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meagee
03-23-2005, 10:39 AM
Please clarify for me. You order the Ridemax software and then it is mailed to your home for you to use on your home computer. Is that right? So, since I am going to DL Friday, I should have done this a few weeks ago. :crying:

rentayenta
03-23-2005, 10:40 AM
No. They e-mail the info to be downloaded to your computer.

Crazy4DL
03-23-2005, 10:45 AM
Please clarify for me. You order the Ridemax software and then it is mailed to your home for you to use on your home computer. Is that right? So, since I am going to DL Friday, I should have done this a few weeks ago. :crying:

You'll have it right away - buy it and then within minutes you will have an email with your registration code and you can be making a ride scedule in minutes :D

edited to say: oops - sorry Renta is much faster than I

Family5LovesDisney
03-23-2005, 11:05 AM
Please clarify for me. You order the Ridemax software and then it is mailed to your home for you to use on your home computer. Is that right? So, since I am going to DL Friday, I should have done this a few weeks ago. :crying: It is WELL worth it! We used it last week when the park was quite crowded and it worked like a dream!

ima_mickeyfan
03-23-2005, 12:11 PM
what is ridemax? excuse me for my ignorance.
:fez:

MsYumiBr
03-23-2005, 12:22 PM
I'd test it out as soon as possible just in case it doesn't work. I loaded it on my laptop and it wouldn't load. I had to call (after loading it on my desktop and several e-mails later) and all we did was a file extension rename and voila', it worked. Of course now I only had evenings to mess with it before the trip. :(

rentayenta
03-23-2005, 12:30 PM
what is ridemax? excuse me for my ignorance.
:fez:


www.ridemax.com


I plan to use it for my trips in May and December. :)

bradk
03-23-2005, 12:58 PM
what is ridemax?

it's a fairly 'simple' subscription-based application that lets you plug in the times you'll be in the parks and tell it which rides you want to go on and it will present you with an itinerary designed to minimize your waiting & walking times based on the average attendance on those specific days.

it takes a little playing with to get the maximum benefit out of it, but it's worth it once you get all the logic down.

JSKoehler
03-23-2005, 01:02 PM
It will download fast with a high-speed connection, but might tie up a dial-up for a while. With our trip a week away, I have been running some fairly intense simulations. If the currect plan I have works, we should be able to hit most, if not all, of the kids "must-dos" before lunch the first day with only one wait over 10 minutes . . . that I gotta see.

For giggles, I requested a plan for nothing but the Matterhorn over and over throughout the morning until 1 PM. it was interesting (and distressing and instructive) to see how the projected wait times grew longer with each ride.

Family5LovesDisney
03-23-2005, 01:03 PM
what is ridemax? excuse me for my ignorance.
:fez:
It uses basic Industrial Engineering principles and it works!

bradk
03-23-2005, 03:26 PM
For giggles, I requested a plan for nothing but the Matterhorn over and over throughout the morning until 1 PM. it was interesting (and distressing and instructive) to see how the projected wait times grew longer with each ride.

i've done the same with dumbo myself. on a relatively slow day, the projected wait time starts out really small up until mid morning, then it goes to like 50 mins

JSKoehler
03-24-2005, 07:35 AM
In running serious plans for the contigency of a late arrival, I was not surprised that even a short delay (arrving at 8:30 when the park opens at 8, for example) can completely throw your schedule off, particularly if, like us, you are doing the "dumbo-or -die" kid oriented plan, with few fastpass options. As I noted above, if we start at the rope drop, we have no problem completing the schedule by the afternoon break, but if we start just half-an-hour late, we can't do everything on the list even when we return in the evening. By dropping items I was finally able to get a viable plan, but that included, among other things, a 102 minute wait for Peter Pan! In other words, while Ridemax is great for helping you plan to hit all your favs, its application is still governed by immutable laws, starting with BE AT THE PARK BEFORE THE OFFICIAL OPENING TIME :D

RideMax Mark
03-24-2005, 07:51 AM
I hope it's OK if I chime in here...

Regarding that "102 minute" wait for Peter Pan, we do generally try to err on the "high side" when putting together the estimates. There will be some normal variation from day-to-day in the crowd levels, so if we observe wait times over a 2-day period at a certain time of year and see a 45-minute wait one day for a given attraction, and a 60-minute wait the next day, we'll likely use closer to the 60-minute number for our estimate. This helps to ensure that you'll be able to complete everything on your plan, even if you end up unlucky enough to visit on a slightly busier day (and folks normally don't complain if they end up ahead of schedule and are able to fit in additional activities on the spur of the moment).

For those of you using RideMax plans over the next week or so, I also wanted to make you aware that we just updated the RideMax data with some newer estimates.

As an aside, I think you'll also find somewhat smaller crowds right at opening time if you're able to visit on a non-Early Entry day. (EE days are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday). And yes, arriving early is crucial, especially if you're trying to do the Fantasyland section of the park!

Terri
03-24-2005, 07:55 AM
okay...I'm buying my 3 mo subscription this weekend. We will only be spending 3 days in the parks while we are there. I'm thinking that one day will be to just take the park like we've always done it...calmly and wherever the mood takes us. But one day we will be slamming everything out - probably the first day and we'll be using ridemax.

So here's what I figured last night...there are 25 rides/attractions at DL that are must do's. Our first day in the park will be 5/27 - the friday of memorial day weekend. For all of you who have used ridemax...is this going to work? I have full intentions of being there when they drop the rope - or even take the monorail over...(which will in effect lower the # of rides to 24...)

