DIGITAL Rider Swap/Rider Switch/Child Swap: In Effect as of June 16th

Yes but height is no longer the requirement. It says can't or doesn't want to ride .

Right, but a swap with a tall enough child who doesn't wish to ride is usually handled differently. Since they are tall enough to enter the queue, the swap can be performed at the boarding area. This would require everyone to enter and wait in line together, and if using FP, everyone including the child not riding would need one to enter the FP queue. One adult and the other child would ride while you stand off to the side with the child who doesn't want to ride (CMs will tell you where to stand so you're out of the way). When they return, the second adult would ride (and likely, they would allow the first child to ride again with the second adult so they don't have to ride alone).

The rider swap pass that's added to magic bands is generally denied if you have a child who is tall enough to ride, reason being that they can enter the queue and the swap can be performed at boarding as explained above. A child who is not tall enough to ride is not permitted to enter the queue, which is why there's a difference in how it's handled based on whether or not they are tall enough to ride.
 
Yes but height is no longer the requirement. It says can't or doesn't want to ride .
Wow, didn’t realize they changed that - I was going to say that I’ve heard other people mention when they had someone tall enough to ride that everyone entered the ride and then once they got to the ride the non-rider and adult stood to the side while the first group rode. Maybe that made it too congested inside. Hopefully someone can comment that has done it due to someone not wanting to ride!
 
Right, but a swap with a tall enough child who doesn't wish to ride is usually handled differently. Since they are tall enough to enter the queue, the swap can be performed at the boarding area. This would require everyone to enter and wait in line together, and if using FP, everyone including the child not riding would need one to enter the FP queue. One adult and the other child would ride while you stand off to the side with the child who doesn't want to ride (CMs will tell you where to stand so you're out of the way). When they return, the second adult would ride (and likely, they would allow the first child to ride again with the second adult so they don't have to ride alone).

The rider swap pass that's added to magic bands is generally denied if you have a child who is tall enough to ride, reason being that they can enter the queue and the swap can be performed at boarding as explained above. A child who is not tall enough to ride is not permitted to enter the queue, which is why there's a difference in how it's handled based on whether or not they are tall enough to ride.

I can confirm that when we asked for a rider swap for 7dmt they did ask to measure my daughter to make sure she was too short. She was by several inches. I assumed that was to determine how we would do the rider swap. This was back during paper passes though.
 
Right, but a swap with a tall enough child who doesn't wish to ride is usually handled differently. Since they are tall enough to enter the queue, the swap can be performed at the boarding area. This would require everyone to enter and wait in line together, and if using FP, everyone including the child not riding would need one to enter the FP queue. One adult and the other child would ride while you stand off to the side with the child who doesn't want to ride (CMs will tell you where to stand so you're out of the way). When they return, the second adult would ride (and likely, they would allow the first child to ride again with the second adult so they don't have to ride alone).

The rider swap pass that's added to magic bands is generally denied if you have a child who is tall enough to ride, reason being that they can enter the queue and the swap can be performed at boarding as explained above. A child who is not tall enough to ride is not permitted to enter the queue, which is why there's a difference in how it's handled based on whether or not they are tall enough to ride.

This has always been the answer to how things work for kids tall enough who don't want to ride but has anyone done this in practice? The reason I ask is because several of the height restricted rides that have RS don't load and unload in the same place. So it's not a simple matter of waiting for the party to return. Examples are RNR, EE, TT and probably others. Has someone done a RS with a tall enough child at one of these rides? How did it work?
 
This has always been the answer to how things work for kids tall enough who don't want to ride but has anyone done this in practice? The reason I ask is because several of the height restricted rides that have RS don't load and unload in the same place. So it's not a simple matter of waiting for the party to return. Examples are RNR, EE, TT and probably others. Has someone done a RS with a tall enough child at one of these rides? How did it work?

I traveled with 3 girls a hair shy of 44".

