Ridemax? what is that?

[mickey4ever111]

I am really new here and have seen this mentioned several times! Please forgive me!!

Laurie

 

[Albort]

It is a PC program that allows you to program your day.

It has up to date wait times and how to maximize your ride opertunity...

I wouldnt recommend the program unless you really want to hit all the ride...

 

[DangerMouse]

http://www.ridemax.com/

 

[HydroGuy]

For more info see:

RideMax Critique Plus Conventional and Unconventional Usage on August 1-4 Trip
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=885134

 

[Pirate-Emery]

Ok, this is coming from one that does not frequent the DLR boards too often.


I bought RideMax several months prior to my trip, and tried different combinations every day until I left.

I didn't use it. I just used my in-born strategy senses and my feelings of what I wanted to do next.


In short, RideMax doesn't help you out ON the trip; it helps you deal with the wait before you go.

 

[JennyW]

I disagree. I felt it really helped plan the order of what to ride when. Some rides fill up instantly, others wait a couple of hours. RideMax helps you figure that one out.

 

[disneyscootergal]

I subscribed to Ridemax before our trip in 2005, and had plans (and alternate plans!) ready for each day. Alas, my family did not buy into the whole idea of being on a schedule, so I didn't get to use it.

Now, I'm going by myself in August, I've subscribed again, and this time I'm going to really give it a try!

 

[WDWLinda]

We just used it last Mon. and it was great. We arrived around 7:15 with EE, did most of the Fantasyland rides and then followed the Ridemax itinerary starting at 8:00. We couldn't believe how close it was to real time - meaning, at 10:07 we were doing exactly what it said we should be doing. We did around 14 rides that day, including a 4 hour afternoon and dinner break. The longest line was about 30 min.s for the Indiana Jones fastpass return. The next day we didn't use a Ridemax plan and we couldn't believe the wait times we saw.

We're going to WDW in Oct. and I'm thinking of buying it again for that trip, even though I've been there 30+ times - just to see how it works there.

It's worth the investment I think.

~Linda

 

[stagemomx3]

In short, RideMax doesn't help you out ON the trip; it helps you deal with the wait before you go.

Gotta disagree with you. RideMax did help us on our trip, even though we quickly got ahead of the itinerary, the tips and tricks page alone is worth the price of the program. I loved our spot for the Parade of Dreams and would not have known to be there if it were not for RideMax!

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

I have to disagree as well... Ridemax does "help" with that pre-trip anxiety by allowing you to tour the park on paper and get excited about all the rides and attractions you are preparing to encounter, that is by no means it's only usefulness!

Here's my experience. We went last month to DLR with 6 ppl total. My DW and DS had gone to DLR 2 years ago in March (off-peak season). My parents joined us on our trip and had just returned from a trip to DLR in December (holiday peak season) The last time I had been to DLR was over 10 years ago and to be honest I didn't remember a thing about it...

After debating I purchased Ridemax and ran through a couple of itinerary options. However, my DW could not grasp the idea of having a minute by minute agenda. So, I borrowed from Hydorguy's ridemax tips and created a spreadsheet for each ride at each hour of the day so that I could quickly reference wait times throughout the park.

We stuck fairly close to Ridemax's itinerary for the mornings. During the afternoons and evenings we "winged" it using my charts as a guide. During 2 mornings between 7am/8am-12pm we were able to ride everything Ridemax had scheduled and completed over 70% of the park with 10 minute or less wait times. During the afternoons I was able to minimize our waiting times to under 15 minutes (even during peak hours which had lines up 9 minutes long). We also were able to take in a number of shows, character interactions, dining experiences, as well as the parade, fireworks, and fantasmic.

My parents said we did 2x more in 3 days (2 DLR, 1 DCA) than they were able to do in 4 in December. My wife also said we did more in our trip at a more leisurely and relaxed pace than she did in 5 days!!!

