Segway tour at Ft. Wilderness

[kbeam]

Has anyone done this tour? Any input (likes/dislikes) would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Inkmahm]

We've done it. I like the offroad segways you get to use. The tour is fun, but slow. I prefer an offsite tour in Celebration where the Segways aren't limited to be quite so slow. If you're new at it though, you may be happy with the speed of the Segways used by Disney.

 

[kbeam]

No, we've never done them, so probably the slower the better first time out! Thanks for the reply.

 

[erionm]

We've done both that Disney offers, Around the World at Epcot the the Wilderness Back Trail Adventure at Fort Wilderness. We really enjoyed both, but I think the one at FW overall was a little better. At FW, you are in nature with the chance to see some wildlife. The tour goes all the way over to the Wilderness Lodge and back.

 

[rkwier]

We did this tour in January and absolutely loved it! It is probably near the top of my all time favorites list. You have a 20-30 minute training session to help you get used to manuevering the Segway before you head out on the tour. It was much easier than I had thought it would be. As the pp mentioned, you go through the nature trails, up the walk between the VWL and WL buildings and around the lake shore back to the campground. We also went to the stables at the campground to see the horses before leaving that area. (Cinderella's white coach horses are kept there.) The guide gives the history of the area and does some Disney trivia along the way. We really enjoyed it. You get a small discount for being a DVC member.

 

[dgaston]

We, too, have done tours at Epcot and Fort Wilderness and really like the FW one. We planned it to have a meal at Crockett's Tavern afterwards, and loved recalling our camping days at the Fort. Also were shown an amazing view of the castle we didn't know about!

 

[Inkmahm]

For those that have done the Epcot and Fort Wilderness Segway tours already and are looking for something new, I highly recommend this one:

http://www.zetours.com/

The owner is a CM at the Grand Floridian. The Segway business is his extra day job and he does a great tour of Celebration.

 

[emlutz23]

My DH and I did this tour in May of '09 and we LOVED it! We did the 11:30am tour and there was only one other person besides us, so it was nice to have 2 tour guides for 3 guests. As others said, you travel along the running path and roads between FW and WL and then you go "off road" on the dirt trail along the lake. The guides we had were fun and informative. Since this was my first experience on a Segway, I didn't mind having it set at the "turtle" pace!

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have done all 3 of the Disney Segway tours, LOVED them, but I do want to try that Celebration one next time. We too are tired of the slow ones!

 

[micandminforever]

We've done both that Disney offers, Around the World at Epcot the the Wilderness Back Trail Adventure at Fort Wilderness. We really enjoyed both, but I think the one at FW overall was a little better. At FW, you are in nature with the chance to see some wildlife. The tour goes all the way over to the Wilderness Lodge and back.

My husband is going to do the Wilderness Back Trail Adventure in June did you have any problem with transportation to the tour. If not what is your recommendation on how to get to the tour location.

 

[emlutz23]

My husband is going to do the Wilderness Back Trail Adventure in June did you have any problem with transportation to the tour. If not what is your recommendation on how to get to the tour location.

When we went to FW for the tour, we took a bus from our resort to the MK and then the boat over to FW. There was some confusion over where to go once we got to FW b/c the CM that I booked the tour with told us to go to the wrong spot. But, unless things have changed, the tour meets at the Bike Barn. From the boat dock, you can walk to the Bike Barn or take an internal FW bus.

 

[dianeschlicht]

FYI, both the Fort Wilderness one and the Nature inspired Design one at Epcot both use the off road Segways. The around the world at Epcot uses the regular street ones, and you don't do any of the off road type stuff. The Nature inspired design one lets you go up and down hills etc.

 

[CarolMN]

Moved from DVC Boards

 

[Inkmahm]

When we went to FW for the tour, we took a bus from our resort to the MK and then the boat over to FW. There was some confusion over where to go once we got to FW b/c the CM that I booked the tour with told us to go to the wrong spot. But, unless things have changed, the tour meets at the Bike Barn. From the boat dock, you can walk to the Bike Barn or take an internal FW bus.

We did this tour a year ago and we didn't meet at a bike barn. We met near the area where Mickey's backyard bbq takes place.

 

[Inkmahm]

My DH and I did this tour in May of '09 and we LOVED it! We did the 11:30am tour and there was only one other person besides us, so it was nice to have 2 tour guides for 3 guests. As others said, you travel along the running path and roads between FW and WL and then you go "off road" on the dirt trail along the lake. The guides we had were fun and informative. Since this was my first experience on a Segway, I didn't mind having it set at the "turtle" pace!

Just wanted to add that if it were my first ever Segway tour, I would start with the one at Epcot. They do an excellent job of teaching you how to use the Segway. Very safety oriented.

I was a little worried about doing the Celebration tour with my sister and two nieces who had never been on a Segway before. There is not a lot of training at the non-Disney tour. Luckily, my relatives caught on very quickly and had no problem at all on the Segways even at the higher speeds.

If there is any hesitation at all for someone who is new to a Segway, do the Epcot tour. Turtle speed is fine when you are just learning.

 

[emlutz23]

I have to say the FW tour was also very safety oriented and the CM's included as much training time as we needed. Any apprehension I had personally with being a newbie on a Segway would be the same on any tour. If anyone thinks they'll be worried about the terrain, don't be, it is a rather flat tour. I think the only real hill we did was in practice. The FW tour is a great option if you love nature and the outdoors, not matter your Segway experience level!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Camping at Disney World board. This is the best place to discuss any of the activities offered at Fort Wilderness.

 

[maddhatir]

I hope no one minds that I bumped this thread.

I just made ressies this morning for the FW Segway tour (DH and I have done the tour at Epcot a few years ago and had a blast! He really wants to try this one now) anyway- the CM that I was talking to said that the first hour of the tour is "undercover" as in, under a tent. (????) That sounded odd to me. I know you need a little bit of a lesson, and that lesson will not be as long as the one in Epcot, but I know it is not an hour- and why would we be riding under tent? Maybe I was misinformed by the CM?

Can anyone help with more info?

Thanks!

 

[kbeam]

When are you going? How far in advance should the ressies be made? And did they require a deposit? Thanks!

 

[Brocktoon]

I hope no one minds that I bumped this thread.

I just made ressies this morning for the FW Segway tour (DH and I have done the tour at Epcot a few years ago and had a blast! He really wants to try this one now) anyway- the CM that I was talking to said that the first hour of the tour is "undercover" as in, under a tent. (????) That sounded odd to me. I know you need a little bit of a lesson, and that lesson will not be as long as the one in Epcot, but I know it is not an hour- and why would we be riding under tent? Maybe I was misinformed by the CM?

Can anyone help with more info?

Thanks!

It's been a couple years since we took the FW Segway Tour (we were actually one of the initial tours), so I don't know how much has changed. The training was in the Backyard BBQ area, which I think was a large covered area. They still showed you a short training video, and the Segway XTs controled a little diffrently than the standard Segway. The XT has larger tires and a wider clearance, so they give you a little training on making sure your tires are clearing obstacles. They also discourage you from using the reverse direction on the XT, and instead focus more on turning around.

The training was shorter than the Epcot tour, but that may vary with the class size. While both tours were great, I preferred the FW tour to the Epcot one