CruisingFool
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2017
Hello all,
I've seen a few people asking about the Jetovator Port Adventure on Castaway Cay, but I haven't yet seen any reviews of it. Since I happened to have done this on a recent cruise, I thought it might be worthwhile to share my experience (I have no affiliation with Disney or DCL).
The TL;DR review is:
This was on a 3 day cruise on the Dream, December 1-4, 2017. I believe the Castaway Cay day was December 3rd. I saw the Jetovator port excursion listed as an option when I was booking port adventures, and I was immediately intrigued and booked it as the last slot of the day (since it was closer to the ship; I figured I could pick it up on the way back when we were leaving).
Now, for those of you unfamiliar with the Jetovator, it is one of a bunch of similar style of more extreme water sports that have come out in recent years. All of these things work on the same basic principle: you have a long hose (60 ft I believe in the case of the Jetovator) connected to the water jet output of a Jetski/Waverunner/PWC, and most of the propulsive water jet from the PWC is directed up the hose to the bike/flyboard/jetpack that you are riding. Some of the force of the PWC water jet is still left at the PWC so the PWC driver can control it and move around with you. These are all two-person operations: you're 'flying' the Jetovator and the PWC operator controls the throttle. If you Google around you can see videos of people riding the Jetovator to get an idea; obviously those videos are by experienced riders and you probably won't be performing those tricks your first time out.
The Jetovator kind of looks like a stripped-down version of the speeder bike from Return of the Jedi. You can find pictures of it online, and it has a seat, foot rests (with straps to slide your feet under) and two control arms you hold onto. The control arms move forward and back to direct two water jets (there is a third non-controllable water jet at the bottom of the Jetovator) and those two control arms, combined with weight shifting, are your primary control mechanisms.
Now, to set the stage with ME ... I am a middle aged guy who spends most of his time in front of a computer screen. I'm also the guy who got picked second-to-last for team games in elementary school (I was ahead of whomever had a broken leg or arm). I lost a significant amount of weigh recently and I have been exercising a lot in the past year, but I'm not exactly what you would call a 'natural athlete'. Kind of the opposite, actually. I mention all this to explain you don't need to be an Olympic-caliber gymnast to do the Jetovator.
The Jetovator Port Adventure start is at Boat Beach, right where you would go for the Jetskis, next to the Stingray encounter, and just next to the start of the snorkeling area. You ride the Jetovator in the lagoon next to the cruise ship, which means everyone on the cruise ship can see you doing it; take this into account if you are shy or if you get embarrassed at the thought of several thousand people watching you make a fool of yourself
The first part of the Jetovator includes some shore instruction; they have a second Jetovator on the shore to familiarize guests with how it works. One of the cast members explains the basics of it and how to ride it. Now this is where I learned some important details:
I didn't really think about the nuts and bolts of the Jetovator instruction process, but the way they have it set up is you can talk with the Jetovator operator on the PWC via a two-way radio in your helmet. As it turns out, this is incredibly important; there's no way you could hear anything over all of the noise of the PWC, and getting real-time feedback is very important.
The PWC operator had me get on the Jetovator that was floating in the water, and this is where I ran into the first challenge: this is incredibly awkward. You're floating around, the Jetovator is also floating, and getting yourself into position is just a lot of fumbling. This is where I made some of my first mistakes: I was kind of sitting on the seat crouched instead of in the standing position (because it was easier). When the operator asked me if I was ready, and I said, "Yes?", he gently goosed the engine and I fell off backwards after a few seconds.
The operator then reminded me that I really needed to be standing, and we tried a few more times. What I finally learned was, yes, you REALLY need to be standing the whole time, and the trick is to stand with the Jetovator under you IN THE WATER. This takes a little bit of practice, and you really need to push it down beneath you to get into the right position; you also need to make sure you're leaning forward more than you think you should, at least in the beginning.
The PWC operator slowly started adding more throttle, and after a few tries (and falling off!) I started feeling more stable. At this point I was maybe only halfway out of the water, moving around relatively slowly, getting the feel of it. The PWC operator asked me if I was ready for more power, and I told him "Yes", and he slowly added more power and I got out of the water completely.
At this point, things transitioned from "awkward and weird", to "awesome!". It really did feel as cool as it looked. Because you're limited to a specific area for the Jetovator, you have to turn to make sure you don't go outside of it. I was so focused on staying on the Jetovator that I didn't realize this at first, and the PWC operator had to say, "Turn right!" several times before it sunk it. Then I had to remember, "Wait, how do I turn right again?" But luckily I remembered and I started a kind of ragged turn.
