While they were playing in the pool, Mickey, Minnie and I were off to Epcot for our Segway tour. I don't mind the buses at Disney usually, but this morning it was really nice hoping in a car and getting right to the park. We had our
AAA parking pass, so we had a fantastic spot that was literally just steps from the front gate.
I had done the Segway tour last year and loved it. It was easily my favorite moment from that trip.
Here's a pic from last year:
I couldn't stop telling everyone about it. The only down point last year was that my friend that I had traveled with had to bow out of the class midway through the training. It was bothering her feet a lot, and she didn't think she could make it through the whole thing. I think if she had made it out to the park she would have been fine, but I ended up being alone for most of the tour. It was still a blast, but it would have been more fun having someone to share the experience with. This year I was looking forward to having Mickey and Minnie with me. Mickey especially had been wanting to take the tour.
We arrived at the front gate with the princess breakfast people and were directed to check in at the guest relations building. After we got our name badges our tour guides for the day, Irvine and Brian, showed up and brought us over to the Segway area of the Innoventions building to the training room. We watched a very brief video that was mostly a sales pitch from Segway. After a brief overview of the controls, they brought us out to the Segways to get started. They take you through everything very thoroughly. The CMs had us practice getting on and off the Segway, then moving forward and backward in a straight line. Once everyone gots the hang of that they split the group into two mini groups. The first group went off to practice riding around obstacles, going over obstructions, and ended with a mini slalom course. The second group practiced going up and down hills. Once everyone was adept, the groups switched places. The instructors were great. There were a few people in the tour who weren't picking up on it as fast and they worked with them individually. Once everyone was done we received a bit of training on how to do a proper princess/prince in case we ran into guests. We were told that for the length of the tour we were honorary cast members.
With proper waves in place we finally headed out of the building (only to go to the other Innoventions building) to use the restrooms before heading to World Showcase. They had us ride in single file, with one of the cm's at the front to the line, and the other one at the end. My brother lucked out and was first. As we first started heading to World Showcase, Minnie who was directly in front of me, nearly wiped out.
She had started going too fast. The Segways used in the tour have a speed lock on them so the fastest you can go is about 6 mph. If you hit 6 mph the unit "pushes" back at you gently to warn you to slow it down. This happened to Minnie, and instead of leaning on her heels a bit to slow down she got nervous and leaned forward. This caused her to speed up again and lose control. She nearly ran into a planter. The CM caught her before she actually wiped out or anything. (Mickey managed to miss all of this, but thought it was pretty entertaining when he found out later).
As we headed toward Mexico, it was obvious that Minnie was feeling a bit gun shy now, and was going really slowly holding up the rest of the line. The CM's were super, and the guy at the end of the line came up, pulled her aside, and helped her get back on track again by explaining what had happened, and how to avoid it. They were really great. Once we got to the part of World Showcase that was still closed to guests the CM's let us have a little more leeway. As long as we stayed fairly together, and followed the lead CM we didn't have to ride single file.
I don't think this is the norm, as last year we had to ride single file the entire time, but it was great. We went through all of the pavillions, sometimes they'd have us weave around pillars, or go up and down inclines. At some pavillions they'd stop and give us some background and history or they'd point out hidden Mickeys. It was a lot of fun.
When we got to the Italy pavillion they had a roped off area near the water were we could have some free time. The CM's also were great about snapping pictures for everyone. I was really hoping to have my brother and SIL's pictures before writing this post since we used their camera for the majority of the pictures, but when I saw them this weekend he forgot again. So all your going to get from our Segway tour is my my one sad picture. I was not happy that I forgot my sunglasses back in the training room. I was squinting in everyone of my pictures.
The free time was fun. My brother was having a blast. I think he would have liked to bring the Segway home with him. There was one woman in our group though, we'll call her "Bernice", who was truly a menace to the roads. She wasn't going to fast, and she had pretty good control, she just never watched where she was going. I don't know how many times I had to make a sudden swerve because all of a sudden Bernice's wheels were coming dangerously close to mine. As we headed out Mickey and I tried to zip up to the front to avoid her at all costs as we headed back to the Innoventions building. She was very scary.
By the time we returned to Innoventions to return the Segways, my poor feet were in complete and utter pain.
The Segways are awfully tough on your feet. You wouldn't think it, but they are. All that standing in one place and controling your movement with just the balls of your feet, and your heels gets painful after awhile. Last year had been bad with my regular sneakers on, but this year with my cushionless Keds was absolutely horrendous. For anyone thinking of doing the Segway tour, wear the most comfortable, cushiony shoes you have! Your feet will thank you for it later. I would never where my Keds again for a Segway tour. Not enough padding or support in them. They've never bothered me walking around the parks all day long, but standing in one place for 2 hours was just too much for them. My SIL wasn't faring much better. She was wearing her Tevas, which hadn't bothered her all trip, but for the Segway they were horrible. My brother, the only one of us wearing cushioned running shoes was fine. (Comparitively) Still the sore feet were well worth it for the Segway tour. I can't recommend it enough. As we left, we received special Segway pins.
There was a CM in the building who was asking us how we liked the tour as we were leaving. We stopped to talk to him for awhile. He told us to keep our eyes open, because supposedly Disney is going to be starting a new Segway tour in the future. Cool!
I want to try the Fort Wilderness one as well. He also told us that no, your feet never really stop hurting on the Segways. You just get used to it.
I was going to finish up day 5, but realized I never uploaded the pictures from the rest of they day, so it's going to have to wait until I get home.
I don't know what I do with my mind sometimes.
My asthma was getting worse, and the a/c in the room was causing me to wake up rasping with a raw throat every day. 
So not fun. My Segway tour was scheduled for this morning so no sleeping in today. 
Eeyore seemed more relaxed, and was really enjoying being in a real resort instead of a rental house. He said it was much more relaxing and vacation like. This was the first time the girls had ever been to a Disney resort and they adored it. Jasmine especially told her parents later that they needed to stay at the hotel the next time they went to Disney. She thought it was so much better, even though they didn't have their own private pool. The hot tub, slide and cool figures more than made up for it. Plus there were Mickey waffles for breakfast. 
