Dear parents, close your eyes for a moment, and imagine this situation. You walk up to an attraction, and one of your kids isn’t tall enough. You think “oh no! One of us won’t get to experience this incredible attraction because we don’t want to have to wait in line twice! Who’s gonna ride with six year old Billy, and who has to wait outside with baby Susie?”
But what if I told you, this doesn’t have to be your reality?
That’s right, thanks to Rider Switch, both adults can enjoy the attraction — with only one full-length wait.
Oh, and it’s free. How does it work? Glad you asked!
Rider Switch is available at every attraction with a height requirement. And it’s really simple to use!
To explain, we’re going to use a SUPER family as an example: the Parrs.
The Parrs are enjoying a terrific day at Hollywood Studios when they decide to ride Slinky Dog Dash. Upon walking up to the entrance, they realize, Jack-Jack isn’t going to make the 38″ height requirement.
Not a problem! Helen, accompanied by Jack-Jack, simply chats with the Cast Member at the front of the attraction. He verifies that they do in fact have someone who cannot ride (Jack-Jack) and asks Helen how many people will be riding with the Rider Switch. (Tip: Up to three people total can utilize Rider Switch!)
The cast member will use a tablet to “assign” the Rider Switch to Helen’s MagicBand. She will then wait outside the attraction with Jack-Jack, while Bob takes Violet and Dash into the stand-by queue. After the ride, Bob then waits outside with Jack-Jack, while Helen, Dash, and Violet head back to the attraction.
This time, Helen will show her band at the FastPass entrance, where she, Violet, and Dash can use the FastPass line to ride. She and the kids can ride with a minimal wait, then meet back up with Bob and Jack-jack!
Easy right?! Seriously, that’s it!
But what if the Parrs had a FastPass to Slinky Dog Dash to begin with?!
In that scenario, you could just split the riding members in two and two, swapping which group is outside with Jack-Jack. Or you could still get Rider Switch, so that Violet and Dash can ride twice — both times in FastPass.
Can’t the Parrs just bring Jack-Jack into the queue so they can all hang out and then swap out at the ride load?
No. For safety reasons, no one can enter the queue if they aren’t tall enough to ride the attraction.
What if Jack-Jack WAS tall enough, but he’s just too scared to ride?
They can still use Rider Switch! In fact, even if Bob was too scared (or afraid his back will be hurt), you can use Rider Switch the same way. Just make sure Bob is the one who talks to the Cast Member.
So there you go! Rider Switch is an easy and free service to make sure everyone that can and wants to ride popular thrill rides, gets to, without doubling the wait. And that is simply, ahem, INCREDIBLE.
Can you use this if you have just one parent at the park with the kids? One is either too short or just doesn’t want to ride. My solution had been to either all hang in the queue and then bail at the end, or let them go through alone, usually on a fp+.
Great info, thanks! Do you have any tips of what to do/where to go with the child who isn’t tall enough rather than them just having to wait around each time? I know there’s a little playground at splash mountain but are there any other things near other attractions with height requirements across the parks?