Hi there, Rachel, and welcome back to planDisney!
Have you already started counting down the days until your Mouseketeer crew arrives at The Most Magical Place on Earth?! It sounds like you will have your hands full--but in the best way possible. Experiencing the magic of Disney World through the eyes of littles feels like a warm hug. I'm a mom of two young boys who used Rider Switch...a lot! So, I'm just the gal to get you prepared for what to expect.
This is how
Rider Switch works: If you're at a theme park attraction that not everyone wants to or can ride (many rides have minimum height requirements), find a friendly tablet-holding Cast Member who is by the ride's entrance. Let them know that you'd like to use the service. They will ask who is riding first and which adult is sitting out with the non-rider(s). They will then scan the tickets or
MagicBands+ of the people who are riding in the second group, which consists of the one adult who originally sat out and one child (if that applies). Group #1 will enter the standby line and when they're done, Group #2 will enter the Lightning Lane queue to ride. I love this because it means shorter separation time after the first round is over.
In your case, Rachel, two to three out of four of the adults would ride first. Then, the other one to two adults will ride second. If only one adult rides second, they can take a tall-enough child with them. Yes, this means that one child could end up riding twice! My older son can't get enough of Rider Switch because he gets to ride attractions like
Slinky Dog Dash and
Space Mountain multiple times in a row. Once with me and once with my husband.
Also, if everyone in your party has
Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Single Pass for an attraction, Group #1 will also have access to the Lightning Lane for even shorter separation time. You'll still want to set up Rider Switch with a Cast Member though because the companion of the original non-riding adult will need to be able to scan into the lane twice. Keep in mind that the Mouseketeers who aren't tall enough to ride won't be able to wait in the queue at all, so definitely have a game plan for how you want to divide and conquer.
AN EXTRA GEM: My planDisney classmates,
Elizabeth and
Kaitlin, do a deep dive into all-things-Rider-Switch in the video that I've included for you. Definitely give it a watch because they go into the details of how to use it to maximize your theme park time.
I just know that you're going to have the BEST vacation with your crew, Rachel! Until then, if you have any other Disney vacation planning questions, just r
each out to us here at planDisney. See you real soon!
Magic always,
LeAndra