Well just back from our trip to Orlando and had a fab time. One of the things I spent ages doing before we went was to read all the trippies about DC, and I'm going to try and cover off all of the questions I had before I went in mine! 
The morning of DC, we got up super early, got our swimgear on underneath our clothes and headed for the door at 7.20am. I had been told that we could check in from 7.45am and our hotel was 20 mins drive away. At this point I realised that I had lost my passport (found it the next day in Universal) panic stations!!!!!!! At 7.45am we gave up searching and decided that we would head up anyway, in the hopes that DC would be flexible in the photo ID rule and allow us to check in anyway. If I had known they wouldn't ask me for any form of ID at all, it would have made for a peaceful drive up in the car. Anyway......
We got to DC at 8.05, I jumped out to go and check in & dh & dd went to park the car. Once my bag was searched on entry, I went to the top of the queue, while reception was buzzing it wasn't crowded - I could see the Trainer for a Day group sitting to one side waiting for their guides and the queue was building up behind me. Unfortunately you can't check in unless all of your party is there, so I ended up waiting for himself to park the car and grab dd etc before we could check in anyway.
Check in was pretty quick, you can pay for your SW parking package or upgrade to include Busch Gardens if you want to at that stage. We each got a digital photo taken & id cards printed, attached to lanyards which we wore for the day. FYI, all guests over the age of 21 receive a card with the number 21 printed on it so that the catering and bar staff can check their age before serving alcohol. We checked in at approx 8.15 and got a swim time with the dolphins of 9.25.
On check in we were directed down the winding path to the bridge before guest services where we got our entry photograph taken. They also took a photograph of one of the ID cards so as to match the entry photograph (complementary) to our account later. We then waited on another group and were given a brief talk about DC, what would be happening and where and were left to either to and get a continental breakfast or use the changing rooms and get a locker, snorkels and masks, and wetsuits or vests.
At this stage dd was loudly protesting that she wanted some food so we took her to get a light breakfast and then on to the changing rooms to get vests. For anyone who burns easily or is concerned about sun damage to the skin, I would strongly recommend that you take the option of the wetsuit. It's a 3/4 wetsuit, so extends down to your elbows and to just above your knee. The suncream is good but you need to apply far more than you get in your bag and you need to put it on really thick. We got the vests for the dolphin swim but changed to wetsuits later and there were far too many sunburnt people that got sunburnt. It was a great peace of mind just to know that dd was basically covered apart from her face and lower arms and legs.
They also supply what I call a "floaty" vest from small infant up to adult. This allows you to bob along the top of the water and if you feel that you will struggle with keeping on top of the water when snorkelling etc, it's also a good choice. We decided to put one on dd, and she wore it all day as while she could swim, we didn't want her too tired after midday to stay in the park until 5.30.
Then we headed down to our allocated cabana for our video briefing and dolphin swim. First though we walked dd along the beach to the cabana rather than on the path so she could see the other guests with the dolphins and get excited about what we were about to do. We were checked in by another staff member and allocated a letter from A-D, this was to be our pod and when the video briefing was finished, we filed out to the beach to our different pod areas, guided by the staff members, to meet the dolphins.
We were allocated Natalie, one of the oldest dolphins in DC. She was very playful and decided that she didn't want to stick around so we also got Coral until Natalie felt it was time to come back. The experience was amazing, we got to touch the dolphins and interact with them. Dd was very nervous once we got her in the water, and also the youngest of the group. I have nothing but praise for the trainers - Kirstin & D who took their time with her and really encouraged her to interact with the dolphins. When it came time to do the assisted swim, they suggested a shallow swim for her, and when she struggled to hold onto the dolphin, Kirstin accompanied her.
When our time was over, we were treated to a display from all of the dolphins in the 4 pods and then guided back to shore again. We were directed to a photography area behind our cabana and shown all our photos on a screen and at no point did we feel pushed into making any purchases. We had already decided to get the full package with the DVD and on viewing the DVD this afternoon, I'm delighted with what we got. We were given an order number which was written on the back of my ID card and we used this to collect our photos and DVD later on in the day. TIP: Collect your photos approx 50 mins after your dolphin swim, this prevents waiting in large queues as the guests exit the park at 5.30pm.
We walked down to the ray lagoon with dd and it took an awful lot of coaxing to get her to come into the water to the rays. She basically lurked around the edge so we decided to get her into the coral reef to see if we could get her to snorkel.