At ToT (40" requirement) they didn't even have me unload the kids. I pointed to the stroller, said that my husband was going first in FP, and she loaded the RS onto my band. The girls and I all had FPs, as I was hoping to convince them to try too, but she didn't ask or look. Actually, after she loaded the RS, my band had both the valid FP and the RS. Had we wanted to, I could have gotten in the line immediately after hubby during my FP window and then also used a swap later that day. Instead, I burned the FPs for myself and the three kids because I wanted to be able to begin refreshing for additional TSL tier 1s.

At RnR (48" requirement) they didn't have me unload the kids, although I think it's pretty clear that they aren't 48" yet. Hubby and I both had FPs so, when they loaded the RS on his, he had simultaneous RnR FP and RS on his band. He didn't double ride but could have had it fit into our schedule for him to ride immediately after I did.

At EE (44" requirement) I told the CM that they weren't tall enough. She looked at them, said sure they were, and had me measure. I sent up my baby C, as she's consistently 0.25" shorter than her sisters and, sure enough, she hit the bar. I was shocked, they were measuring just under 44" in shoes at home. I told the CM that OK, she may technically tall enough, but there's no way she's riding a backward roller coaster as the backward section of Spaceship Earth scared her a bit (truth). The CM was perfectly fine just loading the RS onto Hubby's band. At that time, I had an EE FP, hubby and kids had the Mickey Minnie greet so, had they forced us to wait in line together, we would have had a problem.

Having found out that my littlest measured 44" at EE, I picked up FoP FPs for Hubby and the kids (originally only had it for myself as we were planning to swap). When we went over to ride together, A and B were fine on height but C was too short! Now, I knew she was too short, that's why I booked it differently to begin with, but apparently EE's 44" outside measure is shorter than FoPs 44" outside measure. I know kids are tallest first thing in the day, but I measured her at EE at 2:30 and FoP at 4:30, we're not talking about 8am vs 8pm. Anyway, they were really good about trying to get her to measure up (blow out all your air, take a deep breath, and try to stand as tall as you can) but no matter what we did, her head wasn't hitting. Her hair was, but not her head, that's how close. Anyway, they gave me, A, and B RSs for the ride, gave me and C a bonus NRJ FP to ride while we waited for her sisters, and gave her a little card that she can bring back when she's tall enough that will serve as a FP for her whole party. Again, when they gave me the RS, they left my FP for the ride in tact as well. I ended up tapping through during my FP window so, even after I rode, I still had a RS for FoP on my band. I didn't have time to go ride again (darn double preshows!), but I could have if I wanted to skip RoL and leave hubby alone with the kids for another 30 minutes.

At Space (44" requirement) they didn't have me unload the kids. Hubby rode with an anytime FP he had acquired the night before (he was going to go back into HS alone to ride RnR and see fireworks, but RnR went down in the last hour generating an anytime valid the next day on his account) and they loaded a RS onto my band. Again, I'm not sure how this would have worked had they forced my kids to measure, since C is 44" on some measurement sticks but not others.

At Barnstormer, they specifically would NOT allow RS to happen at the platform, despite the fact that everyone in our party was tall enough. Since it has to be one adult to one under-7 child and we were outnumbered, they sent me through standby with A (this was before 10am, so still a super short wait) and loaded RSs onto me, Hubby, B, and C. That allowed all of the kids to ride but did require that we wait through the FP line two additional times to do it.
 
When we visited last September, we used RS several times. My daughter is tall for her age and met the height requirements for some of the rides, but she's still afraid of many of them...we were never asked to measure her.
 
Back before digital rider swap, most rides didn’t even make you produce the non-rider. I had a tall enough daughter who didn’t do thrill rides and usually she was elsewhere with one parent while the others rode the thrill rides. It’s obviously all different now since digital, but thankfully she’s gotten braver!
 


