New speciality cruise takes guests around World Showcase Lagoon

[Nubs70]

Everybody is like, "take the friendship boat and bring your own snacks" and stuff. Of course, don't do this is you have Epcot admission. BUT, what if you dont have admission, or your don't want to use one of your tickets? if you have a big enough group, $15-20 bucks per person to ride around the world showcase, take pictures, have snacks is not bad.

Then jump off and swim to the American pavillion. If you get 1 foot on shore before being spprehended, you get free admission for the day.

 

[disney4life2008]

Well, $10. Ten bucks for an hour long boat trip with snacks & drinks. Just to be clear.

I am confused it says: Day Cruise Around the World costs $149 plus tax and gratuity per boat, and accommodates up to 10 guests. Reservations can be made now on 407-WDW-PLAY, and can be made 180 days in advance.

Or am I misreading this?

It's not meant to be a deal. It's meant to be an experience available to those wishing to participate. If you're not interested you don't have to do it.

If it is $10 as quoted above, then yes. But for anyone that would pay $149 is falling for it. My opinion

 

[disney4life2008]

I am confused it says: Day Cruise Around the World costs $149 plus tax and gratuity per boat, and accommodates up to 10 guests. Reservations can be made now on 407-WDW-PLAY, and can be made 180 days in advance.

Or am I misreading this?



If it is $10 as quoted above, then yes. But for anyone that would pay $149 is falling for it. My opinion

Or is it a group of 10 can rent the boat and its $10 per person?

 

[Biff215]

Or is it a group of 10 can rent the boat and its $10 per person?

Just some bad math. They're arguing that it's really only $15/person ($150/10). But of course that's only if you have 10 people. You can't show up at the dock with your family of four expecting to pay $60.

Sure it looks like a deal next to the fireworks cruise prices, but obviously this offering lacks the main event. For anyone comfortable enough running a boat, I'd suggest renting a pontoon and touring the waterways of either the MK or Epcot resorts. It's very relaxing and my kids love it.

 

[Bocabear]

Actually for a private boat and snacks for a cruise for up to 10, this is very reasonable...If we can bring our own cocktails onboard it is even better. Honestly, not a bad idea...there are a lot more expensive Disney experiences out there.

 

[jmmc]

Kind of sounds like a waste of time to me but, hey, anything to get fewer people standing in line for something I want to get into!

 

[Otterhead]

Just some bad math.

The boat's supposed to take 10-15 people. If you have 10 people on a $150 boat, that's $15 a person. If you have 15 people, then it's $10 a person.

That's.... math.

 

[21stamps]

At least you're allowed to eat and drink, you can't do that when you rent a personal watercraft.... and you probably don't even have to be connected to the boat by cord!

 

[Otterhead]

Being ON the water doesn't make much of a difference.

I think people who enjoy being on boats would disagree.

The entire cruise makes no sense no matter how you try to defend it.

I disagree. It's clear you don't understand it, which is fine, but your continued irritation about it is kind of hilarious.

Some people really like relaxing on a boat. This is a little "mini-cruise" that leaves from a cruise/yacht/boat themed hotel to sail around a little lake for a bit at about ten bucks a person. I think you're overthinking it quite a lot.

 

[21stamps]

I think people who enjoy being on boats would disagree.

I disagree. It's clear you don't understand it, which is fine, but your continued irritation about it is kind of hilarious.

Some people really like relaxing on a boat. This is a little "mini-cruise" that leaves from a cruise/yacht/boat themed hotel to sail around a little lake for a bit at about ten bucks a person. I think you're overthinking it quite a lot.

Yeah, I love boating but I'm not a pontoon boat fan. Unless I'm out on the lake, drinking, and can dive off of it into the water.

But like I just said above, if you have a group and you want to rent a pontoon boat at Disney -you can't even eat and drink, and the driver can't even move around. So at the least this way you get a little freedom. I really wish they let people take food and drinks on boats there. I also wish they weren't modified to be so slow...but, liability. I get it.

 

[rkleinlein]

Of course this is yet another money grab and of course most people think this is a horrible value.

But this is not about the EXPERIENCE. It's not about a boat tour of World Showcase so there's no point in arguing the value or quality of the experience. The experience is just the excuse. What they are really selling is EXCLUSIVITY.

We see it time and time again. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but Disney is putting a lot of thought and effort into giving a very select clientele as many opportunities as possible to separate themselves from the unwashed masses.

