LS Dolphins Tour Update

[mousermerf]

The Dolphins in Depth tour at the Living Seas (pavilion closed for refurbishment through late November) has announced a tenative operational schedule.

Tours will be offers through Sept 16th, then the follow schedule:

9/19 - 10/28 Closed
10/31 - 11/4 Open
11/07 - 11/11 Closed
11/14 - 11/18 Open
11/21 - 12/25 Closed
12/26 & Beyond - Open for regular operations

In my opinion, this implies the pavilion will reopen without being completely "finished" much in the same way the Land did. However, all of the major show elements should be in place.

 

[gregburg]

I just got back last week. While there I went on DiveQuest. This was while the pavilion was closed. Normally for DiveQuest you would walk through the pavilion to get the center staircase to go up to the "ledge" to enter the water. With the refurb going on, we went another way that did not take us through the pavilion. Instead we went outside, then about 20 feet to another door that took us back inside to some stairs that led up to the service halls on the top level. So therefore, even when they restart it, you most likely won't be walking through the almost done pavilion before it opens.

I asked about what work they were doing, you know any "inside information". The guide that we had said that officially they were putting in new carpet and paint. She also said that the area is completely sealed off so that only authorized persons were allowed in. CM's and aquarium staff were <B>not</B> authorized, and were not being told about what the changes were. One thing that the CM's are hoping for is a better queuing area for Turtle Talk. They said managing the line can be pretty tough, given how popular it is.

It was interesting though to see them removing the exit hydrolators when we were leaving. They must not have been big enough to get the carpet and paint can through .

-Greg

 

[EchoOfOphelia]

Yeah, I'll be in DisneyWorld from 9/16 - 9/25 and I desperately wanted to do the "Dolphins in Depth" tour, I just called to schedule it on Friday and they told me that duringthe refurb, that particular experience was not being offered.

Oh well, maybe next time.

 

[disneyplanet]

dive quest

I posted three weeks ago i got dates for dive quest 11/14. hope to maybe see something.

actualy there normaly only 2 days you can do dive quest but that week there 5 days to chose from.

 

[gregburg]

Rumor was they were going to put paper over the windows so you would not be able to see into the pavilion. Sorry...

As for only 2 days a week, I'm pretty sure it runs every day, at least it did this summer and last October.

Other note is always go for the 5:30 program rather than the 4:30 program. I've done the 4:30 program and it is always packed. The 5:30 one is never more than half full the times that I have done it. Once I did it with just one other person, and this past August there was just another couple and me.

Less people in the program allows you more freedom in the tank. My last dive, one of the dive masters just kept an eye on me.

-Greg

 

[KumbaRider]

Rumor was they were going to put paper over the windows so you would not be able to see into the pavilion. Sorry...

As for only 2 days a week, I'm pretty sure it runs every day, at least it did this summer and last October.

Other note is always go for the 5:30 program rather than the 4:30 program. I've done the 4:30 program and it is always packed. The 5:30 one is never more than half full the times that I have done it. Once I did it with just one other person, and this past August there was just another couple and me.

Less people in the program allows you more freedom in the tank. My last dive, one of the dive masters just kept an eye on me.

-Greg

Interesting if true.

 

[freakman]

So much for that

I just got the call today..so much for disney magic....I booked the dolphin tour as a surprise for my wife's 30th birthday on sept 26, she loves dolphins you should see our house..disney and dolphins.
Anyway I booked it in June... and I actually booked my trip around the dolphin tour. I talked my wife out of the moderate resort and into a value so I could to pay the $150X2 for this tour...my pockets have bottoms!!! way I looked at it is how much are you really in the room!!!! They even run the charge on the credit card as disney dinning so she would not see what I bought.