Wow, didn’t realize they changed that - I was going to say that I’ve heard other people mention when they had someone tall enough to ride that everyone entered the ride and then once they got to the ride the non-rider and adult stood to the side while the first group rode. Maybe that made it too congested inside. Hopefully someone can comment that has done it due to someone not wanting to ride!

Nothing has changed in the policy concerning rider swap and being tall enough but too scared. WDW policy has at least for many years stated that anyone who does not wish to ride can use Rider swap. What happens frequently though (and has for many years) is if the child is tall enough, the swap will take place at boarding and no rider swap pass will be given. Every now and then someone posts that they were given the pass with a tall enough child, but since they are tall enough to enter the queue and the swap can be performed at boarding, CMs have and do frequently deny the pass and tell guests to perform the swap at boarding.

This has always been the answer to how things work for kids tall enough who don't want to ride but has anyone done this in practice? The reason I ask is because several of the height restricted rides that have RS don't load and unload in the same place. So it's not a simple matter of waiting for the party to return. Examples are RNR, EE, TT and probably others. Has someone done a RS with a tall enough child at one of these rides? How did it work?

I have done this on all of these rides, though it has been a couple of years. For RnR, I know we were sent down a hallway on the left of the loading area that met up with the unloading area, then sent back up that hallway to the boarding area for group 2 to ride. I think the same happened with EE, though I can't remember where that hallway was. For TOT, we were sent down the chicken exit elevator into the exit area before you get to the gift shop, waited for the rest of the group to get done riding, then sent back up an elevator to the boarding area. We only used it in Test Track once, but they just had those not riding climb through the vehicle to the other side and wait, then those riding in Group 2 just got into the car from the opposite side.
 
Back before digital rider swap, most rides didn’t even make you produce the non-rider. I had a tall enough daughter who didn’t do thrill rides and usually she was elsewhere with one parent while the others rode the thrill rides. It’s obviously all different now since digital, but thankfully she’s gotten braver!
We’ve been doing rider swap since 2016 and that hasn’t been our experience at all. We’ve always been asked to produce the other party.
 
We’ve been doing rider swap since 2016 and that hasn’t been our experience at all. We’ve always been asked to produce the other party.

We’ve been asked, “where is the non rider?” but when we said “at the Frozen Singalong” (or whatever) they still gave us the pass. Again, this was pre-digital and we also never tried this at Mine Train or FOP because DD would ride those. But there was a time where she was tall enough for Tower, Rockin, and Everest but would not ride. Never once had an issue. Over many trips.
 
I am approaching my FP day on Wednesday and am totally confused about rider swap. I wrote Disney guest services and they were no help. We are a party of 10...2 infants so we know our riders will have to be broken up. Do the remaining riders need fast passes? Disney said yes. What I am reading here is NO that group 2 uses the FP line after obtaining the swap on the magic band.
Again, like said prior, this should be clearer! We are 3 generations all trying to enjoy our trip.
Thank you for your prompt insight as this may affect our FP selections.
 
I am approaching my FP day on Wednesday and am totally confused about rider swap. I wrote Disney guest services and they were no help. We are a party of 10...2 infants so we know our riders will have to be broken up. Do the remaining riders need fast passes? Disney said yes. What I am reading here is NO that group 2 uses the FP line after obtaining the swap on the magic band.
Again, like said prior, this should be clearer! We are 3 generations all trying to enjoy our trip.
Thank you for your prompt insight as this may affect our FP selections.

Based on experiences here, the answer is "maybe, depends on the CM".

I never needed FP for group 2. Group 1 had FPs, group 2 was given RSs. Others have had different results.

Keep in mind that a swap only works for up to p 3 returners. Since you have 2 infants, you should approach the RS CM not as one big group, but as two small groups each including one infant and 4 riders. In each case, the swap pass will then be given to the adult who is staying back plus two members of the first rider party. This will net you 4 total folks who can ride twice.
 
Based on experiences here, the answer is "maybe, depends on the CM".

I never needed FP for group 2. Group 1 had FPs, group 2 was given RSs. Others have had different results.