Any thoughts, suggestions, or just depend on ridemax to do its magic?

bradk
03-24-2005, 07:58 AM
As an aside, I think you'll also find somewhat smaller crowds right at opening time if you're able to visit on a non-Early Entry day. (EE days are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday).

now that's a fascinating observation that makes total sense to me even though i never would have considered it (although, that's why i have ridemax - so i don't have to think about anything).

what i've learned from here is that on my day of early entry, i have to try to get in peter pan (which i don't even plot out in ridemax) and i also have to try to get on the matterhorn at least once (if not the 2 times i hope to, once for each track) because ridemax has me waiting 80 mins total for matterhorn during the day and if i'm able to do it all before official park opening, i just saved myself an hour and a half. of course that was with the day i decided to experiment with and not the actual day i'll be in the park, but who can wait for the real thing?

bradk
03-24-2005, 08:04 AM
Any thoughts, suggestions, or just depend on ridemax to do its magic?

i'd first wait until ridemax allows you to schedule for memorial day (right now, it goes as far as april 15, but as soon as i say something like that, mark chimes in and says they've extended it - but i just checked!).

i would work on plotting it all out with ridemax with what you really want to experience and see how much free time you can work out. it doesn't sound like you'll be able to do the 25 must sees in one day to me, but anything's possible i suppose. i would be inclined to use ridemax all 3 days, especially if you're including DCA in the trip.

it would be nice if ridemax had its own set of forums for registered folk cuz i feel kinda scummy offering any sage advice for its use publicly, but needless to say, it takes some playing with to get a deeper understanding and appreciation for it. you also need to factor in things like the size of your group, the ages of the children and the willingness of everyone to go along with it. the website has a lot of useful information in making the most of it as does the program's help which references the website, but i'm not sure if that information is public.

PrincessCMPsMom
03-24-2005, 09:18 AM
My family are going to be using Ridemax the week of April 4th. I like the idea and the customer service has been wonderful. We had problems downloading the program at first also, but received prompt and accurate information to solve the problem.

The plans we have done seem realistic. I only hope my 4 year old will last until 7:39pm to ride Pooh.

I do have one item for a wish list, and that is that shows and parades would be included.

Crazy4DL
03-24-2005, 09:25 AM
of course that was with the day i decided to experiment with and not the actual day i'll be in the park, but who can wait for the real thing?

Know what you mean there - I bought a one year subscription because I could not even wait until 3 months ahead to try it out ;)

Crazy4DL
03-24-2005, 09:28 AM
My family are going to be using Ridemax the week of April 4th. I like the idea and the customer service has been wonderful. We had problems downloading the program at first also, but received prompt and accurate information to solve the problem.



I can ditto that too - excellent customer service. I emailed a question and recieved my answer within a day.

bradk
03-24-2005, 09:33 AM
I do have one item for a wish list, and that is that shows and parades would be included.

that'd be nice of course and it's been rumored to be included at some future update, but i can see the problem right away.

say a parade starts at 5:15 pm. you don't want to get there at 5:15, you'll be lost in a sea of people and that's a liability issue for ridemax. so how much time do you alot for that sort of thing?

it's really best to use the scheduled breaks feature so you can determine how much time you want to give yourself. you have to put some thought into it and block things together, but believe me, coming from someone who's looking forward to schedule most every parade/show/major ride in 3 days, it is possible.

JSKoehler
03-24-2005, 04:27 PM
Re: Smaller crowds on non-EE days, at WDW the saem is true. Real Veterans (which I cannot count myself amoung . . .yet) stay away from parks on EE days and swear by the strategy of going to the park that had early entry the day before reasoning that everyone hit that park already. This would not apply to DLR where only DL has EE, but I wonder if there is not some merit to heading to Fantasyland on EE days when you arrive at "true" opening, reasoning that all the EE people will be sated on thoses rides and will be heading for the headliners?

Mark: My mention of the long wait for Peter Pan was not a criticism, I was merely using it to demonstrate how a late arrival could foul a touring plan . . . now if the kids and I can just get DW going at 7 (she is not a morning person).

bradk
03-24-2005, 05:34 PM
I wonder if there is not some merit to heading to Fantasyland on EE days when you arrive at "true" opening, reasoning that all the EE people will be sated on thoses rides and will be heading for the headliners

i kind of doubt it. assuming everyone with EE starts exactly when it starts, i think if you're in FL, you'll tend to stay in FL and go on all the rides there first and I really doubt you can do all FL rides within an hour.

SeansMom
03-24-2005, 06:44 PM
i kind of doubt it. assuming everyone with EE starts exactly when it starts, i think if you're in FL, you'll tend to stay in FL and go on all the rides there first and I really doubt you can do all FL rides within an hour.


Just for kicks I ran RideMax for April 4th with FL rides :D . I could fit just half of them into one hour, although if you drop Peter Pan and/or Dumbo you can fit in more.

I know on an EE day we did ALL the FL rides in the first one and a half hours or so. Probably depends on crowds, weather, etc whether or not you could accomplish this, though.

richas
03-24-2005, 06:53 PM
I will be trying RideMax for the first ime tomorrow morning -- Friday March 25. I plan on being at the park at opening and did a plan up till #PM. There were a few rides I couldn't fit in so I did another plan for the evening. I'll report back and let eveyone know how it worked out. Thanks to Brad for the ESPN Zone promo info!

bradk
03-24-2005, 06:56 PM
:) let us know how that espn thing works out for ya (and again, props to mousesavers.com)

as far as your ridemax itinerary goes, rather than do 2 separate ones for one day, what you should do is one for the entire day and then schedule a break for when you plan on being out of the park. that way it'll correctly schedule in any fastpasses or properly split up the rides to give you the best benefit.