Tuesday Tips

Do you hate waiting in lines? Do you wish there was some way to map out your day at the parks that gave you a guideline on which rides to go on first, when to ride certain rides, and which rides you benefit from getting a fastpass? Well I was in the same boat as you. I recently downloaded Ridemax, a software program, created by Disneyland fan Mark Winters, that calculates the best time to ride each ride at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure for the least amount of waiting and walking time and then creates an itinerary to fit your schedule.

How do you use Ridemax?

1. Upon opening the program, you select which park and the date. Data is usually available up to eight weeks ahead,
2. Then you select the rides you want. It helps if you prepare this in advance, but a description of each ride appears at the bottom of the page when you click on it.
3. In the Plan Options, you choose what time you will start and end your day. You can also schedule two breaks (for eating or popping over to the other park).
4. Additionally, you can select whether your group will be walking at a normal or slow pace and whether you have someone in your group willing to act as a "runner" to go get FASTPASSES for the group.
5. Another variable is whether you are willing to allow late FASTPASS scheduling. This means you could be scheduled to use a FASTPASS after the hour-long window printed on the PASS has expired.
6. You can also schedule water rides during the warmer hours between 10A-4P.
7. When the program has finished its calculations, a web page will appear with a timed itinerary telling you when to show up for each ride, how long the wait should be, how many minutes the ride will take and the time you need to walk to the next attraction.

If you want to reduce some stress about making sure you get to ride certain rides, then Ridemax is the program for you. It's $14.95 for 90 days and $24.95 for a year for Disneyland/Disney's California Adventure. They also have it for Walt Disney World. Go ahead and try it! Download it here.