Ridemax & Pixie Hollow question

[NorthernCalMom]

Hi;

we're going in early August, and I'm currently doing my rides/activities planning. We travel with a 4- and a 6-year-old, both age-appropriately impatient, so I'm trying to do my homework now in order to minimize waiting in line. We're staying at the DLH, so I'm excited to learn about the early admission policies.

I was wondering if you think that Ridemax would be working for us in order to plan our course of action (I'm a big planner and geek and not too worried about missing out on spontaneity, so the Ridemax concept seems appealing to me). In particular, do those of you, who have experience with this software, think that the information on which their suggestions are based, is updated for possibly cars land related altered traffic patterns? Those who do NOT think Ridemax is worth it, what's your main beef with it?

Also, seems that I'll be able to dodge waiting for the princesses since neither of my girls collects autographs at this point, and both are content with seeing a few of their favorites during story time. However, visiting the fairies appears to be non-negotiable. Any ideas on opening hours for Pixie Hollow in August and wait line/timing strategies? We'll be there 5 days, so we have some wiggle room as far as time planning goes.

TIA for any advice you are able to give!
Julia

 

[ArchOwl]

Sounds like a fun trip!

I really like Ridemax and use them pretty consistently, especially during busy times like when you will be visiting. I know a lot of people think it is too structured, but I like having a plan and I find Ridemax to actually only be highly structured in the morning. It will guide you to FP collecting and how to order the rides so you will get the most out of your morning. I normally don't even bother bringing the Ridemax plan in the evenings, because it is mostly FP redemption and watching shows. It is also a lot of fun to play around with.

The Ridemax folks were at Carsland during the grand opening and have been there for the past few days to update their advice and predictions regarding lines. Once you purchase a subscription, you will have access to their advice and updated software surrounding DCA and Carsland.

I haven't waited in line for the fairies for awhile, but I think during the summer Pixie Hollow opens an hour after regular park opening. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I would definitely devote one morning to being there first thing, since you have 5 days total. Otherwise, you are looking at a long, and frankly boring, line.

 

[ValpoCory]

I haven't waited in line for the fairies for awhile, but I think during the summer Pixie Hollow opens an hour after regular park opening. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. I would definitely devote one morning to being there first thing, since you have 5 days total. Otherwise, you are looking at a long, and frankly boring, line.

I agree. I went in August 2010 and that Pixie Hollow line was horribly slow, even though it was only about 100 people long. With so much cover, I'm surprised they didn't make 2 Pixie Hollows side by side for parallel processing, like they had at WDW before the Feb 2011 closing in Toontown Fair.

 

[rtfelt]

I love Ridemax, but I need to qualify that. I've never used it for DLR because as locals, we rarely if ever go at Rope drop and usually only go for a few hours and don't really care about seeing everything. I did use it for WDW last year and contrary to what many people think, I think it makes your trip more spontaneous than less. When you feel confident you'll be able to see everything and know you won't be spending all your time standing in lines, it gives you more time to do other spontaneous things. I agree with the PP that the mornings are the most regimented, but the rest of the day can be very relaxed and spontaneous--allowing you to stop and watch the Red Car News Boys if you want. If you're worried about getting too locked into a schedule, simply put aside "open" time for doing whatever. At WDW we even had time to sit on the porch in MK and rock in their chairs there because we were way ahead of schedule and could just chill without worrying we might not be able to see something we wanted.

I also loved playing around with the software before to make the plans. It was like experiencing the trip vicariously before actually going

The schedule I picked up Tuesday from DL shows Pixie Hollow open from 8 am to 3:15 pm (park opens at 8). My kids are older and haven't gone here for a long time, but I see it generally has a long line, so you might want to dedicate a rope drop first thing in the morning to this.

 

[ekatiel]

We've used Ridmax for both WDW and DL. We Ridemax!!! On one WDW trip, I didn't make plans for our last couple of days and figured that I could make them while I was there (this was before the mobile app)-- our room internet was down the entire trip. I was SO stressed those few days trying use the lines app and what I knew from using Ridemax before to figure out where to go next. Ridemax RELAXES me b/c I know just where to go and when I need to be there ! I have found Ridemax's estimates to be dead-on-- in some cases, even better than what Disney posted at the beginning of the line. I would wait until Carsland has been open for a little bit longer to make plans for DCA, though. They have actively been there collecting data, so I'm sure they're adjusting wait times as we speak. --Katie

 

[NorthernCalMom]

Pixie Hollow line was horribly slow

You guys are amazing!

Yes, we already waited our way through the Pixie Hollow line two times (August 2011 and August 2010). I remember thinking the first time "oh, it's so short; this won't take long" and found myself baffled by how slow it moved. But once I noticed, we already had invested quite a bit of time, so we stuck it out. I guess one of the reasons that the girls want to see the fairies again is that they hadn't yet watched the movie last time and totally snubbed pour Rosetta and Silvermist and rushed right to Tink. Since then we got the DVD, so now they HAVE to visit them again.

