Child Swap Changes being tested at WDW

[HauntedGabe]

Example:
Space Mountain. Family stands through the line, either FP or Stand-by.
Get to front and tell CM Swap. Group boards ride and CM escorts Adult and Child to debarking area of Space Mt. Parents swap out the child and the waiting parent either by themselves or with another person from their party board the ride promptly, they've already waited through the line once.

Space Mt. trial. You do the same wait through the line and wait for half your party to finish Space Mt. Swap the child and then you must exit Space and are given a FP and enter that line and wait your turn again.

On off season's this isn't likely too bad however on attractions like Space, Splash etc. this can amount to quite a bit of extra time waiting through popular lines twice. About 10 days ago the FP wait in line time was over an hour. If Disney goes with this it will be a pain for swap'n.

[WDW4Ever]

Wouldn't this just be an immediate fastpass? Well, not immediate, but not a time-constrained fastpass?

[HauntedGabe]

Wouldn't this just be an immediate fastpass? Well, not immediate, but not a time-constrained fastpass?

The way it is working now, you exit you don't get put to the front of the line even though you already went through the line once. You go to the end of the FP line. So if a short FP line no biggie. If it is like Toy Story, Soar'n, Space or Splash etc. You could be again waiting a chunk of time.

[doconeill]

At some point last year, I heard that they started giving guests the option at Space Mountain to use the standard Rider Switch pass (which worked like a Fastpass, which would normally put you at the back of the FP line, naturally), or to pass through the line as a group, and then have an adult with the ineligible child diverted to the "Alpha Lounge" area, where they'd wait for the swap. Difference there is I believe you would immediately go to the load area, although you'd still be at the back of that group, and at Space Mountain unless there was a back up at the FP line it probably was the same thing.

It would seem bizarre to allow this, and then force you to go all the way around again, but perhaps there was some sort of logistical issue? Is this what you describe?

[HauntedGabe]

It would seem bizarre to allow this, and then force you to go all the way around again, but perhaps there was some sort of logistical issue?

My guess is they are trying different ways of dealing with guests that have special issues, much like they did with people with disabilities some years back, by making queues larger to accommodate wheelchairs etc., in response to families that rented a chair to bypass lines or use as a stroller.

Disney is also introducing the special DCL guests that will be guaranteed multiple FP to all designated attractions in all 4 parks. They will be escorted into the FP lanes by a DCL tour guide in large clumps. While great for the DCL guest this will make standby queues even more difficult and really back up the FP's for WDW Guests when they arrive at a given attraction. The DCL guest will obviously get FP quicker than WDW resorts because DCL will take their guests to all 4 parks in a day.

So my guess is you are correct, a logistic problem. My guess is when a FP lane is backed up upon DCL Guests arrival they will be brought in another way, there is no way they will alter the sail time of a ship cause the FP lanes are over an hour, guessing the DCL Guests on those days will get a priority on those crowded days.

Is this what you describe?[/QUOTE]

Nope. But they are still fiddling with it.

[doconeill]

From what I've heard of that particular tour, it only applies to one particular cruise out of NYC that stops at Port Canaveral, and only for those that pay the additional charge of around $300/person, and does not specify specific attractions but all the examples they give are of some of the lesser utilized attractions and/or are at least continuously loading/fast loaders. They only actually mention the following:

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, "it's a small world", Mickey's PhilharMagic and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin

The only one that I might consider E-ticket in that list is PPF, and only because it always has a long line. It doesn't mean they can't go to other attractions, but their time is certainly limited and they carefully avoided mentioning the ones that I would think most people would want. Seems like it might be a somewhat small group to be trying to rework everything at this point considering they haven't even started the cruises yet. I think they are expecting numbers similar to VIP tours, and they are actually being run by the same group.

It also mentions specifically using the Fastpass lines as opposed to a back entrance. If there was some sort of backup, I'm sure they'd just skip that attraction or another one if time is a concern. Probably more likely to run in to travel problems on the route than at the FP lines

[HauntedGabe]

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, "it's a small world", Mickey's PhilharMagic and The Magic Carpets of Aladdin

There are two tours. The above and then there is the thrill ride tour.
I'll go back in a bit and pull the attractions for the thrill for ya.

[doconeill]

There are two tours. The above and then there is the thrill ride tour.
I'll go back in a bit and pull the attractions for the thrill for ya.

Ah, I only heard of the one. Thanks...

[HauntedGabe]

I have not forgotten....unfortunately I cannot access my Twitter feeds and that is where I believe I read it. Rest be assured Twitter is STILL saying their engineers are working at it. Oy.

From the top of my head, the tours for adults and teens was
MK-Splash, Space, Thunder
Epcot-Soar'n, Test Track
MGM-Star, Rock'n, Tower
AK-All I can recall is Everest

But both tours were touted as 4 parks, one day, tour guide, FP's, private transportation to WDW and to various parks.

Me<----I'll be tracking the day that ship delivers Guests to WDW Parks. It will either mess up the FP lanes or deliver far less FP's to WDW Guests, either way good for the DCL Guest, no upside for the WDW Resort Guest.
I'd either be going to the Water Parks that day or the World Showcase.

I'll keep hunting.

[NC_WDW_Daddy]

That was th eprocess when we had to child swap. We waited in the FP line twice, there was no immediate boarding after we swapped.

[N.J.boy@N.C.St.]

That was th eprocess when we had to child swap. We waited in the FP line twice, there was no immediate boarding after we swapped.

I feel like that may be the easiest process. A bit more difficult to deal with, but keeps flow and organization better.

Also... although each attraction has a FP line in some different way, Space becomes very unique at certain times when the left side is for the Standby line and the right side for FP. When that's the case, FP line for Space is almost literally walk right into the ride vehicle.

^ That was what I experienced, multiple times, in the middle of July when park crowds are just about at their highest.

Considering the fact my sister is Autistic and we always got a Guest Assistance Pass, we never had to deal with that system. When she was younger, my dad and I would just take the pass and my mom would wait with my sister. Once my sister got big enough for the E-tickets, we took her on and she loved ALL of them (most autistic children are afraid of the sorts of those attractions...my sister is very much the opposite). My mom would still sit out most e-ticket thrill-like attractions, haha. But all 4 of us would still go on TSM, Dinosaur, Soarin'.

[doconeill]

Yeah, sometimes they seem to have some bizarrely inefficient ways of handling the FP line vs. the standby line. However, as long as they aren't holding back vehicles because of a lack of riders to load on the FP side, then it really isn't affecting much.

[supernova]

I only visit Space Mountain during the Christmas party, when it is literally a walk-through right up to the loading area.

[cjborne2]

I am finding this interesting because we will soon be travelling to WDW and will need to do the "kid swap" with a Seeing Eye Dog. The last time we went with the dog, we had other family members with us so if the 4 of us wanted to do something, we had help. This time we will need to do the swap.

[doconeill]

I am finding this interesting because we will soon be travelling to WDW and will need to do the "kid swap" with a Seeing Eye Dog. The last time we went with the dog, we had other family members with us so if the 4 of us wanted to do something, we had help. This time we will need to do the swap.

I actually do not know the specific policies for doing this. You should definitely go to Guest Relations first thing on your first day and get a Guest Assistance Card, which helps the random CMs know what kind of help may be needed, such as the dog needing to remain with someone as much as possible, etc. They should also be able to explain some of the steps.

Officially, a Rider Switch pass is not available for this - however, that or a Fastpass might be provided as a convenience mechanism to handle it at some attractions, or they may handle it differently - that is up to the CMs.