(Article last updated: April 17, 2017)
Rider Switch (sometimes called "Child Swap") is Disney's system that allows people with small children to take turns riding the bigger rides while the other person/people wait with the child.
Here's how it works...
As you encounter a ride that has a height requirement, your whole group should be present and you can tell the Cast Member that you'd like to use Rider Switch. The Cast Member will give the waiting portion of your group a pass (which works like a FastPass) and the riding portion of your group will proceed through the line.
Recommendation: Use Rider Switch with FastPass+
I highly recommend that you use FastPass+ for the first group. This means that you'd get FastPasses for just the number of people riding in the first group.
Once your group shows up during the FastPass window (the whole group should show up, including the non-riding child), the Cast Member will issue the rest of the group the pass which works like a FastPass and can be used for up to 3 people.
This method effectively doubles the number of FastPass+ reservations you can get since the Rider Switch passes work like FastPasses. Here's an example of how this could work for a family.
| wdt_ID | Ride | Mom | Dad | 8-year-old | 3-year-old |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seven Dwarfs Mine Train | Get FP+ for this | Ride using Rider Switch | Get FP+ for this (and can also ride using Rider Switch) | |
| 2 | Space Mountain | Ride using Rider Switch | Get FP+ for this | Ride using Rider Switch and use 3-year-old's FP+ to ride | Get FP+ using 3-year-old's ticket although 3-year-old won't be riding |
| 3 | Big Thunder Mountain | Get FP+ for this | Ride using Rider Switch | Get FP+ for this (and can also ride using Rider Switch) | |
| 4 | Splash Mountain | Ride using Rider Switch | Get FP+ for this | Ride using Rider Switch and use 3-year-old's FP+ to ride | Get FP+ using 3-year-old's ticket although 3-year-old won't be riding |
| 5 | Barnstormer | Get FP+ for this | Ride using Rider Switch | Get FP+ for this (and can also ride using Rider Switch) | |
| 6 | Stitch's Great Escape | Ride using Rider Switch | Get FP+ for this | Ride using Rider Switch and use 3-year-old's FP+ to ride | Get FP+ using 3-year-old's ticket although 3-year-old won't be riding |
| 7 | Total # of times on these rides: | 6 | 6 | 12 | 0 |
The pass that you are issued does not have a time specified on it like a FastPass does, so it can be used before the pass expiration date (often times the pass has an expiration date that's a few days later).
Chance to ride twice
Each time that the too-young-to-ride child waits on the rest of the group to ride, they only need 1 adult to stay with them. That means there is an opportunity to allow the rest of the group (if you have more than 2 adults) to ride twice.
Let's say you have a family with 2 adults and 3 kids and only the youngest child isn't riding. The first group can have 1 adult and 2 older kids while the other adult and youngest child waits. The second group can have the other adult and the 2 older kids (Rider Switch allows up to 3 people). This means the 2 older kids get to ride twice.
What to do while waiting
One of my biggest pet peeves in all of Disney World is when people make their small children sit and wait while older people ride. You're at Disney World - there's lots of things to do!
Here are some things to do if you are in the waiting group.
| wdt_ID | Ride | Height req. | What to do while waiting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MAGIC KINGDOM: | ||
| 2 | Seven Dwarfs Mine Train | 38" | Ride the Carousel or Mad Tea Party |
| 3 | Big Thunder Mountain Railroad | 40" | Ride the Walt Disney World Railroad around, starting at the Frontierland station and/or play in the play area located just under the train station |
| 4 | Splash Mountain | 40" | Ride the Walt Disney World Railroad around, starting at the Frontierland station and/or play in the play area located just under the train station |
| 5 | Barnstormer | 35" | Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station, Dumbo |
| 6 | Space Mountain | 44" | Tomorrowland Transit Authority |
| 7 | Stitch's Great Escape | 40" | Tomorrowland Transit Authority |
| 8 | Tomorrowland Indy Speedway | 32" to ride | Tomorrowland Transit Authority |
| 9 | |||
| 10 | EPCOT: |
**********************
The speed at which you tour depends on how busy the parks are, when you arrive, what you're riding, how fast you move and if you are using Rider Switch. As you can probably guess, riding the same ride twice will slow you down quite a bit. Keep this in mind as you create your touring plans.
