DiveQuest at Epcot

[bamacmac]

Hi all,
Anyone have personal experience with the scuba diving experience at Epcot? Would love to know what you thought about it!
Was it what you expected?
Worth the price in your opinion?
Would you recommend doing it to others?
When did you do it?


thanks in advance!

 

[OKW Lover]

I've done it twice but it was a long (>15 years) ago. Loved it! Thought it was easily worth the price.

 

[SMRT-1]

I've done it twice. My wife joined my on the second dive, and we had reservations for what would have been my third time on our upcoming May trip (which unfortunately got cancelled when they extended the closure dates last week). I think it's definitely worth the price. There are ways to save money as well. We paid for our reservation with Disney gift cards that we got for 5% off at Target (using our Target card), and if you mention the Birnbaum's Official Guide, you can get another 10% off.

 

[loves to dive]

We have also done it twice and loved it. It's the easiest diving you will ever do. The water was way too cold for me so the second time we did it I requested two wetsuits, still froze to death but it was a little better. When we did it, you couldn't bring your own mask but you can now. That would have been much better for me since my mask has my bi-focals in it, which I need to see gauges but seriously, you aren't down long enough for it really to matter. We took my then DIL the second time we did it, she was a newly minted diver and she didn't stay in 2 min. She got down and had a little bit of BC squeeze and it freaked her out. She sat it out while my son and I did it. He is an open water diver, maybe had about 25 or so dives in the first time we did it. I'm a master diver, cavern diver and stress and rescue diver so for me it was just a nice little float in a pool.

 

[SMRT-1]

We have also done it twice and loved it. It's the easiest diving you will ever do. The water was way too cold for me so the second time we did it I requested two wetsuits, still froze to death but it was a little better. When we did it, you couldn't bring your own mask but you can now. That would have been much better for me since my mask has my bi-focals in it, which I need to see gauges but seriously, you aren't down long enough for it really to matter. We took my then DIL the second time we did it, she was a newly minted diver and she didn't stay in 2 min. She got down and had a little bit of BC squeeze and it freaked her out. She sat it out while my son and I did it. He is an open water diver, maybe had about 25 or so dives in the first time we did it. I'm a master diver, cavern diver and stress and rescue diver so for me it was just a nice little float in a pool.

That's too bad that it was too cold for you. It's a shame to have something that detracts from such a great experience. Personally, I've always found the water to be perfect - even in the shorty wetsuit they give you. But that's just me (i'm used to diving in lakes up here where the temp is 40 F at 30 ft even when the surface temp is 80), and obviously everyone's temp tolerance is different. For reference, according to the log from my last dive there, the water temp is kept at 78 F (25.6 C).

 

[loves to dive]

That's too bad that it was too cold for you. It's a shame to have something that detracts from such a great experience. Personally, I've always found the water to be perfect - even in the shorty wetsuit they give you. But that's just me (i'm used to diving in lakes up here where the temp is 40 F at 30 ft even when the surface temp is 80), and obviously everyone's temp tolerance is different. For reference, according to the log from my last dive there, the water temp is kept at 78 F (25.6 C).

I wore a 5 mil. in Hawaii and the temp was 80 so yep, I'm not good with cold water. I've never work anything less than a 3 mil. I learned a long time ago to just shiver and get on with it when diving.

 

[BrianL]

I've always wanted to do it, but only if I could wear that big diving suit with the claws they used to have in the SeaBase! Seriously, I had always wanted to swim through the tube thing - that looked cool.

 

[Surr]

I haven't done it, but a friend of mine owns a dive shop and did it a year ago or so. He has a YouTube channel, here is a link to when they went:

 

[SMRT-1]

FYI, here's a general overview of what's included in the DiveQuest experience (which can take up to 3 hrs, although the two times I've gone, we were done in 2-2.5 hrs):

• They first take you on a backstage tour of the building as they talk about how they maintain the tank, and care for the fish. You also get to see the backstage dolphin and manatee pools.
• The dive itself is 40 minutes. The divemaster leads everyone over to a spot where you kneel on the bottom as sharks pass by. Then, the divemaster leads eveyone on a lap around the tank. After that, you're free to swim around the tank in buddy pairs (singles are paired up before you get in the tank).
• After the dive (once everyone's changed), they hand out swag like t-shirts, etc., and you all watch the video of your dive. It's about 12 min. long (2 min. of stock intro and 10 min. of footage from the actual dive) and is available for purchase for $40 (at least that was the price when I last went).

