair as possible. With the tiers I imagine the vast majority of parents with younger kids or non riders use their FPs for family rides so using the RS is minimal. It is for us anyway as Frozen and illuminations are T1s at EPCOT, Navi at AK and TSM st HS. Then at MK there's so many kids rides to cover we use very little on big rides. We try and do any we want to at RD throughout the holiday and use single rider. I'll be interested to see how the new system works.

See more...

because of the mixture of ages (14-4) we actually do the opposite. I tend to use fp for the bigger rides so we get them dome quicker and reduce the waiting time for the iittle ones and queue more for the family rides because at least we are all queuing together.

Either way we'll make it work, like you we tend to do shorter parks days, swim or shop in the afternoon and either back to the parks for another hour or two of an evening or go out for dinner.

[alkel2730]

Originally Posted by Firstxmastrip

because of the mixture of ages (14-4) we actually do the opposite. I tend to use fp for the bigger rides so we get them dome quicker and reduce the waiting time for the iittle ones and queue more for the family rides because at least we are all queuing together.

Either way we'll make it work, like you we tend to do shorter parks days, swim or shop in the afternoon and either back to the parks for another hour or two of an evening or go out for dinner.

See more...

Yes same here we tend to do half days (either end) and have lots of downtime. I think that's why Disney are really clever as they system is adaptable to all different families and they've thought about what goes in one tier carefully I think. Things will change for us too going forward as my kids get older. They're nearly 2&4. They're both tall too so soon they'll meet all the height requirements in no time. I was shocked my son met the speedway height requirement a couple of weeks ago as he's not yet 2. Everyone kept asking us if he was tall enough, he must've been measured about four times throughout the queue.

[Peacemaker]

My youngest was 2 and oldest 15 so we used RS with FP a lot, We would just get 2 FP for a bigger ride and then my 15 yo would ride again with me. I would then use my FPs to take the younger ones to character meets or smaller rides that my oldest and DP didn't want to do.

So I guess the changes will effect us a little bit, mostly looks like it will mean I will be riding alone.

[Firstxmastrip]

Originally Posted by alkel2730

Yes same here we tend to do half days (either end) and have lots of downtime. I think that's why Disney are really clever as they system is adaptable to all different families and they've thought about what goes in one tier carefully I think. Things will change for us too going forward as my kids get older. They're nearly 2&4. They're both tall too so soon they'll meet all the height requirements in no time. I was shocked my son met the speedway height requirement a couple of weeks ago as he's not yet 2. Everyone kept asking us if he was tall enough, he must've been measured about four times throughout the queue.

See more...

my hearts always in my mouth when they keep remeasuring lol if they are too short at the first one they tend to take it well, once they've been told yes and allowed to queue getting turned back is awful lol

my son went on the shamu rollercoaster and it was his first fast one, we bought the photo and went back round to ride. Different staff member measured him and said it was too close to call so she wouldn't let him ride! showed her the picture that he had riden less than 10 mins before but she was having none of it lol

[piglet100]

Interesting, thanks for posting. Will be watching closely ahead of our October trip with nearly 2 year old.
I get why they need to go digital, I agree one hour is a bit tight but would be happy to stick to 2-4. Like you say our experience (just at DLP) was usually one of us would queue and ride while DS slept, then by the time we were done he was often awake and we were off to feed/change/entertain him, so did the RS at the next convenient time, usually within the same half day.

I wonder if they will stop people using fastpass and then getting a RS? I've heard mixed reports on this one. In theory doubles your FP allocation which I can see some would see as a loop hole ready to exploit!

[howerd]

Very interesting! Our girls were 4 and 1 on our last trip and generally one of us would take the eldest on a ride, get a RS, then go off and do something as a family and then come back to use the RS at a later point (probably when the 1 year old is asleep) or sometimes we wouldn't get round to using the RS at all! Having to ride back to back would mean a lot of waiting around for the little one which doesn't seem very fair on them! Even when using a FP a lot of rides can easily take 30+ minutes to get through!

