Ridemax?

[PrincessJasmine08]

Does anyone have any comments on Ridemax? I just paid to download it yesterday. It's our first Disneyland trip and I really needed some help planning our park days. However, the day that I need for a Disneyland plan (March 29) is not showing as available. It just says check back. Does anyone have any experience with this? Will an itinerary be available for this day eventually or did I just waste my money on this program when I'm not even able to use it for the day we need? Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[TSRE]

I haven't been on these boards in A LONG time, and haven't used Ridemax in two years, but I saw your question didn't have an answer yet, so I thought I would answer. From my experience, Ridemax has been totally worth it. It has saved us a ton of time. It is easier for me than trying to plan it all out on my own. We usually loosely follow the plan - really follow it in the morning, then not as much in the afternoon & evening.

That said, I would contact the Ridemax people about your date not being available. Every time I have used it, the dates have been available shortly after Disney makes the schedules for that day available. March 29 should be available by now.

Hope that helps some. Maybe someone who has used it more recently has something else to say?

 

[traveljunkie]

It will never show up because March 29th is a Sunday. They do not do Sunday plans. According to their 'Tips & Hints' it says to run the program for the Saturday before.

I am trying it for the first time so I can't give advise on how this works out.

 

[Leofoenget]

Oh yah they don't do Sunday. But just run a plan for Sat and it will work fine. From my experiences there isnt' that much of a difference from the actual days. If it's a crowded time any crowded day will be about the same. No you did not waste your $$

 

[jason417]

Just to piggy back on what others are saying...

I've used Ridemax for numerous trips and always find it helpful. Just build a plan using March 28 and that'll be close enough. If anything, Sundays tend to be slightly less busy by a small margin in my experience so a Saturday plan will generate some buffer time which is nice.

 

[mechurchlady]

The only basic difference between Saturday and Sunday is that mornings on a Sunday are slower to build in attendance so it might go a bit faster if you use Saturday on a Sunday as the line will be shorter in the morning.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Well I should be ashamed of myself for not reading the tips and figuring this out myself! I'm a teacher and I'm always getting on my kids for asking for the answers before looking for them themselves.

ANYWAY, thanks so much to everyone! I will go ahead and run March 28th. I'll hopefully be doing a trip report and can share my thoughts on ridemax in there!

 

[tubaloth]

I'm going to disneyland also at the end of the month.

I also found Ridemax and was trying to see if my sister and her family (who I'm going with) wanted to try it.

It looks like they want to go at a slower pace.

one day my sister is going to seaworld. I'm left at Disneyland by myself one day. I'm trying to figure out if it is still worth it for me to use Ridemax for one day (Ride everything I could want to). But because I'm just a single maybe I won't have much waiting time? I have heard that some rides (I guess not all) have a singles line for people like me?

Would the single wait time be way shorter and not worth using the ride max?

Also, is there just a sheet on the internet that has wait times by ride by hour? Just some spread sheet would be helpful.
Thanks

 

[Leofoenget]

I've used it for a few solo trips. You go even faster. Once I was almost 2hrs ahead of plan. Take advantage of single rider lines and keep your ears open for "any single riders??" sometimes the CM will call to fill a space.

have fun

 

[mechurchlady]

I've used it for a few solo trips. You go even faster. Once I was almost 2hrs ahead of plan. Take advantage of single rider lines and keep your ears open for "any single riders??" sometimes the CM will call to fill a space.

have fun

Listen for "Party of two" also. They have to fill up vehicles and too often on bobsled it will be a party of 5 or 6 leaving one seat open or Pirates may have one seat open and several parties of 5 or more are in line. I ditched the Divas last trip on Splash Mountain as I was way behind them in line. I got on before them because I heeded the call for party of one or two.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

I'm going to disneyland also at the end of the month.

I also found Ridemax and was trying to see if my sister and her family (who I'm going with) wanted to try it.

It looks like they want to go at a slower pace.

one day my sister is going to seaworld. I'm left at Disneyland by myself one day. I'm trying to figure out if it is still worth it for me to use Ridemax for one day (Ride everything I could want to). But because I'm just a single maybe I won't have much waiting time? I have heard that some rides (I guess not all) have a singles line for people like me?

Would the single wait time be way shorter and not worth using the ride max?

Also, is there just a sheet on the internet that has wait times by ride by hour? Just some spread sheet would be helpful.
Thanks

It looks like your questions have been answered, but I just wanted to say welcome to the disboards!!!

So now Ridemax is confusing me. I ran the plan for Saturday even though we're going on Sunday. Sunday is an early entry day, which we will be taking advantage of (staying at Disneyland Hotel). However, it's my understanding that ridemax doesn't take early entry into consideration. So, would it be safe to assume that I'll just be about an hour ahead of the projected schedule?

 

[Leofoenget]

It looks like your questions have been answered, but I just wanted to say welcome to the disboards!!!

