pontoon vs. boston whaler?

[h2odivers]

Thinking about renting either a pontoon or a boston whaler from FW campgrounds to cruise around 7 seas lagoon and Bay Lake. I like the idea of the pontoon because of the room to move around but am a little worried it will be to slow and have to rent it for two hours to be able to cruise both lakes. Like the idea of boston whaler because i heard it is faster then pontoon. It's just me, DW, and DD8. So we don't need a lot of room.

Question 1: Is the boston whaler that much faster then the pontoon. Have you rented both?

Question 2: How long did you rent the boat for to cruise the two lakes?

Question 3: I would like to bring a bottle of champagne with us since it will be our anniversary. Is that allowed?

Question 4: Can you rent a boat to watch wishes by yourself or do you have to rent it with a captain since it is at night?

Question 5: Any other advice on topic?

Thank you in advance, and God bless.

 

[OandA]

I haven't rented them but I own both a Pontoon boat and an older Boston whaler. Pontoon boats are not fast. They are nicknamed "Party Boats" for a reason. They are cruisers. If your goal is to see more sights then you want to do the Whaler. My Pontoon boat travels around 15-20 mph comfortably and my whaler does about 30-40. I'm not sure the limits of the WDW boats.

 

[cbnsoul]

We rented the Boston Whaler and it was S-L-O-W. All of the rental boats have 9.9 hp engines which aren't near enough to push those boats well. I would imagine the pontoon would be even slower just due to its size. Sorry, but I can't help with any of your other questions!

 

[RalphinSC]

I'm pretty sure that the rental agreement will not allow for alcoholic beverages to be brought aboard a rental boat, even something as innocuous as champagne. (It's a really cool idea, wish we could do that ourselves). Also, I'm not certain about the Ft. Wilderness marina, but the other marinas I've visited at WDW close by sunset. The Whalers are definitely the faster of the two and the Pontoons have more deck space and shade. I'm leaning towards one of these myself next time as we have previously rented a couple of Sea Raycers and zipped around the lakes.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thinking about renting either a pontoon or a boston whaler from FW campgrounds to cruise around 7 seas lagoon and Bay Lake. I like the idea of the pontoon because of the room to move around but am a little worried it will be to slow and have to rent it for two hours to be able to cruise both lakes. Like the idea of boston whaler because i heard it is faster then pontoon. It's just me, DW, and DD8. So we don't need a lot of room.

Question 1: Is the boston whaler that much faster then the pontoon. Have you rented both?

Question 2: How long did you rent the boat for to cruise the two lakes?

Question 3: I would like to bring a bottle of champagne with us since it will be our anniversary. Is that allowed?

Question 4: Can you rent a boat to watch wishes by yourself or do you have to rent it with a captain since it is at night?

Question 5: Any other advice on topic?

Thank you in advance, and God bless.

You won't be able to rent a boat at night, only during daytime hours.

 

[h2odivers]

Has Anyone. Rented both?