Fast Pass, Chicken Exit and Rider Swap About This Page:

[mommapants]

Got a question for you all.

There are 3 of us heading to WDW, 1 adult, 1 teen and 1 ten year old. Staying onsite with MYW passes and magic bands.

Is there a way that all 3 people can get FP's, wait in the line together, and then at the last minute have the 10 year old use the "chicken exit"? He would then wait for the other 2 to ride the attraction together and then let the teen use the 10 year old's fastpass ? This way everyone waits in the line together, there isn't really a rider swap and one person gets to ride 2 times.

I'm very leary of leaving a 10 year old on a bench outside by themselves while the other 2 ride the attraction so I'm trying to find a way we don't have to constantly split up the party with one riding alone and the other waiting with the child and then switching.

Also is there anyway to avoid the stretch room in the Haunted Mansion should he wait in line with us? My son is so desperately scared of that ride even though he has never been on it. I think it is a mental thing. All others he would be OK waiting in the queue and not riding but that one, he would be a basket case. I haven't ridden HM in 10 years because of that and really want to this trip.

[Ashli]

I don't believe they will let the 10yo go in the FP line without scanning his FP (and thus making it unusable to someone after). I know your intentions are honest, but I think they have to assume people in line are going to ride because the CMs at the entrance are not going to be able to watch & see. It's the same reason they won't let a child who is too short to ride enter a queue even just to wait with the family & then take the chicken exit. Sorry!

[rphstearns]

In short no there is not a way to all ride together. You can all have fast passes. You would have to do a ride swap with one person waiting in the fast pass line then swapping for the second person to ride. To use the fast pass of the third person you have to go back through the line within the one hour time frame


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[MelissaL]

If the 10-year old meets the ride requirements, he can enter the line and then tell a cast member that he has chosen not to ride. However, he would need to wait for the other 2 people to finish the ride, and many rides have different exits than entrances.

You could ask at the ride entrance where the "chicken exit" will be and make a determination you would be comfortable with a child making his own way to the ride exit.

I think you may use a rider swap only for those rides that the child is unable to ride (not just unwilling). For those rides, as mentioned above, he would not be able to enter the queue at all.

It should be possible to wait in the Haunted Mansion queue and leave before the group enters the stretch room, but again, your son would then need to watch around to the exit to wait for you.

The only other way I can think of to go on rides without leaving your son on his own is to sign him up for a few hours somewhere else. If there are several Magic Kingdom rides you want to do without him, you might consider signing him up for the 2-hour Pirate Cruise at the Grand Floridian and scheduling a couple of Fast Passes in the middle of that time. You could also consider putting him in a resort kids' club one night if parks are open late.

Good luck finding an equitable solution!
Melissa

[rphstearns]

You can ride swap any ride. We have done it when my son could ride space mountain but chose not to.


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[Ashli]

Originally Posted by MelissaL

If the 10-year old meets the ride requirements, he can enter the line and then tell a cast member that he has chosen not to ride.

Yes, but if the party is attempting to enter through the FP line, I am fairly certain he would have to have a FP regardless of riding or not.

[Ashli]

Originally Posted by rphstearns

You can ride swap any ride. We have done it when my son could ride space mountain but chose not to.

Agreed. We were allowed to use it on ToT when my nephew didn't want to ride. He was tall enough to do so, but young enough that my sister did not want him waiting alone.

[genie1953]

Sounds like the only solution will be for him to also use a fast pass and then opt not to ride the ride and use the chicken exit.

[WillCAD]

I think your best option is to let him use his FP to enter the queue with you, then use the chicken exit on each ride that he doesn't want to ride.

However, to get into the queue, he will have to use his FP, so no one else will be able to use it later.

All of the thrill rides that he'll be skipping are generally only a few minutes long, so he won't have to wait on a bench for long periods, he'll be able to wait at the ride exit for you for less than ten minutes. Just be sure he has a phone, in case you can't find each other when you leave the ride.

WDW is a very safe place, even for children on their own. For short periods like this, he'll be fine, especially if he's waiting for you in the gift shops that are at the exits of most WDW attractions. Some attractions have other things at their exits, like the interactive stuff at Mission: Space and Test Track, or the ride photo displays at several others.

As for Haunted Mansion, show him this video (excellent quality HD). The actual ride is even less scary, because when you're in the room with the animatronics and effects, they are much more obviously not ghosts or monsters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKVd-xwxgJs

[Mares75]

Not everything has rider switch, only a few attractions. As far as being able to use rider switch if the child is tall enough but is too scared to ride, it' seems it's a 'your mileage may vary' sort of situation. We were told once by a CM that the rider switch was only available if a child didn't meet the height requirements, not because they don't want to ride it but everyone else does. We've used the rider switch many many times having gone when DD was 18mos and again at 4 and only once were we told it's based on height requirements only, not willingness to ride. Just know you might run in to a CM that decides if your son is tall enough to ride but doesn't want to, you won't be able to use rider switch.

There are very few rides that actually have rider switch. When DD was 18mos, we didn't want to take her on HM but everyone else wanted to ride. The CM told us rider swap is only available at rides with height requirements so we were unable to switch adults without waiting in line twice. No height requirement means no rider switch available. DH and DS ended up riding HM while I skipped it and waited with DD. We assumed since there is now a FP+ entrance at HM they offered rider swap but they don't.
Here's a list of all rides that offer the rider switch: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/gu.../rider-switch/

[Mares75]

I was just reading through the link I posted again and it says rider swap is available if the child is tall enough but just doesn't want to ride. The CM we ran into was misinformed it seems. It makes sense though a CM would think that since the only rides with rider switch also have some kind of height requirement.

[Lady Lady]

Rider swap is when one person stays with the child, while others are riding, and then that person gets to ride, while the child is watched by the ones who rode already.

The only way the teen could ride twice is to have you or teen stay with the child while the other one waits with the child. You or the teen will need to ride by themselves for all rides. Since there are 3 fast passes, the teen can ride again.

Otherwise, all three need to use fastpass for one to opt out. There is possibility of rider swap there, but someone would need to stay with the child and then when the other is done riding, swap staying with the child. Still riding alone. But still no extra rides.

Swapping for double riding really only starts with party of 4 or more with one child. The person who first waited with the child can then have one other from their party ride with them, while the other wait with the child.