Dolphins in Depth!

[Angela0917]

Who's done Dolphins in Depth?? What are your thoughts? Is it worth the money and worth spending the time away from the typical park stuff??

 

[bradk]

i think as long as you understand it's waist deep interaction and not swimming and that it's mostly instructional, you'll enjoy it a lot.

 

[Angela0917]

I understand that

 

[WriteDisney]

Great Question! We just did it last week and thought it was awesome and totally worth the money! I agree with the OP, as long as you don't expect a "swim" or anything you'll have alot of fun. We learned alot of cool things and always felt very entertained. If you have AAA, you can get a discount. The total interaction time was just about 20 minutes tops for us (it varies and you might not get any interaction at all if the dolphins don't want to come out.. but they say that rarely happens!), but it felt like it was long enough. They are huge and amazing creatures and I didn't want to feel like we were forcing them to do anything, because that's mean and plus I didn't want to make them angry (like I said they're huge). I was amazed at how well they are taken care of and we got to do give them some commands and then they responded and we did a "rub down" and got to feel their skin and stuff too. It was amazing to see them respond and watch for us for our commands. You get a photograph too, my DBF and I got one together and it came out beautifully (it almost looks like they touched it up). We'll keep it and its truly an amazing memory!

Any other questions on it, feel free to ask, it's still pretty fresh in our minds!

 

[WriteDisney]

Oh yea, they told us that all the proceeds from the tour go to the disney's conservation fund, which is another bonus. We also got a t-shirt

 

[Cdnmom2001]

So the cost is 150.00 for 3 hours, but only 20 minutes in the water?

 

[Angela0917]

Thanks WriteDisney! That's exactly what I wanted to hear!

I actually booked my trip through AAA and they told me that we don't get a discount for that!! But I also have a Disney Visa and I believe it's one of the tours where you get 20% off.

 

[honeymo78]

Yes. Part of the other time is spent touring the facilities, learning about dolphin research, watching some dolphin training (maybe depends on time/day of tour), instruction on the dolphin interaction, and of course time to change into and out of a wetsuit.

While this tour was/is included in our package. We enjoyed it so much we are doing it again this year and would gladly pay for it sometime in the future.

 

[WriteDisney]

So the cost is 150.00 for 3 hours, but only 20 minutes in the water?

Like I said, it varies. It's not a "swim" with dolphins. We thought it was just enough time for us and we didn't feel cut short at all. But it does vary and you could have less time. They don't force the dolphins to swim and train with you, if the dolphins don't want to do anything with you, they won't. But they say they are quite friendly animals (which they def. seemed to be on our tour) so they want human interaction.

Personally, I prefer it that way and I was very impressed with how well Disney treated them

 

[make.it.blue]

I have to agree with the previous posters - this tour is great! We went last October and had a wonderful time. The dolphins were in good moods that day, and our in-water interaction ran between 30 and 45 mins. I thought was really neat to see the aquarium from above and our guides were exceptional. They only have one tour per day, with a maximum of eight people.

We did have something interesting happen before the tour started. A girl was there with her grandfather, and she had just gotten her ears pierced a few days beforehand. They have a rule that you can't wear anything except your swimsuit, wetsuit, water shoes, glasses and hair band (they provide these) in the water. So she was forced to decide whether she would skip the interaction or take her earrings out She let her grandfather take them out, but we could see the pain it was causing, and she was crying for a bit So fair warning, they will not compromise on the rules for the water interaction.

DH and I got one photograph and T-shirt each. They do provide some drinks while you're watching video in the lounge. I think this tour should not be missed, so go for it!

 

[bradk]

i'm 99.99% sure they do allow wedding rings? unless they've reversed that policy. but if they do, they ensure you're aware that if you lose the ring, you've lost the ring.

it might also be worth noting this unadvertised piece of information? no guarantees, but the tour doesn't require admission. you'll meet outside Epcot at guest relations, but they should just end up releasing you into the park when you're done.

unless by mentioning this here, i've just ruined it for everyone.

