Dolphin Cove is closed for most of January and February 2015

[FLOIR]

Due to construction Dolphin Cove is closed for most of January until late into February. There is a construction wall around most of the exhibit and I believe all dolphins have been moved. I know the construction wall blocks both the upper and lower pathway on the Stingray Lagoon side. The lower pathway is where you feed the dolphins and the upper pathway is the one that leads you to Blue Horizons show and also Turtle Trek, with the underwater viewing area directly to the left of the pathway.

Just so no one gets confused - this is Dolphin Cove at SeaWorld, where you could feed the dolphins. This is not connected or related to Discovery Cove.

This is one of the drawbacks to having a year round park - at some point attractions have to be shut down for a length of time in order to get in-depth work done on them.

 

[919Florida]

Its more then likely going to be longer then a couple months. From what I have heard it wont be opening until around May. The pool area is getting completely redesigned. Its going to be a beautiful new area. Cant wait to see the changes

 

[Gabriel&Nana]

Sad to hear about that.

I really don't understand why don't they disclose this information more advance, so the vistors could arrange things around.

We are international and my nephew is going for the first time and became very disappointed ... If we knew in advance , I'd have bought Discovery Cove (SW + BG ) And Universal tickets separately instead of buying Orlando Flex tickets for our trip ....

Do you know if is there any other opportunity of interaction with dolphins in Sea World ?

TIA

 

[KBF]

Sad to hear about that.

I really don't understand why don't they disclose this information more advance, so the vistors could arrange things around.

We are international and my nephew is going for the first time and became very disappointed ... If we knew in advance , I'd have bought Discovery Cove (SW + BG ) And Universal tickets separately instead of buying Orlando Flex tickets for our trip ....

Do you know if is there any other opportunity of interaction with dolphins in Sea World ?

TIA

There's always the dolphin show Blue Horizons, and a chance to get upclose with the dolphins at the dolphin nursery. Although you cant pet or feed the dolphins at dolphin nursery, you still get close.

 

[chiamarie]

Its more then likely going to be longer then a couple months. From what I have heard it wont be opening until around May. The pool area is getting completely redesigned. Its going to be a beautiful new area. Cant wait to see the changes

Just looking over the Sea World website; and on the page that gives you park hours and show schedules; at the bottom it says:

Sea Lion and Otter Theater will be closed for renovations through Spring 2015.
The Wild Arctic is closed Jan. 3 - Jan. 9
Key West Dolphin Cove is closed Jan. 5 - Feb. 27


I am guessing if they were "completely redesigning" it it would take longer than 7 weeks. I'm sure its just general maintenance; as that pool I don't believe has ever been closed since it opened some 20 years ago...


Link to when it's opening up:

http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/park-info/park-hours/?from=Top_Nav

 

[919Florida]

I know what the website states. But from what workers in the park have been told is it was to completely redone and wouldn't be opening till May or June. We were to be getting a new dolphin interaction area that would be themed more to what San Diego has. I was just passing on what I was told.

 

[chiamarie]

I know what the website states. But from what workers in the park have been told is it was to completely redone and wouldn't be opening till May or June. We were to be getting a new dolphin interaction area that would be themed more to what San Diego has. I was just passing on what I was told.

I was simply pointing out, for those here to plan for their vacations, that Sea World is stating that Dolphin Cove will be back open on Feb 28. I feel they have a good idea on how long construction will take, and they are already advertising an opening date. I don't think they would if there were going to be major things happening (like with what they have going with Sea Lion and Otter Stadium; they know its a major rehab, it's already been closed for 4 and half months with no date set as to when it will open). While I understand you've talked with employees; perhaps plans have since changed.

 

[tgr49]

Any truth that Sea World will not be doing the Feed the Dolphins once Dolphin Cove reopens?

 

[FLOIR]

Water is back in the display and the dolphins have also been returned, so all work is complete on the pool itself. It looks like they are still working on some of the buildings around the pool, or on display areas, but it does seem to be on track to reopen later this month.

This is only from my observation from the walkway leading up to the Blue Horizon show. The left ramp leads you to an area where you can see most of the Dolphin Cove area.

 

[919Florida]

Underwater viewing reopened on Monday. The walkways around are still closed but are expected to open next week. But for now you can enjoy underwater viewing again. And yes its true Orlando will not be doing dolphin feeding sessions anymore

 

[MacII]

Interesting to note that you can't book a "Dolphin Tour" on the SeaWorld site until June...

