Dolhin swims?

[kristytru]

Hope I am posting in the right place. I have a 9 year old who is DYING to swim with the dolphins! discovery Cove is out of our budget. Is there anywhere else that we can do this? Every place I've found so far is at least a 5 hour drive from Orlando!!!

 

[mike&amy1508]

Check out the Dolphins in Depth tour at Epcot! Here is what the Disney Passporter says about it:
"This unique three-hour program highlights the dolphin research at The Seas with Nemo & Friends in Epcot. Guests play an active part in the research as they learn about dolphin behavior. Guests must be 13 or older, and 13- to 17-year olds must be with a participating adult. Offered on Mondays-Fridays beginning at 9:30 am. Cost is $150/person and includes a photo, soda, and souvenir T-shirt. Dolphin interaction is not guaranteed. Park admission to Epcot is not required to participate in this program."
(What they mean by "dolphin interaction is not guaranteed" is that it is up to the dolphin if it wants to participate; they can not force the dolphin.) Also, this says guests must be at least 13, but I have heard of younger kids participating.
I have never done this tour myself, but I have read posts on the DIS with people raving about it. I think the actual part you get in the water with the dolphin is around 1/2 hour, but I could be wrong. And, you don't actually "swim" with the dolphin. You are in water about waist(?) deep and you just stand there and do little tricks with the dolphin. It is still an awesome experience, though (I have done the one at Discovery Cove).
Hope that helps, and I'm sure someone else here can offer more on this experience!

 

[tink2dw]

Check out Sea World, they had a feed the Dolphins program a coulpe of years ago.

 

[heaven2006]

Yes, you can feed the dolphins in Sea World, but you have to buy the fish first. I think your child will like that. Unfortunately Dolphin Swims are very expensive no matter the place you do that :/

The options I found are: (the prices are per participant)

Miami Seaquarium: 185$ - 2 groups with 6 each. The interaction include 30 min in water, feeding, touching,training session and taking "rides" with the dolphins across the lagoon.
Dolphin Plus (Key Largo): 125$ (they have some different programs, this is the cheaper) - Includes 30 min in the water.

You can also go to Clearwater Beach and do a SpeedBoat Ride: they garantee that you will see dolphins.

In my opinion Discovery Cove is well worth the money: You pay 259$ during off-season and this include a 7-day ticket to Sea World or Busch Gardens (65 $ value) and you have an all-inclusive package that includes all the food you want during the day. But it's also true that some people claims that the Dolphin's interaction don't worth the money. It's your choice

That's it... hope i could help you

 

[5mins2disney]

I heard that you can feed the dolphins crisp $100 bills instead of fish if you like!

I had a friend do Discovery Cove, said it was the most expensive pictures of his daughter he's ever taken! LOL (They don't even let you bring in your own camera apparently, fyi).

He said it was a great experience but VERY expensive.

 

[mike&amy1508]

You are allowed to bring your own camera into Discovery Cove, but not during the interaction with the dolphins (maybe that's what you meant?).
Also, discovery cove has a lot more to offer than just the dolphin interaction (although that is the main draw). Let me know if you need any more info on Disc Cove!