ridemax?

[robinsegg]

Hello!
Please tell me about ridemax?
Thanks!

 

[dkbnyc]

do a search on ridemax- there is a HUGE thread that is still alive. its 55pgs long

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

I tried reading thru that - whew!
Here's a quick question before I consider purchasing:
How long is the subscription? We're planning a trip Apr 15 - 21, 2010. I did read something about not purchasing too far in advance of "it would be like buying a toy without batteries". How far in advance is too far?
TIA.
Gretchen

 

[dkbnyc]

you can get it for 1 year or pay less for 90days. they say dont buy too far in advance b/c your dates wont be loaded into their program yet- so it wont have the most updated info

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Thank you for your prompt response.
I haven't checked prices yet, & imagine that will have some impact, but if I bought now and fooled around with it until April 2010, I guess I could come up with a pretty good plan, right?
I do like TGM, but he takes FOREVER to update his site. Still no "Least Crowded Parks" for April. Am ready to try something new...
Gretchen

 

[dkbnyc]

i dont know that there is much you could do with it that would be useful that far ahead of time. I would wait until you have your trip booked, decided on which park for each day before getting ridemax

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Thank you, dkbnyc - that's what I needed to know.
Was hoping to fine tune a few things before we get down to the deadline. We'll be an extended family of 7 travelling together in Apr - 4 adults, 2 teens, and 2 young children.
I know the teens will want to do some things on their own, and there may be times an adult or 2 might want to join them. Then there will be the 2 younger ones and all the planning that goes along with them...
Already have our parks and ADR's planned out. Wanted to start thinking about park planning (rides, etc). Was hoping to spend some time each week planning & tweaking - after input from all interested parties. Guess that wasn't such a good idea.
I definitely wasn't interested in planning our days down to the minute - just trying to give everybody an idea of what to expect.
Thanks again!

 

[dkbnyc]

ride max can help you plan it down to the minute. sounds like it might be most helpful for your group if you used it to plan your mornings and get a strategy for the high demand attractions and then leave your afternoons open to do what you wish

 

[tpettie]

RM only put out two months at a time so right now you can only plane dates for Nov & Dec by about the 15th of Nov it will update an have Jan dates availlable.

 

[quantumottle]

Thank you for your prompt response.
I haven't checked prices yet, & imagine that will have some impact, but if I bought now and fooled around with it until April 2010, I guess I could come up with a pretty good plan, right?
I do like TGM, but he takes FOREVER to update his site. Still no "Least Crowded Parks" for April. Am ready to try something new...
Gretchen

Basically, RideMax cannot put out scheduled times for the parks until Disney releases it's scheduled times for the parks. Makes sense to me.

Admittedly, I am a Ridemax addict. I actually like to play around on it even when it's months before my next visit.

What I do while I'm waiting for Disney to release their schedule is look at touringplans.com crowd table and try to find a day that has the same predicted crowd number as the day I will be in the parks. making sure to also match day of the week, and early magic hours. It's not perfect, and Holidays totally mess up my little project, but it's fun and fairly accurate, and it gives you a general idea of what your plans may be while also giving you time to really tweak and master Ridemax before your real trip dates are available..

 

[tpettie]

Admittedly, I am a Ridemax addict. I actually like to play around on it even when it's months before my next visit.

You answered the fastpass question for me on an other thread.Thanks you had said that you did tweeking to get more fastpass in the AM than it was schedualing you for how is it that you do that?

I have a question for you Admitted Addict. How accurate do you find it we did a different tour plan last year and found our waits to be not too long during our early Dec trip.

Going the same time this year. Ridemax looks good but how trust worthy is it? Does it account for some distraction time for those who are caught up in the gift shop as they exit the ride? What about fastpass being got late in the day are they there to ge or have they all been taken earlier in the day. Have you ever been told to get a fastpass to only find there aren't any left?

 

[quantumottle]

You answered the fastpass question for me on an other thread.Thanks you had said that you did tweeking to get more fastpass in the AM than it was schedualing you for how is it that you do that?

Well, it's not easy to explain my own method's as they vary from one park to another. My way may seem a bit complicated and may or may not work for your family. For example, at AK Ridemax "usually" not always but usually, suggests you do the Safari in the afternoon. My family, however, prefers to do KS first thing.

So I tell the Ridemax software that my day will not begin until 9:45 for example, when I will actually be there when the park opens at 9:00. I start my day taking my family to KS, grabbing a FP before we go in. Since KS loads so quickly it will be a walk on ride at 9 AM with virtually no line.

Now, my family will exit KS and head straight to EE to grab a fastpass on our way to DinoLand, and guess what? When my Ridemax plan starts at 9:45, I've already rode KS and have a FP to ride it again later in the day, plus a FP for EE for later, and my plan is just now starting. This concept should also work in reverse, with Everest first, but it is a more direct path from KS to EE to DinoLand than if you start at EE.

I have a COMPLETELY different method at each of the other WDW parks though.

