RideMax Users Thread (FAQs Linked in First Post!)

[jamstew]

Has anybody actually brought a laptop with them and made plans while they were there? We're hoping to try this for the last few days of our trip (since it's our first trip, we're not sure which parks we will want to revisit, etc). We're bringing my laptop, and DH's Blackberry, which can work like a modem to the laptop. Then, we will probably just hand write down the plans for the day. Just wondering if anyone's tried this yet and has any tips. --Katie

Haven't yet but plan to in 25 days I've downloaded an app for my iPhone that enables me to transfer files from computer to phone, so I won't need anything but the phone when I'm in the parks

 

[OhioMom]

Hi everyone. I found this thread the other day and read some of it and really liked what I was seeing so I downloaded Ridemax today! I am working on my plan for DHS on 6/9. I am planning on us being there at rope drop. My plan is saying to get our TSM fastpass at 9:05am. If the park doesn't open until 9:00am how can you make your way over to TSM in 5 minutes? I've never been to DHS when the park first opens. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[DaveStroem]

Hi everyone. I found this thread the other day and read some of it and really liked what I was seeing so I downloaded Ridemax today! I am working on my plan for DHS on 6/9. I am planning on us being there at rope drop. My plan is saying to get our TSM fastpass at 9:05am. If the park doesn't open until 9:00am how can you make your way over to TSM in 5 minutes? I've never been to DHS when the park first opens. Any help would be appreciated!

You get there 30 minutes before the park opening, then about 15 minutes before they let you go through the turnstiles and you gather at a rope across the main street right before Sunset Blvd takes off. At 9:00 they pull the rope away and you follow the CM to either TSM, RnRc or ToT.

TSM CM looking confused because the Rope Drop show is running late

RnRc & ToT CM. She was worried that she might get run over.

The line for TSM just after we got in the stand by line.

 

[vicki_c]

Haven't yet but plan to in 25 days I've downloaded an app for my iPhone that enables me to transfer files from computer to phone, so I won't need anything but the phone when I'm in the parks

We had something like that, but it can only send via wireless and for some unknown reason, we could not get our wireless router working last trip (BCV), so we were unable to update the phone files on the fly. It stunk! So make sure you know how to get wireless access if you need it (that was the AirShare app we were using - it works great for lots of things, but you need wireless for updating it).

 

[OhioMom]

You get there 30 minutes before the park opening, then about 15 minutes before they let you go through the turnstiles and you gather at a rope across the main street right before Sunset Blvd takes off. At 9:00 they pull the rope away and you follow the CM to either TSM, RnRc or ToT.

Thank you for the info and the pics! Now, I don't see Sounds Dangerous as a choice. We've never seen this and we're trying to hit some new things this trip. Any idea on why it's not a choice and how I could schedule that, maybe as a "break"? The park map says it is a 12 minute show, but how long of a wait to see it?

 

[vicki_c]

I think Sounds Dangerous is closed now - or "seasonal" in Disney-speak! But I think it's gone, to return ...??? ... maybe never.

 

[OhioMom]

Thanks Vicki!

 

[Conesus_Kid]

We just got back from our first family trip to the World (April 19-24th). I attribute the success of the trip to Ridemax (and the DISboards, of course!).

We had a couple of small glitches, but they were not the fault of the software. We had a group of 12 (5 kids and 7 adults) with one of the kids in a stroller. I was a bit overambitious by selecting the 'Normal' touring speed rather than 'Slow'.

Regardless, we only had to forego Peter Pan on Monday (which we hit on Thursday) and the Maharajah Jungle trek at Animal Kingdom. Other than that, we had packed, fun-filled mornings and left each day around 1 PM after lunch when the crowds and heat arrived.

As far as the wait time predictions go: it was eerie how accurate they were. The longest we waited in any line this whole week was the Fastpass lines for Soarin' and TSM. (Both were around 15 minutes.)

I only used Ridemax for our mornings. I left evenings open for ADRs and casual strolling around the park.

I am a person who hates crowds and has little patience for waiting in line for things. I can honestly say that my family just had the best vacation we've ever been on. We were able to do more than we ever imagined, didn't fight crowds, and had ZERO meltdowns (my girls are 8, 6, and 5).

My wife and I were talking about how so many of the "magical" moments and interactions w/ characters were a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Ridemax allowed us to take advantage of those moments since we knew when we had time to search out a character or get that perfect picture.

I will definitely purchase Ridemax again when we take our next trip to WDW.

 

[DaveStroem]

Conesus Kid, I am so glad you had a great trip. We are going again in Sept and even though it will be less crowded, I am still going to use RM if for nothing else as a way to list what we want to do.

It amazes me the contrast of people that have a plan and those that don't.

RideMax, the best $18.95 that you will spend on your Disney vacation.

 

[OhioMom]

We just got back from our first family trip to the World (April 19-24th). I attribute the success of the trip to Ridemax (and the DISboards, of course!).

Sound like you guys had a wonderful vacation!

 

[OhioMom]

OK, another rope drop question...how does this work at Animal Kingdom. Park opens at 9:00am, breakfast ressie at Tusker House at 9:30am, but I am putting 9:15am on my plan because when you make ressies they suggest arriving 15 min early. Ridemax is telling me I can get either KSafari fastpass or EE fastpass at 9:05am, depending on how I work my plans. I am thinking they must let you enter the park part of the way in order for Ridemax to give you only 5 minutes to arrive at the fp machines for either KSafari or EE.

