Your Complete Guide to Disney World Height Requirements and Disney's Rider Switch Service

Hi! I don’t fully understand the comment “Note that if you want your entire party to use the Lightning Lane, everyone who is riding must have purchased and selected the arrival window.”

Here’s how I understand the process. Let’s say you have a family of four (Mom Dad Kid Baby) and Dad and Kid have a genie+ Pass for Space Mtn. You approach the ride and say that Mom will stay with baby while dad and kid ride. The CM scans Mom and Kid’s magic band giving them a rider switch pass. Dad and kid then go to the ride and use their genie+ pass in the lightning lane. Then they switch and Mom and Kid use the rider switch pass, also using the lightning lane. So Mom Dad and Kid all get to ride without waiting in a standard queue and Mom didn’t have to buy a genie+ pass for the ride.

Am I missing something here that would force Mom to buy a genie+ pass as well as use the rider swap?

Thanks!

My family and I will be going this fall. There will be Four adults and one 4 year old. She is 41 inches tall. We will have standard tickets. Would we be able to utilize rider swap with her? Sorry I have read the thread but my mind is spinning with all of these tricks.

I'll go on any ride. My wife, not so much. Have two boys, 10 and 6 years old. They will both go on any ride they are allowed to. Can the three of us all go on all rides together? Or am I able to ride with the 10 year old and then again with the 6 year old while my wife skips the ride?

I’m bringing my two nieces who will both meet the height requirements, but I get motion sick and can’t handle many of the rides. Can I go through the lines with them and exit as they get on the ride and then meet them as they get off?

Hi, I noticed ROTR is an attraction that offers Rider Swutch in your list but was not named as one of the attractions on Disney World's official website under Attractions that Offer Rider Switch. However, there is a line that also says: Get a complete list of attractions at Walt Disney World Resort where you can use Rider Switch. Could it be the list on their official website is not actually complete or did WDW actually just remove ROTR from the program?! We're heading down in less than 2 weeks with our 22 month old and sad she wouldn't be able to ride it, but now it looks like neither will we, unless we spend our entire day switching between waiting on lines for ONE ride.

Hello us 7 girls are taking a trip to Disney world in may. I’m bringing my 7 year old daughter however she is 46 inches. Can she ride them if she is accompanied by a grown up?

I noticed on the app that the rides have ages listed as well. Does that mean if your kid meets the height requirement, but not the age he will not be allowed on the ride? Or are the ages just a recommendation?

More recently people are saying that all members of the party now need FP+ when using rider switch and that this is being monitored more closely particularly with it all being digital now. Does anyone have confirmation of this. I've gone now from thinking we could be savvy and get 6 FP+ to thinking it is no longer possible. Any clarification on this would be hugely appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Hello my daughter is a little short to ride some rides. Can my husband go with my older son 1st and then I can pass him my daughter? So that I can then ride w my other son,? Don’t want to split up..

As a single mom, I'm trying to figure out the best way to plan. My 11 year old doesn't like some of the thrill rides. It will be my 6 year olds first time at Disney and she is definitely going to be a thrill rider. What can my 11 do if she doesn't want to ride? Can she wait in line all the way until we get on the ride and wait for us somewhere? How would she get to the exit if she did that? I don't want her left alone, but I don't want a trip where we dont get to enjoy all of the attractions. Thank you.

Hi! About the rider switch and fast pass, we are a family of 4 (2 adults, 9yr old and 5yr old).

If my husband rides Seven dwarf Mine with the 9yr old using fastpass, then I can Rider Switch with my 5yr old for the same ride?

I want to know can the height requirements be cheated out

I am just trying to wrap my brain around FP+ for our family. We have 2 adults and 5 kids. (16,13,9,6,5). What would be the best way to use our fast passes?

Hi we are going to Disney world and my kids are big enough to ride rocking roller coaster but they’re a bit scared so want to sit with me and as it’s on two seats together they wouldn’t want to sit alone or with a stranger! My husband doesn’t like those rides so he’ll be waiting outside. Can we do fast pass rider switch so I can take my three kids on seperately so we are together? How would I go about it?

Thanks!

My family is planning a trip this fall to Disney. There will be four adults and 4 kids. The kids are 11, 8, 3, and 1. The 3 year old is tall enough to ride some rides like Soarin. My questions is, can two adults and the older two kids use Fast Passes and ride Soarin wile the other two adults use a Rider Switch and watch the two little kids while the older kids are riding with the two original adults. Once they get done, can the two adults use Rider Switch to ride Soarin with the three year told who stayed behind while the two older kids rode? The rides with larger height requirements such as Expedition Everest, could the two adults who stayed behind to watch the two little kids both get a Rider Switch and take the older kids back on the ride?