DC was the turning point for us in terms of getting her to swim. Up until now she had been managing on the doggy paddle and a bit of breast stroke. While we live on the coast, it's not safe to swim in the sea where we live and she doesn't start lessons in school until next year. Swiming had been limited to when we were able to take her to the local pool. Something clicked for her that day, and she snorkeled everywhere. We even had an argument to have her take off her mask while eating her lunch!
Perhaps it had something to do with the floaty vest which we left on for the day, but anyhow, since then she is swimming like a (dare i say) dolphin with no floats at all.
After a spell in the coral reef, I decided to dispense with my mask & snorkel for the rest of the day. DC do offer prescription strength masks to guests, however I have an unusual prescription so they were of no use to me. That was the biggest regret I have of the day, that I couldn't see much in the coral reef. I went back to our locker and got my prescription sunglasses on and made do with them for the rest of the day.
We then swam the heated "lazy river" into the Aviary to meet the birds. We had great interaction with them and really enjoyed feeding all the different types. We couldn't keep dd in the Aviary for long though and got dragged back into the river so as to get out to the Grill for some lunch. Note - you can get into the Aviary at the rear of the coral reef by foot, you don't need to swim in the lazy river to get there. You might also like to know that to get in, and out, of the Aviary by the lazy river you have to pass through a curtain of water which some guests struggled with.
Once back on dry land, we nipped over to the Laguna Grill for lunch, and were treated to a band playing in the sunshine while we ate our lunch. Lunch was nice, good wholesome food and we polished off what we took. Special mention goes to the carrot cake, which I didn't get near to but according to my dh is out of this world.
It was now 1pm and we couldn't keep dd on land for very long, thankfully the vest meant we didn't have to worry about swimmers cramp. So we went back into the lazy river for 3 laps, we walked and only swam the deep bits while she snorkelled away. Once we had done 3 laps, we went back to the coral reef and ray lagoon for a while longer and once again into the lazy river. As you can guess, dd loved this and we didn't feel crowded at any stage.
By 4pm, she was white with tiredness so we showered and changed and headed out, as we had collected our photographs earlier on in the day.
A big thumbs up from our house and we really found the day to be a very positive experience!
The morning of DC, we got up super early, got our swimgear on underneath our clothes and headed for the door at 7.20am. I had been told that we could check in from 7.45am and our hotel was 20 mins drive away. At this point I realised that I had lost my passport (found it the next day in Universal) panic stations!!!!!!! At 7.45am we gave up searching and decided that we would head up anyway, in the hopes that DC would be flexible in the photo ID rule and allow us to check in anyway. If I had known they wouldn't ask me for any form of ID at all, it would have made for a peaceful drive up in the car. Anyway......
We got to DC at 8.05, I jumped out to go and check in & dh & dd went to park the car. Once my bag was searched on entry, I went to the top of the queue, while reception was buzzing it wasn't crowded - I could see the Trainer for a Day group sitting to one side waiting for their guides and the queue was building up behind me. Unfortunately you can't check in unless all of your party is there, so I ended up waiting for himself to park the car and grab dd etc before we could check in anyway.
Check in was pretty quick, you can pay for your SW parking package or upgrade to include Busch Gardens if you want to at that stage. We each got a digital photo taken & id cards printed, attached to lanyards which we wore for the day. FYI, all guests over the age of 21 receive a card with the number 21 printed on it so that the catering and bar staff can check their age before serving alcohol. We checked in at approx 8.15 and got a swim time with the dolphins of 9.25.
On check in we were directed down the winding path to the bridge before guest services where we got our entry photograph taken. They also took a photograph of one of the ID cards so as to match the entry photograph (complementary) to our account later. We then waited on another group and were given a brief talk about DC, what would be happening and where and were left to either to and get a continental breakfast or use the changing rooms and get a locker, snorkels and masks, and wetsuits or vests.
At this stage dd was loudly protesting that she wanted some food so we took her to get a light breakfast and then on to the changing rooms to get vests. For anyone who burns easily or is concerned about sun damage to the skin, I would strongly recommend that you take the option of the wetsuit. It's a 3/4 wetsuit, so extends down to your elbows and to just above your knee. The suncream is good but you need to apply far more than you get in your bag and you need to put it on really thick. We got the vests for the dolphin swim but changed to wetsuits later and there were far too many sunburnt people that got sunburnt. It was a great peace of mind just to know that dd was basically covered apart from her face and lower arms and legs.