So now Ridemax is confusing me. I ran the plan for Saturday even though we're going on Sunday. Sunday is an early entry day, which we will be taking advantage of (staying at Disneyland Hotel). However, it's my understanding that ridemax doesn't take early entry into consideration. So, would it be safe to assume that I'll just be about an hour ahead of the projected schedule?

Don't put any rides on your RM plan that you are going to do EE ( unless you want to repeat them of course) If you do all of Fantasyland EE then keep them off your RM plan and just put what you want for the rest of the day.

 

[PrincessJasmine08]

Don't put any rides on your RM plan that you are going to do EE ( unless you want to repeat them of course) If you do all of Fantasyland EE then keep them off your RM plan and just put what you want for the rest of the day.

That makes sense, thanks for the tip. I'm trying to figure out what would be a reasonable plan for EE. Does this sound do-able?

Alice in Wonderland
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Peter Pan's Flight
It's a Small World
Pinocchio
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Snow White

How should I order these rides?

That just leaves us with Matterhorn Bobsleds as far as attractions we'd like to try in Fantasyland and I think we'll do that ride on our second Disneyland day.

 

[avalon451]

That makes sense, thanks for the tip. I'm trying to figure out what would be a reasonable plan for EE. Does this sound do-able?

Alice in Wonderland
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Peter Pan's Flight
It's a Small World
Pinocchio
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Snow White

How should I order these rides?

That just leaves us with Matterhorn Bobsleds as far as attractions we'd like to try in Fantasyland and I think we'll do that ride on our second Disneyland day.

You can easily do all of Fantasyland during MM, if you get to the gates early enough to be near the front when the turnstiles open. 20-30 minutes early is optimum.

Always do Peter Pan first, because the line builds very quickly and stays busy all day. There are a few preferred orders out there, generally it goes something like: Peter Pan, Dumbo, Alice, Teacups, Toady, Matterhorn, Snow White, Pinocchio, Carrousel. Storybook Canal boats aren't open for MM, nor is Casey Junior Train. I'm not sure about Small World, is it open for MM?

Anyway, you can find more info on DLR's excellent "Magic Morning Super thread": www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1675403 and Hound 109's equally excellent "Critique of MM" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1392671

Also be sure and read Hydroguy's tips compilation, which is really good for WDW vets who are doing DL for the first time: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483

Good luck and have fun planning!

 

[Lakewood]

I personally think that over planning takes the fun out of the park... Just go slow and take in the details... Its not work...

 

[christyB]

We are going next week (Friday-Sunday). When I made character meal reservations they said it was a light week. So, I wondered if Ridemax would be worth it. Our group has 3 kids age 3 and under so we will be by the kiddy rides a lot. My brother also hates having a plan. On the other hand, it is only $15 so not a huge risk.

 

[TSRE]

What I have found with Ridemax is that it is great to use as a starting point. I don't like having too much planned either, but when it comes down to it, Disneyland, especially with little kids, can be a lot of hot sweaty waiting in line and not a lot of fun if you don't do it right. So, we make a plan, and generally stick to it for the first few hours of the day. Then, if we don't want to follow the plan anymore, we don't.

My husband & I weren't convinced about Ridemax until the first morning we used it. We had ridden 5 rides we really wanted to and were sitting down for a snack, and realized it was only 10:30 in the morning. We had the rest of the day to play, and felt like we had done as much already as we normally would have in the entire time before naptime. That sold us.

Plus, like you said, it's not too much money. It's like Rick Steves says about guidebooks - they are a $15 tool for a $3000 dollar trip. I would go for it if I were you - there isn't much to lose!

One other thing I just thought of - if it is possible, you could do your plan and tell your brother to join you slightly later in the day, whenever he feels like it, and you can wing it then. That way the kids have done what they really want to while they are happy in the morning, and your brother doesn't feel like he has to follow a plan he doesn't like. We do this with my hubby's parents. It keeps everyone happy. Although, after a few trips, we have now won my father-in-law over to the dark side. Once he saw what one early morning in Fantasyland was like, he was sold!

 

[okduke]

We just bought Ridemax with the intent of using if for planning our May 31-June 6 trip to DL. Unfortunately, we cannot use it because it does not have those dates 'available' in it yet. It looks like it uses the dates that Disney has published. This makes some sense, I just wish we'd have known it before we purchased it.

 

[traveljunkie]

Ridemax website states they have a 100% money back guarantee. I would just write to them and explain your situation. I've read other posts where it wasn't a problem to get a refund. Worth a try.

 

[avalon451]

We just bought Ridemax with the intent of using if for planning our May 31-June 6 trip to DL. Unfortunately, we cannot use it because it does not have those dates 'available' in it yet. It looks like it uses the dates that Disney has published. This makes some sense, I just wish we'd have known it before we purchased it.

They'll be up soon. Ridemax usually makes the monthly info available as soon as the Disneyland schedule is published, so they can be accurate about opening times, etc. Probably sometime in the next week? Since Disney is usually 2 months ahead with schedules.