Tips to make RideMax work for me?

[AuntieKels]

I ordered RideMax last night and although I haven't spent a lot of time poking around yet my initial schedules seem off.

First of all, How do you work around them not offering the extra magic hour? Do I just wing the first hour and start my ridemax plan assuming I did 3-4 rides in Fantasyland before the schedule starts?

When I was doing my DCA day I asked for 2 rides on RSR but it had my get a fastpass first thing then come back midday and wait in line for 150 minutes for the second ride. I've read most people ride RSR during EMH then get a FP as soon as they get off. I guess maybe I'm still stuggling with how to plan my EMH then transition onto the Ridemax schedule.

RideMax wont let you parkhop, will it? Is it ever preferable to do EMH in one park and hop to the other for for rope drop?

Lastly, we are planning on doing rides for the little kids in the morning then schedule adult rides in the later evening. Can I do a morning plan then a completely separate evening plan? I don't want Ridemax to schedule Indy at 9am.

Thanks DISers!

 

[NiceOneSimba]

Yes, leave the rides off you're going to do during the EE/EMH/MM. Just go in thinking of your EE/EMH/MM plan--there are threads on here that suggest strategies for that--as a completely separate thing.

To help plan for the MM/EE/EMH--is it a 7 a.m. MM/EE/EMH at Disneyland? If so, you should be able to get almost all of the Fantasyland rides done that are open. If it's 8 or 9, a.m. /EE/MM, 3 or 4 rides is probably about right. Just guess which ones you're most likely to do. (My suggestions are to focus on PP, Dumbo and Alice, if they're open, because they tend to have the longest lines throughout the day and will make your plan that much more managable). I have no experience with the EE at DCA, because we've never stayed on site, but I am sure there are threads aplenty to help you plan out your strategy.

Just start your RideMax plan for the day at the opening time for the general public. If you think you're likely to be in a ride line still at opening, you might want to plan your first ride for 5 or 10 minutes later. Honestly, though, I'd be tempted to not get in a line so you're ready to move as soon as the park opens to the general public.

The key, though, is to only put the rides you want to ride during the regular park open hours on your plan. If you know you're going to ride it during EE, but want to ride it a second time, then just put it down once.

To do parkhopping, I think it depends on your plans. Are you going to do half a day in each park? Then build a separate plan for each park, setting the start and stop times for the times you plan to be in each park. Are you just going to hop over for a meal and a ride or two? If that's the plan, just build in long break around the time you want to hop. I did a 2.5-hour break once when we were going to hop for lunch and a few rides. That worked out SUPER well. You can run a plan for the second park separately, or you can just wing it.

And yes, you can schedule morning and evening plans separately, with different ride lists. Be aware, though, that you may wait longer than if you just did a full-day plan with all the rides. I'd worry a bit about Fastpass availablitily if you're trying to schedule all of the big rides in the evening. Try it both ways and see how it shakes out. I run MANY different combinations of rides and breaks before I get a schedule I really like.

I love RideMax, but it does require a fair amount of playing around to get a schedule you like.

 

[lizabu]

Ride max tells you specifically what order you should do things during EMH once you generate a plan. It's in the paragraph at the top, above your touring plan. Just leave off the things you intend to do during EMH when making your plan. In the case of a ride you want to do twice, do it once during EMH and add it to your plan to do a second time.

Here's a screenshot of what I mean

 

[VandVsmama]

You have to play with it in order to get the ideal schedule for you. If you want plans for both parks, you have to make two separate plans.

If you don't want it to have you go on IJ in the morning or afternoon, then you have to make just an evening plan. But keep in mind that this could result in longer wait times due to some FP running out. Just try it out and see what it comes up with and adjust accordingly.

 

[::danielle::]

I tried to use Ridemax for our trip. One thing that Ridemax suggested that did not work for us was to ride Toy Story first during EMH then pick up the RSR FP for later. During the 2 days we spent at DCA, the Toy Story ride only had a long wait one time (40 minutes). I would ride RSR first during EMH (maybe even twice) and get a FP for later in the day.

At DL EMH we went straight to the Matterhorn and waited 15 minutes to ride. We then rode Alice and the teacups (PP was closed). At park opening time we went to Nemo. The line was 25 minutes at this point. That threw off our entire Ridemax plan for the remainder of the morning. I didn't use Ridemax after that.

 

[wsssup]

On day 4 of of our 10 day disney fest. As others have said leave out the rides you will do emh. As long as your up the front of the gates Radiator Springs racers is almost a walk on like it was this morning.

Ridemax has worked great and after a few days it really has just become a guide now which is good as we are figuring out what to hit first thing in the morning.