When using the new electronic rider switch system with FP, do all people in your party need a FP when using rider switch? For example, if A & B have a FP for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, can A, B & C ask for a rider switch for C when C doesn't have a FP for it? So C and B can ride when A & B are done?

Me and my family are planning on going to the animal kingdom soon. I have a 7 year old that really wants to go on the flights of passage be she wants to hold me or my husbands hand during the ride. Is that even possible?

We are a family of 4 . We have 2 boys ages 2.5 And 4 years old. I suffer from severe Vertigo and anxiety and I cannot ride any of the rides. So my husband will ride with the kids . Can he use my fast pass since I can't ride? This is our 1st time and we are going to the Magic Kingdom. If we use rider switch so he can take turns riding with both kids can we do that?

Thank you.

Hi! If I buy a 6 day park ticket and only stay on property for 2 nights/3 days can I get 60 day FP for the 4th -6th day tix.

What is the time span with using your rider switch? In the past it was until the end of the month(that was paper copies). Is it still the same now?

Will my 10 year old and 8 year old be allowed to ride attractions independetly without me, as long as they meet height requirement?

I have been told that Disney is not allowing people to combine rider switch with fastpass anymore (that they are requesting that all have fastpass, not just one adult) as it wouldn´t be fair that families with young kids are doubling their fastpasses. Does anyone know anything about it?

I will be traveling with my 3 children. Ages 12, 10 and 5. Will we be allowed to use rider swItch? Only one adult so my 12 year old will be watching the 5 year old.

Do you know why you can get a ride swap for frozen and na'vi river (both no height requirement) , but not for pirates of the Caribbean?

Hello, I'll be going to Animal Kingdom on Dec 23, and we all want to get on Expedition Everest and by the time I don't know if my 5 year old will 44" to ride. So do I still have to get the FastPass+ for her an order to get the rider switch? It will be 2 adults , 2 kids. (Ages 5, 10). So my husband will get to ride with his son, and when its over I'll get to ride with my son correct ? We will have to get FastPass+ for us ? Sorry if this doesn't make sense lol

Am I understanding this correctly... We are traveling with 6 adults and a 20 month old.

Adults 1-3 use their fast pass and ride while adults 4-6 stay back with the little one. After adults 1-3 get off the ride adults 4-6 can then ride w/o needing fast pass?

This essentially means adults our group would be able to fast pass up to 6 rides w/o any issues. Or in the case of Epcot we could have 3 people fast pass test track as tier 1 and the other 3 past pass Soarin.

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Hello,

We are heading to WDW in a few days and this will be the first time traveling to WDW with our kids. We are a party of 4 adults, 2 kids and 1 toddler. The toddler does not get fast pass, b/c he is 22 months and no ticket was purchased, correct? The kids meet height requirements, so they will be able to ride all the rides. I am trying to maximum fast pass and rider swap. So for many of the fast passes, I selected 3 adults and 1 of the kids using a fast pass. Can the other kid use a fast pass from one of the adults? Meaning we will have 2 adults and 2 kids riding. Would we need to switch wrist bands, so that both kids can ride the ride. I was hoping to maximum the number of fast passes for the kids by using some of the adult fast passes for the kids. I was also going to use rider swap. Do I need a fast pass for the person waiting with the toddler, if the other people in the party have a fast pass? Can I use the rider swap without fast pass for a ride that the others in my party are using fast pass?

Here is a little chart that I hope helps you answer some of my questions....

Fast Pass Selection Ride Selection 1 Like to Ride

Using Fast Pass

Adult 1 X X

Adult 2 X X

Adult 3 X Fast Pass

Used by Kid 2

Adult 4 Wait (rider swap)

Kid 1 X X

Kid 2 X use FP from A3

Both kids would be able to ride again using rider swap and A4 would ride. A3 would not ride the ride at all.

Is a ride swap system available at Disneyland?

I don't know that this has been answered yet--if it's Just me and my two kids, will a cast member wait with my not-tall-enough hold while I ride with the older? Or do we effectively have to miss all the big ones because there isn't another adult to wait?

I just read on a message board that rider swap passes are good until the end of the month they are issued, could any one verify this please?

I'm trying to better understand the whole fast pass/parent swap situation.

We have a little one who can't ride Space Mountain, so if I book fastpass for Space Mountain, myself and older child, and book a fastpass for my husband and little one on some ride nearby, can we get parent swaps and swap out on both rides? Essentially, the kids would ride each ride twice and my husband and myself would each ride once with each child.

