Blue Lagoon dolphin questions...

[Burghmom]

Hi everyone!

We're getting ready for our 4-day "Dream" in February, and VERY excited!

For those of you who have experience with these kinds of things, which of the Blue Laggon dolphin excursions is better: the swim or the encounter? And for the dolphin swim, how strict are they with the age limitations? My youngest is 5, but she is taller than your average 6-7 year olds. Would we be able to let her slide through for this one? My hubby said he'd do the encounter with her and let me & our other two children do the swim, but I'd really love if we could all do it together.

thank you for any advice you can offer.
Have an awesome day!!!

Renee

 

[tastefullyjenn]

Hi everyone!

We're getting ready for our 4-day "Dream" in February, and VERY excited!

For those of you who have experience with these kinds of things, which of the Blue Laggon dolphin excursions is better: the swim or the encounter? And for the dolphin swim, how strict are they with the age limitations? My youngest is 5, but she is taller than your average 6-7 year olds. Would we be able to let her slide through for this one? My hubby said he'd do the encounter with her and let me & our other two children do the swim, but I'd really love if we could all do it together.

thank you for any advice you can offer.
Have an awesome day!!!

Renee

we did the encounter and loved it. you stand on a platform in the water. our group had about four families sitting on dock, each family took turns on the platform, interacting, petting, doing tricks with the dolphin. I was an observer (I'm cheap) but I can tell you my family really felt like they got to know our dolphin.

THAT SAID, we could see the folks doing the swim and it looked way cool. You actually get the foot push in the water from the dolphin and are out in the water (not a platform) with the animal. I don't think it would be so much a height thing but a maturity factor. My seven year old would have been a bit overwhelmed I think by the swim, especially since it was her first time.

The Blue Lagoon beach was so cool--you'll be happy with whatever you choose!

 

[WeLoveDisneyAlways]

We have done the encounter twice. We much prefer it for many reasons, #1 of course the cost, #2 I don't like to get fully submerged like the swim, #3 you get a lot better interaction being half out of the water being able to stand and play with the dolphin is much better, #4 did I mention the price !!!! If your child has never seen a dolphin you won't know how they'll react my DD did a feeding with beluga whales she was able to touch them and feed them dead fish she was completely fine with that, but eery of the dolphins hubby had to hold her entire time.

 

[Tuliplvr]

Another vote for the encounter!!!

 

[smurph]

We did the swim in Sept '11 and loved it. That being said there were some young children in the water that were terrified. Until you are in there with them you don't really get a sense for how big and powerful these dolphins are. While I wasn't nervous or anxious, there were others that clearly were. You are in the water with a wild animal, and as human friendly as they might appear, they can still be intimidating to children and adults alike. Am I glad I did it? Yes, I'd do it again in a second. Were the folks with a young girl who was clearly frightened as glad? Not so sure. You know your kids and their abilities and emotions best. I think it would be practical to let that be your guide. Also, I think it would be hard for anyone here to be able to accurately predict whether Blue Lagoon will or won't enforce the age restrictions, so regard any responses to that as best guesses only.

 

[jetskigrl]

If you are booking through DCL, I don't think you will be able to book the swim for a child that does not meet the age requirements.

I did the swim with my DD and DS (my mom was an observer, dd was 12, ds was 7). My DS was a little reluctant being all the way in the water but did great for all the activities except the push. He fed the dolphin, danced with it, pet it, received a kiss and a hug, etc. But when it came time for the push, he was just too scared. I tried to talk him into it but once the trainer saw that he was reluctant, he moved on to the next person (they don't want anyone doing it that doesn't want to).

My DD and I LOVED the foot push. What an amazing experience. But if I had had someone else with us to do the encounter with my DS, that would have been a better way to go for him probably.

But there was another little girl about the same age in our group and she handled it just fine (so it also depends on the child).
Another thing to keep in mind is that you will be swimming (or floating with life vest) the entire time if you choose to do the swim. So it takes a little more effort on your part to interact with the dolphins.

This was DS and DD during the swim:

Either one will be an amazing experience.

 

[Disney Dreams]

I have done some pretty cool things in my life.

The dolphin foot push at the end of the dolphin swim is on the list of the top five amazing things I have done. It was exhilarating, scary, fun, exciting, almost magical. The sensation of a dolphin - a DOLPHIN - pushing you across a lagoon by your feet as a relatively fast speed (the smaller you are the faster you go!) is simply amazing.

It was worth every single penny.

- Dreams

P.S. Disclaimer: I am an adult. I have no kids. There were two kids (10ish??) in our group that enjoyed playing with the dolphin and everything we got to do up to the foot push, but were scared to do the foot push after seeing a few others do it. (The trainers won't make anyone do it if they don't want to, but you don't get any money back, either. ) Several other kids did it and loved it!

 

[bmahokie]

My family (including DS 13 and DD 7) did the Encounter, as the Swim was sold out. I thought it was going to be a dissapointment, but we REALLY enjoyed it. You stand on a platform in waist-deep or so water, and the dolphins come right up to you, and you have a LOT of interaction with them. You feed them, you dance with them, you pat their bellies, you hug them.....My 7 year-old loved it, and I don't think she would have enjoyed the Swim nearly as much. I admit the foot push looked cool, but I would also say that those doing the Swim seemed to be "working harder" than those of us at the Encounter. A lot of treading water, and it just looked more difficult to interact. I'm sure the Swim is amazing, but I HIGHLY recommend the Encounter. It was a big highlight of our cruise!!

 

[Burghmom]

Thank you all! We found video of both on YouTube, and my youngest doesn't want to do the swim anyway. Seeing both, I know for sure she would totally freak out durin the swim, but she is excited to do the encounter.

Renee