Once I got the hang of turns, the PWC operator asked me if I wanted to go higher, and I said "Sure!" so he opened up the throttle more. It turns out that for me at least there was a tendency to porpoise a bit; I'd get up a little higher, get a little nervous, and push the control arms forward and then I'd go back down, then go back up. Altitude control was a little tricky, and in the time I was on it I didn't quite get the hang of keeping it completely stable. Once I felt more confident my turns felt better (I was doing more weight shifting), and I believe from looking down I was 10-15 feet above the water for part of my ride (but it was hard to tell).
The PWC operator asked me if I wanted to try a dive (you can see people on the videos do that) but I decided that was more than I would be willing to risk, so I said no (maybe next time!). I rode around the area for about 10 minutes without falling off, and it really did feel like you were on a speeder bike on the moon of Endor. However, if you are a speed junky I would caution you that you aren't actually MOVING that fast; definitely not Jetski speeds. In some of the Jetovator videos people are definitely moving faster than I was, but clearly those people have more experience and the area you are in is a bit small, so that makes sense. I didn't mind, it felt plenty fast to me!
While the total time on the Jetovator is I believe around 15 minutes and that doesn't SEEM like a lot, near the end of the ride I noticed that my forearms (from gripping the control arms), my core and my glutes were all saying to me, "Um, dude, might be time for a break?". I actually was starting to wonder how much longer it was going to be when the PWC operator asked me if I wanted to drive the Jetovator back to the beach (since I was the last ride of the day). I said, "Sure!", and I steered it back toward Boat Beach.
Sadly, the PWC operator went easy on the throttle near the end so I didn't come in to the beach very high or fast, but I can't blame him because I know the water is shallower there and they probably wanted to keep me safe. When I got out of the water my friends said it looks awesome, and one of the people who ran the Jetovator said I had the best ride of the day.
So, overall impressions? Yes, at $149 for probably 15-20 minutes actual time on the Jetovator is kind of expensive. But it is an unique experience and I had a GREAT time, and I plan on doing it on my next cruise (so do some of the friends who were with me). I wasn't super sore but I definitely felt that my core and glutes had a workout, so that was probably the limit of the time I could have done it anyway.
Was it hard? Like I said, I'm not an athlete by any means but I figured it out pretty quickly. You do have to maintain your balance on it, but after a few tries something 'clicked' and I got into the groove of it. Your control envelope isn't huge, but I think if you are conservative it is easy to stay within it; once you are out of the water the Jetovator felt pretty stable. The PWC operator is watching you all of the time so obviously he/she will cut the throttle if you get into trouble, and not having to manage the throttle makes it easier since that's one less thing you need to think about. I did notice afterwards that my glutes and a lot of core muscles were a bit sore, so you are getting more of a workout than you think, but I don't think you need to have a high or even medium fitness level to do it for the short amount of time you are on it.
Is it safe? Weeelll ... mostly. You are wearing a helmet (without a face mask, think rock climbing style rather than motorcycle style) and a life jacket. Even if I had fallen when I was 10-15 feet up, the water was deep enough out there that I would have been fine. The one thing they want you to avoid is flipping backwards, because it's easy for the Jetovator to land on top of you (I was also cautioned when I was out on it to try to fall away from the Jetovator so it didn't hit me). It's not very heavy, so it wouldn't do a lot of damage if you did hit it.
BUT ... when I done, I came back on shore and got all of my gear out of the bin they had you put everything in, and I realized my cell phone was missing. But then Disney security (he was there at the time) spoke up and apologized; he explained that a passenger had gotten injured earlier in the day, had to go back to the Dream, and he was sent back to get her personal items and he grabbed my cell phone by mistake. So he gave me her information and escorted us back to the ship. I went to guest services and explained what happened, and they called the guest down and I met her in the lobby. She gave me back my cell phone, and I noticed she had a cut above her eye that was taped up and stitched. I asked her what happened, and she explained that she was on the Jetovator, she flipped over backwards and it landed on her, right on that spot above the eyebrow where the bone is close to the skin and she ended up needing four stitches. So, the Jetovator is not without risk. I felt pretty safe and stable on it, but like any new thing I'd start out slow until you get the hang of it.
if you have any questions, feel free to reply!
I've seen a few people asking about the Jetovator Port Adventure on Castaway Cay, but I haven't yet seen any reviews of it. Since I happened to have done this on a recent cruise, I thought it might be worthwhile to share my experience (I have no affiliation with Disney or DCL).
The TL;DR review is:
- It was awesome, and I'd do it again
- It took a little while to figure out but wasn't super hard
- It is mostly safe (BUT ... read the full review for more details; it is not without risk)
This was on a 3 day cruise on the Dream, December 1-4, 2017. I believe the Castaway Cay day was December 3rd. I saw the Jetovator port excursion listed as an option when I was booking port adventures, and I was immediately intrigued and booked it as the last slot of the day (since it was closer to the ship; I figured I could pick it up on the way back when we were leaving).
