Switch Pass… What's That?
The ‘Rider Switch Pass’, rider swap, baby swap, child Swap, whatever you call it you have probably heard the name(s), but do you understand the system? If not, don’t worry you are not alone.
So you are on a family trip to Walt Disney World and everything is going great. You are all riding the tea cups, Jungle Cruise, and dumbo with no problems, but then you get to Big Thunder Mountain and Sally is a little too short to ride. That’s where you do the drill where one parent has to sit out with Sally while your significant other gets to go on the ride with Johnny. So what do you do? Do you just wait twice? Do you alternate rides like that? Does the same parent sit out each time? Disney knows this can be a dilemma for parents, so they have a program called the Rider Switch Pass. One parent gets in the standby line (or FastPass line if you have a FastPass for the ride) with Johnny and goes to the cast member at the line entrance and tell them you need a switch pass. Usually they will need to see the other parent/child so tell them to stay close. Then Johnny and you continue through the line, while Sally and the other parent waits, gets a snack, or does a little shopping. When you get off the ride you are now free to switch. Now your significant other (or yourself if the other parent doesn’t like rides) and Johnny(again) get to go into the FastPass line and basically get straight up to the front of the line and Sally gets another snack. You can even decide to move on to something else if you have a dining reservation or something else you want to do and come back at any time on that day and use it.
The switch pass can be used for up to three people. So even if you have two children you can all benefit from it. So I hope this answers your questions about the ‘Rider Switch Pass’, and now you feel comfortable bringing your younger child with you to Disney. For more concerns about taking younger children to Disney check out Waiting to go to Disney? Don’t!!.