clearwater aquarium

[susan stock]

Hi planning on going to clearwater as a day off from parks. wanted to visit the aquarium as DD's love the fm Dolphin Tails. Does anyone know of any discount codes to use when booking tickets? going over easter

 

[Elise79]

Tickets are cheap anyway and all the money goes in to looking after the animals.

The place is truly wonderful. They have lots of volunteers helping out and it very much like it is in the movies. They are currently in the process of trying to move to bigger premises to help more animals be rehabilitated and released.

The only residents they have are the 3 dolphins (Winter, Hope & Nick who are all unable to be released due the age they were rescued) plus 2 otters (one of which is paralysed and the other was rescued young). I think a couple of the turtles might also be long term residents. They also have two small pools with rays.

All the other animals that come in go back to the wild

We have been 3 times now and will probably go again the summer. It is nice to pop in and see Winter and Hope and see how they have changed. DD did the photo op with Winter last year for her birthday present - she didn't want to wash her hand ever after that!

 

[Ware Bears]

What a lovely photo we visited the aquarium just after Winter went to live there and was starting the process of being fitted for her prosthetic. Would love to go back again one day.

 

[StirlingSilver83]

My son keeps asking to go there every time we are in Disney, but its like 2 1/2 hours away from Disney. We might go down and stay at a hotel around there over night and then head to Disney. I just don't want to drive the distance once in the Disney bubble, lol

 

[disneyfam31]

It is a wonderful aquarium but it is small and isn't a full day worth of things to see. If you want to book the dolphin adventure you need to do that in advance as they fill up fast. We also chose to do a boat adventure (they have a few options) and that was almost better as the marine biologists did a fabulous job with the kids and parents alike. My kids loved it especially after seeing the movies too. Even with the general admission and boat trip, we were still done a lot faster than I expected. You can head over to the beach and eat at one of the many restaurants when you are finished.

Also be aware that during Easter / spring break the traffic around Clearwater is a nightmare. Getting to the aquarium takes patience. Don't let that scare you off, but I would definitely head over as early as possible.

 

[susan stock]

Thank you all. we have booked the general admission and are staying over the night. so we plan to do the beach afternoon and go on the toot boat at sunset. Hopefully the Dolphins will be there chasing the boat. Told my DD's yesterday and they are so excited.

 

[Elise79]

Just to say the drive should only be 90 minutes.

It can take longer - we've got caught on the I4 before however it's easily doable in a day trip.

 

[elaine amj]

We went during Christmas week in 2014. It was shortly after Dolphin Tales 2 came out so it was madness and mayhem. Plus, some of the movie stars were visiting for photo opps that day. We made sure we got there about 15-30 mins before opening and everything went super smoothly. like everywhere else, the first 1-2 hours was not particularly crowded. We returned later in the afternoon to poke around some more and heard people say they waited 3 hours in line to buy tickets. The line to buy tickets was STILL insanely long, and this was getting closer to closing! my guess is that once you promise to take your kids to visit Winter, you will stand in that line come hell or high water.

During the busy season, do your best to get there early. It was so busy in the afternoon that there were lineups to go up and down the stairs. Oh and DON'T bring strollers. There are stairs everywhere and strollers are a pain. The aisles can be narrow and it is just easier without strollers. For us, we're very comfortable dealing with crowds and even the afternoon mayhem didn't bother us. We still found some quiet spots and it was in the afternoon that we patiently waited a few minutes for an underwater viewing spot and watched Winter swim (amazing!). We also saw nobody near another underwater viewing spot at Nicholas' tank. We waved a popcorn bag around (a trick someone on the Dis mentioned) and sure enough, Nicholas came over to check us out. It was amazing being face to face with him! He spent quite a few minutes with us And even though the place was jam packed, nobody came over to see what we were doing since it was a small window.

Also, the Little Toot boat ride was the most exhilarating thing our family has ever done. Amazing - especially from a quick little boat like that! I personally didn't think it was overly expensive, especially for what you get. Last year we were in Cali (for DLR of course) and did whale watching from one of the bigger boats. It was very cool, especially since a group of whales hung out in the same spot for over an hour PLUS we saw a pod of 50+ dolphins swim past our boat, but it was not the same as having dolphins leaping and jumping within touching distance.

The drive is easy - just avoid Tampa during rush hour. We went at the end of our WDW trip and flew home from Tampa.

 

[tortilla24]

We went during Christmas week in 2014. It was shortly after Dolphin Tales 2 came out so it was madness and mayhem. Plus, some of the movie stars were visiting for photo opps that day. We made sure we got there about 15-30 mins before opening and everything went super smoothly. like everywhere else, the first 1-2 hours was not particularly crowded. We returned later in the afternoon to poke around some more and heard people say they waited 3 hours in line to buy tickets. The line to buy tickets was STILL insanely long, and this was getting closer to closing! my guess is that once you promise to take your kids to visit Winter, you will stand in that line come hell or high water.