Leave a Reply
279 Comments on "How to use Rider Switch at Disney World"
I have a daughter who just turned 4 this month but is super tall (48″). She is not going to want to ride most of the rides my 9 year old will. Will we have trouble using rider swap since she is technically tall enough?
Hey we are a family of 5 adults and one baby. Is it possible that 2 adults ride using FP and the remaining 3 ride using RS?
Yes. Or one adult can ride twice if you use 3 FP+ 🙂
hi
can one adult ride by himself (without a kid) and ask for a rider switch?
They will usually ask to see the child who is not riding, so if your party has 2 adults and 1 child, YES – one adult would ride alone, then the other adult would also go alone using the rider swap (or the first adult would go again instead).
Hello, I think I have this right, but don’t want to mess it up. We are traveling with 5 adults, a 2 year old and 2 babies. If we book a FP for a ride such as Space Mountain, can 2 adults book the FP and then give the rider swap tickets to the other 3 adults, as long as we show we have the 3 kids? So confusing! Thanks!
Yes!
Yes, genius plan!
And it depends – sometimes rider swaps are only good for that day, sometimes more. It will be written on the paper they give you.
Hi, So if we did FP rider swap with adults rather than full family ride due to height restrictions, it ends up that my 4 year old has 1 remaining FP for the day, but he is unable to ride by himself on anything. Is it possible to book his 3rd fast pass for a ride he can’t go on and one of the adults use his last FP reservation ? OR are you unable to do this at it will be on his magic band?
How would you be able to use a 3 year olds fast pass/magic band but then not have them ride it? Will they really not say anything about that, let you scan the little ones band and then you take the older child? ?
Hi Shannon!
Is this working for Flight of Passage and 7DMT? I’m worried about it for FOP as I’ve seen some boards saying the cast member won’t issue the rider switch unless all members of the party have a FP.
Can you confirm that it still works this way? Another board said it may have stopped allowing it- making EVERY person have a Fast Pass while using a Rider Swap. (I know it worked this way in the past, but reports say it stopped this week!)
I would love to know this as well! Where did you see this report?
Hi! Love your description. What if the parent waiting with the non riding child decides they don’t want to ride in Group 2 after all (my mom is unsure if she wants to do Space Mountain). Could 3 people from group 1 ride again? (We are a party of 7 and would have 5 Space FPs for group 1).
Fast pass day tomorrow and trying to get some final clarifications! We have 4 adults and 2 kiddos going with us. Can you book FP for Rock N Roll for 2 adults, for example, everyone get in FP line and since both kids are too small, have other 2 adults wait with them and ask for RS for the other 2 adults?
Can someone please update on if Shannon’s description is still working? If you’ve been so far this year in 2018! This sounds amazing, but there seems to be a lot of conflicting/confusing situations and it’s confusing the heck out of me. Are there any rides you’ve noticed that have started enforcing that ALL who wish to ride need a FP in order to even get a rider switch pass?? I don’t want to get there and be told we all needed an original FP for the big ride to be able to get the rider switch.
Hi, Kara – The way it’s written here is how it works throughout Disney World officially, although there has been a rogue Cast Member at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train that occasionally enforces it differently. People who have encountered him and complained have been accommodated at Guest Services so he’s definitely not doing things the way they’re supposed to. Other than that, the way it’s written is how it has worked for years.
Thanks!
I guess we were one of unlucky one on March 2nd. I asked him what is the benefit of RS then he said kids can ride it twice. Was rider switch advertised as that as main purpose??
If a child get scared when it’s almost time get on the ride after we have been waiting can one adult leave with the child and get a rider swap pass to come back without waiting a second time?