 

[21stamps]

Of course this is yet another money grab and of course most people think this is a horrible value.

But this is not about the EXPERIENCE. It's not about a boat tour of World Showcase so there's no point in arguing the value or quality of the experience. The experience is just the excuse. What they are really selling is EXCLUSIVITY.

We see it time and time again. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but Disney is putting a lot of thought and effort into giving a very select clientele as many opportunities as possible to separate themselves from the unwashed masses.

Yes I'm sure that's why everyone rents the watercraft at Disney. Because they want to be away from the unwashed.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I think people who enjoy being on boats would disagree.

I disagree. It's clear you don't understand it, which is fine, but your continued irritation about it is kind of hilarious.

Some people really like relaxing on a boat. This is a little "mini-cruise" that leaves from a cruise/yacht/boat themed hotel to sail around a little lake for a bit at about ten bucks a person. I think you're overthinking it quite a lot.

No one is arguing against this cruise in a vacuum. If Disney had offered it in 1990, folks might think it odd, but its unlikely they'd object very much.

What the "if you don't like it, don't go" folks rarely acknowledge is that people object to these upcharge activities because they are representations and intensifications of several very negative trends that are afflicting WDW. In a nutshell, they are representative of

1) the use of WDW as a cash machine, with constant price increases, attraction and entertainment cuts, and (until recently, at least) very little spent on improvements

(more troublingly) 2) the increasing stratification of the WDW experience and the sense that guests are increasingly categorized as first-, second-, or third-class. It's infuriating, particularly given the rampant price increases, that WDW is making it more and more clear that certain guests are better than others.

It would be great if, when folks defend these upcharges, they addressed the broader context as well.

 

[21stamps]

No one is arguing against this cruise in a vacuum. If Disney had offered it in 1990, folks might think it odd, but its unlikely they'd object very much.

What the "if you don't like it, don't go" folks rarely acknowledge is that people object to these upcharge activities because they are representations and intensifications of several very negative trends that are afflicting WDW. In a nutshell, they are representative of

1) the use of WDW as a cash machine, with constant price increases, attraction and entertainment cuts, and (until recently, at least) very little spent on improvements

(more troublingly) 2) the increasing stratification of the WDW experience and the sense that guests are increasingly categorized as first-, second-, or third-class. It's infuriating, particularly given the rampant price increases, that WDW is making it more and more clear that certain guests are better than others.

It would be great if, when folks defend these upcharges, they addressed the broader context as well.

I've said something similar in another thread, but please hear me out,

Travel and entertainment has become more and more about choices and different experiences. Not just Disney. People expect to have several options when vacationing now. People like to spend days outside of a park, or doing something "different" while in a park.
Nope, not all people, but a lot of them, and that's why we keep seeing these new "upcharge" options...and that's why most of these options are extremely successful.

Also, I've been staying at Poly since 1978, I can tell you that even back then they had watercraft rentals..I was too young to pay attention in the early years, maybe someone here knows, but I think they weren't included with your stay back then. I don't think people on the beach were jealous of someone waterskiing, or felt like a second class citizen because of it. It was just an extra activity that you could choose to do or not do.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I've said something similar in another thread, but please hear me out,

Travel and entertainment has become more and more about choices and different experiences. Not just Disney. People expect to have several options when vacationing now. People like to spend days outside of a park, or doing something "different" while in a park.
Nope, not all people, but a lot of them, and that's why we keep seeing these new "upcharge" options...and that's my most if these options are extremely successful.

Also, I've been staying at Poly since 1978, I can tell you that even back then they had watercraft rentals..I was too young to pay attention in the early years, maybe someone here knows, but I think they weren't included with your stay back then. I don't think people on the beach were jealous of someone waterskiing, or felt like a second class citizen because of it. It was just an extra activity that you could choose to do or not do.

Yes, there have always been boat rentals. But again, the issue is context. Would you or Otterhead deny that there has, in recent years, been a very notable increase in the number and visibility of upcharge events, sometimes at the expense of the general guest experience? Would you deny that the increase in ticket prices and room rates has exceeded the rate of inflation to an absurd degree making the (quite expensive) upcharges more egregious?

