SEGWAY on Magic and Wonder

[KathyTX]

This was in the Travel Section of the Dallas Morning News today:


Next time you're out and about on a Disney ship, you may want to mind the vehicular traffic: The captain could come zipping by on a scooter. Not just any scooter, mind you, but the Segway Human Transporter.

Segway is the world's first self-balancing electric-powered scooter. At 7 mph, the scooter doesn't have the escape velocity of 007's Aston Martin, but that's about three times walking speed. And, because of gyroscopes and tilt sensors, Segway reads a rider's body language: Lean slightly forward and it advances; lean back and so goes the scooter.

Because the scooters are ideal for short-distance travel, captains and other officers of Disney's Magic and Wonder use them to traverse the 964-foot-long vessels as well as to navigate on Castaway Cay, the line's 1,000-acre private Bahamian island.

But ships' officers aren't the only ones who can savor Segway.

The line has five of the scooters. After getting a brief introduction on how to operate one, Disney passengers 16 and older can be the first to try it. Disney ships are the first to make the scooters available to passengers.

Passengers can try the scooters any day of a cruise. Anyone can take a free five-minute test-drive. It's $15 for 15 to 30 minutes.

 

[sjm]

Hubby and I both tried the Segways on the Magic. It costs $15 for 10 minutes and we had so much fun learning to drive them. There is no free time, if you want to try them, you have to pay the fee. I think it was one of the highlights of our cruise and worth the money.

sue

 

[SINK]

Sounds great. Where did you do the ride? On Castaway Cays?

 

[4cruisin]

Kathy,

My dh and dbil tried the segway on the 1/25 cruise. They had a ball. Half of the basketball court on deck 10 was closed so it could be used as the segway course. They were given individual instruction on how to ride the segway and once they were comfortable, the cast members started the 10 or 15 minute time from then on.

Nancy

 

[KathyTX]

sjm and 4cruisin,

This just sounds so cool. I don't have a Disney cruise booked right now, but I'm sure wishing I did. DH and I would definitely have to try this.

It sure sounds like you and/or your DHs had a blast on them.

Now: could you ever see purchasing one for your personal use?

 

[danicaw]

Hubby and I split the 10 minutes when we did it. We figured if we wanted more time we would go again. It worked out great.

Me cruisin around the basketball court.

They also had them out on Castaway Cay in a area near the towel pick/return as you leave the ship.

 

[sjm]

On the 1/25 sailing, they didn't take the segways to CC, don't know why.

I would love to own one, to ride around the neighborhood. One big problem, they sell for somewhere around 3-5 thousand eas.

sue

 

[KathyTX]

You can order your very own personal Segway at Amazon.com, for $4950 each. I'm curious about who might buy them.

Maybe the techie-geek who has to have all the latest toys?

Segway at Amazon.com

 

[SeattleMark]

Originally posted by KathyTX
You can order your very own personal Segway at Amazon.com, for $4950 each. I'm curious about who might buy them.

Maybe the techie-geek who has to have all the latest toys?

Well, at the risk of being "labelled", I work at Microsoft and see a few of them around the campus. There are quite a few people here who are toy-junkies.


Mark
P.S. I'm not one of them

 

[KathyTX]

Mark,

I meant "techie-geek who has to have all the latest toys" in the most affectionate way! I just realized how this may have sounded, and hope you weren't offended.

I think they look like fun, and I wish I could play with one for awhile.

(I'm a techie-geek myself, just can't part with that much money for a new toy right now.)

 

[SeattleMark]

No problem at all Kathy! That term is used affectionately here too.



Mark