Hi Shannon,
Lots of great info on your site – thank you! I’m sure this was thoroughly explained, but just a clarification. My wife and I are traveling with our 3yo and her parents. They likely won’t do rides and will always watch him. In this scenario can we, book one FP, use the rider switch at that same time for my wife, and then both go on together on one FP? Or is rider switch only for later in the day?
Thanks!
No, that won’t work, and since the purpose of Rider Switch is to make sure that somebody is with the non-riding children at all times, you likely won’t need to use it if your wife’s parents will be with your child.
With Avatar now open, I was able to get 2 fastpasses (we are a family of 6 with one child below the height limit. From what I read My husband and child A could go with the 2 fast passes and I could go with child B and C with the rider swap passes?
Yep! That should work. Just make sure you all show up at the ride to get the Rider Switch pass.
Hi Shannon,
Helpful post, per the norm for your site.
Our family of 6 is visiting in May and we’ll get to experience Pandora for the first time! Not sure if you’ve covered this elsewhere, but I would love to hear your strategy for using Rider Switch in order to ride Flight of Passage more than once.
Thanks so much!
-Jonathan
Is this working in Pandora too? We are a family of four; mom, dad, 5YO, and 2 YO. I would like to try to FP FOP for dad and FP Navi for mom + 5YO in the same time frame… we all go to FOP to get a rider switch… mom and kids ride Navi while dad rides FOP… mom and possibly 5 YO (if she grows another 1/2 inch and is brave enough) return later to ride FOP on the rider switch. Will this work? They will give us a FOP rider switch on 1 FP?
It will work on anything that has a height requirement, and often also works on rides that little ones are just too scared to ride.
How does rider swap work if the child (tall enough but young) decides not ride last minute because they are scared? Can they wait off to the side of the loading area with one parent and then can the parents trade places so that the other one can ride? Can a 6 year old wait with the CMs while both parents ride ?
Hi Shannon, I have been told that they are not allowing this scheme anymore as it wouldn´t be fair that families qith young children would double their fastpasses. Do you know anything about it? I am scared of doing it and missing my chance at the ride 🙁
There’s 1 Cast Member at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train that seems to be enforcing it differently, but there isn’t an overall change to the system. This isn’t a “scheme” but just the most fair way for families with young kids to be able to ride without making little ones wait for too long.
Hi Anne –
Did you take your trip yet? I’m curious if you ran into this issue at 7DMT… or if anyone else has as well.
Thanks!
Hi! We are going in a few weeks yet but when I made our 60 day out FP selections, I ended up having to split our group into two parties of two and will just pass the two year old along while each pair takes the ride and not going to risk trying to take the ride with just two FPs for four people. We will try the swap for space mountain and railroad ride instead.
Hi Shannon, can we save more of our FP if we just get one FP and do rider switch for my husband or me, and my three year old son rides once instead of twice? For example, my husband will be Group A by himself but when we return during our window, I would take my son. We will be traveling with my infant daughter, too. Thank you!
We are 2 adults and a 2 yo. Can we use the rider switch pass from the single rider line so that we’d both have a shorter wait time since we’ll be riding alone anyway.
If I have a 5 YO and 2 YO without a ticket I wouldn’t be able to double the fast passes, correct? Since the 2 YO will not have fastpass to switch with I will have to book the FastPass for the 5 YO for every ride?
I’m wondering the same thing, I’m confused!
Yes, that’s correct, but the 5 year old can ride many things twice if they have a FP+ to ride the first time and use Rider Switch to ride with the other parent the second time.
Is there anything stopping the same adult/child from riding again using the rider switch pass? We are traveling with infant twins who won’t be able to ride, but there are some rides I won’t ride either. Could we still get the rider switch pass and use it to get my husband and 9yo on the same ride a second time?
Anybody (up to 3 people) can use the Rider Switch pass, including the same people who rode the first time.
What if the only one person rode the first time. Can he/she return with more riders not exceeding three people? Thank you!
Yep! Doesn’t matter who it is as long as it’s a max of 3 people.
