Rumor: Water Sprites Have Been Eliminated

[OKW Lover]

Didnt make them money, not worth continuing in the era of Cheapek

How do we know this? Is there a breakout of it in any of the Disney earnings reports?

I wonder if gators/liability issues had anything to do with this?

I'd doubt it. If that were the case they would have stopped them several years ago.

 

[JoeA]

We're going in Sept/Oct and are/were really looking forward to renting a pontoon boat one afternoon. They will keep on looking at these as individual items that don't generate a return but when taken as a whole experience people will decide to spend money elsewhere so they won't get their 1000% returns on what is left over.

My family is Exhibit A when it comes to that. We're staying on Disney property because we're DVC but on this trip the bulk of our $$'s will be spent at Universal. Disney will get an occasional poolside beverage out of us but Universal is getting park admission, entertainment, food, booze, etc.

 

[TikiRob]

Always wanted to do this and had hopes for our first Poly stay in June... bummer.

 

[asumom]

I rented mouse boats at Coronado springs years ago. Kids had a blast. I know they've been gone from that location for quite some time.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

They didnt bring in a profit, they were loss leaders meant to increase guest satisfaction a d drive traffic to those resorts. Literally.

At the end of the day when you are overcharging for your resorts by so much money, you need loss leaders like the boats to justify those prices. Looking at it as a whole, all the people paying for the resort but not using the boats were in theory subsidizing their existence.

This ^

We have stayed at Contemporary a lot. Prices are crazy high but we still stayed there. $600 a night you can look at the lake. $750 you can look at the parking lot and Magic Kingdom. $900+ you can stay Club Level and get finger foods and drinks. The room prices more than paid for the boats. We are now DVC so stays at Contemporary will be few and far between but pretty soon it will be just like it was in the 70's. Just a room with a view. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Jennasis]

This ^

We have stayed at Contemporary a lot. Prices are crazy high but we still stayed there. $600 a night you can look at the lake. $750 you can look at the parking lot and Magic Kingdom. $900+ you can stay Club Level and get finger foods and drinks. The room prices more than paid for the boats. We are now DVC so stays at Contemporary will be few and far between but pretty soon it will be just like it was in the 70's. Just a room with a view. Nothing more, nothing less.

We are DVC too and stay at the Contemporary just about every trip since we own there (BLT).

 

[Brocktoon]

Not to be all dramatic, but as a 14-16 year old I would cruise around Bay Lake in my own boat - never driven a car of course. It w freeing feelings - wind in your face and bombing around DI, Poly, dodging large MK ferries....just exploring and forgetting any of stresses of those days - school, girls. etc, etc. Disney memories/feeling that always stayed with me. Another truly unqiue WDW experience sadly gone.

Exactly how I feel. One of my favorite childhood Disney memories was getting my own water mouse boat (years before the Sea Raycers) out on Bay Lake before I was old enough to drive. Now in my 40s and my Dad retired, we would still regularly take some Sea Raycers out from the Fort or Contemp docks. On a nice day it was still fun to rip around for a hour on the water.

I really hope they keep Sea Raycers around ... even if just from one dock like the Contemporary

 

[MickeyWaffles]

Just a room with a view. Nothing more, nothing less.

A room with a view with a super duper easy & fast walk to the Magic Kingdom. Which is an enormous perk, IMO.

 

[Stratman50th]

Gators can’t eat the boats.

Perfect!

 

[OSUZorba]

These were high priced enough to drive a profit - but I agree the total revenue was too small for the Bobs to bother with it.

However, looking at it as a standalone service is short-sighted. They need to consider that MK resorts, particularly CR, tread primarily on location and nostalgia to support their top-tier rates and occupancy. Removing these items erodes part of what makes it successful as a whole

I am historically a 'never stay off property guy' (~20 lifetime trips all on property) - but w/o fast passes and elimination of these things - it's getting more difficult not to feel like a sucker paying these prices.

Beyond the service for the people actually paying for it, it adds a ton of energy and atmosphere to the Lagoon.

 

[OSUZorba]

They didnt bring in a profit, they were loss leaders meant to increase guest satisfaction a d drive traffic to those resorts. Literally.

At the end of the day when you are overcharging for your resorts by so much money, you need loss leaders like the boats to justify those prices. Looking at it as a whole, all the people paying for the resort but not using the boats were in theory subsidizing their existence.

