Dolphin Encounter

[chelsea&austinsmom]

Has anyone done the Dolphin encounter? Is it worth the money and what do you do for the 3 hours.

 

[NJ2Boardwalk]

Not sure what you mean? I have been to Discovery Cover and did the Dolphin experience and yes, it was worth every expensive penny it was! We had a blast.

 

[chelsea&austinsmom]

I saw they have a Dolphin encounter @ Epcot.

 

[NJ2Boardwalk]

Anyone know what the OP means? I'm curious myself now. Gosh, I learn something new about WDW every day!

 

[camillatin]

It's called Dolphins in Depth - I haven't taken it myself (yet!), but here's some reviews:

http://allearsnet.com/btp/tours.htm#dol

 

[snowglobe girl]

I did Dolphins In Depth three years ago and it was well worth every penny. If you have a Disney Visa, they used to give a discount also. You don't actually spend the full three hours with the dolphins though. There is usually 8 people to a group. They first take you in restricted CM areas in the Living Seas and show you how things work. They have an educational lesson about dophins as well as show you new experiments and trainings they are performing with the dolphins. They give you wetsuits to put on and then they take you to the tank and divide you into two groups - each group with a guide and a dolphin. You are on a landing in the tank and in waist deep water - the dolphins swim up to the landing, as well as in the deep section of the tank. The guide shows you anatomy on the dophin, lets you touch the dolphin, and then each person gets to do a command for the dolphin to do a trick. After that, they have you get on your knee and the dolphin swims in your lap and they take your picture. You also get a t-shirt and refreshments. I think it is well worth the money and had a great time.

 

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

I haven't done the dolphin experience in Epcot but I did do it in Nassau. It was worth every penny and more! From what the poster above explained I did the the same thing (no wet suits though) and it was so amazing. We got to touch the dolphin, dance with it, kiss it, and some other things I can't remember offhand. Me and DBF both truly enjoyed it and would do it again in a heartbeat. If you have any interest in dolphins I recommend it.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Here is a cut from my trip report from 2003 when I did this. It gives all the details and some personal things as well (like issues with my knickers) but its good to know.

We met our group over by the Guest services window. They sent out our nice dolphin ladies that were going to be with us for the next few hours. I had left all my jewelry at the hotel and was wearing my swimsuit under my clothes just like they told us. I had Tigger carry my bra and a pair of panties in his backpack so I’d have dry knickers. That’s important.

We signed our waivers and went backstage to see the wonderful DISNEY TRASH DUMPSTERS!! Wow. It was great. Too bad we weren’t allowed cameras. “HEY MOM! Here is me by the trash!”

They gave us keys to lockers and we went and changed into our wetsuits and little scuba booties.There were 8 people in our group. 3 couples and 2 single ladies (non-related). We were taken up to the tank by our cute, athletic pixyish dolphin trainer.

Here is where we got to meet Calvin. There are two dolphins currently at Epcot, Calvin and Rainier. Rainier is the older, wise dolphin. He is the alpha male. Calvin is the young 7 year old. He is feisty and full of himself. Yeah, was he ever. There is a third dolphin but he is off on loan having lots of dates with new girlfriends.

It seems it is dolphin mating season. Calvin is lonely. He doesn’t have a girlfriend. He does have a boat float. Let’s meet Calvin.. WHOA!!! Calvin REALLY is a BOY dolphin!!! In a major way! He wants to say Hi! He is very proud of being a boy! Our trainer tries to ignore it. You can’t! It’s like a train wreck or fireworks or someone wearing white after Labor Day. You just can’t avert your eyes.

She leads us over to some chairs to talk about dolphin behavior. We are sitting with our backs to the tank. With no one to show off to, Calvin (after a few rounds with the boat float) swims off. We learn about dolphin behaviors, parts of the dolphin and how to train the dolphins. Our perky trainer uses people in place of dolphins and rewards them with monopoly money when they do something right. We were a smart group. We did have a choice of money or the smelly fish. No one took the fish. I would have double dog dared someone to eat a smelly fish raw.

