Ridemax

[Passion for Eeyore]

Has anyone used the Ridemax software and if so was it worth the purchase? Also, can you buy your 2 day hopper tickets at Downtown Disney.

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

I very much recommend purchasing Ridemax. Unless you are a DL veteran who really has a keen understanding of the park you will find Ridemax well worth the $15.

In regards to you tickets question. I would make sure to purchase in advance. Either call your hotel and see if you can buy discounted tickets through them or purchase them online. This way you will receive the current discount. Otherwise, you may be stuck paying additional at the gate. Also, I don't know what your schedule is like but take 3 day hoppers into consideration rather than 2 days. With the 3 day park hopper you will receive 1 day of early entry which does wonders in helping to attack the park.

 

[SilverCeladon]

I've never tried RideMax. Do they have a free trial offer?

 

[Tink_Or_Belle]

when are you going? I bought it to look up our trip and there seem to be NO wait times on anything I guess if I was going again in late september I would just not buy it and assume the longest wait (not wanting to ride Nemo) is 11 minutes for Dumbo and 11 minutes for Peter Pan it only lists 4 minute waits for Thunder and Splash as long as I get fastpasses

however it was only $15 and it is fun to mess around with

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

I've never tried RideMax. Do they have a free trial offer?

No... you can either purchase a 90 subscription or year subscription. The 90 day is $15. Ridemax does offer a money back guarantee though.

In addition to itinerary planning there are hints and tips pages in Ridemax which give you insider information on spots for parades, fantasmic, and more. The hints and tips could be considered worth the $15 alone by some.

The way I look at it is you spent $XXX on park hoppers for a limited time. You can either fight the crowds and traffic and hope to get your money out of those tickets... or you can pony up the cost of dinner at McDonalds for a family of 4 and have a fighting chance to visit everything you want out of the park.

On a personal note. We went in mid peak season and using ridemax (in both conventional and unconventional means) we were able to ride everything in both parks in 3 days time with 4 hour mid day breaks and never waited more than 10/15 minutes for any single ride. Was I glad I purchased Ridemax? You bet your mouse ears...

 

[bouncy54]

No... you can either purchase a 90 subscription or year subscription. The 90 day is $15. Ridemax does offer a money back guarantee though.

In addition to itinerary planning there are hints and tips pages in Ridemax which give you insider information on spots for parades, fantasmic, and more. The hints and tips could be considered worth the $15 alone by some.

The way I look at it is you spent $XXX on park hoppers for a limited time. You can either fight the crowds and traffic and hope to get your money out of those tickets... or you can pony up the cost of dinner at McDonalds for a family of 4 and have a fighting chance to visit everything you want out of the park.

On a personal note. We went in mid peak season and using ridemax (in both conventional and unconventional means) we were able to ride everything in both parks in 3 days time with 4 hour mid day breaks and never waited more than 10/15 minutes for any single ride. Was I glad I purchased Ridemax? You bet your mouse ears...

That's what I'm hoping to get out of Ridemax. Our 1st day at DL is on Sat. of Veteran's Day weekend and we won't be able to get to the park until noonish. I have been forming a plan, with the help of Ridemax, and if it works, I'll be singing it's praises to all who listen.

We've never gone to DL with an actual plan before so I'm getting some negative feedback from some family members who like to just "play it by ear" when we're there. Only problem with that idea is that we have never gone during a holiday, and only some of us were with us during our trip in 2001 when DCA first opened...and there really wasn't much there at the time.

Oh...and this time, we know that we can save our fastpasses. I didn't know that little gem of information until a couple of months ago when I started reading DIS again.

 

[SilverCeladon]

No... you can either purchase a 90 subscription or year subscription. The 90 day is $15. Ridemax does offer a money back guarantee though.

In addition to itinerary planning there are hints and tips pages in Ridemax which give you insider information on spots for parades, fantasmic, and more. The hints and tips could be considered worth the $15 alone by some.

The way I look at it is you spent $XXX on park hoppers for a limited time. You can either fight the crowds and traffic and hope to get your money out of those tickets... or you can pony up the cost of dinner at McDonalds for a family of 4 and have a fighting chance to visit everything you want out of the park.