 

[chiamarie]

Dolphin Cove is set to open back up to the public on March 2. Guest feeding is being replaced with "small group interactions with an animal trainer to allow for up close photos" with packages starting at $15 per person. There will still be a small area open to get to see the dolphins up close that will be open to the general public. As of right now, they are doing random "soft openings" with guests to get the dolphins and staff used to these new interactions.

 

[leiaorgana]

I've just booked the Dolphin Up Close tour for our trip in July and it says that the tour is lead by a trainer now and you learn some hand signals to get the dolphins to do some tricks. Nothing about feeding them anymore, which is a shame. Unless maybe you get to feed them some fish after they've performed the tricks? It also says that the tour starts at 9:15am which is a lot earlier than I was expecting.

 

[FLOIR]

The walls are now down and you can at least walk through the area.

It is set up almost the reverse of what it had been. Previously, as you entered the dolphin area from the stingray lagoon area, the feeding area came first, which you could not enter unless you had purchased the feeding experience. Further down, closer to Turtle Trek, was the area open to everyone. Although since the dolphins knew where the food was, it was rare to see one at the wall in the public area.

Now the area closest to the stingrays is open to everyone, and further down is the closed area. The biggest change I saw was the fish buckets placed in several locations in the closed area. By fish buckets I mean the containers the fish is stored in, during the shows you will frequently see trainers open one and remove the fish to feed to a dolphin or whale. The local birds definitely knew what they were, if a trainer ever left one open all the fish would be gone in no time.

I did not see any training experiences take place, nor did I ask anyone if they were taking place, but I was only out there for a few minutes.

 

[chiamarie]

http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82893913/

"The tradition of feeding dolphins at a petting area has ended at SeaWorld Orlando.

People have gathered for years at Dolphin Cove to pet the creatures and spend a few dollars on fish for them. Now SeaWorld has revamped the pool. Visitors can still pet dolphins but may not feed them.

Instead, guests can purchase packages that include touching the dolphins and having their photos taken with them under a trainer's supervision. Those 10-minute packages – starting at $15 per person – will not include feeding. Visitors can sign up in advance online beginning March 2. Each session can include five groups of up to 10 people each."

 

[MacII]

Great find on that article, very interesting....

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

http://touch.orlandosentinel.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82893913/

"The tradition of feeding dolphins at a petting area has ended at SeaWorld Orlando.

People have gathered for years at Dolphin Cove to pet the creatures and spend a few dollars on fish for them. Now SeaWorld has revamped the pool. Visitors can still pet dolphins but may not feed them.

Instead, guests can purchase packages that include touching the dolphins and having their photos taken with them under a trainer's supervision. Those 10-minute packages – starting at $15 per person – will not include feeding. Visitors can sign up in advance online beginning March 2. Each session can include five groups of up to 10 people each."

I am not sure if it would be worth it for us to spend an additional $100+ (we are a family of 7) on top of admission costs for a brief 10 minute session. I am really bummed that my kids will not get to experience feeding the dolphins which was unique to the Sea World experience and a decades old tradition. DH grew up going to SW when it was in Ohio and he said that was one of the primary reasons they went and why he wanted our kids to go - the tradition of feeding the dolphins. Maybe the reason behind this change is more serious than Sea World is able to detail to the public right now. Who knows? Perhaps we'll give Discovery Cove consideration in the future once all of my kids reach the age requirement for the dolphin swim experience there; and we would also get the Sea World and Aquatica 14 day admission tickets with the Discovery Cove package too.

 

[chiamarie]

The former feeding you only got about 10 minutes time in the feeding area. most people do the feed so they could touch and feed. This is a more structered session that is safer for guests and dolphins that will garunatee you get youe touch and photo.

 

[FLOIR]

Just an update on this - the construction walls are back up and the pool is completed drained again.

This does not appear to be an issue where they are retooling the experience itself. Since the pool is drained I would say there is more work that needed to be done to the physical structure. Looking at it from the Blue Horizons show walkway I did not see any specific work ongoing, but I only looked once.

 

[chiamarie]

The pool was back to being filled yesterday when I was there (Looking from the Blue Horizons pathway). I could not see any animals in the pool; but there were trainers in wetsuits around; looking like they were trying to feed animals. So, i would imagine it would be reopening again soon.