Is Ridemax NUTS??

[DisneyJade]

okay, convince me that this software is effective, because right now, i'm baffled.

i won't give any complete itineraries, but i want to list a couple of odd things and get all your expert input:

we plan to be at California Adventure right at opening time on a Monday.. and i told ridemax we want to ride Soarin' twice.

the itinerary has us doing Monsters Inc. before we even pick up a fastpass for Soarin'.. ???

Then, instead of waiting to ride Soarin' and getting another fastpass, it has us ride it immediately with a wait time of 147 minutes.. ???

finally, it has us heading to ToT close to noon.. and lists only a 20 minute wait.. ???

that all seems a little off to me. i assume most people would be tempted to alter the ridemax plan and get the soarin' FP immediately, not bother with a 2+ hour standby line and try to hit ToT closer to opening. RIGHY?

input, please!! thanks, DISers!!

 

[HydroGuy]

RideMax is a tool which is good but not perfect. Make sure you follow their advice in their help system tips. For example, it is best to not schedule any breaks unless you absolutely must. Also, when I get itineraries I donot like I change something like my arrival time or departure time or desired rides (remove one or add another, etc.). Experiment and you will find that RideMax can give very different itineraries.

 

[dxwwf3]

Ridemax is OBSESSED with riding Monsters Inc extremely early. Granted I haven't been to the park yet, but surely it can wait long enough for us to ride Tower of Terror once and then come back and hit it after getting FP for Soarin and GRR first thing (while the rest of my group waits for me at ToT). I don't mind wating 15 minutes for Monsters because I am more interested in the queue there than I am the Tower queue. And even on the day I plan on going to DCA, it still has a 5 minute wait for Monsters an hour after park opening.

What I do with RideMax is basically "force" it to give me the plan I want by limiting the times of the day into segments and then experiment with that.

 

[Hound 109]

okay, convince me that this software is effective, because right now, i'm baffled.

....the itinerary has us doing Monsters Inc. before we even pick up a fastpass for Soarin'.. ???

Then, instead of waiting to ride Soarin' and getting another fastpass, it has us ride it immediately with a wait time of 147 minutes.. ???

input, please!! thanks, DISers!!

So that's why I'm able to walk on to Soarin' early on weekday mornings.....everybody is in line to ride Monster's Inc.

hound

(not familiar with any DL software programs, but is a believer in the Hydroguy principle of picking up FPs early & often)

 

[DangerMouse]

Based on the title of this thread, I would expect Mark, the author and owner of ridemax to be posting very soon.

 

[ter-moo]

What you need to do is be at CA BEFORE opening. They generally open a 1/2 hour early JUST for Soarin'. Walk RIGHT ON to Soarin,' get a fastpass when you get off (if you can) and then head over to either TOT or Monsters.

Frankly, I'd do TOT first, but you'll have to wait for awhile at the rope by the Hollywood Backlot area for either of these once you come off of Soarin.'

 

[buckler]

I bought Ridemax for our trip next week and I'm not entirely sold on it either. I'm going to work on our itineraries tonight now that we have finalized our ride choices. But, so far on my trial runs I'm confused by some of the choices it makes. For example it might tell you to pick up a fastpass right after a scheduled break. Why not pick it up BEFORE the break? I'm a WDW Tour Guide Mike veteran so I have a good idea of how to tour the parks and make use of fast passes. I wonder if I could have done just as well without Ridemax. I'll report back on our results after the trip. I've never been to a Disney park at such a busy time of year (we usually go in September or mid January) so I'll still give Ridemax a try!

 

[hlbtimes2]

For example it might tell you to pick up a fastpass right after a scheduled break. Why not pick it up BEFORE the break?

My guess it that they are assuming the time window for your next fast pass will not be up yet. If the window is open by time you take your break, by all means, get your next fast pass.

 

[brenda1966]

Has something changed with Monsters Inc because last July the ride was basically walk on when we were there. We rode it over and over and over! Have people finally figured out it's back there and will lines now be long??

 

[farmfresh]

this is an interesting thread...I've been busy ridemaxing for next week, and DCA is really hard to get right (by which I mean, working well with what we want!) I find it helpful to asssume one soarin ride at 9.30 and not enter it into ridemax...this helps with the other rides and FP windows. I am of course supposing it is possible to get in one soaring ride at 9.30... should i be confident? We'll use the GC entry.

Also... any rough guidelines how long ToT and soarin FPs are available? I won't hold you to it, but some of the Ridemax pick ups had me worried! We're planning to be there Wed 20 June.

 

[darph nader]

No,it's $15.00.

 

[RideMax Mark]

Based on the title of this thread, I would expect Mark, the author and owner of ridemax to be posting very soon.

Good call, DangerMouse!

To the OP: Please email me with the details of your plan and I'll be glad to look into this. If you could include the date of the plan, as well as the start/stop/break times and the attractions you've included, that would be great. Just send the details to "mark at ridemax dot com."

My initial guess is that HydroGuy's on the right track with that problem with Soarin' -- that there's an unnecessary scheduled break in there -- but I'd like to verify this.

Thanks!
Mark Winters
RideMax

 

[dxwwf3]

Although, I didn't care much for the full day plans on RideMax, I must say that I am VERY glad that I decided to try your service Mark. Playing around with the software was a blast and I think I've got some itineraries for our first day at DL and DCA that will be very beneficial for our first trip to the resort. I feel the most useful part of the program (BY FAR) is the estimated wait times for the different parts of the day. Sure nobody can guarantee that is what you will experience in the park, but I trust that the predictions will be pretty close and if they are, we are going to wait a lot less than I expected.

Great work and I'll make sure to give reports of how it all turned out.

 

[PrincessSitka]

Where do I buy ride max and how much

 

[kjhgarden]

When we where at DCA on a very busy Friday last October, Monster Inc. was the longest line we stood in. We fast passed everything we could so those lines were pretty quick. I would send a runner to get fast passes while the rest of your group heads to Monsters Inc.

 

[HydroGuy]

Where do I buy ride max and how much

www.ridemax.com - you can get a 90 day version for $15 I believe.

 

[PrincessSitka]

thank you

 

[vbecky]

has anyone ever put in rides on ridemax based on a few lands at a time that are close to each other? Or does everyone just put in the rides they are lookin for?

 

[DisneyJade]

wow, i've never started such a hot topic before!
thanks for all the responses.. informative AND entertaining.. and most of all, RideMax Mark! cool for responding. i'm getting ready to email you my anomolies right now. thanks !!!

 

[farmfresh]

I have tried both way - just rides and by lands. They make much better sense by lands, for two reasons. First, they are not so far apart, so there's less walking time. second, and probably more important, you're not trying to jam all the headliners into one day. I have split it across two days, got it working , then added back in any extras, and it seem to work well. Let you know after next week though!