Parent Swap--Does it work?

http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/visit/tips.cfm

Anyone ever get a chance to put the Parent-Swap plan into practice. During my upcoming visit, I'll have my 4 year-old daughter with us, so I think we could make good use of it.

Is Parent Swap available for all the big rides? Are the employees trained and ready to help with this? (I only ask this because I've seen it implemented poorly at other parks) Is the boarding pass good for all the rides for the duration of our visit, or on a per-ride basis?

If this works as advertised, It will be an awesome way to score 2 rides in a row, taking turns, of course, on who in my family will get the double ride.

I can find no mention of it at any of the other Cedar Fair parks. Does anyone know if it is a policy at PKI and GL as well?

My group used the Parent Swap service a couple years back and there were no issues at all. They're very good about it.

I loved parent swap! When my brother wouldn't ride anything, it was a wonderful way to ride without waiting. I've never had a problem with it.

when i was younger, my parents used the swap. I believe it is just a sheet of paper you give to the operator prior to exiting the ride, then the other parent and the child come up the exit and hop on the ride in a minute or two.

I like the way Disney does parent swap. Their system prohibits people from abusing the service by requiring the child be present at the beginning of the queue on EACH ride. It doesn't sound like CP's service is like this. Is this the "green card" or whatever I always see people using at the park? It's unfortunate parks create services like this to help people out and someone always finds a way to abuse it.

Parent swap works out very well. Last year we would take our son to the park even though he wasn't even a year old and the wife and I could ride things.

~Rob Willi

We've used it in the past. Most all of the coaster crews understand how it works.

This isn't the green card; I think that's for folks with some disability. It's a pink sheet of paper. I've always had my son with me when I've gotten the swap pass.

Do people get mad about it? like cutting them and all.

"Parent Swap--Does it work?"

Not according to my 14 year old son that has been trying to swap us for awhile now ;)

Really though, I don't think it should be thought of as a way to score two rides in a row. I thought it was only for 1 parent to ride while the other waited with the young children, then the parents swapped places & the other one rode w/o waiting in the whole line again.

That's how it "should" be Randi, but for some reason CP let's one of your party re-ride.

Say if it's you, your husband, one small child and one child of riding height. You wait in line with the child that's of riding height and hand the op your pass when getting on. You ride and when you come back, the waiting party can get right on. Now either you or you child of riding height can re-ride with your husband.

That's good though. At least then the person that waited with the kids gets to ride with someone rather than as a solo.

It is a wonderful perk. On MF you blend in with the line on the bridge. On TTD they buckle you in in the"exit area" so when the car pulls up to the loading dock the people who should be in your seat get this look that could kill-not understanding why you are in the car already and that riding with their friends has just been screwed up. I personally don't see it abused much. And you give it to the ride operator after you finish riding-not when you get on so the next person goes through the exit line to get on.

Do people get mad about it? like cutting them and all.

But they're not. One person (as far as I know) has to wait in line.

Then again, last year I was behind some guy who was yelling at the ride op for loading a whellchair bound person into "his" front seat on MF, so some people are just going to get mad because they're angry people.

It works, but it is abusable. We've only used it once, but on our upcoming trip, we'll likely use it again.

It's been several years since we used it, but it was available on all the coasters (except kiddie coasters), and a few of the thrill rides like Power Tower.

Basically, one parent waits in line and rides the ride, then exits the ride. The ride operator signs off on a piece of paper, and the other parent can enter the ride through the exit of the ride after showing the paper to the Ride op.

I have seen and heard of abuse of the program, though, where people get a few of the slips, or let their older non-chaperoned children use them, etc.

People in the line who don't know what it is DO get mad about it from time to time, but I never heard anything more than a few catty comments about it when I'd enter a ride. The only ones we used it on at the time we did get it was Raptor, Gemini, and ID. That was back around 6 summers ago, though, too.

Yeah that's how I thought it worked. I also see the system as being easily abused. Hopefully not many people know about it. Hopefully CP keeps an eye on it to make sure people aren't abusing it.

I just used the parent swap all of opening week.

It worked out great, other than the questions on every ride ( why do they get to get in line here? )

It can be abused though, but most people don't even know that its available so it's not that bad.

This reminds me of two people I saw at Cedar Point about 5 years ago. One person was in a wheelchair, the other was pushing. They would get to enter the exit ramp of all the coasters, and skip waiting in line. Later on in the day I saw the same two people, only the pusher was now in the wheelchair, and the "handicapped" person was pushing.

Scam

It's even worse when you see a group of like six kids doing the same thing.

Anyone can do the wheelchair thing though, but they have to wait the time the line is. So they don't just get to go up the exit without waiting at all. You need to get the ride op at the enterence to sign the book and give you a time that you can come back and go up the exit to get your ride. Its really not a scam since you do have to wait, and we all know that most of the ride times are over-estimated so they actually have to wait a little longer than if they were able to wait in line.

I have used both the parent swap program and the handicap program, both worked great. Basically, if the people go and rent a wheelchair then they get to use the handicap pass, so if your willing to spend the money on the rental you don't have to wait in line.

It really is no different than paying for the VIP tour that they offer. If you have the money to spend on those things then you get the benefit. It is how life works.. the more money you have the more perks you get.

Why does it matter if you have a child of riding height get to ride twice? Most of the time that single seat wouldn't get filled anyways, why not let that other group member ride twice so noone has to be the "single rider".

My wife and I have bee using Paren Swap since our 6 year was born, and I can say it is the greatest system. You have to stop at Guest Relations first thing and get the Parent Swap form, I have found the one in kiddie kingdom is usually less crowded. We hae been to 5 or 6 different parks and Cedar Point's is the only one that works smoothly. At 6 Flags G A they actually expect the child to wait in line with you, then wait n the exit ramp with one adult. Try explaining to a 5 year old they have to wait an hour for a ride they can't ride!! It doesn't go over well. I love the parent swap!! it is awesome.