ridemax?

[SharonLovesMickey]

Has anyone used Ridemax to plan a Disneyland trip? Just wondering what your results were. THANKS!

 

[jason417]

Ridemax is great! You'll find that a lot of people here really like it. There are some people who don't like to go to Disneyland with a plan and would rather just do whatever they feel like at the time; Ridemax isn't really for those people. If you're going with others make sure they're okay with following a plan as well if you're going to use Ridemax.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Ditto Jason

I HATE having a strict outline of what rides when at Disneyland (the whole rest of the trip, YES LOL). My family members who used it seemed to be really irritable and didn't enjoy themselves as much.

I do say, if you love to have a plan then go for it..otherwise, meh.

 

[Sherry E]

I used Ridemax just one time. I think it is very handy in how it gives you a personalized itinerary based on what your plans for the parks are, and I found that it was nice to use as sort of a basic, rough outline but not something that I strictly adhered to. Also, it is a good way to remind yourself of which rides are likely to have long, slow lines at which times of day, so even if you don't follow the exact order of rides that Ridemax gives you, if you kind of do them in the same general time frame Ridemax suggests, then you will probably still shave off some wait time. I find that my friends resent having a schedule or a rigid agenda, but on the other hand, when we have no set plan of action for where we are going, then there tends to be a LOT of, "Well....so what do you want to do now?" "Uh....I don't know...what do YOU want to do now?" And I HATE that. Sometimes it is nice to go at a lesiurely pace, with no set goals, but other times I like to know where we are headed next, especially if there is a lot left to do and we are wasting time.

I think non-DISboard people (who don't know all the tricks and tips provided here) tend to follow a common flow and order to getting on rides, i.e., "If we are riding one thing in Tomorrowland now, then why not ride everything in Tomorrowland now?" Or, "If we are walking right through Tomorrowland to get to another location, why don't we stop and do Buzz Lightyear now?" They don't understand that we have to bypass Buzz for the moment and high tail it over to Peter Pan before the line gets crazy!! So it is hard to sometimes convince your group that there is a method to your madness and that this is actually a well-thought out plan.

I think it depends a lot on how long or short of a trip you have to work with too. If you only have one day to browse both parks and you want to go commando and do as much as you can in that one day, then Ridemax is good because it can help you squeeze in as many things as possible in one day, provided someone in your party is willing to be a FP runner and dart to and fro while others are headed elsewhere. If you have more days to kind of take everything in at a relaxed pace, then Ridemax may not be necessary - unless you think you may never get back to DLR again and you want to see and do everything and need help in coordinating it all.

 

[HydroGuy]

Ditto Jason

I HATE having a strict outline of what rides when at Disneyland (the whole rest of the trip, YES LOL). My family members who used it seemed to be really irritable and didn't enjoy themselves as much.

I do say, if you love to have a plan then go for it..otherwise, meh.

I remember this discussion elsewhere recently. I know what you mean. I would add that "having a strict outline" and "following a strict outline" are two different things. Some people think that having a RM plan in hand means that for some reason they must follow it. I tell anyone using RM that if you want to use RM, bring your plans and then be OK with not following them at all or in part if circumstances dictate.

For some people a plan increases stress or irritation. For others it reduces it because it can reduce wasted time and arguments.

I think Emmers' point is that RM is not for everyone which is quite correct.

 

[tasha99]

I got Ridemax for my trip next week, and what I did was make detailed plans for the first two days. We'll see how those go.

I also made spreadsheets that show how long Ridemax estimates each ride to be at certain times (every half hour . . . so my chart has Haunted Mansion at 8 am 8:30, 9, 9:30 etc. all the way to midnight). With my spreadsheet, even if we get off schedule, I'll have an idea of what the estimated lines are for each ride.

 

[PinkBudgie]

I got Ridemax for my trip next week, and what I did was make detailed plans for the first two days. We'll see how those go.

I also made spreadsheets that show how long Ridemax estimates each ride to be at certain times (every half hour . . . so my chart has Haunted Mansion at 8 am 8:30, 9, 9:30 etc. all the way to midnight). With my spreadsheet, even if we get off schedule, I'll have an idea of what the estimated lines are for each ride.

Ok, you took it farther than even I did. I bought Ridemax for next week too. I've been making Plan A and Plan B, etc for each day because I want to look at them to know what the line waits are at different times! You are just more organized about it than I am. I don't really use spread sheets so that didn't occur to me.

