Clearwater Marine Aquarium?

[shinysparklybubbles]

Has anyone been to Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, FL to see Winter the dolphin? Worth the trip? Our daughter loves the movie Dolphin Tale

 

[huntforjulia]

We went there on our march trip, they have a trolley that takes you to a diffrent building with props and things from the movie but we didn't go there. We stayed in the main building and toured it, could have spent longer but we went to the beach also. there were 9 of us-4kids, we all really liked it especially the ray tank were you could pet them. I guess some could find it boring if you just walk thru but we watched the demonstrations,read the info cards and took advantage of the staff's hands on offerings, got to touch a sea urchin and other stuff. The demo when they put on Winter's tail is really interesting. It was worth it for us. They also have some cruise type thing but we didn't do that either. They have gotten busy since the movie, you can tell they weren't set up for all the visitors originally, they have handled it well. It seemed to be busy but we didn't feel crowded at all. The drive from kissimee wasn't bad at all.

 

[4mykidz127]

We went there a couple of weeks ago because my daughter loves Winter. I have to say that I wouldn't do it again but am glad that my daughter got her wish and can now say she saw Winter. I feel that it's pricey for what you get-it's $20 for adults and $15 for kids. I did find a coupon online on my phone while I was standing in line to buy tickets. The coupon was buy 1 get 1 free and they honored it just by me showing them my phone. There were 3 of us, myself and 2 kids (my hubby and teenage boys hung out at the beach while we went) so I got one of my kids in for free.

It is crowded and they have it kinda fenced off so you can't get super close to the dolphin tank but my daughter thought it was super cool that she got to hold Winter's "tail". We could have stayed longer for the demonstrations but neither of my kids were interested in doing that. My 5 yr old did touch a sting ray but it was so crowded it was just a real quick thing.

 

[Disneyforus]

We went with our 4 children in May and they loved it. It was a great day and they still talk about it. They got to help count the sea animals/fish that we pulled in from the net drag that we did while on the Sea cruise. We saw Dolphins in the bay while we were out in the boat as well. We watched several of the shows at the aquarium and spent a long time with our hands in the sting ray tank. The shows are short but nice for what it is. We took the trolly downtown to see all the movie props stuff, and again...kids had fun...they have an interactive carnival type game area from the movie. It was fun, and though we are die hard Disney fans we are actually considering spending some days in Clearwater the next time we go to Florida.

 

[gatorfreud]

We went a few years ago and I thought it was pretty disappointing. Really old and dirty and not much to do. And pretty expensive.

They may have spruced it up a bit since the movie came out not sure... we went in 2010.

 

[karrierock]

I took my DD7 in March. We had the best time ever! We spent two days there, and did nearly every activity they had to offer. I highly recommend doing one of the animal encounters and the cruise. No one really gets to touch Winter anymore, but we were lucky enough to have her swim right in front of us, while we were loving on Panama and got to touch her "tail" actually it's her peduncle.

My daughter did the wade with the dolphins. That was pretty cool, afterwards you get a tour of the whole facility. In this pic, Panama is literally laying in my daughter's lap.

During the tour we actually saw a turtle having surgery.

Just keep in mind, this is not Sea World! They don't use their money to make everything pretty. They use it to actually rescue animals and if at all possible release them. My daughter said it was the best day of her life! The trainers and all the volunteers were incredible! Everyone was so happy there, and just think most all of them do what they do for free! I also recommend standing in line before they open. It wasn't crowded the first couple of hours, but by afternoon, it was crazy.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

Thanks for your replies! I posted this for a friend and based on that, they are going! They have 2 weeks in FL so it's not like taking a day to do this will really take away from Disney.

 

[jpeppers]

We went in May and I thought it sucked. Winter was in a pool by herself and hardly anyone even noticed her. I had to call my daughter away from the person speaking so she could see Winter by herself in a different pool where only 3 of us were watching. The gift shop was the most exciting part.....I am glad they were making there though. I wouldn't go to the Aqarium again but Clearwater beach was awesome!