RideMax Users Thread (FAQs Linked in First Post!)

[quantumottle]

We are leaving for WDW in 5 days. If I purchased today, would there be enough time for me to learn how to use the program well enough to get around the world. We are only staying 4 days and I have 2 kids and this program sounds great for maximizing the time we will be there.
Any thoughts?

Just BE ABSOLUTELY SURE you do 2 things that so many new Ridemax users seem to skip.

1. After you launch the program for the first time, CLICK THE TIPS & HINTS BUTTON first thing and take 10 minutes to read every single page of the tips. This ALONE is probably worth the price of Ridemax.

2. I know it's tempting to start selecting what rides you want to visit, but before you do PLEASE click the PLAN OPTIONS Button and set the options for your personal taste. The only people I've heard of that didn't like Ridemax and wanted a refund, never bothered to set the options - and were then surprised that they didn't like the plans Ridemax gave them.

If you do those two things first, you will be a Ridemax expert in no time, and most people will also think you're suddenly some kind of WDW expert.

Good Luck!

 

[FeelsLikeHome]

Anyone know if the February 2010 dates are up? I'd like to wait to purchase Ridemax until they're up. If not, it would be like getting a new toy and not being able to play with it - haha!

Thanks!

 

[tpettie]

Just got back and used ridemax loved it. worked great with my own tweeking here and there. Times were right on unless there was something unforseen like a whole day or rain and ride break down.

 

[quantumottle]

I've got to tell you an amazing little story on Ridemax's accuracy.

This was on Sunday the 6th, a day that is already being discussed here on the DIS as having been unusually busy. It had rained constantly for three days prior to this day, which had caused Disney to postpone their Christmas Day Parade taping from the previous Friday until This Sunday.

Because of those factors, and others, I was concerned that Ridemax may be off as there is no way the program could anticipate all of that.

About an hour after the park opened we got ahead of schedule just a bit, so when we got to Winnie the Pooh in Fantasyland we were almost 10 minutes early. Ridemax said there would be no wait at all, we could walk right on, but the sign said stand-by wait time was 10 minutes. So we got in line, no biggie, 10 minutes is no issue at all however, I'm still curious if Ridemax is going to be spot on today like is always is.

Anyway, as we exit Winniw the Pooh my wife points to the entrance and says "look, nobody at all in line now".

Yep, that's right, if we'd been on time we would have done exactly what Ridemax said, we'd have walked on with no wait whatsoever. Since we were ahead of schedule we had a short wait, that was actually a little less than the posted 10 minute sign said.

Ridemax does it again, and was perfect the rest of the day even as it got incredibly busy that afternoon. I know it was only 10 minutes, but this is a story about the accuracy of Ridemax, to the minute. It's never failed me, even during the busiest week of the year, the week between Christmas and New Year.

 

[tiggspring]

I've got to tell you an amazing little story on Ridemax's accuracy.

This was on Sunday the 6th, a day that is already being discussed here on the DIS as having been unusually busy. It had rained constantly for three days prior to this day, which had caused Disney to postpone their Christmas Day Parade taping from the previous Friday until This Sunday.

Because of those factors, and others, I was concerned that Ridemax may be off as there is no way the program could anticipate all of that.

About an hour after the park opened we got ahead of schedule just a bit, so when we got to Winnie the Pooh in Fantasyland we were almost 10 minutes early. Ridemax said there would be no wait at all, we could walk right on, but the sign said stand-by wait time was 10 minutes. So we got in line, no biggie, 10 minutes is no issue at all however, I'm still curious if Ridemax is going to be spot on today like is always is.

Anyway, as we exit Winniw the Pooh my wife points to the entrance and says "look, nobody at all in line now".

Yep, that's right, if we'd been on time we would have done exactly what Ridemax said, we'd have walked on with no wait whatsoever. Since we were ahead of schedule we had a short wait, that was actually a little less than the posted 10 minute sign said.

Ridemax does it again, and was perfect the rest of the day even as it got incredibly busy that afternoon. I know it was only 10 minutes, but this is a story about the accuracy of Ridemax, to the minute. It's never failed me, even during the busiest week of the year, the week between Christmas and New Year.

What a great story! Yeah for you

All I know is that last year I had been planing with the unoffical guide planner. Using the book to determine ride/wait times and factoring in things on DISboard and my experience at WDW twice 15+yrs ago. It was taking me months but with my Fibromyalgia and 3 kid I knew a plan was a must.

Then I found ridemax and thought I'd give it a try. The plans kept telling me we could ride twice as much as I thought. I just didnt beleive it since I had to keep to one half of each park (no cross park runs), eat in the same area, and have nap breaks back at the Poly just to keep my FMS under some control. Well not only did we get to ride everything we wanted but many things Poo, Mickeys Phil, Buzz, Test track Soaring etc we saw 2-3times!!!! Plus I had the added benifit of no arguing kids. They didn't want to wait in line so they stuck to the plan and it wans't "moms fault" that they had to wait to do something

I cant wait to use ridemax with Blackberrys new app that will give me FP times and line times. I'll be able to maximize every bit of energy I 've got!

Thanks for the confirmation quantumottle

 

[tpettie]

I cant wait to use ridemax with Blackberrys new app that will give me FP times and line times. I'll be able to maximize every bit of energy I 've got!

What is this I didn't know there was one?? is it on the ridemax web site?

 

[RuthLS]

Just bought ridemax and I'm obsessed. I don't get how it works--but my husband is an engineer and I don't get what he does either.

My question is--since it does not support EMH, will the plan be off if you plan to attend parks with EMH?

We leave this upcoming Wed, and the last trip we took to WDW--the EMH really helped a lot.

