Has anyone done the Dolphin Encounter?

[IckyMickey]

I was looking up tours and came across the Dolphin Encounter for $15. It looks pretty short although it doesn't say the length and ends with a 3-5 minute dolphin experience for all 10 people in the group. Has anyone done it and is it worth it - do you really get to touch / interact with the dolphin? Thanks!

 

[chiamarie]

All I know about it; is that this is what has replaced feeding the dolphins. So, rather than having to pay $7 per person and standing in a forever long line to maybe get a photo and maybe get to touch a dolphin; this has replaced it. I believe the photographers will get a photo of you and a dolphin, and you will get to touch a dolphin. You also get to book in advance and pick your time for your encounter. If you want more than the 3-5 minute; look into the Dolphin Up Close tour.

 

[newestkg06]

Just got back and the Dolphin Experience was our FAVORITE thing! It was NOT 3-5 minutes. More like 15-20 minutes. Here's what we did: we bought our time the night before, brought our confirmation number and got our tickets from the Info desk after we entered the park. We had an 11:15 time and they asked us to show up before 11AM. (we watched Blue Horizons at 10AM and then went to Turtle Trek before going over) We waited in a short line (about 25 people) and were assigned a number (i.e. our trainer). Our group was our family of 4 and another family of 3. We had one trainer and two dolphins (there were maybe another 4-5 additional groups). We did not get to feed the dolphins and they discouraged pictures neared the water as many people had dropped phones and cameras in the water. There is a photographer who will take your pictures (which you have to purchase). We bought the photopass and got all the dolphin pictures along with a bunch of other pictures of our family (and ride pics) so we thought it was a reasonable price.
The trainer brought the dolphins over (with food) and had them do a few tricks for us. He talked about where we should and should not touch the dolphins. He said that they did not want guests to feed the dolphins anymore because of risk to the guests (they have teeth!). They splashed us a little and made some pretty funny noises. He talked a bit about the specific dolphins we were working with and then had them come close. There is a ledge on the pool that the dolphins rest on. I held onto her tailfin and my husband held onto her other fin as we pet her and let our boys pet her. The other family did the same with "their" dolphin. We got to touch and pet her for about 5 minutes. They also did a few more tricks for us. Meanwhile, we got some great pictures. He offered to answer any questions we had too (which my boys had a ton!). Then we washed our hands a took a few pictures of the pool on the way out. It was an really incredible experience that felt very relaxed, safe, and special. For $15/person I think it was the best deal of anything we did our whole trip.

 

[TmlndSpdwy03]

I just did it a few weeks ago. I bought tickets day of for about 1 hour later (park was fairly crowded that day also). We had a group of 6 so we were paired up with one trainer. Got great photos with the dolphin by their photographer (and also by family member who stood across cove). Got to pet dolphin, rub him, interact with him. Great for kids. If you are a smaller group, you will be pair with another group so your photos could have the other family in your photos too. I think it it was worth the price. Better set up then when you paid to feed the dolphins.

 

[kendallt]

I just did it a few weeks ago. I bought tickets day of for about 1 hour later (park was fairly crowded that day also). We had a group of 6 so we were paired up with one trainer. Got great photos with the dolphin by their photographer (and also by family member who stood across cove). Got to pet dolphin, rub him, interact with him. Great for kids. If you are a smaller group, you will be pair with another group so your photos could have the other family in your photos too. I think it it was worth the price. Better set up then when you paid to feed the dolphins.

Did you purchase the individual photos, and if so, how much were they?

 

[RabFlmom]

We did the sea lion up close tour earlier this summer and did not purchase the pictures because we thought they were too expensive. Only photo they took was with a sea lion behind us. Guide took a few pics with our cameras of the same picture so had it anyway. I would have loved it if they took pics while we were having fun feeding the sea lions, but they didn't and you are so busy feeding the bucket of fish (each)we didn't get any pics of that. It was really fun feeding them though.
$15 for the dolphin up close was really a good price-usually $45+ for that. At $15 I would probably add one of their pictures, but after paying $250+ for the 7 of us us to do the up close I think 1 picture should come with the tour.

 

[eyehartdisney]

Did you purchase the individual photos, and if so, how much were they?

They were like 15 each? But they take quite a few. If you have people not participating, get them up on the overhang above the observation tank of the dolphin, thats the best picture spot. This is by far the best buy in the park for experiences. Also, the last "experience" of the night was the best imo.