On a personal note. We went in mid peak season and using ridemax (in both conventional and unconventional means) we were able to ride everything in both parks in 3 days time with 4 hour mid day breaks and never waited more than 10/15 minutes for any single ride. Was I glad I purchased Ridemax? You bet your mouse ears...

Thanks SunDevilDaddy-I'll probably but it then and see what it has to offer!

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

We've never gone to DL with an actual plan before so I'm getting some negative feedback from some family members who like to just "play it by ear" when we're there.

My wife didn't like the idea of something planning out our every move as well. She complained up and down about my Ridemax itineraries. So, I came up with a compramise that worked for us. During the mornings we followed Ridemax exactly. This way we were able to maximize our mornings while the park was still filling up. In the afternoons/evenings we deviated from Ridemax some...

That is where the unconventional use came in. I followed a suggestion by Hydroguy and created a spreadsheet which allowed me to see what the estimated wait time was on any given ride at each hour. So in the afternoons we just decided what land to visit next and used the spreadsheet to find the best rides/attractions in that area at that time.

It really worked out well for us and by the end of day 2 my skeptical wife was singing the praises of Ridemax and DIS to everyone around us in lines... they all looked at us like we were crazy - then they went to wait 45 minutes for their next ride or stood around waiting until they could get another fastpass while we walked on the next ride

Good luck! Have a fun trip!

 

[bouncy54]

My wife didn't like the idea of something planning out our every move as well. She complained up and down about my Ridemax itineraries. So, I came up with a compramise that worked for us. During the mornings we followed Ridemax exactly. This way we were able to maximize our mornings while the park was still filling up. In the afternoons/evenings we deviated from Ridemax some...

That is where the unconventional use came in. I followed a suggestion by Hydroguy and created a spreadsheet which allowed me to see what the estimated wait time was on any given ride at each hour. So in the afternoons we just decided what land to visit next and used the spreadsheet to find the best rides/attractions in that area at that time.

It really worked out well for us and by the end of day 2 my skeptical wife was singing the praises of Ridemax and DIS to everyone around us in lines... they all looked at us like we were crazy - then they went to wait 45 minutes for their next ride or stood around waiting until they could get another fastpass while we walked on the next ride

Good luck! Have a fun trip!

RE: Spreadsheet...I'm trying to prepare a spreadsheet too. Because we're going over a holiday weekend, do you think I should wait until Ridemax comes out with their November estimates before actually entering the data?

 

[CanadianPaco]

My wife didn't like the idea of something planning out our every move as well. She complained up and down about my Ridemax itineraries. So, I came up with a compramise that worked for us. During the mornings we followed Ridemax exactly. This way we were able to maximize our mornings while the park was still filling up. In the afternoons/evenings we deviated from Ridemax some...

That is where the unconventional use came in. I followed a suggestion by Hydroguy and created a spreadsheet which allowed me to see what the estimated wait time was on any given ride at each hour. So in the afternoons we just decided what land to visit next and used the spreadsheet to find the best rides/attractions in that area at that time.

It really worked out well for us and by the end of day 2 my skeptical wife was singing the praises of Ridemax and DIS to everyone around us in lines... they all looked at us like we were crazy - then they went to wait 45 minutes for their next ride or stood around waiting until they could get another fastpass while we walked on the next ride

Good luck! Have a fun trip!

I bought Ridemax last month and have been playing around with it a fair bit! This idea is great. We'll stick close to the plan in the am and then use the spread sheet for the afternoon!
THANKS!

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

RE: Spreadsheet...I'm trying to prepare a spreadsheet too. Because we're going over a holiday weekend, do you think I should wait until Ridemax comes out with their November estimates before actually entering the data?

I would wait until you can enter the exact date you wish to attend. At that point create the spreadsheet based upon the days you will be in the park.

 

[Kailua's Belle]

We're not going till Jan, but I already bought RideMax. I have fun playing around with different itineraries just to see how short the waits are!!

