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annieb727
08-16-2006, 04:49 PM
Ok...I'll be going to DL next month YAY! and I was thinking of trying to use ridemax.

My big question is - how accurate are the wait times that they list? Do they seem to be fairly accurate - within a few minutes?

My main concern is, if wait times listed are short enough (15 minutes) I will try to walk, as opposed to the DCV/Scooter. That's about my maximum that I can endure at at time (maybe 20 minutes) on my feet without extreme pain. But I would LIKE to try without it - but would still use it for travel to and from rides and just park it near the line entrance. I just don't want to be in a line that Ridemax estimates about 15 minutes but it ends up being 30-45 minutes - that could potentially ruin my entire day (with pain).

Thanks in advance!

momuvseven
08-16-2006, 05:02 PM
I think it is useful. The guy who owns this site is very nice and will give you a full refund if you don't think you got your money's worth, no hassle.

bradk
08-16-2006, 06:01 PM
two part answer:

(1) wait times will error on the side of longer waits. most of the time, you can expect the waits to be worst case scenario. however, it's speculating on when you actually get in line, not when you're walking to the attraction. that said, times are not strict, but general guidelines (unless otherwise noted).

(2) there is a large group / slow (forgot the exact wording) option, which i think allows for longer traveling time between attractions as may as well group attractions by proximity. not sure on that second one.

annieb727
08-16-2006, 06:06 PM
well, i think i'll go ahead and give it a try - especially since two of those days I'll be with a friend and her family who haven't been to DL in 18+ years. They only have two days at DL, so I wanna show them a good time and as many rides as possible! :)

thanks for your responses. I do like that they have a money back guarantee - that makes it a risk free try! YAY!

HydroGuy
08-16-2006, 07:11 PM
I used RideMax in Aug 2005, Nov 2005 and Aug 2006. All trips were during what is considered high season. In 2005 the predictions were very close to what we experienced. I checked wait times at all times of day for both DL and DCA. I believe RideMax is using essentially the same data in 2006, and crowds have been lower this summer. The actual wait times earlier this month were much less than RideMax predictions - often less than half.

I agree with Brad that RideMax tries to error on the side of conservatism, but if it gets too conservative it gets annoying. It does have a money back guarantee so if it does not work for you, ditch it and get your money back. Their technical support is outstanding.

See "RideMax Critique Plus Conventional and Unconventional Usage on August 1-4 Trip" - http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=46207

stagemomx3
08-16-2006, 08:57 PM
When we used RideMax in June the only error in wait times was in the estimations being longer than we actually had to wait. All three days we ended up well ahead of "schedule" by mid-morning. I love RideMax and have already purchased it again for our Halloween trip.

FunMom
08-17-2006, 02:10 PM
I highly recommend Ridemax! After subscribing to Ridemax and creating schedules, I was very skeptical that we could experience DL/DCA this July/August with such minimal wait times. It just seemed too good to be true. But it was accurate! We moved through the park so quickly that now I can't imagine not having used their program. On Tuesday, August 1 we had our most productive day. 11 of us (6 being kids ages 9-13) were in the parks from opening until closing. We did not see any shows on this day but we rode 25 rides and spent 1.5 hours on Tom Sawyer's Island (moms and daughters shopped off the island, dads rested in the shade on the island and the boys ran around like wild Indians) and we did the Animation Studio - all at a brisk but relaxed pace, believe it or not.

The wretched heat wave was done by then, and because we also had such relaxing meals, we never ended up returning to the hotel to rest on this particular day. Using Priority Seating, we had a great lunch (with wine for us parents) at Storyteller's Cafe. One of our friends had never been in the hotel before, and wanted to check out the lobby. We ended up having a cool, quiet rest time there - my husband had to take a break to make a 30 minute business call so we moms went to check out the gift shop, then came out to find the other dads and kids resting in the lobby. By the time my husband came back the kids were ready to go again. For dinner we had good food in an atmosphere much better than to be expected in a theme park, plus wine again at Wine Country Trattoria - and were rested and fueled up after that to keep going until closing! I think that sitting down in comfort to eat good satisfyiing food vs. waiting in a long line to pick up quick fried or high in fat food then find yourself a table that's not in air conditioning really does make a difference in how you feel for the long day.

We did save additional time by parents taking turns "running" for the FP's while the rest of the group rode another ride. To be honest, we broke away from the Ridemax schedule before lunch because we were ahead of the schedule, and felt that since we had either ridden most every top priority ride, or had FP's in hand to use later, we took it easy and played it by ear after that. I had a good sense of where to direct the group from studying Ridemax wait time patterns, and reading tips posted here on MP.

Previous to this day, I would have thought that a group reporting that they did all we did in one day was crazy and driving themselves into the ground and must have had cranky unhappy kids by the time they left the park. Thanks to Ridemax, all our waits were insignificant, and because we breezed through the park, no one was pushed to their limit or cranky. Actually, we did have one long wait - for Autopia using FP's after 10pm. We did begin to dim a bit and the kids got fidgety because the cue was stuffy (bad air circulation around some circular thing) and LONG - maybe 20 minutes? But then we ended the night with Thunder Mountain twice, each time with no wait and we left the park happy campers in disbelief at all we had done that day.

In the end, Ridemax is worth every penny. If in doubt, just buy it and have faith in it!

Leap for Joy
08-17-2006, 05:25 PM
I had a good sense of where to direct the group from studying Ridemax wait time patterns, and reading tips posted here on MP.
I've used it several times and had very good experiences with the itineraries. I also learned a lot from playing with the program by varying the constraints and/or lists of attractions. As a result, I felt very confident making decisions about what to do when a scheduled ride was down or when we got ahead of schedule. I highly recommend RideMax to everyone I know!

rentayenta
08-17-2006, 07:46 PM
I like using RideMax. I just wish I could use it on my Mac. :(

bradk
08-18-2006, 05:32 AM
what you need is RideMacs

(kidding)

annieb727
08-18-2006, 07:35 AM
what you need is RideMacs

(kidding)


ahahahahahahahaha that was a good one

HydroGuy
08-18-2006, 08:24 AM
what you need is RideMacs

(kidding)And here I was thinking that New Yorkers did not have a sense of humor. Nicely done. So I have to know. Is that a Brad original?

bradk
08-18-2006, 08:28 AM
as per the advice of a fairly successful comedic screenwriter i've spent some time with (or, if he's reading this, an enormously successful comedic screenwriter), nothing of mine is original.

to paraphrase him: go with the tried and true proven stuff, throw in a few pratfalls and the guy always gets the girl in the end.

rentayenta
08-18-2006, 07:22 PM
what you need is RideMacs

(kidding)



Very cute! I had hoped they would have it for Macs by now. I thought they were working on it in 2004.