I would also argue that boats one can rent for a minimal fee give a different impression from, say, large sections of parade or firework viewing areas roped off for use by people willing to pay for a "desert party" - that really does seem to designate some folks as the "good guests"

 

[21stamps]

Yes, there have always been boat rentals. But again, the issue is context. Would you or Otterhead deny that there has, in recent years, been a very notable increase in the number and visibility of upcharge events, sometimes at the expense of the general guest experience? Would you deny that the increase in ticket prices and room rates has exceeded the rate of inflation to an absurd degree making the (quite expensive) upcharges more egregious?

I would also argue that boats one can rent for a minimal fee give a different impression from, say, large sections of parade or firework viewing areas roped off for use by people willing to pay for a "desert party" - that really does seem to designate some folks as the "good guests"

I did address that in my first paragraph. The entire entertainment industry has made the move to more options- at a price. They've done this because most of these things have had overwhelming success.

The boats on Seven Seas Lagoon pass the people on the ferry to MK, as well as the launch boats. In my experience, most of them wave, not give dirty looks.lol. Who cares what someone else is doing with their time/money? What if someone has been to WDW several times and wants new experiences? Isn't it good customer service to give them more options within the resort? Some of my best memories at WDW have nothing to do with being inside of a park and going on rides or seeing shows, they have to do with "extra experiences".

People stay there for a week or more, not everyone wants to do rope drop to close at a park everyday following their minute by minute spreadsheet plan to 'get their money's worth'. Some want to treat it like a resort vacation, with visits to a theme park in as well.

 

[TyrantBossMedia]

your continued irritation about it is kind of hilarious.

Not quite as hilarious as your continued effort to try to change my opinion, which will never happen.

 

[rael ramone]

After reading more comments and having more thoughts:

In the end, first and foremost it still is about having GOOD SHOW. This applies whether it's one of Club Chappies $700 cabanas, or if it's an attraction like the Aladdin spinners in the middle of a South Seas environment that anyone can ride with admission to the park.

Onstage in a theme park, in Epcot at least, World Showcase Lagoon is one of the focal points (one could make the argument that in WS it is the prime focal point - but that's subjective). If they were to use a Friendship boat (or something thats smaller but looks like it could be part of the same 'fleet') it likely wouldn't be a distraction. A pontoon boat to my mind looks more and more out of place.

Here's an extreme example. Renting a paddleboat on a lakeside resort fits. Now what if the National Park Service decided to rent paddleboats on the Reflective Pool outside the Lincoln Memorial? It's not appropriate for the setting...

In short, a non-themed pleasure craft with quiet, well behaved guests on board is out of place. Add noisy guests (plus the amplification effects of being on water) and it is significantly worse then that...

 

[ABQ]

After reading more comments and having more thoughts:

In the end, first and foremost it still is about having GOOD SHOW. This applies whether it's one of Club Chappies $700 cabanas, or if it's an attraction like the Aladdin spinners in the middle of a South Seas environment that anyone can ride with admission to the park.

Onstage in a theme park, in Epcot at least, World Showcase Lagoon is one of the focal points (one could make the argument that in WS it is the prime focal point - but that's subjective). If they were to use a Friendship boat (or something thats smaller but looks like it could be part of the same 'fleet') it likely wouldn't be a distraction. A pontoon boat to my mind looks more and more out of place.

Here's an extreme example. Renting a paddleboat on a lakeside resort fits. Now what if the National Park Service decided to rent paddleboats on the Reflective Pool outside the Lincoln Memorial? It's not appropriate for the setting...

In short, a non-themed pleasure craft with quiet, well behaved guests on board is out of place. Add noisy guests (plus the amplification effects of being on water) and it is significantly worse then that...

I agree with you to a point. Not sure the noise thing is a big deal, but it's been mentioned by a few folks now. I mean, I hear drums from Japan while standing in Mexico or I hear (or heard) bagpipes from Canada while standing in Germany. I mean, noise pollution is all over the World Showcase. But I agree about the pontoon boat usage being out of place, in the daytime especially. They already use them for fireworks cruises but don't really go beyond the English Channel .

 

[Nj4mwc]

Of course this is yet another money grab and of course most people think this is a horrible value.

But this is not about the EXPERIENCE. It's not about a boat tour of World Showcase so there's no point in arguing the value or quality of the experience. The experience is just the excuse. What they are really selling is EXCLUSIVITY.

We see it time and time again. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but Disney is putting a lot of thought and effort into giving a very select clientele as many opportunities as possible to separate themselves from the unwashed masses.

If this is true, I'm okay with them paying to be away from me and the rest of the unwashed. It's hopefully 10 less people standing in line in front of me.