We went in Sept. on a Sunday (the 9th) and had a wonderful time. I would do it again.
My DD7 and I did the dolphin swim. My DM and DSis did not. It was $100 more to do the swim but there was a promotion if you paid by AMEX you got $50 back (each) so, in reality I only paid $50 extra (each) for DD and I to do the swim. She absolutely loved it!
We arrived just after they opened and I think our swim time was about 11, or so. (can't remember, would have to check time stamp on my pix.)
Since my DSis and DM weren't doing the swim they were
my official picture takers. My DM did the video (though she told me after that it was too stressful for her, she was worried she would miss us-she did miss my turn) and my DSis used my digital cam. They were able to go out on a small point and got some great shots. After it was over they led us to the viewing area to see their official DC pictures but since I wasn't going to be buying them (and they were having a problem uploading) I just looked at a few and then left-there was no pressure to buy.
Besides my video cam and digital cam. I also had a reloadable underwater camera (Snapshots) that worked great. In fact, I should have brought more film. I ran out when we were in the aviary.
We thought the lunch food was really good. I'm a Diet Coke drinker so I mostly drank ice tea. My DSis had one beer and my DM and I each tried a wine cooler, but we didn't finish them. DD loved getting the big pretzels and frozen lemonade.
The best part of our day, however, was that about 3-3:30 a big storm started to come in (I know, big surprise huh, we were in Florida in Sept.). Anyway, most of the guest started getting ready to leave and we just took our time getting our stuff together. Besides, we still had over an hour left. Turns out, that when lightening is approaching, you have to leave all water areas. Well, the good news was that I overheard a guest asking an employee if they were going to be reopening, and staying open later than usual, and he confirmed it. Turns out they needed to get all the guest who had paid for the Dolphin Swim to do it. Luckily for us, when they reopened at about 5, or so, we had the Coral Reef, etc., almost all to ourselves. It was idealic! At one point I was the only one in the Coral Reef. The fish were so close, I actually had to be careful not to touch them. It was so cool!
They stayed open until 6 p.m. and we were one of the last ones to leave the park.
I hope to do it again someday-soon!
Oh, and we heard an employee mention that they had just over 1000 guests that day but during the week they only had been having around 400. Even at capacity, we never really waited in line. We probably only waited about 5 min. for lunch. And most of that was waiting for the lobster salad to be plated, which they do to order. I highly rec. the lobster salad-very good!
