The new "water mice" boats they have at Ft Wilderness, Contemporary, GF and Poly are faster than the old boats, hence you must be 16 to pilot by yourself.
The "water mice" boats at the Yacht Club you can still be 12 and drive one yourself.
We had a Breathless illuminations cruise last week and we asked our captain what was the difference. He said the boats at the Yacht club don't go more than 5 mph where the ones on the Seven Seas Lagoon are new and can go 22 mph.