Today I want to talk about doing Disney World with people who don't want to ride many rides, whether they happen to be children or adults.
I also discuss recent Disney World news items and have a quick tip about shaving some time off the process of making dining reservations.
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These are notes from this episode. There's much more info included in the audio so be sure to listen to the episode for a better explanation.
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Feedback on this article convinced me to buy Skecher's Go Walk shoes
How to handle non-riders
For little ones who don't want to ride, be sure to take advantage of Rider Switch.
For non-riding adults, I recommend making plans to do things nearby. Here are some suggestions:
Magic Kingdom
- Space Mountain alternatives - Tomorrowland Transit Authority (PeopleMover), Carousel of Progress
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train alternatives - PhilharMagic, any of the gentle rides in Fantasyland
- Big Thunder and Splash alternatives - ride the train around the park, Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents
Epcot
- Soarin' alternative - Living with the Land
- Test Track and Mission: Space alternatives - Innoventions East exhibits, Ellen's Energy Adventure (takes 45 minutes)
Hollywood Studios
- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror alternatives - Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage, other shows
- Star Tours alternative - MuppetVision, Indiana Jones show
Animal Kingdom
- Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids alternatives - Flights of Wonder, Maharajah Jungle Trek
- Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl alternatives - Finding Nemo show
Recent news
- Star Wars Weekends celebrities have been announced.
- Frozen-themed treats are being offered for a limited time beginning on April 8
- A 4th FastPass+ reservation was recently offered to people for a couple of days. It's not clear if this was something offered due to larger crowds, or if it's a test and something that might be offered permanently in the future.
Quick tip of the day
A reader named Robert suggests bookmarking dining reservations in your browser to save some time when your dining reservations open up. Just a reminder that you should always make dining reservations in order of difficulty, not chronologically.
Have a quick tip of your own? Call it in at https://www.speakpipe.com/WDWPrepToGo
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Do you have the chart for 2015. We are traveling in July.
Dawn- We also have a family of five. Depending on the attraction, and the size of your children, you may be able to fit more than one child on a ride with you. I would suggest watching youtube videos of some of the attractions. Then your husband can decide if he wants to ride that, you can see which kids are tall enough or interested in it, or how many you can fit in a car. There were many rides where I rode with two kids and my husband rode with my oldest in another car. My son who was 7 at the time, who was not comfortable going alone, was more than willing for the opportunity to ride Barnstormer over and over. The cast members said the age varied for single riders but they usually said not younger than 7. It will all work out ok!
Thanks Kelly. I’ll definitely look at youtube to research the rides. That’s a great suggestion.
My question is about Child Swap. This will be our first family trip to Disney World, so I am clueless! We are a family of four, with a young toddler who will not be able to ride some of our older child’s preferred rides.
-We get in line (whether standby or, hopefully, FastPass+)
-Request a “rider switch/child swap” ticket from the cast member
Q1: Is this cast member as soon as we get in line, or do we all wait together and then we’ll see the cast member right before boarding?
-While older son and parent1 ride, younger son and parent2 partake in nearby activities
-After meeting up, older son and parent2 will ride with the rider switch/child swap ticket by…
Q2: …entering the FastPass+ line? (even if we first waited via standby–the rider switch/child swap ticket acts as a FastPass+?)
Is there any update on allowing 4 fast pass reservations? Is it true and how long will this be going on for? Thanks!
I have never been to WDW with my daughter before, so let me make sure I understand correctly! We have a Soarin’ FP+ for our Epcot day. All three of us (myself, husband, and kiddo) would get in the FP+ line. I would ride while my husband got a rider switch pass and took my daughter to ride Living with the Land or what have you. When I was done, I could meet up with them, swap the kiddo, and he could use his pass in the FP+ line while I took my daughter to do another fun thing.
Do I have that right?
You’ve got it!
I have a problem that I hope you can help me with. I have a family of 5 and we are going to Disney World in November. My husband does not ride. It will be my first visit with my 3 boys (ages 7, 5, and 4) and I suspect that they will need an adult with them to ride. Does the rider switch apply when the adult is the non-rider? Can I use the rider switch to ride with each child while my husband waits with the others?
Also what do I do if my husband does decide to try a ride and we all cant’ fit on in the same car or two cars? I don’t think my 7 year old and my 5 year old will go together by themselves. I know that one of them is not going to stay by themselves while 4 of us ride and then ride with mom or dad and I don’t think I would be comfortable leaving them alone. Suggestions? Help please!
I got a 4th FP+ at magic kingdom yesterday 4/4/15