If you are not a DLR expert and especially if you are traveling with small kids Ridemax is worth 10x what you pay for it. Not only does it give you a plan of attack for the park, it also helps to familiarize you quickly with what rides you should ride during what parts of the day. I believe, but am not certain, that Ridemax also offers a satisfaction guarantee of some kind.

Worst case scenerio is you pay $15 for a few weeks of fun and a little better knoweldge of the park. How much did you spend on tickets for 1-2-3 days? Seems like a fair trade off.

 

[Hound 109]

Does Ridemax advise what FPs to get & at what times to go pick them up?

& SunDevilDaddy, I know you did alot of research prior to you trip. You said you were "winging it" more in the afternoon/evening.

We also did alot more relaxing & going with the flow in the evening. But this was partly because we had a pocketful of FPs (collected that morning).....so instead of standing in lines for mid level rides, we enjoyed everything that is DL, walked around, saw the sights and also utilized our FPs for those FP rides.

Plus, if i didn't lay off the commando touring (in the evening), Mrs. Hound would have tossed me into the Nemo pond.

Did you also "go with the flow" in the evening with a pocketful of FPs?

I think I might subscribe prior to my next trip for the entertainment (but especially if it advises on FP collection as well).

hound

 

[HydroGuy]

Does Ridemax advise what FPs to get & at what times to go pick them up?

& SunDevilDaddy, I know you did alot of research prior to you trip. You said you were "winging it" more in the afternoon/evening.

We also did alot more relaxing & going with the flow in the evening. But this was partly because we had a pocketful of FPs (collected that morning).....so instead of standing in lines for mid level rides, we enjoyed everything that is DL, walked around, saw the sights and also utilized our FPs for those FP rides.

Plus, if i didn't lay off the commando touring (in the evening), Mrs. Hound would have tossed me into the Nemo pond.

Did you also "go with the flow" in the evening with a pocketful of FPs?

I think I might subscribe prior to my next trip for the entertainment (but especially if it advises on FP collection as well).

hound

It does advise when to pick up FPs. but even when I am following a RideMax itinerary I do not follow their FP advice. I always pick them up as early as possible just in case.

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

Does Ridemax advise what FPs to get & at what times to go pick them up?

& SunDevilDaddy, I know you did alot of research prior to you trip. You said you were "winging it" more in the afternoon/evening.

We also did alot more relaxing & going with the flow in the evening. But this was partly because we had a pocketful of FPs (collected that morning).....so instead of standing in lines for mid level rides, we enjoyed everything that is DL, walked around, saw the sights and also utilized our FPs for those FP rides.

Plus, if i didn't lay off the commando touring (in the evening), Mrs. Hound would have tossed me into the Nemo pond.

Did you also "go with the flow" in the evening with a pocketful of FPs?

I think I might subscribe prior to my next trip for the entertainment (but especially if it advises on FP collection as well).

hound

Hydroguy is right again. Ridemax does advise of times to send runners for FPs and estimates the return times at which you can utilize the FPs but it is not always accurate. And, for some reason it often times gets lackadaisical with the times which you can pick up FPs. For example on one itinerary it gave me a 20 minute break at around 10:15 am but didn't send me to get fastpasses for Splash until after we return from our afternoon heituis at 3:30. So I also grabbed fps as fast and frequent as possible instead of following ridemax there.

And the evenings were precisely as you described. Mrs Devil did not like the idea of a ride by ride, moment by moment itinerary and so we followed the agenda in the mornings to maximize the number of rides we could hit while park occupancy was still climbing and then in the afternoon just avoided the mess by using a combination of fps and double checking off the spreadsheets I carried into the park.

All in all it worked very well because we were able to ride everything without waiting in long lines and at the same time we never felt rushed or constrained as to what rides we could ride that day.

 

[Hound 109]

my thoughts Exactly!

(hydroguy....looks like I'm not the only "grasshopper" around here. )