Segway tour on Sanibel Island FL About This Page:

[tkd lisa]

Cast: Me, WDW Veteran, single mom, almost 42
DS, turned 13 August 25th,
Guest appearance by DM, my mom who lives nearby

When: Saturday, September 9th
What: Segway Tour
Where: Billy's Tours, Sanibel Island FL
Why: This was DS's 13th birthday gift.

DS has been drooling over Segways for a long time but Disney doesn't let you ride until 16 years of age. I told DS that he could have a tour for his 16th birthday, but then I got a phone call from my mom. She said "Hey, I cut out an article on those skagway thingies that Casey likes so much." Once I figured out what she was talking about, she said that this place on Sanibel offers tours too.

I was off to check their website and I confirmed that they'd give tours if you were 13, as long as you're 100 pounds. Well, DS finally broke that barrier about a month ago, so we were set! I printed out the page from the website, and wrote him a note that said "For your birthday, you are hearby given one Segway Tour."

On his birthday, I woke him up before I left for work and made him open his card. He read the note and said "But I have to be 16." I said "Not at this place!" I don't think it sunk in until the afternoon when he was finally really awake.

Meantime, we went to Disney for our free dining trip. When we got back, I told DS that if he wanted to do the tour this Saturday, he needed to clean up his room.

He finished up about 10:30, and I called down to confirm that they had space available. They marked us down for the 2:00 tour, and we were off. Or were we? I have NO idea what exciting activity was happening in Brandon FL, but it took me 45 minutes to make the 10 minute trip over to I-75S. I got in touch with my mom, and made arrangements to pick her up just before the bridge over to Sanibel Island.

About 1:50, I called Billy's Tours, because it was obvious I was going to be late. Billy himself answered and said there was no problem. We were the only ones on the tour, and he'd just set us up when we got there. The only concern would be if afternoon rain moved in since they don't do the tour in bad weather.

I met my mom about 2:10 and we found Billy's with no problem arriving about 2:20. I went inside and paid for DS and I ($60 per person). He told us to get some water out of the fridge, and he'd start the safety video. He told my DM that she was welcome to use a bike and ride with us, or stay in the air conditioning and watch TV. Mom asked how much the bike would be, and he said "No charge." Cool beans! She decided she'd start out and see how her knee held up. They fixed her up with a recumbent tricycle, and she made it the whole way!

After watching the safety video, Billy and his assistant (Jeff, who was a new hire) took us outside to familiarize us with the segways. Billy told DS that since it was his birthday, if he did good on the first part, Billy would let DS ride the new model segway.

DS figured out the controls right away. I did fine as long as I was going straight. I always seemed to turn too quickly, which freaked me out, and slowing down was tough for me too. But I got it pretty quickly, and we all headed out.

Since Jeff was being trained, Billy took a little time to show him how to handle traffic, etc. They had hand signals that they used to indicate slowing down, branches overhead, turns, etc.

Here's the first set of pictures he took.

He pulled up alongside and took pictures several places along the way. As we went, he stopped to talk about some of the historic places on the island, and he also talked a lot about the native plants and animals. He told DS "I'm going to give you 3 changes to win a free T-Shirt. But you have to pay attention. I won't ask you something you haven't heard me say, but you have to listed up." He went on to show us a lot of different types of plants including some wild coffee! Apparently there's a law on the island that 3/4 of any landscaping has to be native plants. He also talked about the devastation caused by Hurricane Charlie. I think he said they had 330,000 cubic feet of yard waste. I know he said that it took them 4 solid months of 100+ trucks a DAY to haul it away! In comparison Wilma only had 30,000 cubic feet of refuse. The island has recovered beautifully though.

We stopped by the Sanibel River (fresh water, runs through the island, home to large mouth bass, river otters, and a few gators). Here's a nice picture of the group there.



We then moved into a really nice campgrounds. Billy knows the owners and he uses this as a place to let the segways move out over some rougher terrain. They also had a nice aviary there, so we got to see some very pretty birds. Billy (and Jeff) knew which birds liked to be petted, and which ones didn't. Once we'd taken a bit of a break, Billy asked "So Grandma, let's get you on one of these and see how you like it!" He reset it down to the slowest speed, and gave her a quick lesson. Here's a shot of her enjoying the ride!



