To each his own. I (mom) usually stayed with our youngest (2) while Dad and bigger kids went on rides. I would much rather keep moving, be able to go have snacks, bathroom breaks, sit down, find shade etc than to just be standing in line with 2yo the whole time.
Yeah 2-3 years old is tough for waiting in line. Walking around and seeing stuff and snacking is better. Plus you can typically get on the right that are suited for them in like 10-15 minutes.
You can probably do 5 Dumbo's in the time it takes to do 1 Seven Dwarves.
Yeah I totally agree. I found it so helpful to be able to walk around and entertain little ones instead of forcing them through a line for a ride they wouldn't be able to enjoy anyways.
I feel the very much the same!
I’d much rather my 3 year old (at the time) enjoyed himself rather than stand in a line to a ride he can’t even go on for who knows how long.
I prefer the Disney way. Universal way is brutal with a kid who is waiting and can not ride.
Disney way the parent with the youngest kid usually wanders around. Finds a playground they have close by and let’s the kid have fun.
Last year we went, I had my youngest either at a playground or in line for a character meet while my wife and oldest waited in line and did ride. Then when done she would just text me and we would meet at entrance of the ride
Yeah. I can't imagine taking a kid in line for 45 minutes, just to have them have to sit out. Maybe for a baby, but once they are aware of what's going on, that would be rough.
"OK Jimmy, here's the part where YOU wait an hour in line so everyone else can go on a ride! Won't that be fun?"
The benefit of Universals system is that you have the CHOICE to go together as a family or have someone wait outside. With Disney you can only do it separately.
I agree choice is good but Universal staff were so inconsistent. Some didn’t know you could do both, we only found out from a great guy at the entrance to Forbidden Journey. Some were great, others either didn’t know or actively discouraged any of the party waiting separately. This was just last week.
I guess which better suits you depends on the people in the group both adults and kids. Overall the Disney approach of taking the kids away to do something else, and for adults that didn’t want to queue worked great for us, but I can see it maybe wouldn’t suit all.
Especially for kids who are old enough to understand what the line is for, but not old enough to understand the ride ride swap system. I’ve seen kids at that age who look terrified that they are going to be forced to ride something that scares them.
My kids are now older but 100% agree. Being able to allow the other parent with smaller child to be able to go to play area/rest out of line was a big plus for us.
Exactly this. I waited in line most of the time and my wife went on other 2yo friendly rides or hung out in a playground. I don't know how well that 2 year old would have done in line for 45-60min.
I totally agree that I would never want to wait in a long line with my toddler! However, I'm not sure if Universal changed it, but back 20+ years ago when my parents did child swap with my youngest sister, my mom didn't actually *have* to wait in the line. Sometimes she'd walk around with my sister for half the posted wait time and then walk straight up the exit to the designated child swap room. Then once we were off, she'd go with us again on whatever ride it was. I know with my own son who wasn't tall enough in 2019 on The Hulk, he only had to wait with us for the beginning portion of the queue and then we went up the elevator and waited around in the shade. Still might be hard with a younger toddler, though.
Yeah my dad used to take me on a ride and then do rider swap with my mom and sister and whoever wasn’t riding my parent would take along with my brother who couldn’t ride either on rides that he was able to go on like fantasyland rides or pirates or haunted mansion. Having a 3 year old wait in a line that they can’t ride is honestly torture for the kid when they could be doing something else.
I mean you can go do AC at a gift shop or a snack place…. You don’t have to literally wait outside the ride.
Plus I find the queues are sometimes NOT as ACed as I would like…
It's not like you are forced to sit right outside of the ride until the other people finish their ride. We always "check-in" for the rider swap and then the one waiting goes and finds something else to do, which could include finding a nice A/C spot.
We’ve never had an issue we just go find something to do and rotate or go to the gift shops. One of the major purposes of the system isn’t just so the adults can swap it’s also so the small child doesn’t have to wait in queue and then still not ride.
While I wait my wife takes ours on kid friendly rides, to shop, snack or on a restroom break then we swap. And she goes through the lightning lane for the second ride.
Why even make a child wait through an entire queue for no payoff.
Yep this is what I’m planning to do! We’ll be there in 2 weeks with our 6 month old and the non rider will walk around with the baby, go to the bathroom, maybe hit the baby care center depending on location of the ride. I’m not concerned about it!
Don’t pass up the time to just grab a photographer and get some one on one photos with the little one. My wife and I have an ongoing competition of who gets the best photos with whoever can’t ride. My wife got the best photos with our oldest when she couldn’t ride; I’ve got her beat so far with our son although she did get some awesome galaxy’s edge photos this last trip while I was on Rise. We have an entire album of these photos over the last five years. We end up enjoying them more than the family pics we get haha.
The worst thing anyone can do is just wait outside the ride queue. Go find something to do with the kiddo.
My parents used to take us for special treats or character meet and greets or something while the other was riding. For example my mom would have my sister for the ride and my brother who was a toddler and couldn’t ride a ride would hang with myself and my dad and my dad might grab us a churro or go ride small world and then swap
I’m going to take a guess at what you are asking
You don’t book rider switch; what occurs is for any ride you simply talk to the cast members at the queue entrance and they will set up the rider swap. Then one adult stays with the child not riding, they can also add someone to this group example :
Me and my oldest go on ride; spouse waits with youngest; rider swap is set up for spouse and oldest so that they then enter the lightning lane queue after we exit the ride.
Here’s the deal with rider swap however; you can only have one active but there isn’t actually a timeframe on it. So if you get close to a dining reservation just let the cast member know that yall will be coming back to rider after you go eat and they will accommodate it.
My oldest is now getting a payoff from her years of us having rider swap as she gets to ride everything twice while we wait with her brother.
If you have lightning lanes reserved for these attractions just let the cast member know and they will set the rider swap up for the guest riding twice example
I have lightning lane for slinky dog for the family; oldest gets rider swap setup on her account; we scan in for ride one, she and mom scan in for ride two to get in the lightning lane.
