Water mouse?

[DownNeckBoy]

Can anyone explain what a water mouse is and whether it makes sense to rent one? Are there any restrictions? Has anyone rented them at OKW? Is there a better locaiton to rent from than OKW? Are there any discounts available (DVC, DC or AP)?

Thanks for your help.

 

[ohiominnie]

A water mouse is a little two person speedboat. It rides low to the water and generally is a lot of fun.
There are restrictions....I believe you have to be 60 inches tall and 12 yrs old to DRIVE them. A child younger or shorter can ride with an adult. Two adults can ride together, but there is about a 320 pound maximum. Speed is based on the weight in the boat, so if you have wto people totalling close to 320 pounds in that boat, you aren't going to get the speed that you'd get if both got their own boats. Clear as mud?
They run about $30 for a 1/2 hour (don't quote me on the price) and there is a DVC discount. There is also a length of stay plan that costs $199 and is good for water mice, pontoon boats, canopy boats and bikes (not surreys though) The plan is good for up to a family of 5. We just used it this month and had 4 in our family and 3 guests and they signed up the 5 adults on the plan. The kids could ride free in watermice and other boats, but when we did bikes we had to rent separate bikes for the kids because they were not listed on the plan. Still a GREAT deal. We ended up (between the 5 of us) with about 6 hours of pontoon boat rentals and about (rounding here) 12 hours of watermouse rentals and about 2 hours of bike rentals.
IMHO, the best place to get the watermice are somewhere on Bay Lake (WL, CR, or FW) or somewhere on Seven Seas Lagoon (Poly or GF) That way you have access via the water bridge to both of those huge bodies of water. You can really have some fun jumping the wakes of the bigger boats and can open it up for long periods of time. I'd suspect that you couldn't get the speed or have the same experience at OKW or DD just because of the smaller sizes of those bodies of water. We've never rented them at those places, so maybe someone else has a different experience.
Hope this helps.

 

[KNWVIKING]

If you rent them at any place other then Seven Seas Lagoon,(that is the big lake at MK,right), the engines are governed way down and they really aren't that much fun - at least not after having used them on SSL.

 

[JonHM]

LOL! Well THAT explains a lot - last June DW and I shared a water mouse at GF, and they said NOTHING of the 320 pound weight restriction, which we VASTLY surpassed... achem... No wonder we felt like we were putt - putting along at about 2 miles per hour... It was still a LOT of fun though!

 

[ohiominnie]

KNWVIKING...
They are fast if you rent them on Bay Lake too. We've gotten them at both the Poly and at WL and haven't noticed any difference in speed. Now if I could just stay away from Chef Mickey's and Casey's my watermouse would go faster too.

 

[DownNeckBoy]

Did anyone ever experience a long wait to rent one? Is there a "best" time to do this? Will the $199 special still be in effect in July?

Thanks again!

 

[KNWVIKING]

OhioMinie....

Maybe Bay Lake is what I'm calling SSL. Put it this way: Boats rented from Contemp,Wilderness,Poly,GF or FW go fast,all the others don't. Is SSL the Epcot lake ???

 

[Halle]

Can you get the plan if you are staying at OKW and use it at the GF?

 

[ohioMickey]

KNWVIKING...

Just a clarification of water bodies

SSL (seven seas lagoon) is the body of water in front of the magic kingdom. The TTC, POLY, and GF are on the shores and the monorail goes around it.

Bay Lake is where WL and FW are located. Discovery Island is in the middle of it. The CR is also on a shore of Bay lake.

SSL and Bay Lake are connected by a water bridge.

The EPCOT lake is World Showcase Lagoon

The lake between EPCOT and MGM which sits between BW and YC/BC is Crescent Lake.

Now for the tricky question: What is the name of the lake by Downtown Disney? This is the lake where you would take water mice if you rented them from OKW. Hmmmmmm.


Halle...

The plan is only good at the resort where you sign up for it. But the resort you sign up for the plan does NOT have to be the resort where you are staying.

SO....

If you stay at OKW, you CAN sign up at WL and use watermice on Bay Lake. But then you can not use the plan at OKW. If you sign up at OKW, you can not use the plan at WL.

 

[DVC Daisy]

OhioMinnie or OhioMickey:

Do they rent or provide life vests when you sign up for the LOS plan? I assume that you would need to wear them while out on the water right?

Also, what about the wait time? Did you find that there were long waits for the boats or mice? Sounds like you really got your money worth! It sounds fun!

Thanks,

Deb

 

[ohiominnie]

Thank you OhioMickey for helping me out with this one.