 

[tasha99]

Ok, you took it farther than even I did. I bought Ridemax for next week too. I've been making Plan A and Plan B, etc for each day because I want to look at them to know what the line waits are at different times! You are just more organized about it than I am. I don't really use spread sheets so that didn't occur to me.

I do have all the paperwork--printed out menus, plans, "the spreadsheet," etc. However, I'm actually very unorganized--we're leaving tomorrow and I'm not even packed.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

I remember this discussion elsewhere recently. I know what you mean. I would add that "having a strict outline" and "following a strict outline" are two different things. Some people think that having a RM plan in hand means that for some reason they must follow it. I tell anyone using RM that if you want to use RM, bring your plans and then be OK with not following them at all or in part if circumstances dictate.

For some people a plan increases stress or irritation. For others it reduces it because it can reduce wasted time and arguments.

I think Emmers' point is that RM is not for everyone which is quite correct.

Yep, it's all about you and the people you're going with I would say. I think if someone wanted a guideline it could work well for that..but that it'd probably work best like Hydroguy suggested..if you're willing to be flexible with it. As for us, I'd never spend the money because we're all easy going enough and don't 'need' it.

 

[heatherleigh]

You know, I purchased it on our last trip, but forgot my printouts at hm. They would have really came in handy on the Saturday we were there.

Since our next trip will most likely be this summer, I definitely plan on using RM. I have never gone to DL during peak season, so I want to make sure I keep wait times down to a minimum.

 

[HydroGuy]

You know, I purchased it on our last trip, but forgot my printouts at hm. They would have really came in handy on the Saturday we were there.

Since our next trip will most likely be this summer, I definitely plan on using RM. I have never gone to DL during peak season, so I want to make sure I keep wait times down to a minimum.

I have taken itineraries with me to DLR and WDW trips but have only followed them sparingly. Even so, I always bring two copies of everything in case I lose one.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

... I also made spreadsheets that show how long Ridemax estimates each ride to be at certain times (every half hour . . . so my chart has Haunted Mansion at 8 am 8:30, 9, 9:30 etc. all the way to midnight). With my spreadsheet, even if we get off schedule, I'll have an idea of what the estimated lines are for each ride.

Another Thumbs Up for making a RideMax spreadsheet!

(Although my spreadsheets are only every hour, not half hour. )

I think RideMax is great, but I rarely use it for step-by-step plans.

To quote HydroGuy ... yet again ... Informed Spontaneity™

 

[HydroGuy]

To quote HydroGuy ... yet again ... Informed Spontaneity™

You have learned well, Grasshopper.

 

[yp65]

I have tried it for my WDW last year. I didn't follow it strictly. However, it was very helpful in help me estimate wait times and distance between attraction and made my plan more reasonable.

 

[toddbushman]

I use it to its fullest extent and have never been disappointed. It takes me longer to plan, but what I do is put in the rides I want to go on, and when it details times for the runner to go get fastpasses it basically has the rest of the party waiting around for them to get back. Rather than do that, I plan for the runner to go during a ride they don't necessarily want to ride anyway (i.e. Fantasyland is usually planned first thing in the a.m. on non-MM days, so when the rest of the group is on the Carousel, I run and grab Space Mt. FP, or BTMR FP, or Indy FP, and meet them at Small World. Ridemax doesn't spit out the plan that way, but if you are crafty you can piece it all together from multiple plans and it works out great.

If anything is shut down (like Indy which seems to crash a lot) when you are supposed to go on it, I just move to the next ride and thus get ahead of schedule and come back later when there is a new open spot and use FP, or single rider, etc...

We took a brother-in-law this past trip who hates crowds and standing in line, and despite it being opening week of Nightastic and heavy crowds, we never stood in line longer than 10 minutes (of course this requires occasionally someone to stand in line longer, one of my greatest hints is to have one person stand in line for Toy Story Mania, while the rest of the groups adults go single rider on California Screamin', or even single rider on Toy Story Mania and the kids and one adult go on King Triton's Carousel, and then you just meet the person standing in line when they are in the back portion of the line in the building through the open entrance and only have to wait maybe 10 minutes from there). Ridemax wouldn't set it up that way, but it may stick a timeframe for visiting Toy Story Mania, and rather than plugging in California Screamin' and King Triton's Carousel too, you just plan on doing those during the estimated 30 minute wait while your Toy Story Mania person waits in that line (Grandma opted to stay in line several times this way, and alternated with me doing it while the other did single rider while the rest of the group did Screamin', etc...).