I have a question for you Admitted Addict. How accurate do you find it we did a different tour plan last year and found our waits to be not too long during our early Dec trip.

This is true, it may very well be that you don't need Ridemax at all if it's not busy and you already know your way around the parks. I have found that Ridemax works better the busier the parks are. As odd as this may sound, the week of Christmas, when the parks are at a 10 for traffic, is the very best time to see how great Ridemax shines.

If anything, I often feel the Ridemax times are generous as we will sometimes get ahead of schedule. It's great if you have kids with unexpected restroom breaks, or perhaps like to stop and window shop on your way between rides. But if you want it to be right on the money, that's tough I suppose, as everyone wealks at a different rate.

Going the same time this year. Ridemax looks good but how trust worthy is it? Does it account for some distraction time for those who are caught up in the gift shop as they exit the ride? What about fastpass being got late in the day are they there to ge or have they all been taken earlier in the day. Have you ever been told to get a fastpass to only find there aren't any left?

Doh! I should have read your entire message before replying, yep, I think Ridemax does great at allowing for distraction time - as long as your distraction isn't too long.

As for FP's, I've never had Ridemax be wrong about passes being available. I work the FP system to it's max though, I think it's the key to successful touring at WDW. My kids are so spoiled that anything over 10 minutes they actually consider skipping it. It's my fault, I spoil them rotten at The World.

If you or someone in your group is willing to be a FP runner, then you will have no worries following the Ridemax plans, even on the busiest day's of the year.

Hope I was able to help...

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Basically, RideMax cannot put out scheduled times for the parks until Disney releases it's scheduled times for the parks. Makes sense to me.

Admittedly, I am a Ridemax addict. I actually like to play around on it even when it's months before my next visit.

What I do while I'm waiting for Disney to release their schedule is look at touringplans.com crowd table and try to find a day that has the same predicted crowd number as the day I will be in the parks. making sure to also match day of the week, and early magic hours. It's not perfect, and Holidays totally mess up my little project, but it's fun and fairly accurate, and it gives you a general idea of what your plans may be while also giving you time to really tweak and master Ridemax before your real trip dates are available..

So, I could buy it now, make up some tentative schedules, then tweak them when park schedules become available closer to our April dates? (Would buy the yearly plan.) Am I reading this right?

If so - and please bear with me because I'm afraid I'm not following something here - then why wouldn't it work to tweak my plans right now - since WDW has already released their park hours, entertainment schedules, etc. for April? I'm sure I'm missing something... I don't mean to be dense, but sometimes things can be very clear to 1 person, and completely like mud to me! Is it because schedules can change when the date gets closer, or something else?

Because, I don't see any disadvantage to start working on this now - UNLESS there's something I'm missing. Unless maybe it's the fact that I'd be spending time on something that could change down the line?

Just want to make sure I'm on the right track...

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to answer my questions!

Gretchen

 

[quantumottle]

So, I could buy it now, make up some tentative schedules, then tweak them when park schedules become available closer to our April dates? (Would buy the yearly plan.) Am I reading this right?

If so - and please bear with me because I'm afraid I'm not following something here - then why wouldn't it work to tweak my plans right now - since WDW has already released their park hours, entertainment schedules, etc. for April? I'm sure I'm missing something... I don't mean to be dense, but sometimes things can be very clear to 1 person, and completely like mud to me! Is it because schedules can change when the date gets closer, or something else?

Because, I don't see any disadvantage to start working on this now - UNLESS there's something I'm missing. Unless maybe it's the fact that I'd be spending time on something that could change down the line?

Just want to make sure I'm on the right track...

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to answer my questions!

Gretchen

I'm not sure I would advise everyone to get the yearly subscription. I sometimes do just to play around with Ridemax, but honestly all you probably need is the 90 day version.

Usually the park hours are not set in stone 90 days out. However, it sounds in your case like they may be. I'm certainly no WDW schedule expert, someone loke Robo would know if the schedule for April is likely to change or not better than I.

I'm going to The World in 3 weeks, Dec 3-13, and I know the schedule has changed a few times over the past couple weeks. They added a handful of Fantasmic shows, extended hours for a couple of the parks, etc. But that may not be as likely for April as it is for December, I'm not sure.

So to answer your question, if Disney has already released the hours and show times etc for April, then yes, you could get Ridemax and start tweaking now. But my personal opinion is that 90 days should be sufficient, especially if it's possible that the park schedules could change.

Sorry so long winded, hope I didn't confuse you further.

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

Thank you so much for clarifying, Quantumottle. Now that you put it that way, it DOES seem like 90 days is plenty of time to work out a schedule.
Guess I'm just jumping the gun cuz I'm so excited to get going!
Gretchen

 

[quantumottle]

You're very welcome Gretchen, glad I could be of help.

 

[gretchenohar@hotmail]

I'm much obliged to you, Quantumottle - and to everyone else who took the time to help me out here.
Gretchen