First in Line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: Hyperlapse Video

Here’s a raw Hyperlapse from this morning’s park opening at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, where I made my way from the park entrance to the first in line for 7DMT.

The video has no sound at this point — I’ll likely be adding some verbal “tips” and moving this to the RideMax subscribers area in the next few days, but in the meantime, I thought this would be fun to share.

Warning: This is running at about 8x normal speed, and with all of the camera movement it might make you dizzy watching it. Also, just to clarify, this shows the *walk* from the entrance to the 7DMT boarding area, not the ride itself.

Enjoy!

First in Line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: Hyperlapse Video from Park Entrance to Ride from RideMax LLC on Vimeo.

RideMax Fan Mail

Just a quick update today. It’s always fun hearing from RideMax customers who found the software helpful. Knowing that we’ve helped folks more fully enjoy their experience in Disney’s theme parks is one of the things that keeps me going.

In that spirit, I appreciated this recent note from Jason, from Salem, Ohio, who used RideMax to plan a trip to Walt Disney World trip with his young daughter.

The software was worth double the cost, easy. I planned a spur-of-the-moment trip to Disney World for my daughter’s sixth birthday. We are a spontaneous family like that, but I’d been there twice before and in order to make sure my daughter got to ride everything I thought she’d like, I knew I needed a plan. RideMax to the rescue.

We went to Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot, each for a day. I crammed as much as I could into those days, including being at Magic Kingdom early (we got up at 6, at park by 8:30) and stayed until 11pm. Out of 3 days we missed only 2 rides on our list, but it was mainly due to my poor planning – I didn’t expect the line for Anna and Elsa to be 2 hours.

Even though Epcot was on a Sunday, I picked the Friday before because the hours and extended hours closely matched. It was pretty darn accurate.

We had a blast all three days and I know we got double the rides in with RideMax.

Thanks for those kind words, Jason. I’m glad you had such a nice trip, and that RideMax could help!

New FastPass+ Feature in RideMax

For customers who’ve used RideMax recently to plan a visit to Walt Disney World, you know that you can tell RideMax which attractions you wish to use FastPass+ (FP+) for, and the software will work those FP+ reservations into your RideMax itinerary.

Up until early last month, the only mode RideMax supported was that it would tell you the time of day at which it expected you to use those FP+ reservations, and it expected you to make the necessary adjustments in Disney’s online reservation system to match the times shown on the RideMax plan.

This worked OK for someone making FP+ reservations well in advance (which I still advise), but what about those situations where there were only a couple of FP+ “time slots” available in Disney’s system, and you simply couldn’t get the reservation times to match up with your RideMax plan?

The new feature in RideMax looks like the following. This is captured from the FP+ options page in RideMax where you check off your FP+ attractions:

FastPass+ Options

As you can see in the screenshot above, once you check a given FP+ attraction in the list, RideMax now gives you two options: you can either allow RideMax to tell you what time to make your reservation for (same as was supported previously), or you can tell RideMax when your existing FP+ reservation begins.

Note that it’s still better if you can allow RideMax to tell you when to use your FP+ reservation, as this can result in more efficient plans. I also believe that RideMax is the only Disney planning tool that offers this option. I’ll probably post a more detailed example on this at some point in the future, but just to explain briefly why you may want RideMax to choose your times for you, if the most optimum plan for your list of attractions is to have you visiting the rides in Tomorrowland at 11am (for example), but you tell the system you have a FP+ reservation at Splash Mountain at that time, the reservation will place you on the opposite side of the park from where you “should be” if you allowed RideMax to choose the time for you.

Having said all of that, I know there are simply occasions where you just can’t get the FP+ time slot RideMax recommends, and the closer you get to your visit date, the less flexibility you have to change reservation times in Disney’s system. If you find yourself in this situation, I hope you find the new feature helpful.

Happy planning!

Three Tips for Making the Most of a Summer Visit to Disneyland or Walt Disney World

OK, so you’re thinking of visiting one of the Disney theme parks this summer while the kids are out of school, but are dreading the crowds and the heat. Here are three tips to help you get the most out of a visit this time of year.

Tip #1: Arrive Early!

I seem to say this a lot, but if you’re trying to beat the crowds — and the heat — there is simply no substitute for arriving early at the park, and this normally means being at the front gate about 30 minutes before the park opens for the day.

By arriving early, you not only get a jump on the crowds, but you also are able to visit attractions during the cool part of the day, leaving you less fatigued and more energized to actually enjoy your day at the park.

Arriving early helps you get a jump on the line build-up for popular attractions, such as the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, shown above. Compare with the wait just an hour or so later, shown in the picture below:

Tip #2: Take an Afternoon Break

If you use the RideMax planner for Disneyland or Walt Disney World to plan out your day, you’ll often find that the optimization software leaves you with a large block of “free time” during the afternoon hours. You may be tempted to fill up every minute of the day with more attractions, but you may want to reconsider, and use the afternoon hours for a break back at the hotel instead. This is especially the case if you’re visiting with young children. The afternoon hours typically see the highest crowds of the day, and temperatures are at their peak as well. Taking a break will leave you refreshed, rather than hot and tired, for the evening entertainment Disney offers during the summer months.

Tip #3: Watch the Shows!

All of Disney’s theme parks offer indoor attractions or shows where you can take a load off your feet and enjoy a break from the crowds in air-conditioned goodness. Shows that are good for this (and often not crowded) include:

Magic Kingdom: The Hall of Presidents and Mickey’s PhilharMagic
Epcot: Captain EO (or the movie preview in the same theater), and Ellen’s Energy Adventure
Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
Disney’s Animal Kingdom: Festival of the Lion King
Disneyland: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
Disney California Adventure: Aladdin (shown below)

So, there you have it. Of course, planning out your Disney day with RideMax should also help reduce the amount of time you spend in line — and in the heat. But whether you use RideMax to plan out your Disney day or not, you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor in terms of beating the crowds this summer by arriving early, taking an afternoon break, and ducking into a show when you find yourself getting hot or tired.

I hope this helps. Enjoy that trip to Disneyland or Walt Disney World this summer!

New eBook: The RideMax Book of Tips for Disneyland

I’m excited to announce the completion of a new eBook that I’ve been working on for a while now, called The RideMax Book of Tips for Disneyland. It officially began shipping last month as an optional add-on to Disneyland RideMax subscriptions.

One thing I really like about this book is that it gave me the opportunity to share some tips with larger, more detailed photographs than the regular “Tips & Hints” pages inside RideMax were really designed for. It’s currently at 81 pages of full-screen goodness, though this may increase in the future as new pages are added.

For those wondering what’s inside the book, you can view the table of contents page here below (click the image for a larger view):

Now, you may also be wondering if the eBook replaces the “Tips & Hints” we’ve always published in the RideMax planning tool itself, and the short answer is no, it does not. You’ll still find the great information inside “Tips & Hints” that you’ve come to rely on. The eBook does contain new pictures and some information not found in the “Tips & Hints” pages, but the eBook is not required to enjoy using RideMax in the way you always have.

And of course, to make the eBook as risk-free a purchase as possible, it’s covered by our normal 30-day money-back guarantee, just like the RideMax subscription itself is.

I hope you enjoy the new eBook, and that it helps you make your visit to Disneyland even better!

RideMax Book of Tips for Disneyland - Preview Pages