When they listed the refurb for living sea's a couple days after I booked the tour I called disney to check. I explained the trip was set around this and I wanted to know if the refurb would close the tour before I bought plane tickets. She put me on hold. When she returned she told me that she called the Dolphin organizers/pavillion and they said the refurb had no effect on any of the tours. I then ordered up my flight

So today... just 2.5 weeks before I fly to disney I get a call saying the tour has been cancelled because they just learned the pavillion would be closing for refurb...(what the heck did it not close 2 weeks ago) and that the good news is my money would be fully refunded with in 30 days. There is however limited dates in october for people who have been cancelled and they are first come first serve. Told me that if I want to book call and leave message with name and number and they would let me know if they could fit me in.

Do they not relize that a vacation can not be changed in heart beat..people have to work to make the money we give them...vacation time must be booked. I can not throw away $1000 worth of plane tickets and disney places surcharges on you to change a reservation. I understand changes happen but do not take reservations during a refurb time only to cancel them 2 weeks before a persons trip....that is just poor planing and customer care. I find it hard to think that an engineer/someone who is in charge of refurbing a pavillion could not work out dates.

This is what I have for a disney birthday gift/trip...a value resort...$300 of my money tied up for 30 days...a phone message telling my wife that a dolphin enounter is my plan for a surprise gift ...and about 50 bucks in the hole in exchange rates and long distant calls. Sucks to be me...as disgruntled as I am now I am sure I will smile when I arrive at WDW....now what will I get for a gift!!!!

 

[PrinceDon]

Don't tell anyone I mentioned this but...

Have you thought about booking a day over at Discovery Cove? It costs a little more but it is a full day experience. I have done Dolphins in Depth and loved it, but if it wasn't available, I wouldn't hesitate to go down the street.

http://www.discoverycove.com/vi_dcpackages_pricing.aspx#1
Good luck!

 

[mousermerf]

Yuck - having the tour canceled definately sucks.

In Disney's defense, it's hard to know exactly what days will be available in advance. There's two things going against it - the number of bookings already made, and the extent of the work that has to be done. Someone was gonna get canceled, atleast they're honoring some of the ressies.

To explain the two reasons further - first, if you're doing major work, you can't tell how long some aspects are going to take, especially in pre-existing buildings, until you start tearing things down. Blueprints and such are some guideline of what sort of work needs to be done, but you can't account for nearly 20 years of maitenance or deffered maitenance. Essentially, until you get to actually start seeing it you don't know the full extent of the problem.

Second factor would be the bookings already made - they have to compare their timeline, with fresh new info from the now-closed and accessible pavilion, with who is already booked. They do some math, looks things over, and the weeks that got canceled are probably the weeks with the fewest bookings already. It's not fun, but they probably tried to inconvience as few people as possible.

 

[EchoOfOphelia]

mousermerf, while I do agree with you about unforseeables during a rehab, I think you give Disney too much credit. In freakman's case, I think they should have known what they were doing two weeks ago. I'm sure that Disney had pretty accurate plans of what they had intended to do during the refurb months in advance and should have left a little wiggle room, a week or so, and not booked anyone for the dolphin tours (or others that may be closed). If they finished on time, they could have simply re-opened those dates for guests who could book the tour at the last minute. I just think its a shame, I had wanted to book the tour, but certainly didn't center my plans around it as he did, so I feel for ya freakman!

Like someone else had stated, Discovery Cove (sister park to SeaWorld) just have a Dolphin Experience, I just looked into it, but it is more expensive, but you do get access to tons of other things at Discovery Cove in the package. I would look into, it might even be better!

Good luck to you!

 

[Mr. Toad]

We had thought about doing Dolphins in Depth last year but it was all booked up so we did Discovery Cove instead. Discovery Cove was awesome. Personally, I think it was worth the extra money if you can afford it. We really enjoyed the dolphin encounter and the rest of the place was also great. Note that not all packages include the dolphin encounter.

The only downside I see to Discovery Cove is that it is outside so if the weather turns bad it can be a problem. And it is not exactly a cheap alternative. Also, if you go there you should plan on spending a good portion of your morning and afternoon there.