ridemax.com mini-Review

[SplashMo]

I just purchased ridemax and it is perfect for planning a trip. It for sure has changed my plan of attack.

A few user tips. For Disneyland Sort rides by rating and move all rides with a 5 or 4 over to the schedule and select a few 3 rides as well.

Adding all the rides does not work... Not enough time in the day. And not all rides are actually rides....

Remove lunch from your schedule and click both fast pass options.

This will leave you with a great iternary. Then you can continue to add rides until the schedule looks right.

The software works to minimize your wait time and maximize your ride time. It does a very nice job.

I am practicing with it to make sure I can tweak it perfect for the trip. Then using iPhone apps to watch queue times and see how they validate the ridemax plans. All very cool and much better than not having this... And all this before going to the parks.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

My problem is that I still don't know which days to go to DL and which days to go to DCA. A lot of people post that at DL it does not matter as much as it does at WDW. However, I also see many posts from those that live in the area, that can say, not going to DL this day because so and so is happening, etc. I know that there are things to watch out for, but I sure don't know what they are.

When planning for WDW, I get this information from Tour Guide Mike, and I wish there was information for those of us that live on the other coast that would shed some light on local happenings that affect the parks.

I signed up for RideMax, and everytime I sit down to use it, I feel that I am not prepared enough and I get frustrated.

Just my little rant, sorry, I can plan a WDW trip in my sleep, but DL perplexes me to pieces.

 

[SplashMo]

I am in the same boat WDW expert/plan in sleep. DL not so much...

We are arriving on a Wednesday and will hit DL first. If we have time we are then going over to DCA.

Thursday DL opens one hour early and we have the 5 day hopper so we can enter the park early. We may hit DL again and then for sure head over to DCA.

Basically weekdays are slower than weekends. I am planning on DL for weekdays and DCA for weekend.

It is so easy to go between the DL parks. I often catch parades in both parks even if they are back to back. I just watch from near the gate of each park.

 

[kkmcan]

You could do without ridemax if you follow these basic tips (look up hydroguys tips in the stickys).

Arrive before rope drop to get in line at DL.
DO your must do rides first- Peter pan, space mtn, matterhorn, Indy, Big Thunder.
Gather fast passes as soon as the times become available.
Save your fast passes for the evening.
Hop to DCA when Dl starts getting busy around noon. Spend afternoon at DCA .
Hop back to DL after dinnertime to use fastpasses and see the evening shows- fireworks, fantasmic.

 

[skiingfast]

My problem is that I still don't know which days to go to DL and which days to go to DCA. A lot of people post that at DL it does not matter as much as it does at WDW. However, I also see many posts from those that live in the area, that can say, not going to DL this day because so and so is happening, etc. I know that there are things to watch out for, but I sure don't know what they are.

and I wish there was information for those of us that live on the other coast that would shed some light on local happenings that affect the parks.

I signed up for RideMax, and everytime I sit down to use it, I feel that I am not prepared enough and I get frustrated.

In WDW the days to avoid regularily are the parks with EMH. In DL MM is minor. DLR is affected by school schedules. So if CA, NV, UT or AZ have a extra long weekend for Teacher in Service meetings, it causes a wierd jump in DLR attendance. Otherwise Weekends are busier than weekdays and Holiday and summer break is busier like at WDW.

Most of this is just like WDW, except WDW is smoother in it's attendance. The fundamental difference is DLR visits are usually for a day, while at WDW for a week. Thus a three day weekend at WDW keeps that crowd for a whole week, while in DLR people come only on the Saturday, Sunday or Monday.

AP attendance makes a difference too, but they are blocked on normally busy days. If the busy, blocked days end when kids have off from school, a lot of APs show up.

 

[Hound 109]

You could do without ridemax if you follow these basic tips (look up hydroguys tips in the stickys).

Arrive before rope drop to get in line at DL.
DO your must do rides first- Peter pan, space mtn, matterhorn, Indy, Big Thunder.
Gather fast passes as soon as the times become available.
Save your fast passes for the evening.
Hop to DCA when Dl starts getting busy around noon. Spend afternoon at DCA .
Hop back to DL after dinnertime to use fastpasses and see the evening shows- fireworks, fantasmic.

I agree 100% with kkmcan.

I laugh when WDW vets (i'm a wdw vet btw) stress over which park on which day......Park Hop everyday!

If there's an event one afternoon or evening at one of the parks that you want to avoid....avoid it. But it doesn't change the general strategy mentioned above.

