Dolphin swim age proof

[tazdeb]

My family will be going to Orlando in August and are interested in Discovery Cove. We have 2 daughters, 1 who is 6 looks small for her age and the other one will be 5 3/4 when we go but looks older than the 6 year old. Obviously both want to swim with the dolphins. What kind of proof of age do they requier? What happens if they find out one of my daughters is not 6 yet? Is this age to young and should we just wait till next time?....Thanks in advance.

 

[dbail2]

My daughter was 6 the first time she swam with the dolphins and no one asked for proof of age. She was 7 last year and no one asked then either. She was frightened the first time and did not participated much in the interaction. 7 was a much better age and by then she was a strong swimmer which made me more comfortable. You do need to be able to tread water for about 5 minutes in very cold and deep water so I would imagine this is the reason for the age limit. It is the best day of our 2 week trip. We are going to try to do it again this summer. Have a really great time.

 

[vernon]

IMHO age is not the vital issue here, although the park has to put some type of limit in order to warn parents that there are requirements that need to be met.

It is the childs confidence and ability in water that counts. I have no doubt my elder daughter would have managed fine at age 4 with the swim, she spent a lot of time in the water and was a confident swimmer at that age, my youngest is now 12 and I'm still not certain she would enjoy the swim. She can swim well enough but hates being in water more than 6 feet deep, which makes no sense because shes less than 5 feet and can drown just as easily in 6 feet as she could in 10 !!!. You as a parent know them better than anyone. DC is a great experience and one they should treasure for many years, if they are scared or not ready to do the swim it won't be nice for them and you'll feel you wasted a lot of money. IMHO if you have any doubt AND you know you'll make a repeat trip in a year or two, I'd put it off until you're certain they will really enjoy the day there ( and you feel it's money well spent). It's a tough call because kids can change on a day to day basis sometimes LOL.