{"id":743,"date":"2009-06-01T07:58:31","date_gmt":"2009-06-01T11:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/?p=743"},"modified":"2011-02-21T22:51:38","modified_gmt":"2011-02-22T03:51:38","slug":"mastering-the-segway-at-fort-wilderness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/news\/featured-article\/mastering-the-segway-at-fort-wilderness\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering the Segway at Fort Wilderness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>By Erica Colmenares<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My Disney friends know that my first encounter with a Segway Personal  Transporter was less than pretty. I&#8217;ll admit that the Segway got the  better of me, right around Italy, in Epcot&#8217;s World Showcase. Never let  it be said, though, that I&#8217;m easily daunted (or that I learn from my  mistakes). Earlier this year, my pal Holly and I signed on for another  Segway adventure, this time at Disney&#8217;s Fort Wilderness.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/tripplanning\/news\/ms\/2009\/images\/FWSegway3.jpg\" alt=\"Segways\" hspace=\"5\" align=\"right\" \/>The  Wilderness Back Trail Adventure at Fort Wilderness is a two-plus hour  &#8220;off-road&#8221; Segway tour, with training for the first part of the  experience, and lots of ride time afterward. The Fort Wilderness tour  uses the Segway X2, a more rugged transporter with wider wheels than its  Segway cousin at Epcot. To book, we called 407-WDW-TOUR (407-939-8687).  This tour isn&#8217;t cheap, but AAA, DVC, AP, and Disney Visa discounts may  be available. Currently the price, including tax, is $85. We were told  we&#8217;d meet at the Mickey&#8217;s Backyard BBQ pavilion. (When I called for  updated information for this article, I was told that now the group  meets at the less centrally located Meadows Bike Barn.) Tours are  available Tuesdays through Saturdays, starting at 8:30 a.m. and 11:30  a.m. The booking CM had quite a spiel of rules to read: everyone must  wear helmets (provided); participants must be 16 take the tour (16- and  17-year olds require the signature of a parent or guardian); and there  is a 250-pound maximum weight limit. Being slightly above 16 and  slightly under 250 pounds, we were good to go.<\/p>\n<p>The day of the tour dawned. I was not (very) scared. Our plan was to  go with friends to Magic Kingdom&#8217;s &#8220;rope drop,&#8221; enjoy an hour or so of  uncrowded touring, then depart for Fort Wilderness via the Disney boats.  If we&#8217;d chosen the 8:30 a.m. tour, we would have had to use our own  car, or a taxi, as there&#8217;s no Disney transportation to the early tour.  The Magic Kingdom\u2013Fort Wilderness boat worked great, as it dropped us  off back in the Settlement area, which is where the group met (for the  Bike Barn, it is probably a wash as to whether the Disney boat or Disney  bus is better). If you drive, remember that you&#8217;ll need to allow about  twenty minutes to catch the internal campground bus system from guest  parking to the tour meeting area.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>We enjoyed a twirl through Fantasyland, plus a Splash Mountain drop,  then left the Magic Kingdom a bit after 10:30 a.m. Taking the boat, we  got to Fort Wilderness in plenty of time to check in 15 minutes early  (as requested). Holly and I got our obligatory name tag, found helmets  that fit, then the group was called together to view a safety video.  It  was shorter than the one I remembered viewing at Epcot, but definitely  thorough. The &#8220;adventure guides,&#8221; or Cast Members, who train and  accompany the troops then split us into two groups for real-life  training. They wisely put Holly and me into different groups \u2014 I guess  they saw we were whispering during the safety video. Busted! The CMs  were both informative, humorous, and very safety conscious. They slowly  and carefully took us through a number of drills \u2014 getting on and off  the Segway safely, learning to maneuver the Segway, going up and down an  incline, stopping, etc. I had plenty of time to start to feel confident  about my ability to stay on this time around. <a name=\"more\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After we were sufficiently trained, it was time for the off-road  portion of the entertainment. We started with a spin around the  Settlement area, getting looks from all the Disney guests. (&#8220;How do I  get me one of them?&#8221;) The tour took us through one of the RV loops, into  the woods, near the beach, and then we took a break at the Tri-Circle-D  Ranch, where we got a glimpse of the Headless Horseman&#8217;s mount. Our  guides stopped for photo ops, trivia quizzes, and lots of information  sharing. They both clearly knew a lot about Fort Wilderness in  particular, and Disney in general.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/tripplanning\/news\/ms\/2009\/images\/FWSegway1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/tripplanning\/news\/ms\/2009\/images\/FWSegway2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><br \/>\n<em>Holly and Erica mug for the camera; our Adventure Guide shares trivia about the Tri-Circle-D Ranch.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Our favorite part of the tour came next. We rode the path between  Fort Wilderness all the way to Wilderness Lodge, looped behind the  Lodge, then headed back to Fort Wilderness on a back trail. It felt so  remote that if it weren&#8217;t for the Cast Members accompanying us, we could  have imagined we were far, far away from Disney. The only downside to  the long trek over to the Wilderness Lodge is that I started to feel a  bit of pain in my feet, and Holly said the same thing. The Segways  vibrate, and after awhile you get a tingly (not in a nice way) sensation  that can feel uncomfortable.<\/p>\n<p>After we arrived back at Fort Wilderness, that pretty much wrapped up  the tour.  Please note that I did not once fall off the Segway during  the two-hour experience. In fact, I think I may have finally mastered  these babies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Erica Colmenares My Disney friends know that my first encounter with a Segway Personal Transporter was less than pretty. I&#8217;ll admit that the Segway got the better of me, right around Italy, in Epcot&#8217;s World Showcase. Never let it be said, though, that I&#8217;m easily daunted (or that I learn from my mistakes). Earlier [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[360,97,96],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mastering the Segway at Fort Wilderness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Erica Colmenares My Disney friends know that my first encounter with a Segway Personal Transporter was less than pretty. 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