Seriously WDW vets....DCA is 100 yards away.....it's CaliforniaLand....a great place to escape crowded DL....EVERY day.

Leave the WDW thought process in Orlando....along with the humidity, long bus rides & 6 month out meal reservations. You won't need them at Walt's Park.

Ride Max is a nice tool....but only if used along with the general strategies mentioned in the many tip threads. It's cool & mostly accurate, but don't use it IN PLACE of tip threads & comments here....use it IN ADDITION to the strategies & tip threads that you find here.

Have a great time at Walt's Park.

 

[Yukonjack]

For our last trip, I used Ridemax, and it worked out better as a general planning tool than an ittinerary. Having a plan is more important, IMHO, than using the Ridemax stuff. I never pulled the plans out of my pocket that I printed prior to heading to DL, but it was also partly due to my 14yro son acting as a Fast Pass runner. We would end the day with a bunch of FP for various rides and never felt like we waited in line for anything more than 20 minutes (Splash, for example).

It is a cool tool, but don't be wedded to the printouts.

Greg

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I
Seriously WDW vets....DCA is 100 yards away.....it's CaliforniaLand....a great place to escape crowded DL....EVERY day.

Except that there is not much for me to do at CA, not a coaster person, and don't ride anything else that takes my feet off of terra firma. So, once you have done, Monsters, Animation, Soarin', TTBBAB, and hopefully Aladdin and Toy Story, (so half a day, maybe) you are done there.

Trust me, I have listened to everyone say it doesn't matter, and then I read threads where someone says, "Oh no, so and so is happening during my trip and the crowds will be awful", and then "I am not going to DL on this day of my trip because of ..." and so forth and so on.

And don't forget that those of us on the East Coast don't know about all those school holidays/weeks off or teachers workdays, etc." I am just saying it would be nice to have a program that took all those things into consideration.

I have gotten over the booking dining so far in advance, but I do book where I wish to eat, simply to avoid spending time waiting in line for a table, when I could be doing something else.

 

[HydroGuy]

Except that there is not much for me to do at CA, not a coaster person, and don't ride anything else that takes my feet off of terra firma. So, once you have done, Monsters, Animation, Soarin', TTBBAB, and hopefully Aladdin and Toy Story, (so half a day, maybe) you are done there.

Trust me, I have listened to everyone say it doesn't matter, and then I read threads where someone says, "Oh no, so and so is happening during my trip and the crowds will be awful", and then "I am not going to DL on this day of my trip because of ..." and so forth and so on.

And don't forget that those of us on the East Coast don't know about all those school holidays/weeks off or teachers workdays, etc." I am just saying it would be nice to have a program that took all those things into consideration.

I have gotten over the booking dining so far in advance, but I do book where I wish to eat, simply to avoid spending time waiting in line for a table, when I could be doing something else.

It sounds like your major issues are that 1) you have concluded RM is not for you based on how you tour and 2) that it does not account for attendance fluctuations due to local events.

I get all of that. But some people still want help. I know when I went to WDW for the first time I felt - even with TGM - like I was flying blind. I did not understand the wait patterns at the parks. Having RM (their WDW version came out just a couple months before our first trip there) was a godsend to me. It especially helped me figure out how to tour Epcot and DHS.

WDW vets coming to DLR for the first time are similarly flying blind. RM is a great solution for many such people.

It is one thing to say "He, just read HydroGuy's tips and read these forums every day". That takes many hours. Some people do not have the time, temperament or interest to do that. For $15 they can get RM and in an hour have a reasonable strategy for DLR that will get them ahead of many other guests. Why would someone not do that? Even if it is imperfect, it is better than seat-of-the-pants - except for those who prefer seat-of-the-pants.

I still use RideMax myself at DLR and WDW as it gives me a good guide to ride wait time patterns. They update their data based on new things like World of Color and give some really good tips to recent park trends in the their Tips section. Totally worth $15 to me. I wish they a version for DLR Paris and Tokyo Disney. I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

In any case, I respect that RM does not help you and you may not recommend it. However, other people can really benefit from RM.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

It sounds like your major issues are that 1) you have concluded RM is not for you based on how you tour and 2) that it does not account for attendance fluctuations due to local events.

I get all of that. But some people still want help. I know when I went to WDW for the first time I felt - even with TGM - like I was flying blind. I did not understand the wait patterns at the parks. Having RM (their WDW version came out just a couple months before our first trip there) was a godsend to me. It especially helped me figure out how to tour Epcot and DHS.