They also supply what I call a "floaty" vest from small infant up to adult. This allows you to bob along the top of the water and if you feel that you will struggle with keeping on top of the water when snorkelling etc, it's also a good choice. We decided to put one on dd, and she wore it all day as while she could swim, we didn't want her too tired after midday to stay in the park until 5.30.
Then we headed down to our allocated cabana for our video briefing and dolphin swim. First though we walked dd along the beach to the cabana rather than on the path so she could see the other guests with the dolphins and get excited about what we were about to do. We were checked in by another staff member and allocated a letter from A-D, this was to be our pod and when the video briefing was finished, we filed out to the beach to our different pod areas, guided by the staff members, to meet the dolphins.
We were allocated Natalie, one of the oldest dolphins in DC. She was very playful and decided that she didn't want to stick around so we also got Coral until Natalie felt it was time to come back. The experience was amazing, we got to touch the dolphins and interact with them. Dd was very nervous once we got her in the water, and also the youngest of the group. I have nothing but praise for the trainers - Kirstin & D who took their time with her and really encouraged her to interact with the dolphins. When it came time to do the assisted swim, they suggested a shallow swim for her, and when she struggled to hold onto the dolphin, Kirstin accompanied her.
When our time was over, we were treated to a display from all of the dolphins in the 4 pods and then guided back to shore again. We were directed to a photography area behind our cabana and shown all our photos on a screen and at no point did we feel pushed into making any purchases. We had already decided to get the full package with the DVD and on viewing the DVD this afternoon, I'm delighted with what we got. We were given an order number which was written on the back of my ID card and we used this to collect our photos and DVD later on in the day. TIP: Collect your photos approx 50 mins after your dolphin swim, this prevents waiting in large queues as the guests exit the park at 5.30pm.
We walked down to the ray lagoon with dd and it took an awful lot of coaxing to get her to come into the water to the rays. She basically lurked around the edge so we decided to get her into the coral reef to see if we could get her to snorkel.
DC was the turning point for us in terms of getting her to swim. Up until now she had been managing on the doggy paddle and a bit of breast stroke. While we live on the coast, it's not safe to swim in the sea where we live and she doesn't start lessons in school until next year. Swiming had been limited to when we were able to take her to the local pool. Something clicked for her that day, and she snorkeled everywhere. We even had an argument to have her take off her mask while eating her lunch!
Perhaps it had something to do with the floaty vest which we left on for the day, but anyhow, since then she is swimming like a (dare i say) dolphin with no floats at all.After a spell in the coral reef, I decided to dispense with my mask & snorkel for the rest of the day. DC do offer prescription strength masks to guests, however I have an unusual prescription so they were of no use to me. That was the biggest regret I have of the day, that I couldn't see much in the coral reef. I went back to our locker and got my prescription sunglasses on and made do with them for the rest of the day.
We then swam the heated "lazy river" into the Aviary to meet the birds. We had great interaction with them and really enjoyed feeding all the different types. We couldn't keep dd in the Aviary for long though and got dragged back into the river so as to get out to the Grill for some lunch. Note - you can get into the Aviary at the rear of the coral reef by foot, you don't need to swim in the lazy river to get there. You might also like to know that to get in, and out, of the Aviary by the lazy river you have to pass through a curtain of water which some guests struggled with.
Once back on dry land, we nipped over to the Laguna Grill for lunch, and were treated to a band playing in the sunshine while we ate our lunch. Lunch was nice, good wholesome food and we polished off what we took. Special mention goes to the carrot cake, which I didn't get near to but according to my dh is out of this world.
It was now 1pm and we couldn't keep dd on land for very long, thankfully the vest meant we didn't have to worry about swimmers cramp. So we went back into the lazy river for 3 laps, we walked and only swam the deep bits while she snorkelled away. Once we had done 3 laps, we went back to the coral reef and ray lagoon for a while longer and once again into the lazy river. As you can guess, dd loved this and we didn't feel crowded at any stage.
By 4pm, she was white with tiredness so we showered and changed and headed out, as we had collected our photographs earlier on in the day.
A big thumbs up from our house and we really found the day to be a very positive experience!