Hi Shannon, I am heading to Disney world with my 3 year old, and 2 parents. My question is, if my mom stays with my daughter while dad and I ride and we get a rider swap but she decides she doesn’t want to use it, can dad and I go again a second time? Thanks
Yep! Anybody can use the Rider Switch pass, and you can have up to 3 people use it.
If we are a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 children. Could one adult use a FP and still get a child swap option, then group 2 would be the other adult and the oldest child? Then the adults could effectively have 6 FP/day, using three each to get rider swaps? Or is this “something you could do, but frowned upon”? This would only work if one of the children couldn’t/didn’t want to go on the ride, which is legitimate…
Yep, you can use the child’s band without a problem.
Is there rider swap for TS Mania?
Hi Shannon,
We are making our Fast Pass reservations in the morning (July 14)! Quick question and I hope you get this… We have a 50″ tall son and a 40″ tall daughter. If both my husband and I would like to go with our son on Rock’n’Rollercoaster, would they still let us get a rider switch even though our daughter isn’t tall enough to ride? I’m worried they’ll say, “Your daughter can’t ride anyway, so we can’t give out the Rider Swap.” Thanks for your time!
Having a child that’s too short is exactly what the Rider Switch is for – so an adult can stay with the child who can’t ride. Good luck getting all of your FP+ reservations in the morning!
Thank you Shannon! Do they offer rider switch for TS Mania?
The list of attractions that offer it is just above this comment section (which are the attractions with height requirements). There may be more that will offer it for kids that are too scared to ride, but that’s at the Cast Member’s discretion and not consistently enforced across the board.
Hi there! This is all GREAT info! My question is this: you mention the 8 year old riding by using the 3 year old’s fastpass. How does that work? I am familiar with how to book the fastpasses, but how can the 8 year old use the 3 year old’s? Just walk up to the magicband scanner and have the 3 year old scan bu the 8 year old enters the line?
Just have the 3 and 8-year-olds swap MagicBands for a bit. 8-year-old can scan the 3-year-old’s MagicBand when boarding the ride to use the FP+.
Thanks for the info, Shannon!! This might be a stupid question, but does the thumb print scan not have to match the magic band if the 8 yr old and 3 yr old switch? Thanks for your help! Hope you are having fun at the Expo!!
Hi Shannon – We have a 6 (46″), 5 (42″) and 2 year old. Will 1 adult be able to accompany the 6 & 5 year old for rides that they are over the height requirement for? Or does it need to be a 1:1 ratio?
I’m sorry if you have already answered this one, but here is my question. We have Dad, Mom, 9-yr old, 2-yr old, and two adult friends. How would we make this work so that the 9-yr old can ride multiple times as shown in your lovely chart above :o)?
thank you!!!
Hi, Mandy –
Dad, mom, and 9 year old can go in the first group, then two adult friends and the 9-year-old can go in the second group.
Im curious about how fast passes work for Enchanted tales with belle, meet cinderella, and other character meets. Do I need a fast pass for the adult accompanying the kids or could I focus their fast passes on character meets. (My kids are 6, 4, and an infant) Also is it safe to assume that a non ticket holder (infant) cannot acquire fast passes?
Everybody age 3+ who enters the building (including adults) needs a FastPass+. And you’re correct that kids without tickets can’t get FastPass+ reservations, but they don’t need them. They can just accompany you with whatever reservations you’ve made.
Hi Shannon! I love all of your posts and your podcast! Super helpful 🙂 We are going in Aug. and we can start reserving fastpasses this Thursday. I feel like I understand how it works I just want to be completely positive before I start reserving.
There are 7 of us going- 5 adults and 2 children (7yrs and 1yr) would this scenario work?
Fast pass for adults 1 and 2 and 7yr old
Rider switch for adults 3,4,5 and 7yr old?
Almost. Only 3 people can use a Rider Switch pass, so you’d need to adjust the number of people using Rider Switch and make one more FastPass+ for them.
Hi we are visiting in August this year 2 adults my 10 year old son and 4 year old. I’ve booked fp+ on space mountain for me and my 10 year old can we use rider swap for my husband to then go on with my 10 year? Thanks
Yep!
