RideMax Users Thread (FAQs Linked in First Post!)

[ancestry]

I haven't purchased RideMax yet since we aren't in our 90 day window. Actually I will probably wait until 80 days or so, so that I will have the subscription through the end of our trip in case I need to revisit our plans while on-site.

My question is, is there anyway to interface RideMax with an iPhone? Will I need a full computer with Internet access to utilize the program while at Disney or is there a way I can access the program from the iPhone web browser?

 

[quantumottle]

great idea for a thread, I Love Ridemax so much! =)
At first, I was happy to see that very few people here on the DIS ever mentioned Ridemax - glad to keep it my little secret. But then I started to feel guilty for not mentioning it, especially after speaking with Mark and finding out what a great guy he is. Now I've been accused of talking about it too much, but I'm even more happy to see so many people starting to talk about Ridemax.

It's a miracle worker in my opinion. You cannot go wrong. And now the bar has been risen, what are the other guys gonna' do now? lol.

 

[Danauk]

My question is, is there anyway to interface RideMax with an iPhone? Will I need a full computer with Internet access to utilize the program while at Disney or is there a way I can access the program from the iPhone web browser?

I don't think you can use ridemax on your iphone. However what we plan to do is email our plans to our iphones. We take our laptops with us on trips so we can access the internet (luckily for free in the DVC villas) then email the plans to our iphones.

 

[DWFan4Life]

I'm in here, thanks for starting the thread, I'm glad I found it.

Have a nice day everyone.

 

[ekatiel]

I don't think you can use ridemax on your iphone. However what we plan to do is email our plans to our iphones. We take our laptops with us on trips so we can access the internet (luckily for free in the DVC villas) then email the plans to our iphones.

We're planning on doing the same thing (except we'll email them to DH's Blackberry). Maybe you should email RideMax ans ask about the possiblity of creating an Iphone app. That would be really cool if you could use it WHILE you were in the park! --Katie

 

[DaveStroem]

So do the you use pure RideMax plans or do you do hybrids?

I have found that I prefer making hybrid plans. By making several plans you can tell what the wait will be at specific ride at that time. Then combine elements of several plans to get things in the order that works for us even if it is not 100% the most efficient plan.

Example: I want to do KS ar AK first thing. RideMax will almost never suggest you ride a headliner first thing. It always wants you to get a FP.

 

[sandym718]

So do the you use pure RideMax plans or do you do hybrids?

I have found that I prefer making hybrid plans. By making several plans you can tell what the wait will be at specific ride at that time. Then combine elements of several plans to get things in the order that works for us even if it is not 100% the most efficient plan.

Example: I want to do KS ar AK first thing. RideMax will almost never suggest you ride a headliner first thing. It always wants you to get a FP.

So how are you doing this? We want to do certain rides first, too. Are you making a plan for JUST that ride and then doing another plan starting at the end time of the first one?

 

[DaveStroem]

So how are you doing this? We want to do certain rides first, too. Are you making a plan for JUST that ride and then doing another plan starting at the end time of the first one?

First off, you have to make a plan that has at least 3 attractions. I put in a start time for what I need for that attraction, then I put in 2 shows with specific times set. I try to time this so there won't be enough time after the shows to make using FP make since. When I run the software, it will most often give me the attraction at the time I want. I then take that and put that into Excel to build my plan or put in a break at that time for the next plan.

I have been working on a 1/2 day DHS plan for an EMH morning.
I want to do TSM twice, R'n'RC, TOT, ST, Jedi and Indy.
So I made a plan for ST, Jedi and Indy that started at 9:00 am. From this, I found out what times I needed for the shows. It ended up that if I get in line for ST at 9:50 the others times work out well. I then added my TSM FP after Indy. Since RideMax doesn't do EMH, my ??? is whether or not I can grab a TSM FP, and ride TSM, R'n'RC and TOT in time to get to ST by 9:50. The ride length and walking times come to 45 minutes which leaves over a hour for standing in lines. I am betting that during a morning EMH I can get that done.

 

[chicagoshannon]

If you're returning to the same park in the afternoon, you might also want to try making one schedule with a huge break in the middle. That way, you can use some of the FP's that you got earlier in the day to ride rides in the evening.

I've worried about the potty break thing, too (Is it awful that I'm intentionally NOT potty training my almost three year old, just so I don't have to deal with it at Disney?? ). Anybody else have solutions for potty breaks? --Katie

I'm trying to hold off on potty training too

So do the you use pure RideMax plans or do you do hybrids?

I have found that I prefer making hybrid plans. By making several plans you can tell what the wait will be at specific ride at that time. Then combine elements of several plans to get things in the order that works for us even if it is not 100% the most efficient plan.

Example: I want to do KS ar AK first thing. RideMax will almost never suggest you ride a headliner first thing. It always wants you to get a FP.

I'm doing a hybrid also but scheduling my "start time" after the first ride of the day would be done and then not including it in my plan.

 

[bwilcox]

Here's a tip for Mac users:
We only have Macs at our house (DH is a Mac fanatic), and Ridemax says it doesn't work on Macs yet. So my DH installed a program called Parallels that when you open it, runs your computer as if it were a PC using Windows. I just downloaded Ridemax using this and it works!

 

[tofubeast]

Big fan of Ridemax here. We used if for our DLR trip last summer, and it was simply amazing. I got it again for our upcoming WDW trip as well.