Does that make sense? Is that possible?

And does the parent swap pass get you back in the fastpass lane or regular lane?

I just called Disney World and they said those entering a ride with a fastpass would NOT be given rider swap unless the second group also had fastpasses. Obviously if you had fastpasses for everyone you wouldn't need child swap! Is this just a policy they say but don't actually practice? My kids are split into bigs and littles and I'm really bummed that the adult fastpasses have to be split between their rides. :-/ Isn't that the whole point of child swap?

In using the system, I was wondering if this scenario would work thus enabling more fast pass rides. One parent and one child books a certain ride and time. Using the system, you then book the other parent and other child another fast pass ride an hour later or so to a different ride. They ride the first one and fast pass with the other parent and child who did not have the original ride on their fast pass. Then the party goes to the second ride and does the same thing. Creating 6 fast pass rides/doubling the amount assuming those rides do the child swap. Does that sound correct? Thanks in advance :)

Hi, we're a party of 6 - 4 adults and 2 kids. I understand the logic of one of the children not riding and being offered the rider switch by staying with an adult in the party. In our case, the kids will want to ride - but their grandparents won't. I'm assuming 'scared grandparents' wouldn't cut it for the rider switch. And that one of the kids would need to stay behind, but then both kids could ride a second time with the grandparent? Or is that frowned upon because the child sat out the first time because they were 'scared'....They should be tall enough for the rides we want to go on. Thx so much, K

Hello, can more than one adult stay with the child that doesn't meet the height requirement and then can both of the adults use the rider switch pass? I'm going to Disney in October with 5 adults and 2 young children and trying to figure out how we can use FastPass+ and rider switch to get on more rides with shorter lines. Thanks!

I haven't found this answer yet... Are there any restrictions to a party of 3 or 4 using rider swap or just riding rides in general when there is one adult and 3 kids? One is 48 inches and the other 2 are 40 inches. We have always gone with 2 adults and 2 children so on the coasters a grown up rode with a child in each seat. Will there be any issues with a smaller child riding alone or with a 48 inch child in a row? I can't find the answer to this one. One of the grown ups going will be pregnant and unable to ride the coasters. If we use rider swap and I take myself and 2 kids to swap I just don't know how that works? Do they ask a single rider adult to fill in a spot by a smaller child that meets the height requirement?

Hi there!

Has anyone used rider swap for Haunted Mansion recently? I realize there is not a height requirement, but there is the scare factor for small children. Thanks for your help!

Hi, just to double check...the second adult doesn't need a fast pass+ for the ride? Just the first adult and the child that is riding, or just the first adult if both kids too small? Seems too good to be true, unless I have totally misunderstood!

Hello! Are you able to do rider switch when it's two adults and a child. Our son will be three when we go and I'm wondering if we would be allowed to take advantage of this program.

Thanks!

It seems like using this in conjunction with Fastpass+ is sort of gaming the system. Is there any indication from Disney that they wont give rider switch if you are going into the fastpass line?

Okay, another question about swap/FP. We have 4 kids, 11,9,4 and 2 y.o. Both parents and the older 2 kids would want to do these rides. So would we do Parent A with child A riding, then Swap so parent B and child B can ride? Would we bring the whole family and get in the line, then Swap? If using FP must one rider be used for each time? Do use use FP for both the A rider names or 1 A and 1 B rider total of 2 FPs? Thanks, 1st trimmer and I have so many questions.

I keep double (triple, quadruple...) checking this. We have 5 kids, trying to make the most out of FP and rider swap without screwing it up. We have 6 of us 48" and taller and one 35" 1yr old.

My current plan has my hubby using their FP, riding w 2 kids and then me swapping and riding w the other 2 and vice versa...

My question is - can I bring 2 of the kids w me w rider swap or just one? I am confused. If just one, I need to re-do our FP!

We're a party of 5. Dad, Mom, 12 year old, 8 year old, 7 month old. Obviously, the baby is our non rider. Am I understanding you correctly in that when we rider swap, only 1 of my old enough to ride kids will be able to ride a 2nd time?

Scenario:

Dad, 12, & 8 are "party 1"

Mom waits with baby

Mom & just her favorite kid (lol) are "party 2"

Seems like in the past, the rider swap pass was good for up to 4 people. Was there a change?

Actually, up to 3 people can do rider switch. Great article.

if my son just meets the height requirement but is too scared to ride will they still offer a rider switch pass? I don't to change my fastpasses yet if they don't do this.