Hip dysplasia and SW swim with dolphins

[DisneyFairytale]

I just set up a swim at the end of June. One of those things, that as a little girl you have always dreamed to do. The man of my life is coming down with me and will be sharing the experience together but what I wanted to know was this.
I was born with congenital hip dysplasia, have had to have 5 reconstructive surgery, the last one coming up the week following our trip(one reason this trip is so meaningful to me, got a hard recovery ahead). I can ambulate on my own pretty well, tho I do walk with a crutch(I'm 24 years old). My main issue is being careful with not dislocating my hip during our trip down.

My man will be there to assist with any extra help I might need, but how worried should I be about our swim down with the dolphins? are there things I should be ready to say no to?(for safety reasons to me). Is there anything I should get ready before we head down? or call them to give them a heads up?

Thanks a million everyone, always received a lot of help from everyone

 

[SandrA9810]

From the videos I've seen of it. You only get one final "pull by the dolphin". Where you hang on to thier flippers. It's possible that they do the nose push too, but you'd probably want to opt out for that one.

wouldn't standing in the water help you though?? since you won't have so much weight on your hips?

 

[DisneyFairytale]

Well I'm pretty self reliant, it's just a matter of not putting myself at risk of doing something that might dislocate that bad hip, but you are right being in the water should actually be a break from my regular body weight on solid ground.

 

[bairdbeth]

They only do the pull through the water. You will hold on with your hands. Just be careful when the dolphin brongs you back as you step back up on the platform/rocks. Hope you have fun! We are going next week for our 2nd visit and I had major ankle surgery in Jan and too will be extra cautious.

 

[DisneyFairytale]

Oh my gosh, so you know exactly what I mean. Be careful out there! make sure to come back and let me know how things went. I want updates

 

[Violet Crayon]

If you make a note to tell guest relations they can actually print something about your condition on the daily interaction sheet and the trainers will know who you are and what help you might need ahead of time. This means they will make sure you are in a shallower pod* in the sandy area near the beach, instead of in the deeper pods where you have to walk on slippery rock and around other rocks.

*pods at DC are the grouping of guests and how they assign your location in the interaction (there are 4 pods in every interaction A,B,C,D) Spots B&C are closest to the beach where you enter.

 

[DisneyFairytale]

I did what you suggested to do and gave them a call to give them a heads up. I have just 3 weeks to go and very excited

 

[bairdbeth]

Back and had a great time. I was told to tell the trainer that I needed to be on the center beach area and not the rocks and they assigned me to a group that did that. Still be careful as you step back onto the ledge after the dolphin swim. I stepped with my good foot and still stubbed my toe. We stayed the whole day and had great fun. I made friends with a stingray named Spaz who kept climbing up me. Make sure you get by for one of the stringray feeding times. It was awesome!