RideMax or Touring Plans?

[TamaraH]

So we have a trip coming up this fall and a friend recommended using RideMax. I also happened to come across discussions regarding Touring Plans. I've never used either and can't decide which would be more effective for us. Can anyone offer any insight as to the differences between these two planners? Anyone have thoughts and pros and cons? Thanks!

 

[avalon451]

I've used them both. Touring plans (and their "Lines" smartphone app) is an offshoot of the Unofficial Guide books. The books have been around for quite awhile, and have always featured several pre-set touring plans in the back of the book (one day, two days, for kids, then some for CA and I think Universal, too). But of course you couldn't customize it.

RideMax was solely an online enterprise, and it featured customizable touring plans where you could put in dates, arrival times, and what rides you wanted to do, and it would optimize the order and make a plan for you. You could schedule in breaks for meals, rests or shows. It improved on the Unofficial Guide books because it could suit your needs. Drawbacks were that you couldn't schedule parkhopping in, or specific shows.

Then Unofficial Guide came up with their own customizable app, Touring Plans and the Lines app, with a real-time updater from members in the parks, that gave you wait times, FP return times, etc. Kind of like the DL app, with a few more frills. Problem is, it's usually not as accurate as the DL app; I don't think enough members update from the parks.

I used to use RideMax, but Lines is pretty inexpensive and is a lot of fun to play around with when you're planning. So that's what I'm using this time. Maybe others can chime in with a more recent comparison between the two.

Hope that helps!

 

[TamaraH]

I've used them both. Touring plans (and their "Lines" smartphone app) is an offshoot of the Unofficial Guide books. The books have been around for quite awhile, and have always featured several pre-set touring plans in the back of the book (one day, two days, for kids, then some for CA and I think Universal, too). But of course you couldn't customize it.

RideMax was solely an online enterprise, and it featured customizable touring plans where you could put in dates, arrival times, and what rides you wanted to do, and it would optimize the order and make a plan for you. You could schedule in breaks for meals, rests or shows. It improved on the Unofficial Guide books because it could suit your needs. Drawbacks were that you couldn't schedule parkhopping in, or specific shows.

Then Unofficial Guide came up with their own customizable app, Touring Plans and the Lines app, with a real-time updater from members in the parks, that gave you wait times, FP return times, etc. Kind of like the DL app, with a few more frills. Problem is, it's usually not as accurate as the DL app; I don't think enough members update from the parks.

I used to use RideMax, but Lines is pretty inexpensive and is a lot of fun to play around with when you're planning. So that's what I'm using this time. Maybe others can chime in with a more recent comparison between the two.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the info - one of the big differences is the length/cost of the subscription. I know you can do the full year with Touring Plans and start working with it throughout the year for about the same or a negligible difference from the 3 month RideMax sub. For someone like me who wants to start planning that is like torture because I'm leaning towards RideMax but the wait is killing me (we are 5 months out from our trip). LOL

 

[Wahlee]

If you use the online version of RideMax (accessible from mobile phones) it lets you schedule parades and shows now. You can also specify where you're taking scheduled breaks (so it will say "Scheduled Break: 10:30, Carnation Cafe). I much prefer RideMax to Touring Plans.

 

[ChrisParker]

If you've used RideMax what do you do about the fact that you can only plug your dates in about 4.5 hours in advance? (I exaggerate.) Do you make a dummy plan on an earlier day to get a feel for it? And how close will a week day in July be to a Mother's Day Saturday?