That would be beyond amazing, if they'd changed the PH opening time to park opening (before most of the other fairy-crazy visitors catch on to that change!!!). That's the kind of inside scoop we need!

I remember thinking, oh, I wish they had a staircase and different rooms when we spent over 90 mins (after a while it all became a big blur...) waiting for Rapunzel. But, no, one Rapunzel only... At least we got a super-cute photo out of it that now hangs in my older daughter's room.

The Ridemax recommendations sound great. I probably want to mostly do it because I'm a very geeky girl and love stuff like that, so I just needed a bit more of encouragement to just go ahead and go wild with it...

 

[kjs1976]

What's the big diffence between ridemax and touring plans? I bought touring plans for DLR based on a suggestion on this site. I can see where it will be useful, but doesn't seem to be working right. We've used tourguidemike for WDW for 6 years and love it. I too love to know minute by minute where we are going to maximize our time, especially with a 4 yr old.

 

[NorthernCalMom]

I too love to know minute by minute where we are going to maximize our time, especially with a 4 yr old.

I don't have a smart phone, so it won't definitely be minute-by-minute for me, but, at best, get updates on my laptop at the hotel early in the am or late at night...

What's the big diffence between ridemax and touring plans?

Has anybody here used both and can answer this?

 

[whoopsiedoodle]

As a newbie I am completely enthralled by this discussion as I had no idea that such a program existed!!! TELL ME MORE!!! I want, no need, to let my inner geek out and reduce my stress.

 

[ekatiel]

What's the big diffence between ridemax and touring plans? I bought touring plans for DLR based on a suggestion on this site. I can see where it will be useful, but doesn't seem to be working right. We've used tourguidemike for WDW for 6 years and love it. I too love to know minute by minute where we are going to maximize our time, especially with a 4 yr old.

Touring Plans has set tour plans that you can follow. They have several different plans, but you still have to stick to one of their plans. I think they may have recently added a customized touring plans feature similar to Ridemax, but I can't speak to how well it works. Ridemax is a computer program (they now have a mobile app, too) where you can tell the program what day you'll be in a specific park, what time you'll arrive, and what rides/shows you want to do. It then spits out a customized touring plan for you that minimizes your wait time . You can usually download your dates about 60 days in advance and begin playing with plans. It's really neat to see how moving lunch up 30 minutes or arriving at the park 15 minutes earlier will save you a ton of time on your plan . You can be as obsessive about tweaking your plans as you want to be. I like to run plans, switching up break or meal times until I feel I've got them worked out just right!

We've done Ridemax for WDW twice and once for DL. We visited DL Easter Weekend and we've done WDW the week before Christmas. We've never waited more than 17 minutes for ANY ride, and we always get all the headliners done. It's the best $20 I spend each trip!

As a newbie I am completely enthralled by this discussion as I had no idea that such a program existed!!! TELL ME MORE!!! I want, no need, to let my inner geek out and reduce my stress.

There's a whole Ridemax thread on the Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies board. I started it a few years ago before our first trip. Here's the link: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2118681&highlight=ridemax
Some of the FAQs might be a bit outdated, but the thread will give you the gist of the program . --Katie

 

[NorthernCalMom]

Thank you, Ekatiel, this is really helpful! Since a big part of purchasing the software is my being able to obsess over it and tweak our plans a gazillion times, Ridemax does indeed seem to be the better fit for me, so I went ahead and bought it. Will report back after our trip in August how it worked for us.

 

[3DisMunchkins]

We used ridemax for our last trip and I loved it. Although i didn't take the plans to the park with me, I had played with it so much in the weeks before I had an excellent idea of what we needed to do in order to avoid lines. So just kinda went with the flow that I had in my head.
As for Pixie Hollow...that was one of our changes to our Ridemax plan. We arrived at the park at 8:10 on a MM day (we did not have Mm). We had full intentions of heading straight to PP after grabbing ST FP, but walked by and saw PH was open with only a few people in line, so jumped in since my girls were dressed in their fairy dresses and it had to be done that day sometime. It was well worth it. The wait for PP was only 15 min when we got there and the wait for Pixie Hollow was well over an hour and a half after we finished Fantasyland.
Just an FYI, we only saw Rosetta and Tink. I'm not sure if that is typical. Last time we were there we saw Silvermist, who loved my son in his Mickey santa hat. Then we went to Tink and Terrance. Silvermist went behind the door and got Rosetta, since my twins were dressed as Rosetta and Silvermist so we ended up with pics with all four. It was the highlight of our trip. I know THAT is not typical but they spent at least 20 minutes with my kiddos playing and Tink and Terrance arguing over who broke the scepter. I felt so guitly that I finally said we should go. I know they cannot do this for everyone and our visit this time was pretty short, but that trip is a great memory and I got awsome pics. Pixie dust for us that day!!

On a side note, Ridemax does not make plans for Sundays. You have to pick another day and adjust as much as possible to mirror your Sunday. It's not that big of an issue, but was news to me after I purchased (didn't read the fine print probably). Just pick a MM day without TTMM if that is in your plan for the day.

Have a magical trip!!