Now, for those of you unfamiliar with the Jetovator, it is one of a bunch of similar style of more extreme water sports that have come out in recent years. All of these things work on the same basic principle: you have a long hose (60 ft I believe in the case of the Jetovator) connected to the water jet output of a Jetski/Waverunner/PWC, and most of the propulsive water jet from the PWC is directed up the hose to the bike/flyboard/jetpack that you are riding. Some of the force of the PWC water jet is still left at the PWC so the PWC driver can control it and move around with you. These are all two-person operations: you're 'flying' the Jetovator and the PWC operator controls the throttle. If you Google around you can see videos of people riding the Jetovator to get an idea; obviously those videos are by experienced riders and you probably won't be performing those tricks your first time out.
The Jetovator kind of looks like a stripped-down version of the speeder bike from Return of the Jedi. You can find pictures of it online, and it has a seat, foot rests (with straps to slide your feet under) and two control arms you hold onto. The control arms move forward and back to direct two water jets (there is a third non-controllable water jet at the bottom of the Jetovator) and those two control arms, combined with weight shifting, are your primary control mechanisms.
Now, to set the stage with ME ... I am a middle aged guy who spends most of his time in front of a computer screen. I'm also the guy who got picked second-to-last for team games in elementary school (I was ahead of whomever had a broken leg or arm). I lost a significant amount of weigh recently and I have been exercising a lot in the past year, but I'm not exactly what you would call a 'natural athlete'. Kind of the opposite, actually. I mention all this to explain you don't need to be an Olympic-caliber gymnast to do the Jetovator.
The Jetovator Port Adventure start is at Boat Beach, right where you would go for the Jetskis, next to the Stingray encounter, and just next to the start of the snorkeling area. You ride the Jetovator in the lagoon next to the cruise ship, which means everyone on the cruise ship can see you doing it; take this into account if you are shy or if you get embarrassed at the thought of several thousand people watching you make a fool of yourself
The first part of the Jetovator includes some shore instruction; they have a second Jetovator on the shore to familiarize guests with how it works. One of the cast members explains the basics of it and how to ride it. Now this is where I learned some important details:
- While there is a seat, you (as a beginner) don't use it AT ALL. The Jetovator is ridden from a standing position (they said the seat is used for more advanced stunts). You put your feet on these two foot platforms and hook them under straps. You then lean forward a bit and rest your knees/shins up against two pads. You really are leaning forward more than you think; as the instructor explains to me, you really want to keep your center of gravity over the center of the Jetovator. If I could impart any Jetovator wisdom to anyone, it would be: keep standing, and keep yourself forward!
- The two control arms are pretty simple: if you push both forward that directs the jets backwards, you tilt forward, and you descend. If you pull both back the jets point downwards more, your nose pitches up, and you rise. Pushing the left one forward and the right one back will bank you to the left and you start turning left, the opposite turns you right. You can also weight shift to help you turn or move around, but it's not necessary at first and you can just steer with the jets until you get the hang of it.
- This was stressed a number of times: if you get into trouble, your should PUSH BOTH CONTROLS FORWARD. That will lower your nose and stabilize you. It was strongly encouraged to NOT pull back too far because you could easily flip the Jetovator over backwards and then you'd have a bad time. This results in one BIG thing you need to remember: you can't use the control arms as handlebars, because if you start leaning back too far AND you pull both control arms back, you're going to flip over backwards.
I didn't really think about the nuts and bolts of the Jetovator instruction process, but the way they have it set up is you can talk with the Jetovator operator on the PWC via a two-way radio in your helmet. As it turns out, this is incredibly important; there's no way you could hear anything over all of the noise of the PWC, and getting real-time feedback is very important.
The PWC operator had me get on the Jetovator that was floating in the water, and this is where I ran into the first challenge: this is incredibly awkward. You're floating around, the Jetovator is also floating, and getting yourself into position is just a lot of fumbling. This is where I made some of my first mistakes: I was kind of sitting on the seat crouched instead of in the standing position (because it was easier). When the operator asked me if I was ready, and I said, "Yes?", he gently goosed the engine and I fell off backwards after a few seconds.
The operator then reminded me that I really needed to be standing, and we tried a few more times. What I finally learned was, yes, you REALLY need to be standing the whole time, and the trick is to stand with the Jetovator under you IN THE WATER. This takes a little bit of practice, and you really need to push it down beneath you to get into the right position; you also need to make sure you're leaning forward more than you think you should, at least in the beginning.
The PWC operator slowly started adding more throttle, and after a few tries (and falling off!) I started feeling more stable. At this point I was maybe only halfway out of the water, moving around relatively slowly, getting the feel of it. The PWC operator asked me if I was ready for more power, and I told him "Yes", and he slowly added more power and I got out of the water completely.
