Ginger

[doubletrouble_vb]

In the Mickey Monitor they had the Segway Personal Transport (also known as Ginger).

What are the chances Disney will offer some of these instead of the ECV's? Many people (and I'm thinking of my mother here) don't so much need the sitting of an ECV as much as the ability to avoid the long walks at Disney. My only concern would be the that the gyroscopes malfunction & she would get thrown off.

 

[All Aboard]

Did you see the Leno show where the Segway Guy brought in a few for the guys on the show to try? He followed them around with hands out to prevent falls. It bordered on ridiculous. It was like a father following around a one-year old. I thought that was a very bad PR move. Kinda like telling everyone that he had concerns for the safety of the users. So much so that it seemed like he figured the probability of them getting hurt was pretty high.

The weekend before last I was standing along the rail in Germany waiting for the 6:30 Tapestry to start. The Segway Guy came riding by on his invention. Seemed to work quite smoothly.

 

[EUROPA]

I can see the CM's using them for one reason or another...but for General Guest use in the park? NO . They would just be too fast.

 

[WDWHound]

The had one of these at the Disneyland Innoventions when I was there last month. A cast memeber was riding around on it. Seemed to work quite well. It was the only thing that made innoventions worth visiting. The rest of the place was a snore.

 

[Tik Tok]

I could see them being used at a park like Epcot - where there are lot's of wide walkways and plenty of places to park them, but I can't imagine them being allowed in some of the other parks. Could you imagine how crowded it would be at the Kingdom with Segways, Strollers, and Wheelchairs all trying to get around. That would be a pedestrians nightmare!!

 

[Testtrack321]

Yes, they do have Segways at Epcot in testing. I saw management riding one before Tapestry. And yes, I RODE A SEGWAY! They are amazing and if you want, I'll describe it more. I also met Dean Kamen (inventor of Segway) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com). Disney has bought around 5 of them at $8,000 a pop, so if they become rentable, imagine the huge down payment!

 

[Testtrack321]

Originally posted by gcurling
Did you see the Leno show where the Segway Guy brought in a few for the guys on the show to try? He followed them around with hands out to prevent falls. It bordered on ridiculous. It was like a father following around a one-year old. I thought that was a very bad PR move. Kinda like telling everyone that he had concerns for the safety of the users. So much so that it seemed like he figured the probability of them getting hurt was pretty high.

The weekend before last I was standing along the rail in Germany waiting for the 6:30 Tapestry to start. The Segway Guy came riding by on his invention. Seemed to work quite smoothly.

Again, DEAN KAMEN! I WAS THERE! I SAW! ME RODE!

The Segway guy is Dean Kamen, and yes, he is always protetive of his inventions, he has been working on it for 10 years, the last thing he wants is for Jay Lenno to fall of it on Prime Time.

 

[wdwguide]

Segways (with a decreased max speed limit) would, in my opinion, be fine for use in the larger parks, since they take up much less space and are safer than ECVs (and probably cheaper, too), and could probably replace up to 50% of them. But we'll see what happens - it's certainly an interesting thought.

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't think you could get rid of very many ecvs by offering Segways. A lot of the people who are using ecvs have problems with walking and standing, so offering them something that would make them stand the whole day wouldn't be much help. A lot of people who rent ecvs are afraid to drive them; I think it would take a lot of convincing to get them on a vehicle that loks like it would fall over easily (even though it is very stable).
Besides, the cost factor would be a problem. An ecv costs between $1000 and $2500, so it would cost more to have a fleet of Segways. A power wheelchair costs more (like starting at $8000 and going up to almost $40,000 for the one they show in Innoventions), but most people who use a power wheelchair wouldn't be able to use a Segway.