Basically I for one love having everything planned out because we tend to hit 15 rides in the first 2 1/2 hours on a MM day and have FP for all the main rides collected, and end up riding roughly 30 - 35 rides a day, while still taking a 2 hour break for lunch, hitting a couple of Parades and squeezing in Fireworks and Fantasmic! or Electrical Parade and Fantasmic!

Other favorites hints: Never collect FP for Indy, but everyone go Single Rider, that way you can collect FP for something else that doesn't have this option. If your group contains children, have adults ride Tower of Terror using FP while the kids and 1 adult go on Monsters Inc. Same holds true for Space Mt./Buzz Lightyear. If only adults in your party, or no kids who are tall enough, never collect Splash Mt. FP, but do single rider, and have kids go on Winnie the Pooh.

It may sound regimented, and it is, but everyone loved riding so many things and if the group wanted to add a couple of rides instead of something else we were able to fit it in (i.e. if they wanted to ride Indy again instead of the Tiki room, which I love, then they simply went Single Rider, or if they wanted to do Soarin again then since I had been collecting FP all day with all tickets and 2 of the kids were too small, I already had 2 extra). Basically it is still extremely flexible as you are deciding what you want to ride as you build the day, and if you are savvy enough you know how to skip certain things in favor of others (other main tip is to know when parades are and what routes they take to either avoid them, or hit them on their way across the park to another ride).

Sorry for the long post, but I can't help myself when it comes to describing how much this has allowed me to do each day at Disneyland compared to the hordes of people I see waiting in 30-70 minute lines per ride (maybe getting 12-16 rides in for the whole day)

 

[S. S. Columbia]

... have one person stand in line for Toy Story Mania, while the rest of the groups adults go single rider on California Screamin', or even single rider on Toy Story Mania and the kids and one adult go on King Triton's Carousel, and then you just meet the person standing in line when they are in the back portion of the line in the building through the open entrance and only have to wait maybe 10 minutes from there...

You wrote:

"Have one person stand in line for Toy Story Mania ... you just meet the person standing in line... and only have to wait maybe 10 minutes..."

Maybe I'm reading that wrong,

but it sounds like you're recommending "Cutting in line."


I liked the rest of your post, though.

 

[Brady's Mom]

We used RideMax in Oct. 2006 before I found the DisBoards and it was where I learned the all important Fast Pass rule - to hold onto your FP's until later and use them after the return window has expired. I loved learning that and although we didn't always stick to our RM plan we always had FP's we could use and we used Child Swap passes.

We went over UEA weekend where all of Utah heads to DLR and it was VERY busy, but we were able to use our RM plan and FP's and have a good time. I have never again used RM, just because I found the Dis and know how to plan our time and use Child Swap and FP effectively. I just haven't needed it again. Although.....DH and I will be at DLR in a little over 3 weeks and I haven't been in the summer since I was 12 so I am not sure how we will do???!!!

 

[Eeee-va]

Just came back from a trip with Ridemax. It worked more or less fine for the first half of Saturday, but we had to shake things up around 10 AM when we decided to do Tom Sawyer's Island on a later date. Wait times appeared to be pretty close to predictions overall, at least early in the day. We were way ahead of our plan for Fastpasses in DCA on Saturday, even though we actually arrived at the park late. There were issues later in the day but I think some of those were due to rides going down...I don't think a day went by when we didn't see a ride out of commission for a while (Gadget's Go-Coaster, Indy at least 2-3 times, PotC, Nemo...).

My friend really liked it, but she used it for data and didn't care if we followed the plan so much. I very much wanted to follow the plans, but though I tried, even I really can't plan in advance what a party of 3 will want to do over 4 days. If something gets missed, it can be hard to plug it in later. Sometimes people get tired and don't want to go from place to place. It really is hard to get people on board for more than the first couple hours of the day, and I think overall once you know the tricks, you can do OK. Maybe not as good as Ridemax, but my party, at least, really preferred to have some flexibility, rather than squeezing in a few more rides.

(Is Tarzan's Treehouse even open around 11:30 at night? If not, then that was not the best advice from Ridemax, to visit it about then. I walked by a bit earlier than that time two different nights (just out of coincidence) and it was closed. I assumed they wouldn't bother to open it up again for an hour to have a tiny number of people walk through, but maybe they did. I wasn't going to hang around to find out!)

 

[S. S. Columbia]

...Is Tarzan's Treehouse even open around 11:30 at night?

Nope, Tarzan's Treehouse closes at dusk.

 

[Eeee-va]

Nope, Tarzan's Treehouse closes at dusk.

Thanks! Guess I'd better email Ridemax. (I didn't have my heart set on it or anything, but it's hard to believe they missed that in the first place!)