At this point, things transitioned from "awkward and weird", to "awesome!". It really did feel as cool as it looked. Because you're limited to a specific area for the Jetovator, you have to turn to make sure you don't go outside of it. I was so focused on staying on the Jetovator that I didn't realize this at first, and the PWC operator had to say, "Turn right!" several times before it sunk it. Then I had to remember, "Wait, how do I turn right again?" But luckily I remembered and I started a kind of ragged turn.
Once I got the hang of turns, the PWC operator asked me if I wanted to go higher, and I said "Sure!" so he opened up the throttle more. It turns out that for me at least there was a tendency to porpoise a bit; I'd get up a little higher, get a little nervous, and push the control arms forward and then I'd go back down, then go back up. Altitude control was a little tricky, and in the time I was on it I didn't quite get the hang of keeping it completely stable. Once I felt more confident my turns felt better (I was doing more weight shifting), and I believe from looking down I was 10-15 feet above the water for part of my ride (but it was hard to tell).
The PWC operator asked me if I wanted to try a dive (you can see people on the videos do that) but I decided that was more than I would be willing to risk, so I said no (maybe next time!). I rode around the area for about 10 minutes without falling off, and it really did feel like you were on a speeder bike on the moon of Endor. However, if you are a speed junky I would caution you that you aren't actually MOVING that fast; definitely not Jetski speeds. In some of the Jetovator videos people are definitely moving faster than I was, but clearly those people have more experience and the area you are in is a bit small, so that makes sense. I didn't mind, it felt plenty fast to me!
While the total time on the Jetovator is I believe around 15 minutes and that doesn't SEEM like a lot, near the end of the ride I noticed that my forearms (from gripping the control arms), my core and my glutes were all saying to me, "Um, dude, might be time for a break?". I actually was starting to wonder how much longer it was going to be when the PWC operator asked me if I wanted to drive the Jetovator back to the beach (since I was the last ride of the day). I said, "Sure!", and I steered it back toward Boat Beach.
Sadly, the PWC operator went easy on the throttle near the end so I didn't come in to the beach very high or fast, but I can't blame him because I know the water is shallower there and they probably wanted to keep me safe. When I got out of the water my friends said it looks awesome, and one of the people who ran the Jetovator said I had the best ride of the day.
So, overall impressions? Yes, at $149 for probably 15-20 minutes actual time on the Jetovator is kind of expensive. But it is an unique experience and I had a GREAT time, and I plan on doing it on my next cruise (so do some of the friends who were with me). I wasn't super sore but I definitely felt that my core and glutes had a workout, so that was probably the limit of the time I could have done it anyway.
Was it hard? Like I said, I'm not an athlete by any means but I figured it out pretty quickly. You do have to maintain your balance on it, but after a few tries something 'clicked' and I got into the groove of it. Your control envelope isn't huge, but I think if you are conservative it is easy to stay within it; once you are out of the water the Jetovator felt pretty stable. The PWC operator is watching you all of the time so obviously he/she will cut the throttle if you get into trouble, and not having to manage the throttle makes it easier since that's one less thing you need to think about. I did notice afterwards that my glutes and a lot of core muscles were a bit sore, so you are getting more of a workout than you think, but I don't think you need to have a high or even medium fitness level to do it for the short amount of time you are on it.
Is it safe? Weeelll ... mostly. You are wearing a helmet (without a face mask, think rock climbing style rather than motorcycle style) and a life jacket. Even if I had fallen when I was 10-15 feet up, the water was deep enough out there that I would have been fine. The one thing they want you to avoid is flipping backwards, because it's easy for the Jetovator to land on top of you (I was also cautioned when I was out on it to try to fall away from the Jetovator so it didn't hit me). It's not very heavy, so it wouldn't do a lot of damage if you did hit it.
BUT ... when I done, I came back on shore and got all of my gear out of the bin they had you put everything in, and I realized my cell phone was missing. But then Disney security (he was there at the time) spoke up and apologized; he explained that a passenger had gotten injured earlier in the day, had to go back to the Dream, and he was sent back to get her personal items and he grabbed my cell phone by mistake. So he gave me her information and escorted us back to the ship. I went to guest services and explained what happened, and they called the guest down and I met her in the lobby. She gave me back my cell phone, and I noticed she had a cut above her eye that was taped up and stitched. I asked her what happened, and she explained that she was on the Jetovator, she flipped over backwards and it landed on her, right on that spot above the eyebrow where the bone is close to the skin and she ended up needing four stitches. So, the Jetovator is not without risk. I felt pretty safe and stable on it, but like any new thing I'd start out slow until you get the hang of it.
if you have any questions, feel free to reply!
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