RideMax Question

[LynneDurham]

Hey there, everyone!

Only 35 more days to go! Woo hoo!

We have a question about RideMax. We were surprised where in the day the program put some of the rides...contradicting the wisdom we often hear on the boards. For example, some that we hear we should run to first thing in the morning are much later in the schedule.

Your thoughts? Follow the plan or listen to conventional wisdom?

Thank you!

 

[avalon451]

I noticed that too! Ridemax has a few funny ideas. For example, Peter Pan should always be first in FL. Also, they don't use FP as much as some of the conventional wisdom around here goes. You can collect a lot more FPs than they have you getting. On some trial plans I made, I noticed them having you ride a FP ride in the morning (sometimes with a wait of 20 minutes or more!) instead of FPing it and riding later.

We used Ridemax to come up with a basic plan, and get an idea of times-- but we just used it as a guideline, and then wrote our own plans based on the ideas here. I'm thinking that would be a better way to go.

 

[jason417]

In the plan options if you select the option to take advantage of late FastPass you'll get a better schedule in terms of FastPass usage. RideMax is a cool program but you have to tailor it to your preferences. For example, we don't like circling the park a million times; we'd rather hit all the rides in one area of the park and move on. To account for this preference you have to create a plan for just a 2 or 3-hour portion of the day with just those rides. Then RideMax is good to determine which order we should do those rides, especially if it's like 6pm to 9pm... some rides drastically reduce in wait time over those hours but others don't.

RideMax's goal seems to be to minimize your wait time and so that might mean hiking all over the place back and forth. I'd rather wait 10 minutes in line for a close ride than walk 5 minutes to another ride with no line, but that's just me. Anyway, it's a great tool... just have to use it in a way that meets your needs.

 

[nutshell]

RideMax takes walking time into account too. Sometimes it's necessary to walk back and forth, but I've noticed a lot of my plans keep us in the same area.

 

[vbecky]

Just remember also even though it states in plan to use FP ride you don't have to use it then could always skip ahead and be a head of schedule then that way you will always be ahead and when done with schedule you will have extra time to do other rides again. You do have to remember also to pick up FP along the way though it won't tell you to grab one every chance you have. I love Ridemax I think it works great!!!

 

[Leofoenget]

Hey there, everyone!

Only 35 more days to go! Woo hoo!

We have a question about RideMax. We were surprised where in the day the program put some of the rides...contradicting the wisdom we often hear on the boards. For example, some that we hear we should run to first thing in the morning are much later in the schedule.

Your thoughts? Follow the plan or listen to conventional wisdom?

Thank you!

I have used RM a few times. You need to mess with it to get the hang of it. You can also use your own common sense with it too. It may have you riding Indy at 11am, then go over to Buzz then ride Tiki Room. Common sense says just see Tiki Room then do Buzz. Chances are you are ahead of schedule anyway so it won't matter. I used RM late June and I was SOOOO much ahead I added a few rides on the list myself and was still ahead of schedule. I also like to copy and paste it into a Word Doc to customize it myself. Sometimes it will say "free time" and I will change that to SEE PARADE.

anyway I like it

 

[LynneDurham]

Thank you for the great suggestions, everyone!

We don't mind criss-crossing the park multiple times...we just figure we don't have to get up and run in the morning if we do that.

Sounds like the best thing for us to do is to use RideMax as a guide and customize on the fly depending on actual events on the ground.

One more question:

It doesn't seem to allow us to take advantage of Magic Mornings...is that just because final dates haven't been released for our trip time period yet? Or does it not allow you to customize for MM?

Thanks again! This is a wise group that will make our trip truly magical!

Lynne

 

[Hound 109]

Thank you for the great suggestions, everyone!

We don't mind criss-crossing the park multiple times...we just figure we don't have to get up and run in the morning if we do that.

Sounds like the best thing for us to do is to use RideMax as a guide and customize on the fly depending on actual events on the ground.

One more question:

It doesn't seem to allow us to take advantage of Magic Mornings...is that just because final dates haven't been released for our trip time period yet? Or does it not allow you to customize for MM?

Thanks again! This is a wise group that will make our trip truly magical!

Lynne

I agree with most everyone above....& use it as a tool. (& it's a pretty neat tool).

But i avoid crossing the parks multiple times for rides & FP collecting...not as important to me since i'm at the parks early & ahead of the game anyway. (But I do strategically pick up FPs early & often).

Regarding MM....RideMax doesn't include MM touring, so imo it's best to follow the order that has been given here often. If you have multiple days of MM, post here what rides you want to enjoy during MM & you'll get lots of opinions how best to enjoy one or two days of MM....there are lots of ways to enjoy MM depending on your attraction preferences....but DO be sure to take advantage of it.

Have a great time at Walt's park.

 

[vbecky]

it doesn't allow you to input rides for MM but on those days it will give you a suggestion on which order to ride the rides in. I used that suggested order last year late June and I was able to ride every ride in the allowed 1 hour time frame with the exception to Nemo.

 

[jason417]

Yeah I would add, as others have hinted at, RideMax tends to be very conservative. Probably anyone who has used it will report having shorter lines than RideMax predicted... often it is only by a few minutes but those minutes add up. I always add in "if-there-is-time" rides to the list in case we get ahead of schedule. You don't necessarily want to shift your entire day up a half hour. It's sometimes better to fill in that 30 mins with a ride on the fly because, for example, RideMax may have you riding Thunder Mtn at 9:10pm because Fantasmic is going at that time and the line is shorter. If you adjust everything up 30 mins because you're ahead of schedule then you'll end up in line at 8:40 when the line is probably twice as long.

Anyway, food for thought.... Much of what RideMax tells you to do is common sense. For us, the biggest advantage is that it keeps moving along rather than getting off each ride and standing around for 5 minutes trying to decide where to go next.

 

[LuvEeyore]

I liked the program. the hints were what I took with me especially the information on Early entry days, viewing of parades, etc and did several plans and then took them with me and used what applied and then did my own thing. I did not want to go back and forth. We did use fast passes. The plans that worked the best for us were the ones that I did in 2-3 hour blocks using one or two adjacent lands.

 

[kylieh]

We have been playing with Ridemax for a few months and having a look at different options and how it works. On my test plans I have completed both a "Slow" Touring Speed and "Normal" Touring Speed. The overall difference in time is very nominal, however can mean a lot less time walking. Also, try scheduling without a lunch break, as I've discovered that there always seem to be free time periods between noon and 2pm.