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View Full Version : rider switch passes on ebay!



locodemickey
07-09-2007, 10:40 PM
I can't believe people are selling these on ebay. One is for 12 tickets and is at $91!! These people are going to ruin it for the rest of us who actually use them for the intended purpose:mad:

magicofdisney
07-09-2007, 10:49 PM
During my last trip in May, CMs were becoming more strict with the distribution of the rider swap passes. It used to be I could just walk up to the fast pass line and request one. In May I had to show the other adult and my baby, just to prove I was going to use it legitimately. I'm sure the ebay auctions contributed to that.

locodemickey
07-09-2007, 11:39 PM
I can't even believe it - 2 different sets of 12 went for $135 and $132.50 with $5 shipping!!! I don't mind at all showing my husband and baby to get the switch pass, I just hope they do something about profiting from the tickets. Is there any reason to have them not expire? When we were there last week, some had expirations of a week later and some no expiration. I think they should all at least expire within a week, then they could not be sold on the black market.

Lizzie
07-10-2007, 12:39 AM
I had leftover switch passes from our last trip that we didn't get a chance to use. But we saved them for the scrapbook I can't believe people would sell them. I hope they don't stop this service it is a lifesaver traveling with little ones.

Sunshine1010
07-10-2007, 12:41 AM
....just curious.

What are these passes?

me...
07-10-2007, 01:06 AM
....just curious.

What are these passes?

We use rider switch pases so parents with small kids don't have to wait in sometimes horrendiously long lines twice. So after one person waits in the line and someone stays out with the kids, who ever waited outside takes the pass which is valid for 3 people and goes through the fastpass line.

me...
07-10-2007, 01:08 AM
I can't believe people are selling these on ebay. One is for 12 tickets and is at $91!! These people are going to ruin it for the rest of us who actually use them for the intended purpose:mad:

Just wondering how you searched on ebay to find them. I don't want to buy them but I work for the mouse and I have a feeling my managers would love to see this.

Sunshine1010
07-10-2007, 01:17 AM
Call me stupid.....but doesn't WDW do the Rider Swap thing without the pass?

me...
07-10-2007, 01:29 AM
We try not to do it without the pass because it gets so crazy. But it sometimes happens when people get in line and one of their kids decides to bail last moment. If we had small children wait in line we'd be checking heights for every other party(or so it would seem) and our station would be crazy at least at Splash, especially with a 12 minute ride.

The ride switch system is easier on the cast and guests even though some don't think so. Hope that makes sense.

Sunshine1010
07-10-2007, 01:45 AM
I'm kinda confused.

I thought we were supposed to do the 'rider swap' where we would ALL wait in line, and if one child couldn't ride, then the parent could ride the ride, and the other parent waits behind. Then, when the ride is over, the other parents takes the child while the first one who was waiting gets to ride it. I've never done this, but I'm assuming you would wait in the same line (fast pass OR stand by) to do this.

This 'Rider pass' confuses me. How do you get it? And how is it different than the way I described

Sorry if I sound stupid......it's almost 1am. I probably need to go to bed.

Lizzie
07-10-2007, 02:19 AM
How the switch pass works is, when one member of your party enters the ride they ask the cast member for a switch pass because they have members of their party who are waiting with small children. Usually those members are waiting in an area by the entrance so the cast member can see them. Than the person waiting in line gets a pass to give the adult waiting outside the ride and they walk through the fast pass and don't have to wait in standby. And with the switch pass you can bring others with you so you don't have to ride by yourself. The bonus of this is young children who can't ride don't have to wait in line. At Splash Mountain there is a small play area they can wait at. Hope that helps.

BigRedDad
07-10-2007, 07:24 AM
The way I see it is if someone is stupid enough to buy them, people are going to sell them. WDW could fix the problem immediately by dating the Swap Passes.

locodemickey
07-10-2007, 11:05 AM
Just wondering how you searched on ebay to find them. I don't want to buy them but I work for the mouse and I have a feeling my managers would love to see this.

I just typed in Disney tickets. If you go to 'completed items' you can see the ones that have sold. I hope that you do show your managers so that they do put an expiration date on them. They could make them expire after a week and people couldn't sell them then. I'm not sure why they don't expire that same day to tell you the truth:secret:

r4kids
07-10-2007, 11:23 AM
I'm not sure why they don't expire that same day to tell you the truth:secret:


I have always wondered the same thing. We will be using the baby swap for the first time this Sept. Our kids are big enough for most of the rides. We are traveling with DH brother and his family, they have 2 little ones 3 and 1. We are debating whether or not to use it because it kinda seems like it takes longer to do each ride this way. I am not a "roller coaster" fan, no Space mtn, Splash mtn, or RnRC. I like the mild ones so I think I will sit out and shop with the little ones while the rest ride the rides. I think we'll only need baby swap on a few rides. As for those buying on Ebay, they must have more money than brains.

Dicecatt262
07-11-2007, 09:52 AM
I'm glad they don't expire the same day...I have a great example why. Last year, we got a rider switch for Splash. My husband took my three older kids on. I had been planning on riding after lunch with the three other kids, while my husband stayed with our baby. Our baby then had quite a disasterous diaper and couldn't be picked up out of the stroller. We hightailed it out of MK, back to the Poly, to give her and the stroller a bath. We decided to not go back, as the stroller was wet...so we used the swap later on our trip. It was still used for its intended purpose. Most of them expired on Sept 30 (we were there 21-29). I think they should expire in a week or so...to give parents of infants some flexibility but still limit the misuse. I have also posted about the ebay selling, it sickens me, as I believe the buyers are too stupid to really understand what they are buying. I figured it out once that each ride was costing the idiots that won an auction like $14. I dislike the sellers because I feel that they are ruining some of the Disney Magic to make a few bucks.

But, in the end, these few auctions don't really impact Disney all that much, so nothing will probably be done. If it becomes more widespread, then all of us that have gotten used to being able to rely on swaps may have to suffer, which is very unfortunate.

Maleficent's Dad
07-11-2007, 10:26 AM
The ebay problem has been growing worse - just type in "Disney fast pass" in the search section.

Simple solution to this problem:
1. Expiration dates - either the day they ARE issued or one-two days later
2. CM's enforcing FP & child swap rules - checking dates, times, & whether or not there really is a family involved in the swap.

Lizzie
07-11-2007, 12:06 PM
Now that you mention it, all my child swap pass had an expiration date for a few days later.