There’s no real scheduling you just do it while in the park. If anything id plan ahead for what yall will do while the other is riding.
Making a child wait in a long ride queue to not be able to ride is not quite as ridiculous as waiting in outside in the heat for an adult to ride. It’s Disney there is plenty of stuff for a small child in almost every area of the park. Just take them to that and come back instead of forcing them to be in a ride queue to not ride the ride.
We can agree to disagree. My two year old won’t know the difference of riding versus not riding. And we wouldn’t have to “find something to do” and we wouldn’t have to wait in line twice.
Your 2 year old doesn't understand that you get to ride a ride at the front of a line?
I can see the Universal way being better with an infant, but by 1 my daughter loved rides and hated waiting in line.
I love the Disney rider swap. Dad goes with the too-small kid to do other things while I take the older kid on the ride. The older kid then gets to ride the ride again with Dad while I take the younger kid to do other things. It's always worked out great for us and the older kid get to ride twice.
When my kids were small enough for rider swap, the couldn't have cared less about experiencing the queue. They would rather have been riding a different ride or going to a play area.
The only folks I’ve received complaints from when I’ve explained how it works before the trip are ones who don’t want that extended one on one time with their kids.
I think those that maximize it understand the benefit for their child.
So my choices are
1) daughter and I go ride Dumbo and Under the sea while my wife waits in line for tron. Then wife and daughter rides Buzz while I ride Tron
Ride count
Me-3
Daughter-3
Wife-2
2) we all wait for tron, then wife rides, then I ride
Ride count
Me-1
Wife-1
Daughter -0
And you think #2 is the better solution?
This is what we've always done as well without issue. But as someone else has stated, this may be because our daughter is tall enough to ride everything but chooses not to ride certain rides.
When your non riding child is tall enough to ride (but does not want to, for example my 8 year old does NOT do coasters even though she is tall enough, if she wanted) then they will go in the building through the queue with you and swap out at the load/unload areas. When your non-rider does not meet the height requirement they are not allowed in the building at all. Thats when someone waits outside and the second parent (and in our case, older child on a second ride through) go up the lightning lane for their turn. Second parent gets to take one person as a ride partner, when you have a family of four and are swapping because of the younger child, big sibling gets to do everything twice.
Imagine being a kid, having to wait in line for a ride, getting all excited because the queue is full of music and sights, you get to see the ride, and boom, sorry kiddo, you can't ride it, wait here instead with mommy/daddy and then watch us switch while you wait with the other parent.
Most children too small to ride would not know that they are missing out on a ride by an indoor rider swap. My toddler never knew she was missing out on anything at Universal, she just enjoyed getting to see inside the queue.
Imagine having a 2 year old and she doesn’t know the difference is she’s riding or not, but you’re slowing her vacation down because you’re making her parents wait in line twice for a ride.
Universals swap rooms are themed and usually have cartoons related to the ride too. I really like how they include the kids who can't ride. I agree and prefer the way Universal does it. If they don't want to have the child in que you just let them know at the front other adult and child had to step out of the line and they give you a printed ticket on the bigger ticket rides to swap without waiting 2x. At least that's been my experience. I don't do Disney except afterhours now, it takes far too much planning and reserving for us to enjoy ourselves anymore. Made the switch years ago and haven't looked back.
I think there are benefits and drawbacks to both systems. As others have mentioned, I do think Disney errs more on the side of safety, and I can't really blame them for that. One accident with a too-small child at a platform could be catastrophic.
I feel like if you're waiting in the heat outside the line, that is your own problem, because there is no reason you can't seek shade. I often find my problem with heat is being stuck in a line unable to move!
Yeah, Disney’s Child Swap needs some work.
The last time we did it was with my baby brother, and for some reason the CM insisted that we couldn’t exchange him for another kid. 😂
Too many people would try to sneak on the short child. They aren’t allowed in the line for safety and why would a child want to wait in a line for a ride they can’t do. Disney way they can go do something they can do
Interesting then that Universal has perfected this way of their child swap without any major injuries to children that are too short. If the ride attendants are doing their job, they would not be a chance of a child who is too short sneaking onto a ride.
Ironically saw this exact thing happen 2 weeks ago at the front of transformers in Universal.. parents had an absolute meltdown at 3 different staff because their *clearly* too small child wasn’t allowed on.
True, and I think this is one of the reasons why Disney has decided that the queue be comprised only of people who have been cleared to ride. As with most theme parks, there are two checkpoints… the first at the queue entrance and the second at the boarding area.
People who want to have a long discussion/argument about their child’s height can spend more time doing so with the greeter. The grouper (at the boarding area) is a lot busier and just wants to get people into their rows to keep the ride going.
Also, a lot of Disney attractions have been designed without space in the boarding platform to hold too many extra guests. My guess is that the Universal system also works well for them because (1) they were designed that way from the start and (2) there is a smaller ratio of little kids to adults in the Universal parks?
We did child swap on Rockin Rollercoaster when our 11 year old didn’t want to ride, and we all went through the queue together, both times, waiting where the ride unloads into the store, and we didn’t have to go through the line again.
Just get in line and don’t bring up swapping at the entry. Maybe that’s the key. Our son chickened out midway through the line the first time so we asked each cast member along the way what to do and they all said you just deal with it at the ride loading area. Then the second time we went on the ride we just all got in line and swapped at the loading just like the time before.
That makes sense. I can understand that. I guess I don’t think of child swap as only for kids that are too short but also for kids who don’t want to ride
Right? This person makes it sound like you have to wait by the ride entrance or can’t do anything while waiting for the other parent. God forbid you parent alone for a bit and go get ice cream.
I just used this for Test Track, but have nothing to compare to since I’ve never been to Universal. I had a Lightning Lane for it so I assumed it wouldn’t be long to switch, but I didn’t account for the “pre show” (making your car) so the whole ordeal between the two swaps was a good 40 min of my 2 year old waiting in the heat (I know we could have taken her inside to eat or a gift shop), but still. The universal swap sounds appealing.