So now we walk over the big Living Seas tanks. We can see that there are some separate pens. The trainers explain that someone had asked why the dolphins aren’t given free rein of the entire tank. Well, they are but when they go out in the “general population” they need to be supervised by a diver. It seems that dolphins, while very smart, have the maturity level of an 8 year old wired on too much sugar and cartoons.

Everything is a fun game for them. Their favorite is spinning the tortoise. Yup, they swim straight for the large tortoises and start spinning them around like tops. They were also know to flip the manta rays up into the steel rafters with their powerful tails and to play football with the fish, flipping them back and forth to each other. They are too well fed to eat them, they just mess with them. Its not good for the other sea critters mental health. I know a fish has a brain the size of a grape but its no fun being hit back and forth like a shuttlecock for dolphin amusement.

Now we are getting ready to get into the water. The water is about 70 degrees and you never get up farther than your waist so you don’t have to know how to swim. I must put in my own water issues here. I like swimming but like warmer water than this. Remember my cool water under my bum issues on Kali River Rapids? I also nearly drowned three times as a child. It was starting to be a party game at family reunions. So I don’t like people dunking me or making sudden moves regarding my person when I’m in the water.

That being said, the trainers told us to make sure we weren’t wearing anything that could scratch the dolphins, not to make any loud noises that would discourage the dolphins and not to pet them by their face or private parts. Calvin was now being a good boy and it was probably a good idea not to get him all riled up again.

We walked in twos down to the water while the trainers demonstrated some moves. This is when I screamed. It wasn’t my fault! Tiggers hand went down to the bottom leg of my short wet suit. I thought he was trying to grab a private feel. He hooked the leg of my suit and let this cold water in. It rushed up my tushie and therefore – the involuntary scream.

Now I felt terrible. I didn’t want to blow my chance of petting a dolphin if I scared off Calvin, deviant that he was. I glared at Tigger who was looking like “What?!”. It seems that he thought he was doing me a favor by letting more water into my suit to make me warmer. I didn’t appreciate it.

Now to be fair, I hadn’t bored him with my water issues. I didn’t think it would come up but now there was more water around my bum then there was before or at least it felt that way. Gee, does this wetsuit make my butt look big?

So now the main event – we got to pet Calvin and have him do behaviors. It was so cool. They too our picture with Calvin as well. He was a good boy and minded his manners. Then we switched a little later and got to give Rainier a rub down as well. It was sooo cool. All and all, I think we spent about 30 minutes in the water. It was great fun.

Now we had to go back to the lockers and change. They had showers as well if you wanted to hose off or wash your hair. As I was changing I realized, I didn’t have my underwear! Tigger still had it. I debated walking into the boys bathroom but thought some of them might freak out. Decided that I could go commando until we got back to the hotel. Figured I would announce to everyone that I had to go commando because my DB had my panties in his bag.

My plan was foiled as one of the girls handed me my underwear. Smart guy that he is, he figured it out and handed my unmentionables off to the first gal that came out of the bathroom. Thank God I had my Disney panties! Well after free cokes and t-shirts (they are made from recycled plastic and yes they look like real cotton shirt only they don’t fade) we headed to the bus.

 

[amburger]

I have not done it, but now I'm really thinking about doing it. Sounds really cool and like fun. I did a swim with dolphins type of thing down in Key Largo last June. That was really cool.

 

[CAP Aircrew]

According to the description, it appears that you need to be 13 yrs or older. That's too bad because I know my 10 and 12 year old would really enjoy this.

 

[snowglobe girl]

According to the description, it appears that you need to be 13 yrs or older. That's too bad because I know my 10 and 12 year old would really enjoy this.

Actually, I think the age limit is 16 from the best of my memory. It is a shame, because I think a 12 year old would be old enough to do this tour with a parent.

 

[chelsea&austinsmom]

Thanks everyone for the info. I promised my DD when she turned 13 she could swim with the Dolphins. I'm debating on Discovery Cove or Dolphin in Depth. It's cheaper for Dolphin in Depth, and hoping she will go for it.