The Disney Rider Switch Service is a really good innovation for parents that, to be honest, we wish we’d known about on our last visit to Walt Disney World.
If you’ve travelled with a child or children who are either too little to go on a certain ride or would find it too scary, guess what – adults don’t have to miss out.
In this guide, we’ll explain exactly how Rider Switch works, where you can use it and some of the things we wish we’d known before using it ourselves.
What is Disney World Rider Switch?
Rider Switch is Disney World’s system for allowing adults to take turns riding an attraction when someone in their party cannot or does not want to ride.
Disney says Rider Switch is intended for situations where a guest cannot ride or cannot wait outside the queue alone. It is available at most Walt Disney World attractions, although the exact list can change.
The idea is simple: instead of both adults having to queue and ride separately, one adult can wait with the child while the other rides. Once they’ve finished, the adults can swap, with the second rider using the Rider Switch entrance rather than joining the standard queue all over again.
It can be particularly useful for families with babies, toddlers or younger children who aren’t tall enough for some of Disney World’s bigger attractions.
Amazing! I can only look back on the lengthy negotiations with our little one we would have avoided, had we only known about this on our last trip.
How does the Rider Switch child swap work?
The process is fairly straightforward:
- Take your whole party to the attraction entrance. Tell a Cast Member that you’d like to use Rider Switch.
- Your group is split into two parties. Party A joins the queue and rides first, while Party B waits outside with the child or other non-rider.
- A Cast Member scans Party B’s tickets or admission media. They will tell you where Party B should return.
- Party A rides.
- Party B returns to the designated entrance. The waiting adult can then ride without having to join the standard queue from the beginning.
What is the Rider Switch hack?
The Rider Switch hack is a social media tip that works really well for families with children of different ages – one who old enough to go on a ride and one who is too little.
At present, Disney allows a maximum of two people in Party B to ride. If Party B consists of just one person, Disney says one member of Party A may be able to ride again with them.
That last point is a particularly useful little benefit if you have an older child who wants to ride with both parents – they potentially get to go on the ride twice!
Can you use Rider Switch if your child changes their mind in the queue?
If Rider Switch is available then yes – it can be an absolute godsend in this scenario.
We’ve definitely been there – all of us standing for 35 minutes or more in a queue and then suddenly somebody small gets spooked by the noise, the crowds, the darkness and decides they want to leave… meaning a parent has to go with them.
If your child suddenly decides that they really don’t want to go on the attraction, we would definitely advise you speak to a Cast Member before simply leaving the queue.
Depending on the circumstances and the attraction, they may be able to help you use Rider Switch.
Rider Switch – where is it available?
Disney currently lists Rider Switch at:
Magic Kingdom
- The Barnstormer
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- Space Mountain
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- TRON Lightcycle / Run
EPCOT
- Frozen Ever After
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Mission: SPACE
- Soarin’
- Test Track
Hollywood Studios
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Tours
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Animal Kingdom
- Avatar Flight of Passage
- Expedition Everest
- Kali River Rapids
- Na’vi River Journey
Rider Switch: What are the downsides?
There are, of course, some limitations. Rider Switch is not available on every Disney ride – the advice is that you should speak to one of the ride operators (known as cast members) to check if you can use it on the ride you’re planning on going on.
It also means adults have to ride one at a time and, therefore, possibly alone (although that’s better than missing out altogether, right?) However, if you are travelling as part of a bigger group, you can actually split the group, as long as no more than two people are in the second group.
It obviously takes slightly longer to do things this way but clearly not as long as having to queue twice.
However, the time commitment is another major issue with Rider Switch – particularly when it involves rides with longer queues.
We’ve used Rider Switch as a family, but our experience at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom made us realise that it isn’t necessarily the easiest option when you have a very young child.
The queue can be long – sometimes well over 90 minutes. We asked a Cast Member about using Rider Switch and were told that one parent would still need to queue while the other stayed with our toddler.
That wasn’t ideal for us.
The problem wasn’t really the ride itself. It was what the parent waiting with our son was supposed to do for all that time.
With a very young child, standing around near an attraction for an hour or more isn’t exactly a recipe for a relaxing afternoon. We couldn’t simply take him to another attraction, join another queue or wander around the park and then come back whenever the first parent was ready.
In the end, we decided not to do the ride – the amount of time one of us would have had to spend entertaining our toddler while the other parent queued simply wasn’t worth it.
Rider Switch vs Single Rider: what’s the difference?
Single Rider is another option for parents with young children that, in our opinion, can work even better than Rider Switch – but it is only available on a select number of Disney World rides.
Single Rider works in a very different way to Rider Switch.
Rider Switch is designed specifically for families who need to take turns looking after a non-rider. One adult rides while another waits with the child, then they swap.
Single Rider is essentially a way of filling spare seats on selected attractions. You join a separate queue knowing that you will be separated from your group and may ride alongside other guests. Disney says Single Rider is intended for guests who prioritise a shorter wait over riding with their party.
If Single Rider is operating at the attraction, the parent who wants to ride can potentially be away for a much shorter period. The other parent can then spend that time actually doing something with the child – grabbing a snack, exploring the park or finding a more age-appropriate attraction.
For us, that’s the biggest advantage of Single Rider. It doesn’t just reduce the queue for the person who is riding. It can reduce the amount of time the parent who isn’t riding has to spend waiting around too. For more on Single Rider – the free hack every parent should know about, read our guide.
When is Rider Switch better than Single Rider?
Single Rider isn’t a replacement for Rider Switch.
Rider Switch may be the better option if:
- your child is too young or too short to ride;
- your older children want to ride with you;
- you want to experience the attraction with members of your family rather than strangers;
- Single Rider isn’t available or isn’t operating when you visit.
- Your child changes your mind in the queue about whether they want to go on the ride.
So we’d think of Rider Switch and Single Rider as two different tools for solving the same family problem.
If you’re travelling with a young child, it’s worth knowing about both.
And it saves everyone the sight of crestfallen parents trying desperately to ignore how much they really would have loved to have gone on Big Thunder… if only Junior would let them.
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