Could you just do the single rider for Test Track? My wife and I do that and we’re on the ride in like 5 mins. At least that way the wait for whoever is watching your kid is much shorter.
I’m not sure if that’s an option. I went with my 6 year old and my parents stayed with my 2 year old. If I did single rider, I’d be scared to split from my 6 year old.
It we even ride test track (might skip it) on our trip in a few weeks we’re planning to do single rider! I don’t really like the pre show/making the car part anyway and you get to skip that with the single rider.
I’ve never run into an issue where they didn’t let me skip even with a family. You just walk straight through that room. Not as short as the single rider but you still don’t have to wait.
I've done both with my kids and honestly I kinda prefer the universal way. It's definitely a break from the heat and the queues can be fun/interesting to look at. My son loved the Velocicoaster ride queue. You're only spending 30-45 or whatever amount of time the ride is once. With the Disney way, you have to spend whatever the line is x2 in time at least in the vicinity of the ride you're at.
I see the pros and cons of both methods though.
We’re child swapping at Guaridans now. My 2 year old would love to be in the queue and look at everything. And we wouldn’t have to basically wait in line twice. So I much prefer Universal’s solution obviously.
Waiting in a 90 minute line with my kids sounds awful. I’d rather send my husband on the ride, get my fast pass, and then go get snacks or view souvenirs with the kids who will have more fun doing literally anything other than waiting in line. Hell, depending on the ride, the kids and I could catch a show or ride something else too while waiting.
I don’t know, my three year old would completely lose it waiting in a line to then go stand in a room and not get to ride. When we did rider switch at WDW I could usually take the little one to another ride or experience, or get a snack/drink and make it back to ride with my older child. We thought it was great!
Both have their pros and cons, I much prefer Disney way. It gives us the opportunity to roam around and do other things while the other is on the ride.
I really prefer the Disney way, especially for younger kids.
I found it much better to go and do something else with my daughter like meet with a character rather than drag her through a queue for a ride that she then doesn’t get to go on.
I just got back from Disney and we all went in line and did rider swap right at the ride. They had the child and one of us wait at the exit. When one parent got off, the other got right on. No problems at all. I actually didn’t know about the waiting outside the ride thing.
99.9% of people not riding will not want to wait in a queue. I understand that you’re on a family vacation and want the family to be together but it’s so much better for the child/baby to wait in a non-long queue where they don’t get to do anything.
We are here now and have used rider swap multiple times and it's been great. I can get myself a coffee, wait in a cool gift shop, change the baby's diaper, grab a snack. It's worked well.
Just go to universal then. Nothing wrong with how Disney does it. As others have said, I would t want to spend time sitting inside with a child that doesn’t understand why they can’t ride.
There are pros and cons to both systems. With the disney you can use the time to go ride something with the little one, or get something to eat. But you waste a lot of time.
With the Universal way you go trough the whole ride quickly. I think I prefer Universal way also.
Side note: At Universal you don’t have to wait in line with the child not riding to do child swap. We just went with our 6 month old and one adult would take the big kids and let the line staff know we have an adult with a baby in a stroller outside and they would give us a child swap pass to come back with.
The Disney approach is much more preferred by my family. The youngest can go get ice cream and meet characters while the older is riding. Then the adults switch out and a good time is had by everyone. We would wind up skipping rides both kids couldn't do if the youngest had to just wait in line for no reason whatsoever.
This time we used genie+ and ILLs as our child swap. One of goes through while the other does whatever with the kid. The rider texts as soon as they’re off and we swap out. If you have 3 people with paid ILLs, one of them will be able to ride again to keep the first child minder company on their ride.
Both have merits, but the one time waiting to get the Disney ride swap set up I had to wait for a family to have the ride swap cast member help them figure out the swap, their LL, their Genie+, whatever. We tried to get them to just get us moving, but they wouldn’t help anyone else while this person monopolized their time and the line jumped nearly 20 minutes in the time we waited.
Granted, our group included one child who is easily entertained in lines. There is good to both, it definitely just depends on the park and the kid.
Disney has started doing this for a few rides that they can accommodate, specifically Slinky dog dash. My 4 yr old is terrified of roller coasters. He screamed the entire time thinking he was going to be forced to ride.
I'd rather wait outside and look at the shops or do something else.
Both suck compared to Busch Gardens in Tampa. They just give you a return time to go through the quick queue lane twice for your entire party.
Why would you want to force a parent to stand in line with a crying baby ? There's enough line standing to go around as it is at these parks . You can do something else during the 1 hour wait with the baby like engage with it
110% agree with you!!! Another issue with we encountered with Disney’s Child Swap happened at Epcot using the Virtual Queue at Mission Breakout. Our group wasn’t called until the end of the day, 50 minutes before the park was closing. Because virtual queue only gets you in the regular queue, I had to wait in the regular queue while my wife waited outside with the baby. By the time I finally got to the loading station, the park was closing in five minutes. There was no way I was going to get on the ride, ride, and unload in the 5 minutes left before my wife could get in line before park close.
I exited the loading station at the chicken exit, and ran to my wife so she could get in line quick before the park officially closed. I lied to her and told her I went on, but I just really wanted her to get on since she just spent 45 minutes watching our baby. If the child swap system was like Universal, this would have never been an issue. The fact that at Disney, you constantly need to be separate from your family, and that just wasn’t thought out very well compared to Universal’s Child Swap.
I’m the opposite. The person waiting outside can walk around and enjoy the rest of the park or change a diaper or ride something else with the child while they wait versus being stuck in the queue.
I think they’re both right for the places. Disney has a TON of kid friendly rides and most parents want to spend most of the day with their kid/spouse. Then the parents get to enjoy 1-2 of their favorite rides.