WDW vets coming to DLR for the first time are similarly flying blind. RM is a great solution for many such people.

It is one thing to say "He, just read HydroGuy's tips and read these forums every day". That takes many hours. Some people do not have the time, temperament or interest to do that. For $15 they can get RM and in an hour have a reasonable strategy for DLR that will get them ahead of many other guests. Why would someone not do that? Even if it is imperfect, it is better than seat-of-the-pants - except for those who prefer seat-of-the-pants.

I still use RideMax myself at DLR and WDW as it gives me a good guide to ride wait time patterns. They update their data based on new things like World of Color and give some really good tips to recent park trends in the their Tips section. Totally worth $15 to me. I wish they a version for DLR Paris and Tokyo Disney. I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

In any case, I respect that RM does not help you and you may not recommend it. However, other people can really benefit from RM.

You could not be any more wrong with your interpretation of my post if you tried, never said RideMax wasn't for me. I like RideMax and used RideMax on our last trip and the intent of my response was not to be negative, but to hopefully get some helpful feedback. I never suggested it was not a good product and that I didn't recommend it. I don't believe I said anything negative about RideMax at all, just expressed my frustration that I don't find information that helps me figure out where to start. If I didn't like it, I would not have purchased it for the second time.

I simply want more insider information on the events that affect the population in the parks. I have no issues with the service/information that RideMax does provide, only with what it doesn't. And it seems to me that the locals probably don't need to be told about school schedules, etc., because they already aware of those things. For instance, I recently read about something called Choc Walk taking place on our first day in the parks. It would be helpful to have this kind of information mentioned when you put in your dates.

 

[Hound 109]

Except that there is not much for me to do at CA, not a coaster person, and don't ride anything else that takes my feet off of terra firma. So, once you have done, Monsters, Animation, Soarin', TTBBAB, and hopefully Aladdin and Toy Story, (so half a day, maybe) you are done there.

Not being a "coaster" person would omit Screamin' & TOT I'm guessing. But I easily see three different 3 - 4 hour blocks that could be enjoyed at DCA.... & lots of folks dedicate 3-4 days for DLR, so that would work well for the average out of town visitor. Other attractions imo worth exploring that you didn't mention might include Turtle Talk, Flicks play area (& even adults would enjoy Heimlich's and the cute theming in the area), Griz Rapids, the Redwood Ranch area, perhaps a quick stroll & break at the GCH, the Zephyr (& those other attractions in that area).

Granted most folks would probably include TOT & Screamin' to this list (filling up the 3-4 hour tour even more). Because of this....for most people, going over to DCA daily (say around noon)....picking up a FP at Screamin or TOT or Soarin....... touring or watching a show for 2 -3 hours, riding the FP ride & then exiting DCA to take your daily break (or to return to DL) is IMO an effective way to tour. And as important to me, I'd be zigging at DCA while most are Zagging over at DL. & it's only a 5 min. walk from one park to the other!!

Trust me, I have listened to everyone say it doesn't matter, and then I read threads where someone says, "Oh no, so and so is happening during my trip and the crowds will be awful", and then "I am not going to DL on this day of my trip because of ..." and so forth and so on.

The crowds are NEVER awful the first 2-3 hours. So no matter what event is going on at DL it's effective to tour (& collect FPs) the first 2-3 hours at DL. Then when (if) you return to DL later in the day (after hopping & resting), the crowd effect is minimized because you have 2-3 FPs in your pocket. Thus.....unless one is purposely sleeping in (& starting the day at DCA), it always makes sense to start your day (preferably at rope drop) at DL.

And don't forget that those of us on the East Coast don't know about all those school holidays/weeks off or teachers workdays, etc." I am just saying it would be nice to have a program that took all those things into consideration.

Fair enough. But one can possibly get a read on "the crowds" for most days on how long Ride Max calculates wait times & also by the hours posted for DL. (Also...ask about specific dates right here on the Dis & you'll get some pretty good educated guesses).

I have gotten over the booking dining so far in advance, but I do book where I wish to eat, simply to avoid spending time waiting in line for a table, when I could be doing something else.

