Anybody else ever rent a motorized boat? Negative experiences?

[WawaCoffee]

We rented a pontoon boat from the Wilderness Lodge to kill two hours. After exploring the Fort Wilderness area, I proceeded down the channel (parallel with The Contemporary) to the area in front of Magic Kingdom. This channel is referred to as a "No Wake Zone" and we were advised by the Wilderness Lodge staff to idle down this stretch.

While idling down the channel, a transport boat heading from Wilderness Lodge to Magic Kingdom crept up behind me and told me via the intercom on his boat to "move it along". I was following all of the rules (keeping to the far right, idling, and keeping a minimum of 50ft from the treeline), so I wasn't quite sure what to do. So I kicked it into high throttle despite the Wilderness Lodge staff explicitly telling me otherwise. As we exited the channel, I received dirty looks from all of the guests on the boat as well as the skipper. This triggered my anxiety and I had a difficult time recovering.

When I returned the boat, I learned that the boat staff at the resorts and the boat staff transporting guests do not get along whatsoever, and it's fairly common for the transport boats to yell at the guests renting boats. This is, apparently, an issue they're aware of. I was in the right, obeying the rules, and the skipper on the transport boat is trained to wait for me to clear the channel. I was never reprimanded by the boat patrol team.

Has anybody else had a negative experience?

 

[MinnieMSue]

Oh man that is awful. I have always wanted to rent boats and worry about this exact thing - also about accidentally breaking the rules. So sorry this happened to you. I don’t think we will rent one. We both would be mortified if that happened and it would ruin the experience for us too

 

[jen7233]

No, did not have a negative experience at all when we rented from the Poly last visit. No issues with the transportation boats taking guests to and from the park. It shouldn't be common for transport boats to yell at guests renting boats, that isn't a good explanation from the boat staff.