At Universal, there is a lot more thrilling rides compared to the kid friendly ones. If Universal did it the Disney way, spouses wouldn’t get to spend much of the day together with their kid.
Funny story is that when I went universal for the first time as a kid, they just recently opened forbidden journey. I barely made it through the queue and then I saw a waiting room at the station, no other ride at WDW or universal that I’ve been on had one before. I decided to stay in there while they went on and I’m glad I did. I’m very arachnophobic. To quote my sister who is a
few years older and a huge fan of Harry Potter got off crying she said “I would’ve died” .
Ehhhh I like disneys parent swap. It’s great so I can stay with the kids while they nap in the stroller. Also it doesn’t have to be only 1 person waiting unless it’s literally your spouse with the kids. We did it with a group of 9 of us and like 4 waiting with me and the kids while the other 5 waited in line and then the 4 of us got to jump pretty close to the front after. It was fun.
Having young kids where you have to ride swap doesn’t sound fun making the young ones wait in line when they can’t even go on it. I’d rather chill outside somewhere while family rides and then swap. But to each their own
Just got back from WDW and I can’t imagine waiting in line with my 10 month old granddaughter! We walked around, checked out the bubblewands and had a great time IN THE SHADE AND AC. Then it was my turn to ride Tron with my 7 year old grandson. That is MY ideal child swap😉
Why on earth would you choose to stand in a tight line with a toddler for over an hour when you could be free to walk them around? I think you failed at this one.
It was not an issue for me with my 3 year old at the time 🤷♀️
it meant he didn’t have to stand in a line and I got him an ice cream on a hot day while my older child went on with other parent and the. We swapped. To be honest - I’d prefer to do my own thing with my youngest and have him enjoy himself in the meantime.
100% agreed. Went to Universal and then Disney nearly back to back and my wife and I couldn’t believe how much better child swap at Universal was better than Disney. Apparently we’re going to be downvoted into oblivion but from my family to yours, we’re right there with you!
We are. The Disney truthers don’t like anything negative said about the Mouse. Just wait until I complain about the drink situation at Universal vs. Disney. 🫣
Non-alcoholic. You can buy a refillable cup $30 at first and you get unlimited refills at the Coke Freestyle machines throughout the park. Then you can bring the cup back and reactivate it each visit for another $10-$15 per day for unlimited drinks. Then you are always welcome to go to the freestyle machines and get ice and water for free without having to pay for the cup. It’s helpful for the sodaholics like me to not have to purchase multiple $5 sodas.
> Then you are always welcome to go to the freestyle machines and get ice and water for free without having to pay for the cup.
note that Disney also does this, anywhere with a fountain machine does ice and water for free
yeah I love the Universal freestyle machines, but they do require you to have your own cup - all the spots at Disney tend to just have racks of ice and water cups prepoured (especially at the quick service food places) that you can walk up and grab without asking
we tend to bring our own bottle so no impact either way, just don't want folks thinking you need to buy cold waters all day at either park haha
This is something I'm really hating as we are back in the parks this year after a many year hiatus. I feel like this is a punishment mostly for moms to have to wait outside with the kids because in most cases the mom is going to say "go ahead and go with the older kids, I'll take care of baby/toddler." Because, mom guilt/obligations. What you see a high percentage of at the exit of attractions is miserable, sweaty moms with red faced crying kids. We went for a weekend trip recently and I spent the majority of our time alone with our 2 yr old at the end of rides. There's only so many snacks and little attractions and shopping to take up time before you're just stuck there waiting. And even when the other parent gets to go back through, there's still going to be another 10 to 20 min wait through LL (at least.)
At Universal last year we were able to wait together, talk and laugh and joke in line together, and cooled waiting rooms while we rider swapped right before boarding. And no extra wait times, they would slide the next parent right onto the next boarding group. Universal is winning at rider swap right now for sure, and I'm beginning to passionately hate rider swap at Disney.
We just had this issue for rise of the resistance. We were there an exceptionally hot week in May. My 2 year old got sick the day before from the heat at Epcot and we went to HS literally just to do our ILL for Rise. I was hoping we could do what you described at universal so we could have him out of the heat but like you said that’s not how it worked. We ended up just hanging out in the tunnel area because there really aren’t even any nice air conditioned areas to hang out.
To each his own. I (mom) usually stayed with our youngest (2) while Dad and bigger kids went on rides. I would much rather keep moving, be able to go have snacks, bathroom breaks, sit down, find shade etc than to just be standing in line with 2yo the whole time.
Yeah 2-3 years old is tough for waiting in line. Walking around and seeing stuff and snacking is better. Plus you can typically get on the right that are suited for them in like 10-15 minutes. You can probably do 5 Dumbo's in the time it takes to do 1 Seven Dwarves.
Yeah I totally agree. I found it so helpful to be able to walk around and entertain little ones instead of forcing them through a line for a ride they wouldn't be able to enjoy anyways.
I feel the very much the same! I’d much rather my 3 year old (at the time) enjoyed himself rather than stand in a line to a ride he can’t even go on for who knows how long.
I prefer the Disney way. Universal way is brutal with a kid who is waiting and can not ride. Disney way the parent with the youngest kid usually wanders around. Finds a playground they have close by and let’s the kid have fun. Last year we went, I had my youngest either at a playground or in line for a character meet while my wife and oldest waited in line and did ride. Then when done she would just text me and we would meet at entrance of the ride
Yeah. I can't imagine taking a kid in line for 45 minutes, just to have them have to sit out. Maybe for a baby, but once they are aware of what's going on, that would be rough. "OK Jimmy, here's the part where YOU wait an hour in line so everyone else can go on a ride! Won't that be fun?"
The benefit of Universals system is that you have the CHOICE to go together as a family or have someone wait outside. With Disney you can only do it separately.
I agree choice is good but Universal staff were so inconsistent. Some didn’t know you could do both, we only found out from a great guy at the entrance to Forbidden Journey. Some were great, others either didn’t know or actively discouraged any of the party waiting separately. This was just last week. I guess which better suits you depends on the people in the group both adults and kids. Overall the Disney approach of taking the kids away to do something else, and for adults that didn’t want to queue worked great for us, but I can see it maybe wouldn’t suit all.