 

[PHXscuba]

My husband has done it twice, me once. (Second time I took pictures from outside the tank.) Even with 200+ dives he still ranks the Epcot DiveQuest among his favorites and would totally do it again.

As for price, it's a unique experience. If you look up the few other aquarium dives in the US, it's a bargain.

PHXscuba

 

[Fireline]

I did it about 10 years ago. Definitely worth the money. They took care of everything. The back stage tour was great. After a quick pre dive briefing we got changed and went right to the water. The first half of the dive was a tour of the tank and we were free to explore on our own for the second half. A really nice part was that we all had our own locker and private shower for afterwards.

The one think that I said that I would do differently is that I would buy the cheapest bathing suit I could and just toss it when I was done. Instead of having to carry a wet bathing suit for the rest of the day.

I would definitely recommend this to everyone who is able.

 

[gharter]

Our son and his wife have done a lot of diving. They did it last October and loved it.
Considering they supply everything for you except you can bring your own mask if you like, they thought it was reasonably priced and would do it again.
They loved the back stage tour as well.
I was surprised as there were many more divers in the group than I expected.

 

[Sleepy425]

My husband has done it 5 times (at least, we were just trying to count all the dives) since 2011. He loves it and feels that it’s worth the price. We love it because we can actually see him dive, unlike when he goes on open water dives and just disappears.

The one think that I said that I would do differently is that I would buy the cheapest bathing suit I could and just toss it when I was done. Instead of having to carry a wet bathing suit for the rest of the day.

My husband puts his in a gallon zip lock bag. Since we always have a backpack with us, it jut gets popped in there. But the cheap bathing suit idea is a good one for when we go on kidless trips (no backpack needed on kidless trips, so nowhere to store it. So far he hasn't chosen to dive on kidless trips, we try to do tours that we can both do on those trips). Thanks for the tip!

 

[PHXscuba]

I should also add that they don't do it a couple days each week -- like maybe Monday and Tuesday? It totally messed up my touring plan the first time through. The dive times seem to be later afternoon, like 4:30 and 5:30.

PHXscuba

 

[SMRT-1]

I should also add that they don't do it a couple days each week -- like maybe Monday and Tuesday? It totally messed up my touring plan the first time through. The dive times seem to be later afternoon, like 4:30 and 5:30.

They don't do Sunday or Monday. The schedule is Tues - Sat with two times each day 4:30 and 5:30. IIRC, there is a maximum of 12 people per timeslot.

Of course, all this might change once the parks re-open, so who knows what it will be like in the near future.

 

[bamacmac]

Thank you all so much for such great information! My friend is coming to visit us early next year and really wants to do this, but didn’t know very much about it except what she read on the Disney website. And that doesn’t say very much. I’ve shown her all of this and she think it sounds exactly like what she hoped it would be. Thank you all again!

 

[squirrel!33]

I did it many many years ago and thought it was well worth it. It is even more fun if you have members of your party that aren't going and can stand near the aquarium so you can go visit and wave to them. It was so fun seeing all of the kids get excited to see scuba divers. I felt like a celebrity!

 

[AgentMama]

Any guess when this will be offered again? My boys loved it and keep asking about when we can go back...

 

[SMRT-1]

Any guess when this will be offered again? My boys loved it and keep asking about when we can go back...

No one knows, but my guess is it won't be for a while.

Since you're required to use Disney's equipment, they would have to completely sanitize all the masks, fins, wetsuits, BCDs, and especially the regulators. They would also have to ensure that the air in the tanks is not contaminated, which I'm not sure is possible to do to the level of certainty needed. Given all that, I'd say it might not be until after there's a widely available vaccine and things get back to normal.

It's really disappointing as it was one of the things my wife and I were most looking forward to before our May trip got cancelled. We're holding on to a sliver of hope that it might be back by our re-scheduled May 2021 trip, but even that seems unlikely right now.

 

[AgentMama]

No one knows, but my guess is it won't be for a while.

Since you're required to use Disney's equipment, they would have to completely sanitize all the masks, fins, wetsuits, BCDs, and especially the regulators. They would also have to ensure that the air in the tanks is not contaminated, which I'm not sure is possible to do to the level of certainty needed. Given all that, I'd say it might not be until after there's a widely available vaccine and things get back to normal.

It's really disappointing as it was one of the things my wife and I were most looking forward to before our May trip got cancelled. We're holding on to a sliver of hope that it might be back by our re-scheduled May 2021 trip, but even that seems unlikely right now.

There are many programs running dives again and seem to be doing it in a compliant way. Not sure why they would have to make sure air in tanks isn't contaminated? There isn't an exchange in and out of the tank when used, there is only an output.