TR: 400/50 and more 2006 day 2 - Segway at Epcot

[Rastuso]

Day 2 – Segway tour

 

Today I started by FINALLY getting to ride a Segway personal transport. Epcot offers Around the World on a Segway tours that last 2 hours for $80. Pretty steep, but worth it. I arrived at 8:15, entered the park, and quickly got to guest relations where we waited a few minutes and headed to Innoventions. We went in and watched a simple safety video, got our helmets, and watched a video explaining how to work a Segway. I was extremely excited.

 

We went out to the practice area and all stood behind our Segway and practiced getting on and off of it. Then we practiced going forwards, doing a 180, and returning to the starting point. After doing this quite a bit (and me being scolded for going to quick) we practiced going up and down a short ramp and some slalom around some cones. One older lady was REALLY having some problems and I’m surprised she was allowed to continue. Me and a couple other guys quickly got the hang of it, and were getting antsy to hit the open road. I quickly found out that you could lean back and forth and the Segway would rock you back and forth. It was sorta cool, and became a habit. I got scolded again for doing it, and was warned I’d run out of battery power by the Segway expert.

 

We were kept to the lowest speed key, which is 5.5 mph. The one expert, who I remember from a few years ago when I visited Epcot, said he was the only one cleared to go the full 12.5 mph max.

 

Finalyy, we head out of Innoventions in a duck line. And immediately the guy behind me crashed and fell. Apparently he went full tilt, the Segway did it’s way of governing your speed, which is to force your body backwards, and lost balance. Sure glad I didn’t do it. He got back on, and we were off.

 

DAMN, these things are cool!!! Driving it is so intuitive. Unfortunately, the newest models where you turn by leaning also had been recalled. We used the older models where you have a turn knob on the left handle. I quickly found that 5.5 mph wasn’t as fast as I wanted to go, and mine seemed to be regulated so much I could barely keep up.

 

We toured each section of World Showcase, stopping in some for trivia, and in others to go through twisted paths. We stopped somewhere near the Malstrom I believe to have some free time to zip around and have pictures and video taken.

 

Once we got back to Future World, the park was open and getting crowded. Most of the folks we passed wanted to know how we got to ride them. It was pretty cool. You are about 8” taller on the Segway, and we sort of lorded over the masses.

 

We ended up getting well over an hour of full-on Segway time. It is a bit tiring, since you are standing still the entire time. I tried to move my feet some, and do my rocking, which I was scolded about a few more times. We also got the obligatory Disney pin as a parting gift.

 

I HIGHLY recommend the tour. Yeah, it’s a bit steep, but it is very well ran, you get to go over plenty of varying landscapes, and get to see World Showcase with nothing but maintenance people in it.

 

Rastus O'Ginga

[SharkTums]

LOL! Robb and I also got yelled at on our 2nd Segway tour for going to fast and doing the rocking thing! The rocking thing felt so natural and it's really cool that you can't fall off, but apparently they're so scared that people will fall off and sue they really won't let you have fun. I also got yelled at for going backwards when the first time we took the class they encouraged it!

 

Oh well, I'm still hoping that someday they offer a Segway 2.0 class for people who've taken the first class!

[Rastuso]

I asked about an advanced course. As worrisome as they were, I can't see it. I never faltered or gave any inkling that I wasn't in total control, yet they still treated me like a kid.

 

I need to look into the San Antonio Segway tours. I'd say non-Disney ones let you get a little more aggressive. Of course, there's always the option of purchasing. I work about 2 miles away from my house...

 

RO