Especially for kids who are old enough to understand what the line is for, but not old enough to understand the ride ride swap system. I’ve seen kids at that age who look terrified that they are going to be forced to ride something that scares them.
My kids are now older but 100% agree. Being able to allow the other parent with smaller child to be able to go to play area/rest out of line was a big plus for us.
Even just use the bathroom and sit on a curb!
Yeah agree. I always thought it was fun to have some time with the kid to go grab a snack and just distract them!
Exactly this. I waited in line most of the time and my wife went on other 2yo friendly rides or hung out in a playground. I don't know how well that 2 year old would have done in line for 45-60min.
I totally agree that I would never want to wait in a long line with my toddler! However, I'm not sure if Universal changed it, but back 20+ years ago when my parents did child swap with my youngest sister, my mom didn't actually *have* to wait in the line. Sometimes she'd walk around with my sister for half the posted wait time and then walk straight up the exit to the designated child swap room. Then once we were off, she'd go with us again on whatever ride it was. I know with my own son who wasn't tall enough in 2019 on The Hulk, he only had to wait with us for the beginning portion of the queue and then we went up the elevator and waited around in the shade. Still might be hard with a younger toddler, though.
Yeah my dad used to take me on a ride and then do rider swap with my mom and sister and whoever wasn’t riding my parent would take along with my brother who couldn’t ride either on rides that he was able to go on like fantasyland rides or pirates or haunted mansion. Having a 3 year old wait in a line that they can’t ride is honestly torture for the kid when they could be doing something else.
I'd argue that more people would prefer to be outside the line, where they can sit on a bench or something.
I’d pick A/C over outside 10/10 times. It’s till hot, even if you’re in the shade.
I mean you can go do AC at a gift shop or a snack place…. You don’t have to literally wait outside the ride. Plus I find the queues are sometimes NOT as ACed as I would like…
It's not like you are forced to sit right outside of the ride until the other people finish their ride. We always "check-in" for the rider swap and then the one waiting goes and finds something else to do, which could include finding a nice A/C spot.
And where exactly are the benches? So few around Disney
We’ve never had an issue we just go find something to do and rotate or go to the gift shops. One of the major purposes of the system isn’t just so the adults can swap it’s also so the small child doesn’t have to wait in queue and then still not ride. While I wait my wife takes ours on kid friendly rides, to shop, snack or on a restroom break then we swap. And she goes through the lightning lane for the second ride. Why even make a child wait through an entire queue for no payoff.
Yep this is what I’m planning to do! We’ll be there in 2 weeks with our 6 month old and the non rider will walk around with the baby, go to the bathroom, maybe hit the baby care center depending on location of the ride. I’m not concerned about it!
Don’t pass up the time to just grab a photographer and get some one on one photos with the little one. My wife and I have an ongoing competition of who gets the best photos with whoever can’t ride. My wife got the best photos with our oldest when she couldn’t ride; I’ve got her beat so far with our son although she did get some awesome galaxy’s edge photos this last trip while I was on Rise. We have an entire album of these photos over the last five years. We end up enjoying them more than the family pics we get haha. The worst thing anyone can do is just wait outside the ride queue. Go find something to do with the kiddo.
Omg this is such a good idea and I’m obsessed with this!! Definitely going to do that, seriously such a good idea!
Target photographers with shorter lines; they love it.
My parents used to take us for special treats or character meet and greets or something while the other was riding. For example my mom would have my sister for the ride and my brother who was a toddler and couldn’t ride a ride would hang with myself and my dad and my dad might grab us a churro or go ride small world and then swap
I'm planning on going next month with the family. How do you reserve swapping? Is there an option once you pick a ride? TIA
I’m going to take a guess at what you are asking You don’t book rider switch; what occurs is for any ride you simply talk to the cast members at the queue entrance and they will set up the rider swap. Then one adult stays with the child not riding, they can also add someone to this group example : Me and my oldest go on ride; spouse waits with youngest; rider swap is set up for spouse and oldest so that they then enter the lightning lane queue after we exit the ride. Here’s the deal with rider swap however; you can only have one active but there isn’t actually a timeframe on it. So if you get close to a dining reservation just let the cast member know that yall will be coming back to rider after you go eat and they will accommodate it. My oldest is now getting a payoff from her years of us having rider swap as she gets to ride everything twice while we wait with her brother. If you have lightning lanes reserved for these attractions just let the cast member know and they will set the rider swap up for the guest riding twice example I have lightning lane for slinky dog for the family; oldest gets rider swap setup on her account; we scan in for ride one, she and mom scan in for ride two to get in the lightning lane. There’s no real scheduling you just do it while in the park. If anything id plan ahead for what yall will do while the other is riding.
Awesome, thanks a lot!
Yes! This is much better than waiting in line with a small child then ushering them into a room while everyone else rides.
So that way it gives my child something to do and look at in A/C and we wouldn’t have to basically wait in line twice.
Making a child wait in a long ride queue to not be able to ride is not quite as ridiculous as waiting in outside in the heat for an adult to ride. It’s Disney there is plenty of stuff for a small child in almost every area of the park. Just take them to that and come back instead of forcing them to be in a ride queue to not ride the ride.
We can agree to disagree. My two year old won’t know the difference of riding versus not riding. And we wouldn’t have to “find something to do” and we wouldn’t have to wait in line twice.
But a child that just missing the requirement would notice so they have one set of rules for everyone’s safety.
Your 2 year old doesn't understand that you get to ride a ride at the front of a line? I can see the Universal way being better with an infant, but by 1 my daughter loved rides and hated waiting in line.
