Rumor: Water Sprites Have Been Eliminated

[Pipkin]

We bought the Captains plan at the Poly one year over a long weekend while we were staying at Shades of Green; 6 hours for the price of 4 decided up how you wish; 3 sprites for 2 hours, 2 four 3, etc. We had a cast member who decided not to keep track or deducting 30 minutes when it should have been 3 hours. We drove for free all weekend. Monday came, a new crew and that was the end of the free ride. Exhausted our plan of 3 boats in an hour.

 

[80sTerraceCafeFan]

Small win - Pontoon boats are back behind CR, although not renting yet. No sign of any Sprites/Sea Raycers.

 

[jpbothwell]

Small win - Pontoon boats are back behind CR, although not renting yet. No sign of any Sprites/Sea Raycers.

Any signs these will be available for rent or are they for the guided fishing excursions?

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

Any signs these will be available for rent or are they for the guided fishing excursions?

Fireworks cruises

 

[KYMickey]

Fireworks cruises

Hopefully that's at least one thing we're going to be used for. We've done those and they are so much fun.

 

[PalmettoPath]

That would be sad. The SeaRaycers have been there since the 70s. We still have fun in them to this day (well, up until the pandemic at least). Losing that ability to get a fun perspective from the water would be sad. We were looking forward to renting them again.

 

[Narcoossee11]

1st, what is the deal with the CAPS? I think the boats were sold last year, why lease something that you can't use fir over a year. They may come back or due to gators, insurance may not allow/ cover them ,

 

[tylerchange]

Am I just stupid or something? I've been so many times, but what are the small ski boats? lol

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Those things have never been the same since they went from 25hp 2 strokes to the recent 9.9hp 4 strokes.

 

[Jennasis]

 

[Heather07438]

This is the one thing I had my heart set on finally doing when we booked our Poly/BC trip. Unfortunately the world changed between booking and the trip. On the bright side, we still got to ride the Poly resort boat and get 'stuck' out on the water with Electric Water Pageant. Fun! I was hoping they'd be back for our next trip. We'd prefer the Sea Raycers but I'll take any boat we can drive ourselves.

 

[RangerPooh]

There’s another thread on this topic. Looks like their days might be numbered.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/rumor-water-sprites-have-been-eliminated.3837459/

 

[Stratman50th]

Liability, cost of upkeep, perhaps environmental issues, and low monetary return on the attraction would all be my guesses. Even as a child of the 80s I shudder to think that a teenager has the power to drive a small watercraft on open water with other boats.

I bought my first boat at 16. It was a 17' ski boat with a 135hp outboard, so not slow.

 

[Stratman50th]

There’s another thread on this topic. Looks like their days might be numbered.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/rumor-water-sprites-have-been-eliminated.3837459/

And another in the camping forum:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/pontoon-and-sea-racers.3843965/

 

[80sTerraceCafeFan]

It's sadly official - new sign....Mice/Sprites gone, with Pontoons remaining. The current/future under 18 set doesn't know what they will be missing...

 

[fab1976]

It's sadly official - new sign....Mice/Sprites gone, with Pontoons remaining. The current/future under 18 set doesn't know what they will be missing...

View attachment 607167

Sadly my soon to be 14 year old son does know what he’s missing. He was 11 when we were last at the Poly and we didn’t do a rental, promised we would in the future. Sad he won’t experience it now

 

[Wiltony]

FWIW, a marina CM told me the Sea Raycers were crushed and disposed of. If they were to come back, WDW would need to buy a brand new fleet.

 

[OKW Lover]

Wouldn't it be great to have a brand new fleet!!!

 

[bsmcneil]

FWIW, a marina CM told me the Sea Raycers were crushed and disposed of. If they were to come back, WDW would need to buy a brand new fleet.

This just sounds vindictive! I really enjoyed getting to do this in 2011 - although that wasn't the original plan. We had booked an excursion to do the parasailing but the wind was too much and they let us do these instead (part of the premium package). It's one of my favorite memories (and I've talked it up to my two kids).

 

[Jeskova26]

Why would they crush them instead of selling them somehow?? It just seems extra for no reason