Ride Max explained

About.com is a complete website to research just about anything! I alternated between About.com and Trip Advisor for really good feedback. About.com has full of information on Disneyland. It correctly advises that if you spend thousands of dollars for this once in a lifetime trip (for most people), you do not want to spend hours of your time falling in line and waiting! This is a reality in most theme parks, but most people forget it!

Click here.

And here.

About.com suggests spending a very small fee (~ US$15 for 90 days) for a statistical 'planning' software called Ride Max.

The Ride Max blurb:

RideMax is a computer software program guaranteed to help you save time waiting in line at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

RideMax allows you to specify the attractions you wish to ride during your visit, then uses a sophisticated scheduling algorithm to order your attractions so that the amount of time you spend in line is minimized.

Using historical wait time statistics for each attraction as a foundation, RideMax analyzes millions of different ride sequences in order to create a minimum-wait-time itinerary. This schedule is tailored to the expected crowd patterns on the day of your visit, for the attractions you want to ride!

The key is to decide which rides to visit at Disneyland Park and Disneyland California Adventure. Then all you have to do is tell the software which rides you want to go on, schedule breaks, decide on duration of visit and voila! it prints out your timetable. For the organised person (with kids), this is pure bliss. Note that the software does not allow for Sunday visits. It advises to use the Saturday schedule instead. Also, shows and parades are not included. You have to specify "scheduled breaks" around shows and allow sufficient time (20-30 mins.) before the start of the show to walk to the venue and get a good spot. It is also a good idea to make multiple itineraries with different start times. You have to be realistic in deciding what time you will be at Disney's gates. Ride Max advises to queue 30 minutes before the gates open (shocks!). Disney opens at 8:00am and DCA opens at 10:00am. Do print-out each park's Calendar of Activities. I have 5 different starts for Disney Park - 8am, 8:15am, 8:30am, 8:45am, and 9am. I also had a separate itinerary for an evening visit. We will certainly have mid-afternoon breaks back at the hotel.