I know it will be near full peak for the week we are going. Plan is to get as much done in the am as possible. Go home mid-late afternoon. Come back after dinner to another or same park.

We have park hoppers.

Also--do I really have to do my final plans on say Tuesday--or will the plans I'm doing now be close enough?

Thanks!

 

[quantumottle]

Talk about a great story, your beats mine hands down tpettie! It's so great to see so many people using Ridemax here on The DIS. Only a year ago it was hard to find anyone familiar with the program here.

 

[quantumottle]

Just bought ridemax and I'm obsessed. I don't get how it works--but my husband is an engineer and I don't get what he does either.

My question is--since it does not support EMH, will the plan be off if you plan to attend parks with EMH?

We leave this upcoming Wed, and the last trip we took to WDW--the EMH really helped a lot.

I know it will be near full peak for the week we are going. Plan is to get as much done in the am as possible. Go home mid-late afternoon. Come back after dinner to another or same park.

We have park hoppers.

Also--do I really have to do my final plans on say Tuesday--or will the plans I'm doing now be close enough?

Thanks!

From what I can tell the plan will not be "off" if you attend EMH, as long as you grab that first fastpass when you're scheduled to. Personally, I do a lot of extra tweaking on Ridemax to make sure I maximize fastpass usage, as any good touring plan should do. Just be sure to park hop out of there if it gets too busy, and you're visiting on a day when Ridemax says to avoid that park. Don't fall behind on FP's and you should be good to go.

Have A Great Trip !

 

[RuthLS]

Thank you quantumottle!

You are right the FP thing is the way too go. Our last trip there, we grabbed as many as we could and actually had some left at the end of our trip! (gasp!)

I'm actually surprised that ridemax and the unofficial guide does not have people take advantage of that more.

Ie a tip like--if there are other rides you might want to see and you are past your FP window--stop here to pick up a FP for later (or even the next day). Since we all know that Dis is not so strict about cking the return times.

Thanks again! We leave tomorrow and I can hardly contain myself. It's in the 30s here in Massachusetts. Brrrr...

 

[vicki_c]

Ruth - you cannot use a FP the next day. At one time, Disney was more lax about checking the dates, but no longer. Later on the same day will be no issue -- using on a different day will not work.

 

[dgutte]

I don't travel until Nov 2010, but I am keen to get hold of RideMax now.

I will be going for the 12th month version so there is no problem there, but with my park hrs not being realised for many months am I wasting my time getting it now? Or is it worth getting now to have a play about with the system and get used to it?

 

[Minxe]

I bet it does, since it runs on Windows Vista and Windows 7 is basically a Vista w/ bug fixes. I run Linux and Ridemax even works on my computer. At any rate, there is a 100% money back guarantee so it costs nothing to try.

just as an update, RideMax works beautifully on Windows 7.

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

I don't travel until Nov 2010, but I am keen to get hold of RideMax now.

I will be going for the 12th month version so there is no problem there, but with my park hrs not being realised for many months am I wasting my time getting it now? Or is it worth getting now to have a play about with the system and get used to it?

I know you are anxious to get started, but wait until at least the summer to get it. It doesn't take that long to learn and fool around with and you will just be waiting with nothing to do until it opens the calendar for your dates. It can get really annoying waitning (take it from one who waited and tried to make up plans in advance- only to have to trash all those when the actually days showed up and changed everything).

 

[dgutte]

Excellent, thanks for the reply.

 

[tiggspring]

I don't travel until Nov 2010, but I am keen to get hold of RideMax now.

I will be going for the 12th month version so there is no problem there, but with my park hrs not being realised for many months am I wasting my time getting it now? Or is it worth getting now to have a play about with the system and get used to it?

I know how you feel when I was planning last Mays trip it had been 15yrs since I had been to WDW and I wanted to plan day and night. Isn't planning half the fun??

I wouldn't recomend ridmax yet because as another posted said it would be very frustrating to have all those plans changed. I did not know about Ridemx until a month or so before my trip. I had been using Unofficial guides planning tool on their website, I believe it was $7-8 for the year. I then looked through the Unoffical guide and checked ride times, waits and started to plan out how I wanted to do things. This was alot of work but I understood how the parks worked alot better. I found ridemax when I was almost done with the plans and found I had overestimated the amount of time I need in May . I found all that work really helpful when I wanted to change Ridmax's plans by inserting breaks in places that I wanted to do something specific and at the park when we had extra time and could go off plan. If planning is half your vacation then you may want to do this. You will definately have a good idea of where Ridemax is Spot on (usually is) and where they may be off base (like parade wait times)

You may also want to get some of the Aps for the phones out there. Many list wait time FP times etc. My Blackberry isn't supported yet but they look like lots of fun and very helpful.

 

[Lizziejane]

I just purchased Ridemax last night, and I love it!! As any obsessed planner can appreciate, this "toy" is the ultimate in being prepared!

However, I have a little problem planning our last day - Sunday, January 31st. We plan to go to MK early afternoon, and stay for evening EMH. Now I know Ridemax is upfront and say that they don't do Sundays or evening EMH's. They recommend you pick another similar day in terms of crowds and park hours. But I can't find a similar day! I'm looking for a day that is generally not recommended at MK, with hours of 9 am to 11 pm. Anyone know of a good "alternate" day I can use?

THanks!

 

[disney4us2002]

We're going the week preceeding Easter. Anyone know when to expect March dates? I'm guessing we're going to face some crowds, LOL!

 

[LVdisneyChick]

Would really like to know how accurate wait times / walking times.

 

[tiggspring]

What is this I didn't know there was one?? is it on the ridemax web site?

Sorry it took so long to answer your question. Somehow I missed it

Verizon has an ap that was supposed to work on the blackberry. when I tried to download it no go