RideMax Users Thread (FAQs Linked in First Post!)

[jamstew]

i am having trouble getting my head round this. ridemax has me on a break for 1 hour then a ride then 30 mins break then a ride as they are the last two would you not just go on them and then go back to hotel early or do some shopping in stead of wasting time tort it was to save time

One option would be to change the time you plan to leave the park & see what happens.

 

[tpettie]

i am having trouble getting my head round this. ridemax has me on a break for 1 hour then a ride then 30 mins break then a ride as they are the last two would you not just go on them and then go back to hotel early or do some shopping in stead of wasting time tort it was to save time

Some of the things I have found to work were to shorten the time to a specific time frame. Say I knowI don't want a break where they give it to me I take the three rides around that time put into the options menu only an hour time slot around it IE 1pm -2pm see what order and time lines for those rides.

I have also done one ride say tweleve time to see the progression of how busy it gets and when it will slow down again.

 

[vinotinto]

I'm trying to make a comparison between two dates in 2010. Will purchasing RideMax allow me to make those comparisons? I see the plans come out 2-4 weeks before.

I also would like to know if it recommends specific days for the activities, or if you need to tell the program: I'm going to MK on xx/xx/2010.

 

[Cinderella1122]

Am I able to download the disneyland version of ridemax onto the same computer as my wdw version? Will it affect my wdw version?

I am planning a trip to DL in May and want to start playing around with some plans, since i've never been before. However, I am still using the wdw version for my upcoming xmas trip

 

[CanadianPaco]

Yes! I had the WDW 1yr version while I used the 3 month DL version earlier this year. No problem!

 

[tpettie]

I'm wondering how accurate the wait times are? I have played with it to workout getting rides into the time slots I want but want to know how reliable it will be for the expected waits.

 

[dolphindan1]

I'm wondering how accurate the wait times are? I have played with it to workout getting rides into the time slots I want but want to know how reliable it will be for the expected waits.

I am trying it this year too..I have reaad thru the thread from other peoples results and most said it was very accurate...a few hiccups from some but you cant predict break downs and such...we are going on the 14 and using TGMs best day advice with Ridemax schedule so I will report my results

 

[tpettie]

I am trying it this year too..I have reaad thru the thread from other peoples results and most said it was very accurate...a few hiccups from some but you cant predict break downs and such...we are going on the 14 and using TGMs best day advice with Ridemax schedule so I will report my results

I used TGM tour plan last year worked really well over. I have worked with Ride max to combine TMG's plan but added the time expected from ride max to see how it looked last year some of the things we ran out of time for was trying to make sure I could squeese it all in this year. Crossing my fingers.

 

[vicki_c]

Shouldn't January RideMax info be available soon? Anyone know?

We did use TGM & RideMax together earlier this year -- a bit of both, mixed in with some of "nothing." We are WDW and TGM veterans, so we don't need that much touring help but I enjoyed RideMax - gave me some different ideas. Anyway, I'm thinking of getting it again for our January trip - more for something fun to do before we go, I think!

 

[dkbnyc]

how does ridemax work with Fastpasses? should i choose the option to send a runner? Does the late Fast pass option really work- are the times really open ended or should we go during the indicated time on the FP?

and i have a Dumbo question- seems like everyone says go do Dumbo first. My RM plan waits to do Dumbo until 1:40pm and says its a 41min wait. I think thats too long for a 4yo and 22mo to wait. And this was using the plan that should minimize wait time

 

[tiggspring]

how does ridemax work with Fastpasses? should i choose the option to send a runner? Does the late Fast pass option really work- are the times really open ended or should we go during the indicated time on the FP?

and i have a Dumbo question- seems like everyone says go do Dumbo first. My RM plan waits to do Dumbo until 1:40pm and says its a 41min wait. I think thats too long for a 4yo and 22mo to wait. And this was using the plan that should minimize wait time

The day you do dumbo you should be at the gate early. One of the first families at the castle rope drop or you will wait quite a while. Same for tinkerbell. Be at toontown 15-20 min before opening. We did this and still waited 20 to meet Tink. First family on dunbo though!

 

[dawnandnala]

Shouldn't January RideMax info be available soon? Anyone know?

The next month usually comes out on or around the 15th.

 

[Lisa0620]

bump

 

[jasper]

What are the types of tips that RideMax provides that TGM doesn't? I'm not looking to build a touring plan so maybe RideMax isn't right for us, but I read on their web site that they give you tips like where to stand for a parade to guarantee interaction with the characters, and things like that. Those are the things I learned from TGM that I liked best, as well as their which parks on which days. Is there a lot of stuff like that in RideMax, or is almost entirely devoted to choosing what rides to ride in what order to maximize your day?