Deb,
They do require you to wear a life vest and will give you one each time you go out. If you have little kids and you want to check one out for your length of stay, they will allow that too...that way you can use it at the pool.

As for wait times....we have never waited to go out in a watermouse. And we've done it at all times of the day. We do not go in peak though....there may be a difference then. Also, with the plan there is no time limit and no checking in...you just stay out until you're done then return the boat. We originally thought that maybe you'd have to check in every 30 minutes or so and give up your boat if there was someone waiting. This is not the case.

At least at WL they won't rent a boat after 4:45-ish because they clear the lake around 5:15. So plan accordingly.

Oh, and if you run out of gas, a nice CM in a Boston Whaler will come and rescue you and take you to shore.....right, OhioMickey?

Hope this helps.

p.s. ohiomickey...got the foundation caulked.

 

[DVC Daisy]

OhioMinnie-

Thanks for your speedy reply! About the lifevests - I was wondering for myself actually. I am the non-swimmer in the family! Should I bring my own, or do they seem like really, really safe lifevests? I bring my own everywhere else I go so perhaps I will.

So - how do they know that you ran out of gas? Perhaps this is a question for OhioMickey? Did you have to wait long to be rescued?

This sounds like a fun plan! I will have to try this on our trip.

Thanks

Deb

 

[ohiominnie]

Deb, they have some. They seem safe. The ones they have utilize several straps across the chest and belly. THey do have to have some place to attach the kill switch, so if yours doesn't, they might not let you use it. ??? (The kill switch is something that turns your watermouse off if you happen to fall out of it--but I've been pretty crazy on my watermouse and I've never felt that I was anywhere close to tipping or capsizing)

As for running out of gas... well, if you haven't figured it out, ohiomickey and myself are married....so I was out on the lake when he ran out. He came up to me and told me his boat was making funny noises near the front. About 10 minutes later, he was dead in the water. A few minutes later after waving down a Boston Whaler (lake patrol) he and my dd were "rescued" and being taken to shore in the Boston Whaler. Lake patrol did verify that his take was empty. He got a new watermouse and regoined me. About 10 minutes later MY boat started making a funny noise. I stopped him, asked if his boat had been making a funny slurpy noise and he said "Yes." So after hot-rodding around the lake for another 30 minutes I, too, ran out of gas. My rescue took a bit longer (10 mins, max) because I had died at the absolutely FARTHEST point from any patrol boat (the one from that area was trying to teach some people to sail because they were stuck in the middle of Bay Lake and had no idea how to get to shore!) Of course, then I felt bad for "making fun" of DH for running out of gas "Don't you know honey that you're supposed to fill up before you leave home???".....the lake patrol guy made some comment like "Don't you feel bad now for making fun of him??"
Our rescues happened around 4:30 and about 5:15....the watermice probably had been used all day. If you worry about being stranded in the lake maybe it'd be good to head back to dock if you hear slurpy noises in the front end of your boat. (the kind of noise you make with your straw to alert the waitress that yes, indeed you DO need another refill)
Have fun!

 

[DVC Daisy]

Ohiominnie,

You are too funny! Thanks for all of the advise. I was just wondering if the rescue was in minutes or hours. Sounds fine.

I will try this - it sounds so fun!!!

Thanks again,

Deb

PS - if YOU did the caulking you are my hero! What a woman.

 

[KNWVIKING]

Okay,I didn't realize there were two lake near MK. Well, at least I was half right. thanx Minnie.

 

[DownNeckBoy]

Thanks for all the replies.

One interesting thing that I learned as I surfed the web is that although the WaterMouse is actually raced by children (solo) as young as eight, the minimum age at WDW appears to be 12. Does anyone know why this is the case, other than the desire to not be sued?

 

[madcoco]

Don't have the answer for that. Another fact:Bay Lake is natural and SSL is manmade. The "Boston Whalers" are constantly on patrol on the lakes and in constant radio contact with each other.Also if weather is threatening, you will see the "police lights" come on and the rescue patrol clears the lakes.That has happened on a few occasions and we were given credit.DD turned 12 last year and rode solo and loved it.We gave her one of those handheld two way radios that comes in handy for the parks and sat nervously at the end of the dock at WL waiting her return.
ohioMickey: I believe it is called BuenaVista lagoon.

 

[ohioMickey]

Madcoco... I do believe you are correct about the name of the DD lake. THANKS for jogging my memory!

 

[madcoco]

Your welcome.It jogged mine as well, trying to remember .

 

[Lizziemom]

My son ran out of gas after being out there for hours. He flagged down the patrol, got a ride to the dock, hopped in another water mouse and was on his way for several more hours! They are great.


Lizzie