Renting a boat at a resort...help!

[Belle Belinda]

I am planning a day to rent a boat or watermice which ever is more convenient. We are 3 adults and 4 year old twins, I heard that you can rent them at the Poly or Grand Floridian and downtown disney. Does anyone have pics of them and advice on which one and the cost as well. Thanks again for your help this website is a God sent

 

[gatour]

You can actually rent them at the Poly, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge and Contemporary and access both Bay Lake and Seaven Seas Lagoon. At Downtown Disney you can also rent them but you are limited to tooling around the lakes between there and Port Orleans. There are one or two other places to rent them but you are relatively limited where you can go.

My recommendation is to rent them at one of the hotels on the Sea Seaven Seas/Bay Lake, nothing like getting the Magic Kingdom in the background.

 

[jw50]

Here are a couple of pics of the watermice at the Poly:

They are alot of fun but I don't remember what the cost was, I was on the premium package so I didn't pay much attention to the cost and it wasn't on the receipts that I have.

 

[Azure]

I am going to rent one but I have to have my dad with me because he has a license. They are so much fun especially to go and explore different places on the lakes!

 

[MNRMommy]

If I remember correctly (and that is iffy) we spent about 35 or 40 for an hours rental. They were a blast and well worth it. We have rented from the Poly, Fort Wilderness and WL before. We only paid out of pocket once as we were on packages the other times.

 

[Azure]

I liked it when they big boats would come by they would leave a HUGE wave and than we would go over them. They do give you life jackets.

 

[Belle Belinda]

thanks for the pics,,,,,,very thoughtful

 

[Belle Belinda]

Anything bigger for the whole family to enjoy all together at once?

 

[CaipiraBob]

Anything bigger for the whole family to enjoy all together at once?

Here's what I found on Deb's site:

Water Mouse: $20.75 - 1/2 hour

21' Suntracker Pontoon Boat(Maximum 10 passengers): $33.02 - 1/2 hour

Canopy Boat (8 person maximum): $25.00 - 1/2 hour

Cane Pole Fishing: $ 3.77 1/2 hr

Specialty Cruise (12 person maximum) starts at $120.00

Guided Bass Fishing (live bait additional) - Maximum 5 persons; $183.96 for 2 hours at 6:30am; $174.52 for 2 hours at 9:00am

NOTES: Drivers of canopy boats must be 16 years of age. Drivers of pontoon boats must be 18 years of age. Resort ID, driver's license, or passport required. A child 12 years old and above who is at least 5 feet tall may drive a water mouse alone. All drivers under the age of 18 MUST have a parent or legal guardian sign a release. Sorry, no water skiing permitted.

 

[ccw]

We just got back from OKW and rented a 16 foot Boston Whaler for the 5 of us...it was a little tricky to handle because you have to go at slow speeds(steering is very "loose")...might have been better off with the pontoon boat which is what we will try next time. A delightful way to spend an hour...we had 3 teenage boys with us and they enjoyed stretching out to sun. I think the rate was right at $36 per 30 minutes with time billed in 5 minute increments after that. So you are charged based on how long you keep the boat which is kinda nice if you are not sure about how long you might want to cruise when you first get the boat. By the way, there is a DVC discount but the AP discount is better (15 % I think). Would definitely do this again! Have fun!(PS-No alcoholic beverages are allowed)

 

[hobogary]

Just a hint, If you rent the bigger boats at DTD, you can go up the rivers to Po for a longer ride.

 

[ccw]

From OKW, we traversed both "forks" of the waterways...turned left to go behind PO and then to the Downtown Disney lake area, past Saratoga Springs. Took right at an hour at a leisurely pace and it was fun to see the Downtown Disney sites from the water (got pretty close to Fultons which the boys enjoy seeing). The little 2 person watercraft can go there also.

 

[GEM]

Different resorts have different age requirments. You do have to be at least 16 to drive the Water Mice at any of the Magic Kingdom resorts.

However, at the Yact/Beach Club and the Caribbean Beach you only have to be 12 years old and at least 5 feet tall to drive - although you have to have someone who is at least 18 sign permission for you. I just called and double checked this information with the marinas at these two resorts.

I'm not sure about Port Orleans, Coronado, etc.

 

[Belle Belinda]

I've heard something about larger boats which I can go with the whole family at the boardwalk...it has a canopy on top of the boat, does that say anything to you? By the way thanks for the reply

 

[Belle Belinda]

Do you mean that we have to be guests at that specific resort to rent the canopy boats?

 

[ReganA]

Are the Watermice 2 seaters only, or can an adult plus 2 children fit in one?

 

[jw50]

You can rent the canopy boats from any of the marinas that have them.

The watermice are two seat boats, I don't know if they would allow you to have an adult and two kids in one, it might just depend on which marina you rent from.

 

[PixieDust742]

It is 2 people per Water Mouse (now called the SeaRaycer). 2 adults and 1 child are not permitted to ride together in one boat. I would suggest the Boston Whaler or the pontoon.

 

[katlynh]

We've done both the canopy and water mice and love them both. We've rented from WL, Poly and Old Key West. We perferred the Poly and WL, I guess because we enjoyed getting so close to MK. If you are planning on going on them more than once, or trying more than one type you may want to book the family package. I believe we paid $228 for the five of us for a week. We were able to go out as often as we wanted and could check back every half hour and go right back out. (This also includes bike rentals) We are going in Dec. and hope they still have the same package. Maybe someone whose went this past year may know more about this package and if they still offer it. Hope this helps. Janice

 

[holdem]

what size engine do the canopy boats have? what is there approximate speed? thanks.