Can I use rider swap even though my 10 year old is big enoughbut doesn’t wish to go on the ride? Our 12 year old will go on
I just called WDW and they told me that you cannot get a child swap ticket if you are already using the fast pass line. Therefore, you can’t just use a fast pass for one person, then use child swap tickets for the rest of the group. You have to be waiting in the regular line. Did they change their rules? That’s not what I’m gathering from this article.
If I had a nickel for every time somebody read something on this site and then called Disney World…
What’s written here is true. If WDW was great about giving out complete and accurate info, sites like this wouldn’t need to exist. 🙂
I am going to Disney World next month. We are 2 adults and 3 children (age 3, 5, and 8). Am I able to just book 2 Fast passes (1 adult and 1 for my 8 year old) and get a Rider Switch for the other adult and my 5 year old or does everyone need a Fast pass? Also, could I book a Fast pass for my 3 year old and have my 8 year old use it to go on the ride again? Thank you!
You can do what you described – make a FP+ reservation for 1 adult and 1 child, then get a Rider Switch for the other adult and child. You can also use your 3 year old’s FP+ to ride again (but keep in mind that Rider Switch passes work for up to 3 people so you may not need that step at all).
Following
Following- would be great if that does work
I just read some of the older comments (I think it was April 20th or 21st). Shannon said that would work- as far as using 1 fp+ for 4 ppl.
You might want to stick with just booking 3 fp+ for yourself and 3 for your spouse. Not sure about the 3 yo’s fp+ unless you switch your band for theirs. But then, I’m not sure if the finger/thumb print scan matters if you switch?
Does Rider Switch apply for an adult that is unable to ride due to health or large size? I would want to be able to take each of my small children (2 and 4) while my husband sat with the other.
No, it doesn’t work like that. Many attractions that 2 and 4 year olds can ride allow up to 3 people in a ride vehicle.
I am having a similar issue with my 7 year old and 10 year old. My 7 yearold is 50 in. tall but doesn’t want to go on Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Expedition Everest, or Rockin Roller Coaster, and the 10 year old wants to ride all of the above.
Ideally, I would like to effectively double my FPs for the rides my son doesn’t want to do. But I don’t want to risk not booking FPs for myself if we get to the CM and he/she tells us I also need a FP. I have rang Disney and they say Rider Switch is for any guest who doesn’t wish to ride (including a scared child). But I’m worried the CM will disappoint us as many people say it’s down to their discretion.
So on the things for the little kid to do while the big kid rides you mention several options that are at the exit of the ride. Can the parent/kid not riding just walk into the exit area without riding and standing in the lines?
Yeah, but it’s a separate door than the one used to enter the ride. Just have to walk slightly left or right to go into the exit area. Anybody can go into those exit areas that are also gift shops and activity areas.
Hi Shannon! This is great info and really looking forward to following your suggestions. One question I had is for a family of four. Mom, Dad. 7 year old, and 1 year old.
If Mom (and Mom only) had a Fast Pass for say the Barnstormer, could we get a rider swap pass so that Dad and 7 year old can go right after? Would we just show up as a family and say we have 1 Fast Pass???
Yep! You can do that.
Hi, I’m visiting with hubby, 8yo, 5yo and 1yo. When using rider switch can I just FP 1 adult and 1 child, and then use rider switch to swap the waiting child as well as the waiting adult? (So each child would only ride once?) This would mean we could book 6 FPs each day (1 adult and 1 child each time, and using rider switch for the other waiting adult and child). Have I understood this correctly please?
Yep! You can do that.
Disney is now requiring every member of the group to have a fast pass because this loop hole is allowing some to have 6 fast passes and access to rides on the same tier such as Soarin and Test Track. This doubling up is in fact cheating the system.
I believe some Cast Members (especially the one on the phone) say that, but that’s not how it works in reality. It takes families using Rider Switch twice as long to tour because they have to take turns riding. They aren’t cheaters if they make use of FP+ and Rider Switch to help reduce the waiting time of the non-riders.