The spreadsheet sounds like a great idea I'd like to try, if I could figure out how you're extracting specific info for each ride throughout the day. Is that an option on RideMax I haven't discovered yet or how are you doing it?

 

[quadaunt]

I have subscribed to RideMax for three DLR trips and find it invaluable. The subscription price is a bargain. Mark Winters, the creator and owner of RideMax, responds quickly to e-mails asking for clarification on his program. So yes, I highly recommend RideMax.

 

[joeysmommy]

We're going to DL at the end of September and mid November. Is it too soon to buy Ridemax to use it for both trips?

Also, how do you do the spreadsheet?

 

[joeysmommy]

Ok, I ordered Ridemax!!
It is so much fun to play around with.
I see what you all mean about having the day planned out to a T.
They even include the time to walk from ride to ride.
I do love the shortcut tips!
I think we'll do as others have advised, follow Ridemax for AM and then do our own thing following it somewhat.
With a 3yr old and 5yr old I don't think they will go along with the Ridemax "plan".
We'll be following their plan.
My family already thinks I'm a Disney trip planning Nazi anyway.

 

[HydroGuy]

I've never tried RideMax. Do they have a free trial offer?

Rather than a trial they give you a money back guarantee. So you can treat it is a trial. But you will likely not be asking for your money back.

 

[HydroGuy]

The spreadsheet sounds like a great idea I'd like to try, if I could figure out how you're extracting specific info for each ride throughout the day. Is that an option on RideMax I haven't discovered yet or how are you doing it?

No, they do not have an option for that. You have to be creative. The easiest way to do it is as follows (for Peter Pan for example): set your park hours from opening until closing and add Peter Pan to the itinerary 15-30 times and then run RideMax. It gives you wait times for PP all day. This works well for rides without FASTPASS. The FP rides are harder to do but in principle it works the same.

RideMax is sensitive about this data getting out to the public, as they have spent a lot of time gathering the data. So just keep the data to yourself (which is what you are supposed to do anyways in accordance with the licensing agreement) and you will be good to go.

 

[HydroGuy]

Regarding comments about being on a strict schedule, SunDevil gives some good advice. To get more done at DLR, a few simple principles will get you most of the way there:

1. Get to the gates early (before the park opens)

2. Learn how to use FASTPASS and start collecting them first thing in the morning

3. Focus on rides for the first 2-3 hours of the day (not the time to stop and eat or shop)

4. If it is busy season, take a break in the afternoon when the parks are most crowded

5. Get a decent idea on which rides have high capacities (POTC is the highest), which rides have low capacities (Dumbo one of the lowest) and how lines build for various rides.

What RideMax does is create itineraries which incorporates the above principles.

We have never followed RideMax all day, but have for parts of days. If you do what SunDevil did and just follow it in the morning, and get your FPs in the morning, you will be set to wing it later in the day if that is what you want to do.

Finally, no one has mentioned this explicitly here, but RideMax does have many tips in their Help system and you should read them all. They have a very fun perspective.

 

[SunDevilDaddy]

No, they do not have an option for that. You have to be creative. The easiest way to do it is as follows (for Peter Pan for example): set your park hours from opening until closing and add Peter Pan to the itinerary 15-30 times and then run RideMax. It gives you wait times for PP all day. This works well for rides without FASTPASS. The FP rides are harder to do but in principle it works the same.

RideMax is sensitive about this data getting out to the public, as they have spent a lot of time gathering the data. So just keep the data to yourself (which is what you are supposed to do anyways in accordance with the licensing agreement) and you will be good to go.

This way is probably easier than the way I ended up doing it. I did essentially the same thing but only had my park hours set in 1 hr blocks and entered a single ride 4 times in that hour block. That way it usually gave me the exact time on the hour. The disadvantage was that I had to repeat the process 14 times for each ride.

 

[joeysmommy]

sundevil and hydroguy

I tried both of your suggestions for my Ridemax spreadsheet and got the same results, thank you so much for the tip!
My family is going to to groan when they see my spreadsheet but they will be singing it's praises like sundevil's wife!