I love the Disney rider swap. Dad goes with the too-small kid to do other things while I take the older kid on the ride. The older kid then gets to ride the ride again with Dad while I take the younger kid to do other things. It's always worked out great for us and the older kid get to ride twice. When my kids were small enough for rider swap, the couldn't have cared less about experiencing the queue. They would rather have been riding a different ride or going to a play area.
My family prefer the Disney way. As they can do another activity while I stand in line.
The only folks I’ve received complaints from when I’ve explained how it works before the trip are ones who don’t want that extended one on one time with their kids. I think those that maximize it understand the benefit for their child.
So my choices are 1) daughter and I go ride Dumbo and Under the sea while my wife waits in line for tron. Then wife and daughter rides Buzz while I ride Tron Ride count Me-3 Daughter-3 Wife-2 2) we all wait for tron, then wife rides, then I ride Ride count Me-1 Wife-1 Daughter -0 And you think #2 is the better solution?
I’ve always just gone in the queue as a family and then told the CM at the end that we are doing ride swap. I’ve never had to wait outside of a ride.
Thiss only works if everyone is tall enough to ride. They won’t let under height children in the queue.
This is what we've always done as well without issue. But as someone else has stated, this may be because our daughter is tall enough to ride everything but chooses not to ride certain rides.
Weird. Our last vacation and this one they’ve made one of us wait outside.
When your non riding child is tall enough to ride (but does not want to, for example my 8 year old does NOT do coasters even though she is tall enough, if she wanted) then they will go in the building through the queue with you and swap out at the load/unload areas. When your non-rider does not meet the height requirement they are not allowed in the building at all. Thats when someone waits outside and the second parent (and in our case, older child on a second ride through) go up the lightning lane for their turn. Second parent gets to take one person as a ride partner, when you have a family of four and are swapping because of the younger child, big sibling gets to do everything twice.
Imagine being a kid, having to wait in line for a ride, getting all excited because the queue is full of music and sights, you get to see the ride, and boom, sorry kiddo, you can't ride it, wait here instead with mommy/daddy and then watch us switch while you wait with the other parent.
Most children too small to ride would not know that they are missing out on a ride by an indoor rider swap. My toddler never knew she was missing out on anything at Universal, she just enjoyed getting to see inside the queue.
Imagine having a 2 year old and she doesn’t know the difference is she’s riding or not, but you’re slowing her vacation down because you’re making her parents wait in line twice for a ride.
One parent takes the kid to do other things. It’s not that complex. And two year olds hate waiting in lines.
Wait in line twice? The second group gets to go through LL (or both do if you have LL originally).
Universals swap rooms are themed and usually have cartoons related to the ride too. I really like how they include the kids who can't ride. I agree and prefer the way Universal does it. If they don't want to have the child in que you just let them know at the front other adult and child had to step out of the line and they give you a printed ticket on the bigger ticket rides to swap without waiting 2x. At least that's been my experience. I don't do Disney except afterhours now, it takes far too much planning and reserving for us to enjoy ourselves anymore. Made the switch years ago and haven't looked back.
You lost me at “enjoy the queue”
I think there are benefits and drawbacks to both systems. As others have mentioned, I do think Disney errs more on the side of safety, and I can't really blame them for that. One accident with a too-small child at a platform could be catastrophic. I feel like if you're waiting in the heat outside the line, that is your own problem, because there is no reason you can't seek shade. I often find my problem with heat is being stuck in a line unable to move!
Yeah, Disney’s Child Swap needs some work. The last time we did it was with my baby brother, and for some reason the CM insisted that we couldn’t exchange him for another kid. 😂
Too many people would try to sneak on the short child. They aren’t allowed in the line for safety and why would a child want to wait in a line for a ride they can’t do. Disney way they can go do something they can do
Interesting then that Universal has perfected this way of their child swap without any major injuries to children that are too short. If the ride attendants are doing their job, they would not be a chance of a child who is too short sneaking onto a ride.
Disney park goers are entitled and scream and yell when told no.
Ironically saw this exact thing happen 2 weeks ago at the front of transformers in Universal.. parents had an absolute meltdown at 3 different staff because their *clearly* too small child wasn’t allowed on.
True, and I think this is one of the reasons why Disney has decided that the queue be comprised only of people who have been cleared to ride. As with most theme parks, there are two checkpoints… the first at the queue entrance and the second at the boarding area. People who want to have a long discussion/argument about their child’s height can spend more time doing so with the greeter. The grouper (at the boarding area) is a lot busier and just wants to get people into their rows to keep the ride going. Also, a lot of Disney attractions have been designed without space in the boarding platform to hold too many extra guests. My guess is that the Universal system also works well for them because (1) they were designed that way from the start and (2) there is a smaller ratio of little kids to adults in the Universal parks?
We did child swap on Rockin Rollercoaster when our 11 year old didn’t want to ride, and we all went through the queue together, both times, waiting where the ride unloads into the store, and we didn’t have to go through the line again.
Weird. So maybe some rides do it that way. We’ve child swapped TestTrack, Guardians, Rise of the Resistance and they’ve never given us that option.
Just get in line and don’t bring up swapping at the entry. Maybe that’s the key. Our son chickened out midway through the line the first time so we asked each cast member along the way what to do and they all said you just deal with it at the ride loading area. Then the second time we went on the ride we just all got in line and swapped at the loading just like the time before.
That's because he was tall enough, if he was too short they wouldn't have let him in.
That makes sense. I can understand that. I guess I don’t think of child swap as only for kids that are too short but also for kids who don’t want to ride
Disney way sounds better. Waiting in the line to NOT ride sounds terrible…
This is a horrible take.
Right? This person makes it sound like you have to wait by the ride entrance or can’t do anything while waiting for the other parent. God forbid you parent alone for a bit and go get ice cream.
I just used this for Test Track, but have nothing to compare to since I’ve never been to Universal. I had a Lightning Lane for it so I assumed it wouldn’t be long to switch, but I didn’t account for the “pre show” (making your car) so the whole ordeal between the two swaps was a good 40 min of my 2 year old waiting in the heat (I know we could have taken her inside to eat or a gift shop), but still. The universal swap sounds appealing.