We were lucky to get a walk on pass for Matterhorn. Our park tickets were not scanned properly on entry so when I tried to pull some fast passes it didn't work. Which was a lot of walking back to the main entry to get it fixed.
A cast member was awesome to get it all sorted and walk us to the ride and get right on.

 

[elaine amj]

I just ordered Ridemax today and am also having some difficulties. I worked on the one day and generated 6 versions of the plan lol. I just wish I could reorder things or even add a quick note next to a ride. It seems to be helping a little...although I am still preferring my own plans. I too the final version of the plan I created and then tweaked it even more to make it just what I want. Sadly I can't make the tweaks in ridemax itself so I am not entirely sure how useful this will be for me. Maybe I'll be better off just making my plans myself. I am debating asking for a refund but will give it a little more time.

 

[NiceOneSimba]

Elaine--RideMax is designed to minimize your wait time. It puts things in a specific order to do that. You have to let it do its thing to get the benefit. Every time I've used it, it's put things in an order that I think is whackadoo at first glance. And then, we get to the park and follow the schedule and it feels like we basically walk onto rides and when we get off the ride, the line is considerably longer than when we got on. It's all about zigging when everyone else is zagging, which, to a certain extent, means letting go of the order you imagine the rides should go in.

If you want to do things in a very specific order, then RideMax is not for you. But if you want to minimize your wait time and be able to get a certain number of attractions in on a specific day, let it do its thing. And, make sure you hit the rides in bold at the scheduled time, because it really does make a difference.

As a previous poster said, after a day or two, you can sort of figure out the pattern. I also tend to stick to the schedule like clockwork in the morning and then get more lax as the day goes on. It's really those morning hours where the benefit is greatest, I feel, as the park is less crowded and you can really get a good number of attractions in.

RideMax can be hard for people who like to plan (like me). You just kind of have to trust that their data set has knowledge that you don't, and that the schedule is in that order for a reason.

 

[elaine amj]

Elaine--RideMax is designed to minimize your wait time. It puts things in a specific order to do that. You have to let it do its thing to get the benefit. Every time I've used it, it's put things in an order that I think is whackadoo at first glance. And then, we get to the park and follow the schedule and it feels like we basically walk onto rides and when we get off the ride, the line is considerably longer than when we got on. It's all about zigging when everyone else is zagging, which, to a certain extent, means letting go of the order you imagine the rides should go in.

If you want to do things in a very specific order, then RideMax is not for you. But if you want to minimize your wait time and be able to get a certain number of attractions in on a specific day, let it do its thing. And, make sure you hit the rides in bold at the scheduled time, because it really does make a difference.

As a previous poster said, after a day or two, you can sort of figure out the pattern. I also tend to stick to the schedule like clockwork in the morning and then get more lax as the day goes on. It's really those morning hours where the benefit is greatest, I feel, as the park is less crowded and you can really get a good number of attractions in.

RideMax can be hard for people who like to plan (like me). You just kind of have to trust that their data set has knowledge that you don't, and that the schedule is in that order for a reason.

I have trust issues LOL!! I am so used to studying all the tips carefully (using the Dis and easyWDW) that it's hard to let go and trust a program...especially when it asks me to do stuff like wait in a 60 min line. That said, several re-dos of the plan eventually made wait times drop to what I prefer.

I'll keep working with it and see how it goes. I am very used to following a minute by minute plan, understanding loading patterns, etc. For one of my WDW trips, I had studied it enough that I roughly knew approx wait times for most rides at all varying times of the day Since I don't know DLR as well, I was hoping Ridemax would do that for me. And like you said, if I just give it a chance and let it do its thing, it likely will

 

[AuntieKels]

Wow! Thanks everyone. After I did my original post I started reading the tips and tricks on RideMax and it answered a lot of my questions. I'm starting to get the hang of it!

Do any of you have a preference for starting the day in the extra magic morning park then switching parks after the midday break? Is it worth it to leave the more crowded park or to stay where you may have a fast pass?

Thanks!

 

[elaine amj]

I have to add, I worked some more on Ridemax tonight and now that I have completed 3 days worth of plans, it is making more sense to me. Some things it asked me to do was odd...really out of the left field. I would get completely annoyed the first couple of versions of the plan because it seemed to tell me such crazy things. But like everyone said, keep modifying the plans and eventually, a beautiful plan will show up. I guess I just need to trust the program more too.

 

[AuntieKels]

@elaine amj - I'm right there with ya! Haha

I think our trips will barely overlap. I hope you post how everything works out for you!

