ridemax - yes or no

[kty]

ok, give it to me. Is it worth it? should we buy it and follow it, or should we just follow hydroguys great suggestions?

 

[jason417]

If you're the type of person who likes to just go on whatever ride you feel like at the time and you have a solid understanding of how to maximize the usage of FP then you do not need Ridemax. If you're the type who likes to plan things out more in advance and know what would be the most efficient order to go on rides then Ridemax is well worth the $15. Even if I don't always follow the plan it spits out I have a better understanding of what to ride when just by playing around with the program.

 

[pixiewings71]

I've never used Ridemax...never, I don't think it would help us anyway.

 

[vbecky]

I would highly recommend it!!! I have used it now on my past 2 trips and plan to use it again on my upcoming, I really wasn't sure the first time I used it if it would really work but I was amazed!! I went last summer in August and rode all the rides with minimal wait time!!! Great Great program!!

 

[HydroGuy]

ok, give it to me. Is it worth it? should we buy it and follow it, or should we just follow hydroguys great suggestions?

Well, I am the HydroGuy who wrote the tips and I use RideMax. Sometimes. So it is hard to give a yes or no answer.

At WDW I still am uncertain of park traffic patterns and it was worthwhile to spend time playing with RM before my trips there. In the end we brought a few printed itineraries but never followed any of them strictly. But the feeling I developed of traffic patterns definitely helped and so RM was worth it.

At DLR I know the traffic patterns much better. On very busy days (like Thanksgiving week) we have followed RM pretty strictly. And I always have my wait time charts I bring along based on RM.

When a new ride comes online it is useful to see how RM recommends you include it. Like the Nemo Subs at DL or TSMM at DCA and DHS.

The bottom line was summarized by Jason. It depends on what type of person you are and your comfort level with park traffic patterns. Some people are like me and get value from just running itineraries that they never actually follow.

Further, some people spend many more hours than they care to admit gleaning information from forums like this one to help make their Disney trip a little better and be a little more informed. For $15-20 one can get some extra information from RM. Compared to dozens (hundreds?) of online hours the $15-20 is just not very much. Personally anything that can save me an hour or two somewhere along the way on a vacation is worth $20. Especially when the vacation costs north of a thousand dollars. My two cents.

 

[kty]

thanks everyone, including Hydroman himself I think I may just go ahead with ridemax, I hate lines, so it if will save me some time the minor cost it worth it. BUT, is it easy to use?

 

[HydroGuy]

thanks everyone, including Hydroman himself I think I may just go ahead with ridemax, I hate lines, so it if will save me some time the minor cost it worth it. BUT, is it easy to use?

It used to be easier when it could do less. Actually it is still quite easy to use after a few minutes of practice. I think the current WDW version has more features than the DLR version and is thus a little more complicated.

 

[TINKERIFIC]

DLR ridemax is very easy to use. I am opposite of hydroguy...I know about WDW more than DL so I buy when visiting DLR, but have never tried WDW. I buy it and play a few days before we leave to get my day set and it is GREAT! I do not follow down to the minute because with a young 2yo that is just hard, but it gives me a great idea of where to go and when. Plus I incorporate a lot of breaks so that I do not feel we are just commando. I want to make sure my kids get to have fun in the DL environment.