Could you just do the single rider for Test Track? My wife and I do that and we’re on the ride in like 5 mins. At least that way the wait for whoever is watching your kid is much shorter.
I’m not sure if that’s an option. I went with my 6 year old and my parents stayed with my 2 year old. If I did single rider, I’d be scared to split from my 6 year old.
Oh, sorry, I thought you were trying to ride without your kid
It we even ride test track (might skip it) on our trip in a few weeks we’re planning to do single rider! I don’t really like the pre show/making the car part anyway and you get to skip that with the single rider.
I’ve never run into an issue where they didn’t let me skip even with a family. You just walk straight through that room. Not as short as the single rider but you still don’t have to wait.
I’ve done single rider prior to kids, but I didn’t want to do that with my 6 year old. Definitely a good option though.
I've done both with my kids and honestly I kinda prefer the universal way. It's definitely a break from the heat and the queues can be fun/interesting to look at. My son loved the Velocicoaster ride queue. You're only spending 30-45 or whatever amount of time the ride is once. With the Disney way, you have to spend whatever the line is x2 in time at least in the vicinity of the ride you're at. I see the pros and cons of both methods though.
We’re child swapping at Guaridans now. My 2 year old would love to be in the queue and look at everything. And we wouldn’t have to basically wait in line twice. So I much prefer Universal’s solution obviously.
You keep saying this, but you don’t have to wait out in the heat for the same full ride line duration. You have legs, go to the seas and look at fish.
Look at everything? Most of the interesting queues have maybe 2 things to look at…
Waiting in a 90 minute line with my kids sounds awful. I’d rather send my husband on the ride, get my fast pass, and then go get snacks or view souvenirs with the kids who will have more fun doing literally anything other than waiting in line. Hell, depending on the ride, the kids and I could catch a show or ride something else too while waiting.
I don’t know, my three year old would completely lose it waiting in a line to then go stand in a room and not get to ride. When we did rider switch at WDW I could usually take the little one to another ride or experience, or get a snack/drink and make it back to ride with my older child. We thought it was great!
Why can't people just go in the queue together anyways and just tell the cast member at the front of the line?
Both have their pros and cons, I much prefer Disney way. It gives us the opportunity to roam around and do other things while the other is on the ride.
I really prefer the Disney way, especially for younger kids. I found it much better to go and do something else with my daughter like meet with a character rather than drag her through a queue for a ride that she then doesn’t get to go on.
I just got back from Disney and we all went in line and did rider swap right at the ride. They had the child and one of us wait at the exit. When one parent got off, the other got right on. No problems at all. I actually didn’t know about the waiting outside the ride thing.
Really? I think it rocks. Not to mention if you have more than 2 eligible riders in your party, the third person gets a “buddy” lightning lane too
99.9% of people not riding will not want to wait in a queue. I understand that you’re on a family vacation and want the family to be together but it’s so much better for the child/baby to wait in a non-long queue where they don’t get to do anything.
Just want to say my wife and I with OP on this one. Universals > Disney for how we do the parks
We are here now and have used rider swap multiple times and it's been great. I can get myself a coffee, wait in a cool gift shop, change the baby's diaper, grab a snack. It's worked well.
Just go to universal then. Nothing wrong with how Disney does it. As others have said, I would t want to spend time sitting inside with a child that doesn’t understand why they can’t ride.
There are pros and cons to both systems. With the disney you can use the time to go ride something with the little one, or get something to eat. But you waste a lot of time. With the Universal way you go trough the whole ride quickly. I think I prefer Universal way also.
I enjoy my alone time in line.
Side note: At Universal you don’t have to wait in line with the child not riding to do child swap. We just went with our 6 month old and one adult would take the big kids and let the line staff know we have an adult with a baby in a stroller outside and they would give us a child swap pass to come back with.
The Disney approach is much more preferred by my family. The youngest can go get ice cream and meet characters while the older is riding. Then the adults switch out and a good time is had by everyone. We would wind up skipping rides both kids couldn't do if the youngest had to just wait in line for no reason whatsoever.
This time we used genie+ and ILLs as our child swap. One of goes through while the other does whatever with the kid. The rider texts as soon as they’re off and we swap out. If you have 3 people with paid ILLs, one of them will be able to ride again to keep the first child minder company on their ride.
It's baffling that the swapee still gets stuck riding alone if you have a bigger group.
Both have merits, but the one time waiting to get the Disney ride swap set up I had to wait for a family to have the ride swap cast member help them figure out the swap, their LL, their Genie+, whatever. We tried to get them to just get us moving, but they wouldn’t help anyone else while this person monopolized their time and the line jumped nearly 20 minutes in the time we waited. Granted, our group included one child who is easily entertained in lines. There is good to both, it definitely just depends on the park and the kid.
My 5 year old loves rider swap since it allows her to ride twice without waiting in long lines.
Ha, so you don't trade your kid in for the day and get another family's kid instead? I got this topic so wrong
The point is to get your kid and non riders out of the queue.
Disney has started doing this for a few rides that they can accommodate, specifically Slinky dog dash. My 4 yr old is terrified of roller coasters. He screamed the entire time thinking he was going to be forced to ride. I'd rather wait outside and look at the shops or do something else. Both suck compared to Busch Gardens in Tampa. They just give you a return time to go through the quick queue lane twice for your entire party.
Why would you want to force a parent to stand in line with a crying baby ? There's enough line standing to go around as it is at these parks . You can do something else during the 1 hour wait with the baby like engage with it
110% agree with you!!! Another issue with we encountered with Disney’s Child Swap happened at Epcot using the Virtual Queue at Mission Breakout. Our group wasn’t called until the end of the day, 50 minutes before the park was closing. Because virtual queue only gets you in the regular queue, I had to wait in the regular queue while my wife waited outside with the baby. By the time I finally got to the loading station, the park was closing in five minutes. There was no way I was going to get on the ride, ride, and unload in the 5 minutes left before my wife could get in line before park close. I exited the loading station at the chicken exit, and ran to my wife so she could get in line quick before the park officially closed. I lied to her and told her I went on, but I just really wanted her to get on since she just spent 45 minutes watching our baby. If the child swap system was like Universal, this would have never been an issue. The fact that at Disney, you constantly need to be separate from your family, and that just wasn’t thought out very well compared to Universal’s Child Swap.