She rode around the camper loop for a while, while DS and I scooted around trying them out. DS had moved onto the new model by this time. It had a slightly different steering mechanism. The standard segway has a grip (like a bike handle) that you twist up or down to turn right or left. The new one has a t-bar that you just lean right or left to turn. It also is a little more off-road friendly. That one had a speedometer, and DS said he got up to 8.5 mph, which is faster than I wanted to go! Billy had a beta test model, and that particular unit was the 56th one they had made. He did say that the new ones retail for $5000.

About this time, DS told Billy that he wanted a Segway for his 16th birthday. After all, it's cheaper than a car. I said "That assumes I'm getting you a car, which I'm NOT! You'd better start saving up now!"

It was about 4:00 by this time, and the thunder was started to roll. We switched mom back over to her tricycle, and they took the direct route back. The rest of us did a scenic tour back down the river, where DS finally got a question right. What body of water is this? Answer, the Sanibel River. He got bonus points for remembering what wildlife lived in the river. The other two questions were name a couple of different plants, which he didn't get.

We stopped to take a few more pictures. Here's one of the whole group again (with Mom on the segway this time).



Then they took my favorite shot of DS and me.



And finally, this one. I call this one "Are you STILL taking pictures?"



Back at the store, Billy put away the segways, while DS was doing some quick turns out in the parking lot. He was getting a little too sure of himself. Billy came out with his video camera and was filming him saying "Casey, you're turning a little quick there!" Just at that time, he slipped off. No harm done except to his pride! And Billy was teasing him so badly. "I've got it on camera! I'll have to post that on my website!"

They put all the segways away, and Billy uploaded the pictures to the web. He tried to burn a CD for us, but was having trouble. The pictures are out on his website to download at no charge. Casey got his free T-shirt, and I took several business cards to give out to my friends.

We finally left there about 5:00. This was a super tour, and was well worth the money. Especially when you consider the individual attention, and the nature tour that came with it. I'd definitely do it again!

Let me know if you have any questions!

[GoofyMom]

Wow! That really sounds like it was a wonderful tour! Very cool of Billy to let your Mom Segway a bit too! Segways are just too much fun! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[chezp]

What a great tour that sounded - and how [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] that you guys were the only ones on it. It certainly sounds like it was worth every dollar you spent on it and what a great present! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

[lauren-roxy]

What a really fun time!!! That is really a beautiful area too!! Thanks so much for sharing Lisa!!!

[WishIwasinDisney]

Wow, what a great tour. Thanks for sharing it with us. Now the real question, is it really easy? I have one booked in Disney in December and do not want to make a total fool of myself! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[DyanKJ130]

Sounds like a wonderful tour! We are waiting for DS to turn 16, so we can take the Segway tour at WDW as well. Looks like you all had a fun time!

[tkd lisa]

Was it easy? Well, that depends. Actually making the unit move is easy. I didn't even have too much trouble with feeling off-balance. The Segway actually balances for you, so if you move around too much, it has a hard time figuring out how to balance it.

In fact, Billy showed me that just by sticking your arm out behind you, the segway would rebalance you.

I had a kind of hard time with turning while we were moving. I seemed to want to twist down a little too hard, so I felt like I was whipping around instead of a gradual turn. It was made worse because I was standing straight up instead of leaning like the video told you to do.

The other thing I had a hard time with was slowing down. I got the push down with the toes to go faster thing, but rocking back on my heels made me feel off balance, so I didn't do it as well. About 3/4 of the way through, I realized I was standing too far forward, which wasn't helping that problem.

Overall, I'd say it was easy to ride, and I never felt any danger. I did feel that little "out of control" feeling you get when you're on a good amusement park ride! If I hadn't been trying to keep up with Mario Andretti reborn into my DS, it might have been easier!

[WDWfan]

Lisa - Great report on your Segway tour! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. It sounds like a delightful experience and the service was above and beyond. I loved that they let your DM try the seqway and gave DS a T-shirt. Almost sounds like they learned how to sprinkle some pixie dust from Disney.

[mattnkatsmum]

What a fantastic report! I've actually considered combining a trip to Sanibel with WDW, so that is something I'd definitely try out.

Thanks for posting!