Just a quick update today to share some very nice customer reports from Christmas week, one from a customer visiting Disneyland/DCA, and another one from Walt Disney World.
First, from a Disneyland RideMax customer (I’ve bolded some text for emphasis):
Hello. My family was at Disneyland and California Adventure 12/26-12/28 and thanks in part to your computer program and tips, we had an incredible trip. We got to do everything that we wanted to do and some things two or three times. We had time for shopping, watching shows, and doing other things (like riding the train and monorail) not listed on RideMax, too. We looked at people standing in stand-by lines that had up to 3 1/2 hour long waits and felt sorry for them. We were often ahead of schedule (wait times were shorter). We will tell everyone that we know about your service.
Here’s an example of our success. We arrived at the gate for California Adventure on Friday, 12/28 at about 7:20 a.m., knowing that hotel guest were being let in early. We stood near a Magic Morning entrance so that as soon as it changed to a regular entrance we could get in that line. We knew (from our past day’s experience and from reading your tips) that we would be let into the park to the end of Buena Vista Street to wait until the official 8 a.m. opening. We were right against the rope. We were led to Cars Town and to Radiator Springs by cast members behind a gas hose. We were ordered into a single file line as we approached Radiotor Springs. We ended up being about the 8th-10th people in that line. We walked right into the lane for single riders. We walked right onto the platform for the ride. My husband and son ended up being able to ride in the same car, and I was in the car behind them. INCREDIBLE!!
On Thursday, 12/27, we checked both single rider and regular rider lines for Radiator Springs at least half a dozen times. The single rider line was always about an hour long, and the other line was anywhere from 2 to 3 1/2 hours long. We also kept checking the lines for the other two rides. We were able to ride both of them during our free time on Thursday when the lines were the shortest we had seen them all day (probably waited no more then 35 minutes in each one). We started this trip knowing that we would probably not ride anything in Cars Land but would enjoy seeing all of the sights. We are not die-hard ride fans. Imagine our delight when we were able to ride all three rides!
We were able to ride every ride in Paradise Pier that we wanted to ride on Thursday with little to no wait. Our first ride was Toy Story Mania, and we walked right onto it.
On Wednesday, 12/26, we were able to enter Disneyland early (before 8 a.m.) because of Magic Morning and because it was drizzling, many people did not show up. We were able to ride everything that we wanted to in Tomorrowland by 9 a.m. before crowds appeared and started the day ahead of our schedule.
THANK YOU!!
And from a Walt Disney World customer:
We just came back from a 6 day trip to Disney World over Christmas.
This is a very, very busy time and the crowds were overwhelming at times. With this in mind, we purchased RideMax and set our schedule around the online recommendations.
I was skeptical when my friend told me about RideMax, I doubted it would work at Christmas time but it was only $16 so I thought it was worth a try.
I am a believer! It was truly amazing but we never waited more than 10 minutes and we rode all the best rides. The total cost for our Disney trip was nearly $10,000 and the $16 dollars I spent on RideMax doubled our fun! What a great product!
Thanks again RideMax Team!
To which I say, “You’re welcome!” 🙂
I should also add that in addition to using RideMax, arriving EARLY at the parks is key to success if you’re visiting during the holidays or other busy season, such as spring break. We received a note from another customer who wasn’t nearly as successful as those shown above, but after reading their report, it seemed pretty clear to me that they were late getting to the first attraction on their RideMax plan, and things sort of cascaded downhill fast from there: the line was longer than expected at the first attraction on the plan, causing them to be “late” getting that first FastPass, and the late FastPass messed up the time at which they could get the next FastPass, etc.
I know I say this a lot, but if you’re going to be brave enough to visit during the holidays, you almost need to be hyper-focused on making sure you arrive early. There’s simply no substitute for this, RideMax plan or not!
What are YOUR thoughts about visiting during the holiday season? Do you find the extra “magic” worth braving the crowds?
We just came back from a day in Disneyland Anaheim and a day in DCA. I was with my husband and my 5-year old daughter in a stroller. I mapped out the schedule using the regular speed, and I have to say it worked out way better than I expected. We were within a margin of error of +/- 2 minutes of the ride max plan on both days!
We arrived at 7:30am both days and got into Peter Pan, and RSR within 10 minutes of opening. The crowds were scary on both days even at 7:30am… I was surprised that the stroller speed was good enough for the “regular speed” and the only ride that we waited a long time for was 25 minutes – Pirates of the Caribbean. Fast pass and single rider got me through some of the adult friendly rides within 10 minutes (Star tours, California Screaming, Soaring, etc.). I watched other people wait in line and was glad that we didn’t have to. Some of my family members didn’t go in with a plan and they waited for some rides for two hours. I will use Ride max again and again.
Thanks for stopping by to report, Vivian. I’m glad you had such a nice trip, and that RideMax could help!