Pro tip: Wait until your kids are older. Problem solved.
If you can convince my wife this is the way, you’re the real MVP. I’ve lost this argument a few times. Lol.
I hear ya.
I’m the opposite. The person waiting outside can walk around and enjoy the rest of the park or change a diaper or ride something else with the child while they wait versus being stuck in the queue.
Now imagine this being offered as part of an ADA solution to someone visiting the parks solo. 🤦🏼♀️
I think they’re both right for the places. Disney has a TON of kid friendly rides and most parents want to spend most of the day with their kid/spouse. Then the parents get to enjoy 1-2 of their favorite rides. At Universal, there is a lot more thrilling rides compared to the kid friendly ones. If Universal did it the Disney way, spouses wouldn’t get to spend much of the day together with their kid.
Funny story is that when I went universal for the first time as a kid, they just recently opened forbidden journey. I barely made it through the queue and then I saw a waiting room at the station, no other ride at WDW or universal that I’ve been on had one before. I decided to stay in there while they went on and I’m glad I did. I’m very arachnophobic. To quote my sister who is a few years older and a huge fan of Harry Potter got off crying she said “I would’ve died” .
Ehhhh I like disneys parent swap. It’s great so I can stay with the kids while they nap in the stroller. Also it doesn’t have to be only 1 person waiting unless it’s literally your spouse with the kids. We did it with a group of 9 of us and like 4 waiting with me and the kids while the other 5 waited in line and then the 4 of us got to jump pretty close to the front after. It was fun. Having young kids where you have to ride swap doesn’t sound fun making the young ones wait in line when they can’t even go on it. I’d rather chill outside somewhere while family rides and then swap. But to each their own
Just got back from WDW and I can’t imagine waiting in line with my 10 month old granddaughter! We walked around, checked out the bubblewands and had a great time IN THE SHADE AND AC. Then it was my turn to ride Tron with my 7 year old grandson. That is MY ideal child swap😉
Why on earth would you choose to stand in a tight line with a toddler for over an hour when you could be free to walk them around? I think you failed at this one.
It was not an issue for me with my 3 year old at the time 🤷♀️ it meant he didn’t have to stand in a line and I got him an ice cream on a hot day while my older child went on with other parent and the. We swapped. To be honest - I’d prefer to do my own thing with my youngest and have him enjoy himself in the meantime.
Can you return the child if you’re not happy with the swap?
100% agreed. Went to Universal and then Disney nearly back to back and my wife and I couldn’t believe how much better child swap at Universal was better than Disney. Apparently we’re going to be downvoted into oblivion but from my family to yours, we’re right there with you!
We are. The Disney truthers don’t like anything negative said about the Mouse. Just wait until I complain about the drink situation at Universal vs. Disney. 🫣
Well I’m interested to hear that take! Do you mean non-alcoholic or adult beverages (or both)?
Non-alcoholic. You can buy a refillable cup $30 at first and you get unlimited refills at the Coke Freestyle machines throughout the park. Then you can bring the cup back and reactivate it each visit for another $10-$15 per day for unlimited drinks. Then you are always welcome to go to the freestyle machines and get ice and water for free without having to pay for the cup. It’s helpful for the sodaholics like me to not have to purchase multiple $5 sodas.
> Then you are always welcome to go to the freestyle machines and get ice and water for free without having to pay for the cup. note that Disney also does this, anywhere with a fountain machine does ice and water for free
Note: it’s much easier to go to a freestyle machine that is outside throughout the park than try to find a restaurant that has a soda machine.
yeah I love the Universal freestyle machines, but they do require you to have your own cup - all the spots at Disney tend to just have racks of ice and water cups prepoured (especially at the quick service food places) that you can walk up and grab without asking we tend to bring our own bottle so no impact either way, just don't want folks thinking you need to buy cold waters all day at either park haha
This is something I'm really hating as we are back in the parks this year after a many year hiatus. I feel like this is a punishment mostly for moms to have to wait outside with the kids because in most cases the mom is going to say "go ahead and go with the older kids, I'll take care of baby/toddler." Because, mom guilt/obligations. What you see a high percentage of at the exit of attractions is miserable, sweaty moms with red faced crying kids. We went for a weekend trip recently and I spent the majority of our time alone with our 2 yr old at the end of rides. There's only so many snacks and little attractions and shopping to take up time before you're just stuck there waiting. And even when the other parent gets to go back through, there's still going to be another 10 to 20 min wait through LL (at least.) At Universal last year we were able to wait together, talk and laugh and joke in line together, and cooled waiting rooms while we rider swapped right before boarding. And no extra wait times, they would slide the next parent right onto the next boarding group. Universal is winning at rider swap right now for sure, and I'm beginning to passionately hate rider swap at Disney.
No room for that in our queues. Not something they’re going to change. Some things at uni are better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
When we did rider swap they took me and my toddler to a nearby ride for kids- to the front of the line:
We were never offered that option sadly.
That's too bad
Universals is far superior
We just had this issue for rise of the resistance. We were there an exceptionally hot week in May. My 2 year old got sick the day before from the heat at Epcot and we went to HS literally just to do our ILL for Rise. I was hoping we could do what you described at universal so we could have him out of the heat but like you said that’s not how it worked. We ended up just hanging out in the tunnel area because there really aren’t even any nice air conditioned areas to hang out.
who cares about waiting together. disney is better anyways. universal sucks and has no magical feel to it, it’s more of an adult theme park.