DCA is a good place to see alot of characters too. Pencil in a different area of DCA to visit for 3 hours for each day of a 3 day visit & you'll avoid the afternoon crowds often found at DL & be glad you did. (even if you're not a coaster fan)

 

[HydroGuy]

You could not be any more wrong with your interpretation of my post if you tried, never said RideMax wasn't for me. I like RideMax and used RideMax on our last trip and the intent of my response was not to be negative, but to hopefully get some helpful feedback. I never suggested it was not a good product and that I didn't recommend it. I don't believe I said anything negative about RideMax at all, just expressed my frustration that I don't find information that helps me figure out where to start. If I didn't like it, I would not have purchased it for the second time.

I simply want more insider information on the events that affect the population in the parks. I have no issues with the service/information that RideMax does provide, only with what it doesn't. And it seems to me that the locals probably don't need to be told about school schedules, etc., because they already aware of those things. For instance, I recently read about something called Choc Walk taking place on our first day in the parks. It would be helpful to have this kind of information mentioned when you put in your dates.

Sorry, I did read all the posts in this thread but did not go back through all of yours. I got the idea by the end that you did not think RM was helping you. My mistake.

I think RideMax keys off DLR park hours and is conservative in its time estimates. So if DLR thinks it is going to be busy they will increase hours. RM uses that to figure out what wait time data to use. So if there is an event - Choc Walk - then RM does not address that particular day - it just lumps it with other busy days per DLR's hours.

DIS does have an "events" page http://www.wdwinfo.com/Disneyland/events.html and you can of course use that. You can look at historical events from MiceAge's and MousePlanet's weekly park updates.

As you know even TGM has been getting slower in adjusting for and discussing events there. I do like TGM's recommended days and think that is worth the price of TGM alone.

Even though RM started with DLR, and came out with WDW versions much later - I suspect RM gets lots more business from WDW and puts more emphasis there. For example, there are new features that have been in the WDW version for a couple years that have not made their way into the DLR version yet.

Based on your post above I get the idea that you want RM to be something other than what it is. It's goal is to create itineraries that folks can use to get on more rides. That is all. It does not have the goal of being a location for DLR or WDW information about special events or other types of similar info. It leaves that to others - like TGM at WDW - or DIS.

 

[SplashMo]

My problem is that I still don't know which days to go to DL and which days to go to DCA. A lot of people post that at DL it does not matter as much as it does at WDW. However, I also see many posts from those that live in the area, that can say, not going to DL this day because so and so is happening, etc. I know that there are things to watch out for, but I sure don't know what they are.

For the most part you want your very best day to start in DL. The best day being the one of least crowds.

We are going for 5 days so we will start our lightest two days at DL and then at some point make our way to DCA on the second day. Maybe the afternoon of the first day...

DCA is closer to DL than exiting any WDW park and catching even the closest disney bus...

If you have multiple days at DL / DCA then you could:

on EE Days either use EE and enjoy all the rides. Or go to DL without EE and save Fantasy land for a diffrent day of the visit.

on MM Days you could avoid Toon Town and visit it on another day.

Also if you are going to DCA for opening one day you could make it when DL has an EE day.

Also Soarin opens 30 minutes before the park. Very worth it. THis is my second favorite ride in the parks. Splash is first

These are the strategies I have developed so far for picking parks on a given day based on reading this board. and previous trips to DL and DCA...

 

[Yukonjack]

For the most part you want your very best day to start in DL. The best day being the one of least crowds.

We are going for 5 days so we will start our lightest two days at DL and then at some point make our way to DCA on the second day. Maybe the afternoon of the first day...

DCA is closer to DL than exiting any WDW park and catching even the closest disney bus...

If you have multiple days at DL / DCA then you could:

on EE Days either use EE and enjoy all the rides. Or go to DL without EE and save Fantasy land for a diffrent day of the visit.

on MM Days you could avoid Toon Town and visit it on another day.

Also if you are going to DCA for opening one day you could make it when DL has an EE day.

Also Soarin opens 30 minutes before the park. Very worth it. THis is my second favorite ride in the parks. Splash is first

These are the strategies I have developed so far for picking parks on a given day based on reading this board. and previous trips to DL and DCA...

I agree. Definately go on the lightest/slowest days to DL and save late afternoons or buys DL days for DCA. When we went last year, we did not even go to DCA until the third day of our trip, which fell on a Friday. As it happened, that is when the crowds picked up in DL and DCA was a nice change. By the time we did go to DCA, we had done all the rides we wanted in DL multiple times, so we did not feel too rushed when we went back into DL on the fourth and fifth days.

Greg