Dive Quest

[Orlanr]

Has anybody done the Dive Quest at EPCOT? Is it worth the fee?

 

[riatees]

Hi, have done Dive Quest 3 times. It is worth the money, and you do get a DVC discount. The staff are wonderful, the dive conditions the best I have ever experienced and the largest amount and variety of sealife I have ever seen on one dive. Being able to swim up to the restauraunt windows is really neat too. Everyone watching gets all excited and it is like you are a Disney cast member putting on a show. The program is very informative and all of the proceeds go to a wildlife conservation program. The entire staff volunteer their time too. Well, I guess you can tell I loved it. My husband, sister and our friend all have done it more than once too. Hope this helps.

Maria

 

[billyb1]

Worth every penny, even without the discount. I did it with my wife a few weeks ago and we loved it. Diving conditions are perfect, the fish are great, the staff is great, no complaints at all, very fun. The interaction with the people in the exhibit is priceless. Although swimming near the reef sharks took some getting used to, but swimming by the sea turtle was a treat. I think all certified divers should try this!

Bill

 

[Disneylovers]

DH has done Dive Quest on four trips, and each time he has totally enjoyed it. It's definitely worth the money, and if anyone in your family doesn't dive, it's fun to watch a loved one in the tank!

 

[QUACKHEAD]

All I can tell you is, when you get out, you will be thinking of ways to return, even the same trip. You just can't absorb everything around you. It is so neat to just float there and wait for everything to come to you!

 

[phawley]

What about the dive for non-certified people who want to be in the tank? Has anyone done that? What does it involve?

 

[dbond]

DH, DS and myself did the Aqua Tour. It was for non-certified divers. You basically snorkel in the tanks with scuba gear instead of an air tube. You are all suited up like you would be for diving, but no weights and you don't go underwater, you stay prone on top like you would to snorkel. DS was 9 when we did it. He loved it. We can't wait to all get certified some day and do the complete dive. You also get to walk around a bit in backstage area of the tanks. You don't really get a true feel for how big those tanks are when you see them through the windows in The Living Seas. When you are up top on the water level and then actually get in, it's amazing how massive they are. You get a whole new persective.

 

[poohj80]

I'm a two time Dive Quester and my only complaint is that the dive isn't long enough. I have to agree that half the fun is interacting with the people on the other side of the glass. When chosing your dive time, chose the later time if you can as that may allow you a few extra precious minutes in the tank.

PJ

 

[Deep-Thots]

What about the dive for non-certified people who want to be in the tank? Has anyone done that? What does it involve?

dbond is right on the money! DH and I did the Seas Aqua Tour last June on our honeymoon, got out, looked at each other, and just started to babble at the same time, "OMG! That was awesome! That was so much more than I expected!" And on and on. Because of that experience, we'll be getting a dive certification some time in the next year or so (house remodeling and surgery have prevented that from happening thus far); I can only imagine what fun Dive Quest would be! Anyway, I will be taking my 8 y/o niece on her first trip to WDW this March (BWV, 3/9 - 3/13), and I have already arranged for us to do the Aqua Tour. Since she's a water rat, she'll love it (though I did freak her out a bit by noting that "We'll be swimming with *sharks*....". Heh. ). Again, I highly recommend it: it gives you a scuba-feel-fun experience without any of the fear. Enjoy!!

 

[Easyrider]

I booked my dive for the 5:30pm session on Tuesday Dec.13,2004. I made my reservation about 3 weeks in advance and had no problem getting the requested time. There were 5 other divers signed up for the same session making a total of 6 people for our session. We all met up at the Guest Relations window outside the park at 5:15pm and were greeted by 3 dive masters from the DiveQuest program. They checked our cert. cards, and took down our wetsuit and booty sizes, then we were escorted in through the employee's entrance into the "behind the scenes" part of Epcot. They took us by the filtration systems for the aquarium and explained how they worked. Then we went in the back entrance to the Living Seas building, and were told about the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund and how the proceeds from our dives was going to help fund research.

We were then taken to a lounge room and given waivers to sign and watched a short DVD presentation on what was going to occur during our dives.

At this point, we were led downstairs to the locker rooms and there were bags waiting with our names on them with our wetsuits and booties. We were issued keys to the lockers and told to change and meet back outside the locker rooms. After everybody was suited up, we were led through the public part of the Living Seas exhibit out to the observation deck. From there, they opened up the door in the center of the room and we climbed the spiral staircase to the topside of the observation room. This is where our tanks, BC's, fins, and masks were waiting and we were briefed on the dive.

They have a really nice dive platform above the observation room with a grate where you can stand in waist deep water and don your BC/tank off a shelf that is right at the perfect height to just back into and snap up. After donning our equipment it was time to take the big step off the platform and swim out to a bouy in the center of the tank. After the equipment check at the surface, we all submerged and went to the bottom of the bouy line to assemble before swimming off as a group on a tour of the tank. During the tour as a group, we were videotaped individually going through a swim-through in the artificial coral reef and going into the dive bell at the bottom of the tank. After the dive bell, we were released to swim around the tank on our own as buddy pairs.

During the free part of our dive, my dive buddy and I had a lot of fun interacting with the little kids on the other side of the glass and posing for pictures for their parents. Several of the little kids were just so enthusiastic when we would swim into view and the kids would run over to the glass and press their faces against it. It was very cute. I even had one little girl who had been watching us, start to walk off with her parents to leave and suddenly she came running back over to the glass to wave "bye-bye" to us. Very cute!

The new Sand Tiger Sharks are rather intimidating for the folks like me who have never swam with sharks before. At 8 feet long and about 250 pounds, they pretty much swim wherever they want to. We were instructed that if they swim towards you, just move to the side and they will swim past. My only close encounter with one was when he snuck up on us while we were between the wall and the fake coral reef. Couldn't move to the right, coral reef. Couldn't move left, wall. Decided to dump air from my BC and sink down and the shark swam straight over top of me about a foot and a half above my head. Got a good, up-close-and-personal view of all those toofies!

During the briefing, the dive master said that it would be a 40 minute dive. At the 40 minute mark, everybody in our group still had plenty of air and since we were the last group of the day, they let us stay down longer. Actual bottom time ended up at 52 minutes and we all surfaced with between 500-700 PSI in the tank (AL 80's).

After we removed our tanks, BCs, masks, and fins, we dried off with towels that were provided and made our way back down the spiral staircase into the public area of the exhibit again. We then made our way back to the backstage door to the locker rooms through the middle of the spectators dripping salt water the entire way from our still wet suits and booties.

Showered, and changed back into street clothes, then back to the lounge room to watch the DVD made from the videos of us diving. Then, of course, we were offered the opportunity to purchase the DVDs for $35 of which all proceeds also goes to the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund. Also waiting for us in the lounge was a packet of things including a certificate of completion, DiveQuest sticker, Mickey Sticker, DWCF button, and limited edition DiveQuest T-Shirt. We also got a neat dive log entry page with a very nice DiveQuest stamp on it. There were also complimentary cold and warm beverages available while we watched the DVD.

After the DVD was finished, and we had any questions answered, we were escorted out around the side of the building and let loose into the park.

All in all, I thought is was a very fun experience and worth the money, considering that the proceeds go to help fund wildlife conservation. I would definately do it again.