I am thinking my family is not going to want to rush past everything and is going to want to leisurely stroll to Tusker House. Now I suppose I could run to get the FP while the rest of the family takes their time getting to Tusker House. Any other ideas on how to do this?

 

[ekatiel]

Bumping this thread for a poster on another thread who has questions about RideMax in June. --Katie

 

[Conesus_Kid]

Now I suppose I could run to get the FP while the rest of the family takes their time getting to Tusker House. Any other ideas on how to do this?

That is what I would do.

You'll want to arrive to the park by 8:30 AM at the latest. About 15 minutes before rope drop, they'll let everyone through the turnstiles and will hold everyone back near the tip board until the official opening time.

At that point, you would take everyone's tickets to get your FP's and have your family take their time getting to Tusker House. Getting to those FP machines right at 9:05 will give you more flexibility in your day as opposed to getting to the FP machines at 9:30.

Having a Fastpass Runner makes it easier to stick to the Ridemax times. I was our runner last week, and we were able to keep up pretty well with a group of 12!

 

[DaveStroem]

OK, another rope drop question...how does this work at Animal Kingdom. Park opens at 9:00am, breakfast ressie at Tusker House at 9:30am, but I am putting 9:15am on my plan because when you make ressies they suggest arriving 15 min early. Ridemax is telling me I can get either KSafari fastpass or EE fastpass at 9:05am, depending on how I work my plans. I am thinking they must let you enter the park part of the way in order for Ridemax to give you only 5 minutes to arrive at the fp machines for either KSafari or EE.

I am thinking my family is not going to want to rush past everything and is going to want to leisurely stroll to Tusker House. Now I suppose I could run to get the FP while the rest of the family takes their time getting to Tusker House. Any other ideas on how to do this?

I would take everyone over to EE and ride it then go to KS and get FP then to Breakfast. You may not be there 15 minutes before your ADR but you won't be late either.

I would either start use the RM plan that has you getting the KS FP first, or start your RM plan after your ADR and consider the EE ride and KS FP as a bonus to be fit in the afternoon.

 

[quantumottle]

I found the wait times to be scary accurate. There was one ride that I thought was going to trip it up as RM said 15 minutes but the sign board said 30 minutes. We got in line and loaded into the ride vehicle 15 minutes later. As I said, scary accurate. <snip>

It REALLY IS scary huh Dave? I'm so happy to see so many people learning about RM, and you've become quite the RM expert it seems, helping so many people. Only 4 months ago people would jump all over me for spreading the great news of RM, and now it seems that even the old timers who thought I was wrong are coming around...

<snip>RideMax, the best $18.95 that you will spend on your Disney vacation.

So true, it outta' be the RM slogan. Hehe.

 

[Sheila E.]

I'm a newbie could someone pease explain to me what this is? Thanks Sheila

 

[Doogan]

I've never used Ridemax but it sounds very cool. I have a question about it for you Ridemax gurus out there.

Can you plan more than 1 park in a day? We are thinking about going down for 1 day. In the past we've actually hit all 4 parks in one day withour kids and done at least a couple of rides at each park.

I was thinking it would be cool to be able to let everybody tell me which rides they want to do regardless of which park, enter them all in and let Ridemax tell me which order to do the parks in rather than me trying to figure it all out. I realize this is an extreme use case, but just wondering if it can do something wild like that or not.

 

[JaimeK]

I only used Ridemax for our mornings. I left evenings open for ADRs and casual strolling around the park.

This is exactly what I'm planning on - fun-filled mornings, naps and leisurely evenings. I'm glad to hear that it worked so well for you!

 

[ekatiel]

I'm a newbie could someone pease explain to me what this is? Thanks Sheila

Ridemax is a software that you can subscribe to ($18.95 for a 90 day sub for WDW) that allows you to tell it what day you will be a which park, when you will arrive and leave, any breaks you will take, and exactly which rides/attractions you want to ride/do. Then, it takes all that information and spits out a customized touring plan for you that minimizes wait times. You can even tell it that you want to ride a certain ride more than once, or tell it where in the park you will be taking your breaks, etc. It factors all the information in, and gives you a plan that minimizes wait times. I've been really impressed so far-- we will be using our plans next week, so I'll report back on how it goes-- other people seem to be very pleased with how the plans work out! HTH!

I've never used Ridemax but it sounds very cool. I have a question about it for you Ridemax gurus out there.

Can you plan more than 1 park in a day? We are thinking about going down for 1 day. In the past we've actually hit all 4 parks in one day withour kids and done at least a couple of rides at each park.

I was thinking it would be cool to be able to let everybody tell me which rides they want to do regardless of which park, enter them all in and let Ridemax tell me which order to do the parks in rather than me trying to figure it all out. I realize this is an extreme use case, but just wondering if it can do something wild like that or not.

The way the software works, you have to choose a day and a park to start with, so there's no way to plug in rides from multiple parks and let it decide which park to visit first. You can do multiple plans for the same day, though (ie-- tell it you will be in MK from 9am-noon, and then make a plan, then make another plan for DHS from noon-4pm, etc). Does that make sense? I hope I answered your question! --Katie

 

[LilMommyBug]

When will the show times for May 9-16th be available? Are the estimated times fairly accurate?