During the busy season, do your best to get there early. It was so busy in the afternoon that there were lineups to go up and down the stairs. Oh and DON'T bring strollers. There are stairs everywhere and strollers are a pain. The aisles can be narrow and it is just easier without strollers. For us, we're very comfortable dealing with crowds and even the afternoon mayhem didn't bother us. We still found some quiet spots and it was in the afternoon that we patiently waited a few minutes for an underwater viewing spot and watched Winter swim (amazing!). We also saw nobody near another underwater viewing spot at Nicholas' tank. We waved a popcorn bag around (a trick someone on the Dis mentioned) and sure enough, Nicholas came over to check us out. It was amazing being face to face with him! He spent quite a few minutes with us And even though the place was jam packed, nobody came over to see what we were doing since it was a small window.

Also, the Little Toot boat ride was the most exhilarating thing our family has ever done. Amazing - especially from a quick little boat like that! I personally didn't think it was overly expensive, especially for what you get. Last year we were in Cali (for DLR of course) and did whale watching from one of the bigger boats. It was very cool, especially since a group of whales hung out in the same spot for over an hour PLUS we saw a pod of 50+ dolphins swim past our boat, but it was not the same as having dolphins leaping and jumping within touching distance.

The drive is easy - just avoid Tampa during rush hour. We went at the end of our WDW trip and flew home from Tampa.

Thanks for that recommendation for Little Toot. I'm debating between that and the Seascreamer. I'll have an 8 year old and a 14 year old. Anyone have any thoughts here?

 

[elaine amj]

Thanks for that recommendation for Little Toot. I'm debating between that and the Seascreamer. I'll have an 8 year old and a 14 year old. Anyone have any thoughts here?

I think Seascreamer is new? I don't remember seeing it when I made my plans in Dec 2014. I don't know much about it - I'm sorry. The pics look cool though and sounds like the boat goes faster? Which would add to the thrill.

Little Toot was a fabulous experience - they were courteous and polite and everything went smoothly. The dolphins showed up pretty quickly and had a blast playing with the boat. When the dolphins came, everyone moved into the same space to see them - but it never felt crowded. I easily took photos/videos with just my family. I loved that the staff got just as excited as we did. They were hooting, hollering, and genuinely enjoying the fun...which really contributed to the great atmosphere among the passengers. It was amazing just how close we were to the dolphins - felt like we could reach out and touch them.

 

[tortilla24]

I think Seascreamer is new? I don't remember seeing it when I made my plans in Dec 2014. I don't know much about it - I'm sorry. The pics look cool though and sounds like the boat goes faster? Which would add to the thrill.

Little Toot was a fabulous experience - they were courteous and polite and everything went smoothly. The dolphins showed up pretty quickly and had a blast playing with the boat. When the dolphins came, everyone moved into the same space to see them - but it never felt crowded. I easily took photos/videos with just my family. I loved that the staff got just as excited as we did. They were hooting, hollering, and genuinely enjoying the fun...which really contributed to the great atmosphere among the passengers. It was amazing just how close we were to the dolphins - felt like we could reach out and touch them.

Thank you for the info! Little Toot sounds like a great choice! I was thinking seascreamer for the thrill but am worried that it's not as conducive to dolphin viewing (crowdedness).

 

[bex7583]

we did the sea screamer and as soon as we got out of the bay the dolphins were following us and jumping alongside the boat . i like the sea screamer as its got a bit of speed to it and i get sea sick on slower boats

it is mostly uncovered though and can get very hot , there was maybe space for 4 people to sit under the canopy

 

[bex7583]

we did the sea screamer and as soon as we got out of the bay the dolphins were following us and jumping alongside the boat . i like the sea screamer as its got a bit of speed to it and i get sea sick on slower boats

it is mostly uncovered though and can get very hot , there was maybe space for 4 people to sit under the canopy

 

[tortilla24]

we did the sea screamer and as soon as we got out of the bay the dolphins were following us and jumping alongside the boat . i like the sea screamer as its got a bit of speed to it and i get sea sick on slower boats

it is mostly uncovered though and can get very hot , there was maybe space for 4 people to sit under the canopy

Oh thank you for the info!! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

 

[toots82]

Oh thank you for the info!! Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Hi,

My 2 loved the aquarium when we visited last year, dd also had the photo op with Winter. The staff both in the aquarium and in the film exhibit put off loads of time with the kids answering questions and just generally being kind. Especially with DS who was 4 at the time and trying to get his brain around prosthetic limbs/tails etc.

We went on Little Toot and would highly recommend. We chose it because it had more shaded areas. When we had a lot of dolphin activity our captain radioed the nearby Sea Screamer which came over too, was nice to think they all work together although are in competition.

Meant to also say, fliers in all the stands around the shops, restaurants etc. have leaflets for aquarium and I think they have vouchers on the back.....maybe that was the Little Toot ones....worth a look anyway.