Ridemax in DLR

[belle10]

Hi everyone. Has anyone recently used Ridemax in DLR? If so how well did it work? I'm debating getting it for my trip in October, but I'm not sure how well it works. Any suggestions?

 

[sheetz]

I used it last month and it worked pretty well, even with the FP return time enforcement. The only thing I'd suggest is that you fiddle around with the schedule so that you don't have to wait standby for RSR because it has a high probability of being down at any given time. We got to DCA at opening and waited standby for 45 min for RSR before they evacuated everyone from the line, causing us to fall way behind on the schedule.

 

[belle10]

Does it allow for customizing of the schedule like we want to ride the mountains but not Dumbo, can we take Dumbo out? And does the software live update in the park? Like is something breaksdown or the wait is huge, does it auto adjust your plan?

 

[sheetz]

The way the program works is that you input the attractions (minus shows and parades) you want to experience and then it spits out an optimized plan of attack based on expected wait times. So you can skip Dumbo or whatever ride you want, and you can also repeat anything you want. It won't automatically update while you are in the park because it doesn't use live wait times in its algorithm.

 

[Baxhappyplace]

It worked great for us when we used it in July, which is a very busy time. When it came to RSR we knew we wanted to ride it at night and from the info I got from other people you needed to be at the fastpass machine at around 9:15am to get an 8:30pm return time for the RSR ride. So when I worked up our schedule I simple put a break in at 9:15am and I ended our day with a time of 8:30pm. I then selected the rides I wanted to go on that day and it made me a schedule. It was very close with the times, we were impressed.

If you want to make a schedule with the parades and shows you can use TouringPlans.com because they include them, Ridemax doesn't. My membership for Ridemax expired because I only got a 90 day membership but I also purchased one from TouringPlans which is a year. I think when we go back this December I will give TouringPlans a try and hopefully that will work for us this time.

 

[Minuet888]

wait so what is ridemax? I thought it was one of those free apps where it just tells you the wait time for every attraction

 

[Baxhappyplace]

wait so what is ridemax? I thought it was one of those free apps where it just tells you the wait time for every attraction

Both Ridemax and TouringPlans are schedules. You select what time you will be at the park as well as what time you are leaving. Then you select which rides you would like to ride that day. You can also put in breaks. Then it runs a schedule for you with the least amount of wait time for the rides. The difference between the two is that TouringPlans is cheaper and it allows you to put in shows and parades, where Ridemax you have to put in your breaks for the shows. Plus TouringPlans show you crowd history and forecasts as well as ride wait times.

You can search for Ridemax and there are a few threads about it. I have read that people prefer to use Ridemax for DL and TouringPlans for DW. When I worked up our days back in July between the two they came up with a very similar schedule.

 

[Minuet888]

So how much does Ridemax and Touringplans cost?

 

[Baxhappyplace]

Ridemax:

90 day - $15
One year - $25


Touring Plans:

One year - $7

 

[donnaz123]

We used Ridemax last month and were impressed with how well it worked. This is the second time we have used Ridemax. The first time was about five years ago in Disneyworld. We would not hesitate to use it again.

 

[belle10]

Update on this: So I used Ridemax at Disneyland. I feel like I need to send them a fruit basket or something. Our first day in DCA was so NICE! We knew where we were going and when and got on everything we wanted to without much wait! At first, my boyfriend was like "But I wanna do this now!" But he soon got over it as we rode a lot of rides with little wait.

 

[cmpeter]

I love Ridemax and have had great luck with it at WDW and DL.

 

[cougarfan84]

The way the program works is that you input the attractions (minus shows and parades) you want to experience and then it spits out an optimized plan of attack based on expected wait times.

If you want to make a schedule with the parades and shows you can use TouringPlans.com because they include them, Ridemax doesn't.

The difference between the two is that TouringPlans is cheaper and it allows you to put in shows and parades, where Ridemax you have to put in your breaks for the shows.

FYI, according to ridemax's blog, as of September 12th, Ridemax now includes shows for Disneyland. Looking at the shows they include in their plans, it doesn't look like they include EVERY show in the park, but as far as the main ones (Fantasmic!, the parades, the fireworks, World of Color, Aladdin, Jedi Training Acadamy, Mickey and the Magical Map, Billy Hill and the Hillbillies, and Disney Jr. Live on Stage) you can now include them in your itinerary for Ridemax.

 

[Piglet99645]

Update on this: So I used Ridemax at Disneyland. I feel like I need to send them a fruit basket or something. Our first day in DCA was so NICE! We knew where we were going and when and got on everything we wanted to without much wait! At first, my boyfriend was like "But I wanna do this now!" But he soon got over it as we rode a lot of rides with little wait.

Thanks for the update!

LOL at fruit basket.

P.