Even if they had the RS valid for 3-4 hours would be OK (although valid until the end of the day would be perfect) but if it does turn out to be just 1 hour then I can't see us being able to use it anymore as I wouldn't want the little one to just be waiting around for such long periods of time...

I can't believe people are selling them! We actually ended up with a FOP pass valid until the end of the month as my sister was on the ride and it broke down 3 times on her and she had to leave so they gave her that - I couldn't believe it was valid until the end of the month! We didn't end up with enough time to use it so gave it away...in hindsight probably not the right thing to do!

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by alkel2730

they are clamping down on it a lot with shorter return times

See more...

Do you mean shorter expiry dates?

The return time should be based on the current wait time. Shortening the return time will actually be a benefit, not a clamp down.

Originally Posted by alkel2730

often measuring children

See more...

I'm not sure what the height of the child has to do with anything? Some rides don't have a height requirement and still offer Rider Switch - eg. Frozen Ever After. Rider Switch is for any child that feels that they don't want to go on the ride and requires supervision whilst the rest of the family go on the ride. The reason isn't only limited to not meeting the height requirement.

As it say on Disney's website, "If a child does not meet the height requirement or a Guest does not wish to board a particular attraction, no problem!". Note the word "Guest" and not "child".

Originally Posted by alkel2730

and only issuing one regardless of party size (so for example if there is more than one family together with multipule kids you will only be given one).

See more...

I'm unsure why the CMs were giving away more than one Rider Switch ticket per party in the first place? The Rider Switch ticket is not limited by the amount of kids not riding. The only limit is on the number of parents who "switch" and the rider switch ticket could be used by up to 3 people. That means, currently, 3 adults can wait outside with the kids, and then switch with 3 other adults and go on the ride after the rest of the party have ridden. That surely enough adults for most party sizes?

Originally Posted by alkel2730

This is to stop people selling them online.

See more...

The best way of stopping them being sold online is to limit the expiry date to the current day or even to a 1 hour slot. For example, if you get a Rider Switch ticket today then it can only be used today, not tomorrow or anytime in the next week or month.

Originally Posted by alkel2730

I don't know what was on it but the strong rumour was that the RS system was going digital shortly.

See more...

I guess it makes sense making RS digital - everything else is going that way at Disney. It'll be interesting to see how it works though.

Looking at the link you provided, it looks like they are turning the existing paper Rider Switch facility into a separate Rider Switch Fastpass given to all those present. The Rider Switch fastpass will only be valid for a 1 hour window, like the other fastpasses. This actually makes a lot of sense.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Peacemaker

The return time is far to short if it starts from when the 1st person enters the queue.

See more...

I suspect the start of the return time will be based on the current wait time. You'll then have an hour slot after this time.

So, for example, you approach a ride at 1pm. The ride has a current wait time of 60 mins. You'll therefore get a Rider Switch return slot of 2pm - 3pm (i.e. starting 60 mins after you arrived). It's a bit like the DAS in that respect.

Some of the party will then join the queue whilst the rest stay outside to look after the child(ren) not riding. These waiting people get an extra Rider Switch Fastpass. Then, after riding, the adults all swap and the people who waited use their Rider Switch Fastpass to enter the fastpass queue whilst those who had already ridden look after the child(ren).

[WDWfangirl]

I remember reading posts prior to my last trip on how to maximize RS to gain an extra fastpass. I have to admit it all sounded a little too complicated and sneaky for me. I ended up booking fastpasses for rides that I knew my youngest was too short for. One adult went with the oldest and then the other adult went on with the oldest again (wearing the youngest's magic band). On the few occasions we got RS our oldest rode twice with both adults straight after the other. I thought that was fair as it prevented one of the adults from riding on their own. But to have allowed more than one person to ride more than once on RS seems cheeky to me.