(Cue the...im glad we are paying the same price for the resort but getting less for it. We didnt use the boats anyway crowd.)

I could rent a ski boat on just about any lake for what they charged for those boats, if they weren't making a profit they have some serious cost issues or have placed way too much burden on them. From a pure cash POV, I'm sure they were cash flow positive.

 

[Stratman50th]

I could rent a ski boat on just about any lake for what they charged for those boats, if they weren't making a profit they have some serious cost issues or have placed way too much burden on them. From a pure cash POV, I'm sure they were cash flow positive.

Bending the subject slightly, I remember when you could rent a boat including an instructor/driver to waterski on Bay Lake. Long time ago though. Before the tourists thought there were alligators lurking behind every boat waiting for a snack.

 

[Stratman50th]

My family had boats when we were young. I bought my first boat- 17' ski boat when I was 16. I rented one of those Sprites(?) once and was really disappointed. It was slow and expensive for a short time. It would have been a lot more fun if you could have stayed out longer. That way you could at least explore.
I can't imagine anyone getting hurt in one unless they ran under one of the ferrys. They even had a safety ring around the prop so you couldn't get hurt if one of your appendages happened to get too close.
If you weren't a boater I could see how they would be a lot of fun since you didn't know what you were missing.

 

[BrianL]

Bending the subject slightly, I remember when you could rent a boat including an instructor/driver to waterski on Bay Lake. Long time ago though. Before the tourists thought there were alligators lurking behind every boat waiting for a snack.

To be fair, there were far fewer gators in Florida back then as the species was threatened, but recovery efforts have greatly increased their numbers. I'd feel very safe on a boat, but there's no way I'd waterski on Bay Lake today!

 

[OKW Lover]

Bending the subject slightly, I remember when you could rent a boat including an instructor/driver to waterski on Bay Lake. Long time ago though. Before the tourists thought there were alligators lurking behind every boat waiting for a snack.

I thought the reason they discontinued that was because of the brain-eating parasites in the water. As @WebmasterPete says "Stay out of the dam lakes"

 

[Stratman50th]

I thought the reason they discontinued that was because of the brain-eating parasites in the water. As @WebmasterPete says "Stay out of the dam lakes"

I think that was what one of the rumors was. My belief is it wasn't a money maker. Much like River Country. It could no longer hold the volume of people who wanted to use it and with Typhoon Lagoon it they shut it down. People are in all the lakes down here and you rarely hear about it on the local news or otherwise. I'm on a lake and I constantly see people on watercraft and tubing, etc. I should look it up and see how much of a thing it is these days.

 

[Stratman50th]

I thought the reason they discontinued that was because of the brain-eating parasites in the water. As @WebmasterPete says "Stay out of the dam lakes"

Quick search and I found this:
https://www.foxnews.com/health/brain-eating-amoeba-infection-florida-rare-hillsborough-county-healthInteresting, only 37 cases since 1962. Someone in the comments said there were far more, but I'm thinking he's confusing it with the flesh eating bacteria. (Gotta love Florida!) Ha.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/b...esponsible-for-hundreds-of-deaths/ar-BB1awQ6y
Like @BrianL said, I knew that the alligator population was low in the 60s, but I was looking up their recovery by year to see where they were at around the mid 70s-80s just out of curiosity.

 

[80sTerraceCafeFan]

Like @BrianL said, I knew that the alligator population was low in the 60s, but I was looking up their recovery by year to see where they were at around the mid 70s-80s just out of curiosity.

and guest swimming in Bay Lake was happening until the late 90s - and into the 2000s for special events/triathlons. All without issue.

Obviously, there was the awful tragedy more recently, but I could never get my head around when/how the gator situation in Bay Lake increased. I am still happy my father made us 'stay out of the damn lakes' in the 80s/90s, so I never got the chance to take a dip.

 

[Gizmo74]

We went in March and ate at Grand Floridian. I told my son after that I would rent him a boat since the acarade was closed. We walked out to where you rent the boats and it was all gone. Even the signs off the building for how much it cost. We then went to Contemporary and same thing. Signs and little boats were all gone. Makes sense that they would discontinue it.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Before the tourists realized there were alligators lurking behind every boat waiting for a snack.

Fixed it for you.