 

[make.it.blue]

i'm 99.99% sure they do allow wedding rings? unless they've reversed that policy. but if they do, they ensure you're aware that if you lose the ring, you've lost the ring.

I don't know how it's been for others, but we were told no jewelry. Maybe it depends on who is in charge of the tour for the day.

Each person is assigned a locker for their belongings for the duration of the tour, so we just put all our jewelry in mine.

 

[WriteDisney]

I don't know how it's been for others, but we were told no jewelry. Maybe it depends on who is in charge of the tour for the day.

Each person is assigned a locker for their belongings for the duration of the tour, so we just put all our jewelry in mine.

We were told last week any loose items had to be stored in the locker (including all jewelry) before entering the tank area, not even for when we actually got in. I thought I heard them say that if you can't take any jewelry off they'll put tape over it for you. It never hurts to ask the people you book the tour with though if you're concerned about this.

Also, you don't have to wear your bathing suit (but you do have to bring it.. you'll be wearing a wet suit to get in the water).. you can just bring it along, they have lockers and showers and stall areas to get changed in.. and that way you don't have to wear a wet bathing suit afterwords, you can just get changed into your regular clothes

 

[my_try]

My daughter and I are doing the Dolphins in Depth Tour on Halloween. We are both very excited. We did get a 20% discount by using my Disney Visa. We saved $60.00! We are both excited. Is anyone able to post the picture you took with the dolphins or a picture of the t-shirt you got?

Kathy

 

[Disneyholic]

If you have AAA, you can get a discount.

I actually booked my trip through AAA and they told me that we don't get a discount for that!!

So, is there a AAA discount or not?

This sounds like something we would like to do. We are AAA members but do not have Disney VISA.

How far out do you have to reserve your space?

 

[dolphingirl47]

I did Dolphins in Depth in September and thoroughly enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed watching a training session on shape recognition with one of the dolphins. We were split in two groups of four and each group got to meet two dolphins. It was both fun and educational. My photo is terrible though, but then I have so many photos with dolphins that it does not matter.
One thing that caused a bit of a stir is that I had corn rows with woven in beads at the time (which I had done on the Disney Wonder the previous week) and they initially said the beads would have to go. Fortunately I had been at Discovery Cove two days prior where I did the dolphin swim and they were not the least bit concerned about the beads. I told the staff at Dolphin in Depth that and after checking with somebody I was allowed to participate as long as I gathered the rest of the hair in a pony tail using one of their hairbands. I was only too happy to do this. This was just as well. When I came home and undid the cornrows, it took me well over 2 hours to do so. If they had made me undo them there and then, the programme would have been finished by the time they had been undone.
Apart from the Disney Visa discount, they also do a discount for AP holders and DVC members. I got 15% discount as a DVC member.

dolphingirl47

 

[WriteDisney]

I think I was thinking about the Disney Visa discount and not AAA! Sorry for any confusion! I booked the trip back in March so my memory was a little bad.. but I know I used my Visa for it so there isn't a AAA discount.. if you were considering doing it.. you might want to get a Disney Visa.. you can earn rewards with it and it would give you a hefty discount on your tour... I got a 50 dollar gift card when I signed up last year (which we used on this trip).. don't know if they're still offering that though... just something to consider!

 

[Disneyholic]

I think I was thinking about the Disney Visa discount and not AAA! Sorry for any confusion! I booked the trip back in March so my memory was a little bad.. but I know I used my Visa for it so there isn't a AAA discount.. if you were considering doing it.. you might want to get a Disney Visa.. you can earn rewards with it and it would give you a hefty discount on your tour... I got a 50 dollar gift card when I signed up last year (which we used on this trip).. don't know if they're still offering that though... just something to consider!

Don't have enough time to get the VISA since we are leaving next week.