Dolphins in Depth at Epcot

[AlohaMickey]

Greetings all,

I was wondering if any of you have done the Dolphins in Depth Program
at Epcot? Swimming with the Dolphins is on my life's list of stuff to do,
but I was wondering if Disney is the place to do it.

We're heading down there April 28th for 9 nights, and are using
the Magical Express, so we won't have a car to get anywhere else.

I'd appreciate any thoughts. Thanks!

 

[PrinceDon]

it may not meet your expectations

I did Dolphins In Depth about 5 years ago and I loved it. It was 4 - 5 hours of learning about dolphins. The main reason you may be disappointed in it is because of the type of interaction. You wont be swimming with the dolphins, you will be standing in about knee - waist deep water interacting with the dolphins for more than an hour. The rest of the time you are learning about the dolphin's natural behaviors. The trainers will show you what they go through each day, the current experiments which are being worked on and some of the signals they use to communicate with the dolphins. You will be able to touch/pet them but don't expect to be pulled around the Living Seas.
I believe Sea World has a program at Discovery Cove (I think) that will allow you to actually be pulled. If you are looking for more than you will need to be out of the country.
There should be more reviews around the web...try wdwinfo.com and backstage tours (http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/tours.htm#DolphinsDepth).
Again, I did love the tour and I will probably do it again. I just think you might be disappointed if you are hoping to actually swim with the dolphins.
Have a great time!

 

[ClemsonTigger]

I will second what PrinceDon said. While it is an interesting program, I think it will fall short of what many would like from a dolphin encounter. For the most comprehensive program you can probably get, I suggest you consider Seaworld.

The program at Seaworld:
http://www.discoverycove.com/ex_featattract_dolphin.aspx

http://www.discoverycove.com/ex_featattract.aspx

You can get a taxi or rent a car on Disney property for the day.

There are other encounter locations along the Florida coast and on various islands...but of course, you have to make the separate trip for that.

 

[AlohaMickey]

Thanks very much for the information!!!

I'm not sure if I'll be happy with just touching them

If I had my choice of experiences with any creature, it would be
to be on the nose of Shamu when he flies up from under water
and lauches his trainer into a high dive :lol:

Thanks again!!

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Thanks very much for the information!!!

I'm not sure if I'll be happy with just touching them

If I had my choice of experiences with any creature, it would be
to be on the nose of Shamu when he flies up from under water
and lauches his trainer into a high dive :lol:

Thanks again!!

One alternative, if you aren't able to get to Seaworld on this trip, consider Living Seas Aquatour. You don't have to be SCUBA certified, and the reason I chose it was you could have children as young as 10. With this tour, you will swim in the living seas tank using self contained breathers, but with a vest that will keep you on the surface. You do walk past and get to see the dolphins, but when in the water aren't allowed near their pen. The critters you do get to interact with make it a really nice experience.

 

[bferrara16]

I've been there and the discovery cove dolphin experience is awesome. You get to interact with a dolphin, take pictures, and then you grab on the dorsal fin and get pulled for about 10 seconds. The whole "dolphin experience" lasts about 30 minutes, but the rest of discovery cove is really beautiful too (they have other lagoons where you can swim with manta rays and other tropical fish and all). It was a little pricey but well worth it. I don't know about disney's dolphin experience, so I can't comment, but if you can afford the ride over to Discovery Cove, I'd go for it (you get free passes to sea world too).

 

[kiawahman]

I'm not sure if I'll be happy with just touching them

that doesn't sound right