Keep in mind that a swap only works for up to p 3 returners. Since you have 2 infants, you should approach the RS CM not as one big group, but as two small groups each including one infant and 4 riders. In each case, the swap pass will then be given to the adult who is staying back plus two members of the first rider party. This will net you 4 total folks who can ride twice.
Thank you...appreciate your experience.
 
I am approaching my FP day on Wednesday and am totally confused about rider swap. I wrote Disney guest services and they were no help. We are a party of 10...2 infants so we know our riders will have to be broken up. Do the remaining riders need fast passes? Disney said yes. What I am reading here is NO that group 2 uses the FP line after obtaining the swap on the magic band.
Again, like said prior, this should be clearer! We are 3 generations all trying to enjoy our trip.
Thank you for your prompt insight as this may affect our FP selections.

The answer is NO, they don't. The CMs that answer emails and calls are not well informed. Last year, I talked to 3 different CMs and got wildly different answers on how the system worked. I got fed up and wrote a very angry email asking for somebody who actually knew what was going on to give me a call. I got a call from someone in 'park operations' and she confirmed that the second group does NOT need a FP.
 
From experience, Group 2 does not need FP. We did it on FOP so you know it's not really going to be an issue anywhere else. If the CM gives you an issue, politely ask to speak to a "lead" and explain the situation and that you've had no issue doing this before.
I wonder if we go ask random CMs at the rider swap areas what they'll say. In July we had CMs make sure every person riding had valid FP+ before they'd give us RS at 7DMT, Splash, BTMRR, SDD, and FOP that I can for sure recall. ETA: I remember the CMs at SDD (on two separate days) and BTMRR being especially sticklers about it.
 
I wonder if we go ask random CMs at the rider swap areas what they'll say. In July we had CMs make sure every person riding had valid FP+ before they'd give us RS at 7DMT, Splash, BTMRR, SDD, and FOP that I can for sure recall. ETA: I remember the CMs at SDD (on two separate days) and BTMRR being especially sticklers about it.
I don't know what to tell you. I can say that in February of this year, it worked for me without Group 2 having FP. They didn't bat an eye and the CM with the rider swap knew exactly what we were doing. It could be enforced differently during busier periods.
 
I wonder if we go ask random CMs at the rider swap areas what they'll say. In July we had CMs make sure every person riding had valid FP+ before they'd give us RS at 7DMT, Splash, BTMRR, SDD, and FOP that I can for sure recall. ETA: I remember the CMs at SDD (on two separate days) and BTMRR being especially sticklers about it.

I think there was a lot of confusion when the digital system first started and CMs were not clear on the rules. We went in September, and by then things had settled down. We rode FOP twice, SDD, 7DMT, and BTMR, and were never asked for FPs for party 2. In fact, my son got to ride with party 1 and party 2 at every one of those attractions.
 
I concur with others here.. not one time we had any issue with RS where group 2 needed FPs. it was very smooth..

Only issues might arise if you do NOT have a rider that is shorter than the requirement, where everyone needs FP, get in queue and do RS at the ride itself.
Or you are trying for more than 3 RS passes in a group.
I also saw some problems where people were trying to get RS for their party when non-riders were not present.. this will not work.
 
Last edited:
I think there was a lot of confusion when the digital system first started and CMs were not clear on the rules. We went in September, and by then things had settled down. We rode FOP twice, SDD, 7DMT, and BTMR, and were never asked for FPs for party 2. In fact, my son got to ride with party 1 and party 2 at every one of those attractions.
We've never had trouble having our kids ride first and then again using RS, both before and after digital RS. (Meaning my 2 tall enough kids ride with me while DH waits with the 2 too-short kids, then the 2 tall enough kids ride again w DH.)

I def think there was confusion. The iPads they used to make the RS also glitched several times, at several rides (at BTMRR once they had to write down return cards for us bc the ipads weren't going to be back up and running anytime soon).
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top