MY Daughter and I did the Aqua Tour
Hi All. My Daughter and I did the Living Seas Aqua Tour in February 2003. We loved it. Neither one of us are "really good" swimmers.... so the Aqua Tour was all we could do (I.E. - > Have never considered a Diving cert).
The tour is "Scuba Assist". I.E.-> You get a "Shorty" wet suit, a diving vest (With Floats so you only swim at the top), a Scuba tank, regulator, fins, and Facemask. You get a tour through the living seas and behind the scenes, a Picture while you are standing in the tank about to go in, and about 30 Mins of swim time, and a t-Shirt.
Our Family who was down with us, took video of us through the glass (Everyone could see us looking into the tank, and we could see them as well).
The Disney guide was nice enough to allow our family upstairs to the "Divers Clubhouse" to wait for us (Couches, salt water mini-tanks with fish, free pop, etc.) A Very nice place to rest.
The changing rooms are locker-rooms with PRIVATE showers/Changing areas, soap, towels, etc. There is a locker for your stuff (the Disney CM/Tour Guide hold the keys while you swim). Everyone was very nice backstage, and it was a Fantastic event.... My 11 Year Old Daughter Loved it (I - as well), the tour was about 2 hours.
We made reservations at the Coral Reef before we went down, and had dinner at the restaurant (Wearing our "Aqua Tour Shirts" of course). We were able to snorkel over and look into the Restaurant while we were in the tank. The Host and server picked up on the shirts.....a special touch for my daughter.
Overall a GREAT Deal for the Money... The experience, and the ability to say "I Swam in that tank", as well as the views of the sea life was all well worth the investiment.
Just my food for Thought!