Some tips:

1) If it doesn't have you getting a FP as your first thing, try to squeeze that in. You will start the day ahead with a set of FPs in hand.

2) RM updates FREQUENTLY. So do not finalize your touring plan till a few days before you go. If you are a nut like me who constantly checks, you will start to get a sense of what rides or wait times fluxuate, but do not print that final plan until right before you go.

3) Make "alternate" plans to account things like getting to the park later than expected, ride closures, or deciding to tour at faster/slower paces. For instance, if you plan on getting their for rope drop...make one more plan that assumes you were 20 mins late....that way you have a back up plan.

4) Try not to have it do your entire day in one gigantic plan. I had more success breaking up the day into morning, afternoon and evenings.

5)Warning, Ridemax users can become OBSESSIVE (trust me the quest for the perfect plan is just as fun as actually being at the park and following the plan) and EGOTISTICAL ("My plan is THE most perfect touring plan of the park ever made!")

6) If your family makes cracks like "can you at least schedule in my bathroom breaks"... don't worry about it. We always found ourselves ahead of the plan.. it was a little conservative at times. So there was always time for bathroom breaks etc.... At DLR we were once a good hour ahead of schedule! Even my DH who teased me relentlessly about the plans I did on Ridemax was SO thankful when he realized what little wait he had in lines. In fact, he asked me to get it for our upcoming trip!


Have fun!!

 

[singingpixie]

My latest Kilamanjaro Safaris discovery is that it's better to schedule a "break" at 9:05am in Africa, that lasts for 45 mins, than it is to schedule your plan to start later- that way it accounts for you being at the back of the park when you start your Ridemax plan.

 

[kathyfranklin]

I have a few variations for each park printed out.

How do you bring them to the park?

Loose papers?
Folders?

I am toying with the idea of printing everything (plans, ADRs, touring tips, etc) on 5x7, and making dividers - then having it sprial bound with a soft cover.

That way I should have what I need in a small soft book I can slip into my purse.

What has worked for you?

 

[DaveStroem]

I have copy & pasted the schedules into Excel, then saved them as PDFs then I open the PDFs in Photoshop and add maps etc....

I then print them out on 3 3/4 x 6 3/4 to fit in a day planner binder.

I have pages with the airline info, ME info, resort info, schedule at a glance, park hours, crowd calendar/best days, ADRs, touring plans, menus, DDP snacks, photopass locations, firework schedule, live entertainment schedule 7 weather forecast.

I am making 2 of these, one to use and a back up to defeat Murphy.

 

[kathyfranklin]

I have copy & pasted the schedules into Excel, then saved them as PDFs then I open the PDFs in Photoshop and add maps etc....

I then print them out on 3 3/4 x 6 3/4 to fit in a day planner binder.

I have pages with the airline info, ME info, resort info, schedule at a glance, park hours, crowd calendar/best days, ADRs, touring plans, menus, DDP snacks, photopass locations, firework schedule, live entertainment schedule 7 weather forecast.

I am making 2 of these, one to use and a back up to defeat Murphy.

Wow! WHat is schedule at a glance?

Where do you get the maps?

Why do copy & paste into excel first (not word)?

Do you copy & paste the rest of the stuff, too (resort info, ADRS, menus)?

Have a great trip!

 

[sandym718]

My latest Kilamanjaro Safaris discovery is that it's better to schedule a "break" at 9:05am in Africa, that lasts for 45 mins, than it is to schedule your plan to start later- that way it accounts for you being at the back of the park when you start your Ridemax plan.

Thank you, I will try this!

 

[cinderwannabe]

What's happened to the blocks of time for the world showcase??? I can't seem to find them!

 

[ekatiel]

My latest Kilamanjaro Safaris discovery is that it's better to schedule a "break" at 9:05am in Africa, that lasts for 45 mins, than it is to schedule your plan to start later- that way it accounts for you being at the back of the park when you start your Ridemax plan.

Thanks for the tip-- I'm going to try that!

I am toying with the idea of printing everything (plans, ADRs, touring tips, etc) on 5x7, and making dividers - then having it sprial bound with a soft cover.

That way I should have what I need in a small soft book I can slip into my purse.

What has worked for you?

I have copy & pasted the schedules into Excel, then saved them as PDFs then I open the PDFs in Photoshop and add maps etc....

I then print them out on 3 3/4 x 6 3/4 to fit in a day planner binder.

I have pages with the airline info, ME info, resort info, schedule at a glance, park hours, crowd calendar/best days, ADRs, touring plans, menus, DDP snacks, photopass locations, firework schedule, live entertainment schedule 7 weather forecast.

I am making 2 of these, one to use and a back up to defeat Murphy.

Wow! You guys are SUPER organized!!!! Pretty impressive!

What's happened to the blocks of time for the world showcase??? I can't seem to find them!

I think once you get really close to your trip date, the blocks disappear and are replaced with actual individual times for movies, performers, etc in Epcot. That way, you can make an even more detailed plan! if you are close to your trip, that's probably what happened to the blocks of time. If not, I don't have an answer for you ! --Katie

 

[3"Mouse"keteers]

Has anyone else had trouble downloading the program? I purchased it today and downloaded the program, and when it tries to open and download data for the wait times, it gives me an error message that says I may need to disable my internet filters. How do I do this?

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

We're thinking of trying this out, thanks to this thread.