 

[az4boys]

I love Ridemax, but it does take some getting used to. We don't get to go to the parks very often so when we do go, I like to maximize our time. I like to play with the system so I have a very good understanding of the data that drives their plans. Last time we went I would make a plan with as many rides of a single attraction as possible to see how the wait times change throughout the day. That way I can make informed changes to our schedule as needed, and I could also distinguish between rides that needed to be timed (for the shortest wait) and rides that could be ridden anytime with little difference in wait time. It worked really well for us but apparently Ridemax couldn't compute Roger Rabit 26 times in one day.

 

[elaine amj]

I love Ridemax, but it does take some getting used to. We don't get to go to the parks very often so when we do go, I like to maximize our time. I like to play with the system so I have a very good understanding of the data that drives their plans. Last time we went I would make a plan with as many rides of a single attraction as possible to see how the wait times change throughout the day. That way I can make informed changes to our schedule as needed, and I could also distinguish between rides that needed to be timed (for the shortest wait) and rides that could be ridden anytime with little difference in wait time. It worked really well for us but apparently Ridemax couldn't compute Roger Rabit 26 times in one day.

That is a super idea!! Love love love it....especially since I have been getting frustrated with it again.

 

[jeffg4]

Elaine--RideMax is designed to minimize your wait time. It puts things in a specific order to do that. You have to let it do its thing to get the benefit. Every time I've used it, it's put things in an order that I think is whackadoo at first glance. And then, we get to the park and follow the schedule and it feels like we basically walk onto rides and when we get off the ride, the line is considerably longer than when we got on. It's all about zigging when everyone else is zagging, which, to a certain extent, means letting go of the order you imagine the rides should go in.

If you want to do things in a very specific order, then RideMax is not for you. But if you want to minimize your wait time and be able to get a certain number of attractions in on a specific day, let it do its thing. And, make sure you hit the rides in bold at the scheduled time, because it really does make a difference.

As a previous poster said, after a day or two, you can sort of figure out the pattern. I also tend to stick to the schedule like clockwork in the morning and then get more lax as the day goes on. It's really those morning hours where the benefit is greatest, I feel, as the park is less crowded and you can really get a good number of attractions in.

RideMax can be hard for people who like to plan (like me). You just kind of have to trust that their data set has knowledge that you don't, and that the schedule is in that order for a reason.

This is exactly right. Ridemax is designed to minimize your OVERALL waiting and walking time, so don't be deterred by a few long wait times. However, Ridemax does not minimize your time in all cases. Here are a couple of tricks I have learned while using the product:

If you have PP on your DL schedule, it should show up first in most cases, which is where it belongs. If it does not, you can do it first as long as you are at the front at rope drop and hustle to the attraction. If you do this, you can quickly get PP out of the way and be at your next ride within 10 minutes instead of having to wait 30-40 minutes for it at another point in the day. Just leave PP off your schedule and you'll only be a few minutes behind by the time you get to the next attraction.

If you schedule your arrival time at park opening and your departure time at park close, Ridemax will always put a large break (if there's time for one) mid-day, so you can experience minimum waits at park opening and close. While mid-day is the best time to take a break, you will miss out on at least one (sometimes 2) opportunities to pull an additional FP. For instance, if Ridemax schedules a break between 1-6 PM, you will not be able to pull a FP at 1:00 PM because most, if not all, the return times will still be prior to 6:00 PM. Now you will have to experience that attraction after your return from break with longer waits than you would if you had a FP. To get around this, try scheduling 1 or 2 short breaks mid-day. This forces the software to put a few more items in the itinerary during mid-day, like obtaining a FP. For example, try putting a 15-min break at noon and another 15-min break at 3:30 PM. Now Ridemax may have you pull a FP before your break at 1:00 PM for a return at 3:00PM. You then ride with FP at 3:00 PM and can pull another FP at 3:30PM before you leave for your 2nd break. Bottom line is you should always try and pull a FP before a break, if possible. In a broader sense, always pull a FP when eligible, even if it's not in your schedule. Just make sure that pulling the FP will not cause you to miss pulling another FP that is in your schedule. You can almost always squeeze in an extra FP attraction. I've found this strategy works to further reduce your waits and still gives you enough break time should you choose to use it. I, like others, don't like to wait more than 30 minutes for anything if I can help it.

 

[elaine amj]

Really helpful - thanks so much for the detailed tips

 

[AuntieKels]

Do you guys know why I keep getting a RideMax result that repeat an hour?

 

[NiceOneSimba]

It's not repeated; it's AM and PM. You have a break that's 11 hours long in the middle of the day.

You need to add a bunch more attractions to your plan, or add in some smaller breaks for meals or shows.