RideMax?

[TamiV]

Has anyone tried this? I saw it in a post somewhere, went to their site and it seems like a great idea! I got the "Unofficial Guide" from the library and was planning to use a touring plan, but I'm a weenie so we don't really do the scray rides. I like that RideMax lets you choose exactly what you want to do. So...does it work?

 

[TSRE]

I have used it numerous times, and really like it. We don't completely follow the schedule for the whole day, but use it as a guide.

There was a thread about it not too long ago - you might try searching for it. Lots of opinions there.

 

[TamiV]

Thanks! I'll try searching for that.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

There are a few fans here who love it. I'm local so have never tried it out. The owner of this site, Pete Werner, was out here in March & tried it out and he has given a positive review of it on the DIS Podcast.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

JMHO, the touring information from RideMax.com is better than the generic touring plans from the Unofficial Guide. I don't use RideMax's step-by-step itineraries, but I still find it to be a fun planning tool.

Avalon451 wrote the following about RideMax:

(Thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2109239)

I loved playing around with Ridemax, and for our first trip I used it extensively. However, you can actually do better by writing your own itineraries, using Hydroguy's tips compilation: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483 Especially "How to avoid long lines"

Ridemax is good for a quick, easy itinerary. It has a few drawbacks, though. It doesn't take Magic Morning into account, so you have to plan those yourselves (and I would SO take advantage of MM, especially with little ones, to do all of Fantasyland in that first hour with low lines!).

Also, you can't schedule both DL and DCA in one day, except by making separate itineraries (for example, scheduling a long "break" from noon-4 p.m., say, and making a separate DCA itinerary for those hours)

If you want to ride a ride twice in a day, it will always schedule them back to back. Even if that doesn't make sense, time-wise.

It doesn't make the best use of FastPass, always. There were times it spit out itineraries for me that they didn't have us collecting our first fastpass until we'd already been on one or even two rides.

Sometimes its scheduling is just... wrong. For example, I was trying to run an itinerary for MM, by putting in all the Fantasyland rides on a non-MM day. It consistently had us riding Dumbo last (AFTER Snow White, Pinocchio, the Carousel, those other low-line rides)... with a 35-40 minute wait. Makes no sense. Maybe they've fixed that glitch since I used it last fall.

It doesn't account for parades, shows, etc. You have to schedule breaks around those things to fit them in.

So every time I printed out an itinerary that seemed pretty close to what we wanted, I still ended up writing all over it anyway, making little changes and adding in shows, DCA hopping, etc. So it was just easier to use it as a reference when writing my own itinerary.

As far as using a touring plan as opposed to "going with the flow"... It's so subjective. Really depends on who you are and what you want from your trip. If you are an AP holder who can get back often and do the things you missed, it's much easier to just do what you feel like, whenever. If this is a big trip for your family, once in a lifetime or once in a long time... and you want to get the most out of it with the least stress-- doing the scheduling ahead of time makes it much less stressful. You have a plan that will fit a lot in without tiring you out, or making you wait in long lines. You never stand around with a map, saying, "Whaddaya wanna do? " "I dunno, whaddaya wanna do?" As long as you understand that your plan will NOT go exactly according to... well, to plan... you'll be fine. You'll have a basic outline to follow, and you can deviate from it if you feel like it or if the kids get tired out.

HTH!

- Avalon451 (March 8, 2009)

Source: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=30701221&postcount=8

 

[TinkSassy]

I used during Spring Break - I don't know what I would have done without it! I'm a WDW vet so I thought - 2 parks I can handle this, but worried when I heard about lines at PP and no lines at Winnie the Pooh that I might be out of my element.

I used to get general wait times for rides at different times of the day and in one case followed their plan exactly. It takes some playing with and it won't schedule your shows and parades - so keep that in mind.

All in all for the price tag it is more than worth it! Did I mention we finished almost everything in two parks including the e-ticket rides in 3 days. Without rushing!

 

[avalon451]

Wow... I've been quoted! I feel so... so.. honored! Thanks, SS Columbia! I'm not worthy!

But yeah, Ridemax is so much fun to play with! And there's great tips on there, too.

 

[ukstitch]

I'm another Ridemax fan - used it for my trip last year and found it very helpful as I'm not 100% familiar with which rides are the most popular, which rides have the best throughput etc...