Also, a little off topic, but is there much of anything new on TGM aside from him updating the which parks, which days? I think I can figure that out mostly on my own by now!!!

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

Ride max will order your chosen rides with the least waiting it can and then at the end of the plan there are tips for that particular park like you said with the parade area viewing etc
also there is a whole tips section on the software that you can read through too that isn't part of your particular plan
I rework the plan many times tweeking things here and there until I have a plan I like

 

[dkbnyc]

Ride max will order your chosen rides with the least waiting it can and then at the end of the plan there are tips for that particular park like you said with the parade area viewing etc
also there is a whole tips section on the software that you can read through too that isn't part of your particular plan
I rework the plan many times tweeking things here and there until I have a plan I like

how do you rework/tweak plans? is there any way to change the order they put rides in.
the only changes i see i can make are my starting and stopping times or adding break times. For example- i want to get a FP for TSM first thing at DHS, but my RM plan doestn have me do TSM until after 1pm. How can i fix that?

 

[Tomh]

We used Ridemax to plan for our August / September 2009 trip. Overall, I would say that it was great. There were times that we had some difficulty keeping up with it, but I think that we can work around that for our next trip. I liked the Ridemax plans better than the UOG plans, because they give specific times, so you have a way to judge how you are doing. If you are starting to fall behind, you can skip over something to make up the time, if you are way ahead, you can add in an extra potty break, or a few minutes goofing around doing something else.

We found that the first half an hour or so in the morning, the plans tended to be very optimistic. With DS5, DD14, and DW and I, plus the stroller to deal with, it was next to impossible to keep up. The plans, in general, expect that within 6 minutes or so of rope drop, you will be able to collect a fast pass, and get on your first ride. It never worked out quite that quickly for us. Even with me forging ahead in the mad rush for the first fast passes, and doing fairly well, by the time I got them, got hooked back up with DW & the kids, and got onto the ride, it was well past the 6 minutes that Ride Max allowed us, and then by the time we got off the ride, we were well late for the second ride of the day.

I think that for next year, we'll simply set our start time at 9:15 instead of 9:00, which will buy us a bit more time to deal with that first fast pass, and ride.

After the first couple of rides though, we were almost always able to catch back up with the schedule, and keep up with it. Often, we even had some extra time between rides because we had gotten things done more quickly than Ride Max figured.

We did allow 90 minutes for each TS meal, and 60 for each CS meal, and those times seemed to work quite well for us.

I give Ride Max two thumbs up, and will certainly use it again for our 2010 vacation.

 

[tpettie]

how do you rework/tweak plans? is there any way to change the order they put rides in.
the only changes i see i can make are my starting and stopping times or adding break times. For example- i want to get a FP for TSM first thing at DHS, but my RM plan doestn have me do TSM until after 1pm. How can i fix that?

One of the things I have worked out to tweek with it is to put my tour plan into an excel spreedsheet on the going from the left I have the following colums (time, ex wait, walk time, then the ride/activitie name)

Then with ride max I will do things like work in periods of an hour or so puting in the three rides I want in the time space. then I enter them and the time into the spreadsheet to keep track. Sometimes I will block the whole day with one ride to see the time progression of how busy it is when. or what fastpass waits are at different times.

This seems to be working well just hope the times for the expected waits are going to be right

 

[Grandma4ever]

how does ridemax work with Fastpasses? should i choose the option to send a runner? Does the late Fast pass option really work- are the times really open ended or should we go during the indicated time on the FP?

RM gives you two options for FP. !st is to have only one person run to get the fass pass and meet back with the group. I have never used this but it may work if you have small kids and have a person in the party who is able and willing to get their exercise while on vacation. The second is to have everyone go together. This is what I perfer.

FP do have a start and a stop time on them. However the CM rarely hold anyone to the end time. In fact I have never been stopped from using a fastpass after the end time. They are however, very strict with the start time.

You also have to speed levels. Regular which in fact is pretty fast. And slow. I have not attempted that speed but am thinking about trying it this December.

The plan is most important to follow closely in the morning and I have found it to be failrly ture to the wait times. The closer to your trip you finalize and print your plans the more correct they will be. RM updates wait times, showtimes and park hour regurlarly.

My only complaint with RIDEMAX is the cost I really wish it was less but it worked very well for me and I will use it again.

 

[vicki_c]

and i have a Dumbo question- seems like everyone says go do Dumbo first. My RM plan waits to do Dumbo until 1:40pm and says its a 41min wait. I think thats too long for a 4yo and 22mo to wait. And this was using the plan that should minimize wait time

I never created a single RM Magic Kingdom plan that didn't put Dumbo as the first attraction of the day -- and I created a whole bunch of plans when I was playing around with the software. Seems like something else in your plan is causing that - are you not planning on arriving at Rope Drop? That's the only thing I can figure out that might cause that.