2xcited2sleep
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2008
We recently did the Dolphins In-Depth tour and I didn't find much about it online (granted, it's been closed for ~2.5 years due to the pandemic) and thought I'd share some info here for anyone curious.
TLDR: we loved it and highly recommend if you love and want to learn more about dolphins.
It’s a ~two-hour experience entirely backstage so you can’t take any of your own photos. Park admission is NOT required. You do get a Photopass photo of yourself with one of the dolphins, assuming the dolphins are willing to participate. The term they use is “hopeful interaction.” Dolphins aren’t forced to do anything but my impression was that their refusal to socialize was extraordinarily rare, if ever.
Check-in is at Guest Relations outside the main entrance of EPCOT. You don’t have to wait in the line for GR … there’s a sign by a bench to the right of GR that identifies the area for Dolphins In Depth check-in.
You step backstage and get some basic orientation and safety info. They also ask for your shoe size to fit you for water shoes. You walk backstage and go past the water filtration system for the Seas and talk a bit about how it works.
First stop is the locker rooms to change into your “shorty” wet suits (you bring a bathing suit to wear underneath) and water shoes. There are locker rooms and lockers where you can secure your personal belongings during the experience. No jewelry is allowed. For any concerned (as I was), they do a really nice and very subtle job of sizing you for the wet suits (available up to 5x). Zero embarrassment. Side note for those with longer hair that you may have to swap your scrunchie/tie in order to use one of their approved hair ties.
Once everyone is suited up, you head further backstage and see the kitchen where the meals are prepared and learn some facts about how much and what kind of food the dolphins and other aquarium residents consume. Then you head into the area where they are doing research with the dolphins and observe some research exercises. Then you head out to the main tank to prepare for your ”hopeful interaction.” Again, interaction isn’t guaranteed but it sounded like it was a pretty solid bet. While waiting/preparing, we saw a manta ray and a sea turtle who were both featured on the Disney+ Animal Kingdom series.
I can’t stress enough that the tour is a small group (max of 8; height restriction applies) and there is ample opportunity to ask questions at ANY stage of the tour and all CMs we encountered without exception – our tour leads, kitchen staff, research staff, dolphin trainers etc. – were all very excited to answer questions in detail.
Soon it’s time for your “hopeful interaction.” You descend a ramp to a “shelf” above the tank. The water is cold but not unbearable. There is no swimming required. At first you sit on a bench and they have the dolphins approach. On our tour one of the dolphins was feeling playful in this initial introduction and splashed us unexpectedly. Side note- while you absolutely do NOT swim with them and never go beyond waist-deep in the water, you may get soaked due to splashes. I didn’t expect that based on the tour description, but it was so fun to experience the dolphins playing.
From there your group of eight will be split into two smaller groups and you’ll spend time with one of the trainers and the dolphins "close up and personal." We had the opportunity to touch them (always following instructions of the trainers) and we learned hand signals to ask them to do certain behaviors. It was fascinating to hear the stories from the trainers on their work with these dolphins. On our tour we saw the dolphins exhibiting a fair amount of independence and playfulness – as in they didn’t always follow directions precisely (but never ever anything remotely dangerous). But did result in a few playful soakings – see note above.
We each had an opportunity to take an individual photo (available via photopass) with a dolphin – note that you could also choose to have another member of your party in “your” photo with you if you wanted… but one photo per person. You essentially squat/kneel down and “hug” the dolphin close.
Then it’s back to the locker rooms. There are showers with shower gel, shampoo, conditioner. Hair dryers. And also a bathing suit drying machine.
You’re walked back to the point where you started – outside Guest Relations outside the EPCOT main gate.
We had a great time. Happy to answer any questions.
TLDR: we loved it and highly recommend if you love and want to learn more about dolphins.
It’s a ~two-hour experience entirely backstage so you can’t take any of your own photos. Park admission is NOT required. You do get a Photopass photo of yourself with one of the dolphins, assuming the dolphins are willing to participate. The term they use is “hopeful interaction.” Dolphins aren’t forced to do anything but my impression was that their refusal to socialize was extraordinarily rare, if ever.
Check-in is at Guest Relations outside the main entrance of EPCOT. You don’t have to wait in the line for GR … there’s a sign by a bench to the right of GR that identifies the area for Dolphins In Depth check-in.
You step backstage and get some basic orientation and safety info. They also ask for your shoe size to fit you for water shoes. You walk backstage and go past the water filtration system for the Seas and talk a bit about how it works.
First stop is the locker rooms to change into your “shorty” wet suits (you bring a bathing suit to wear underneath) and water shoes. There are locker rooms and lockers where you can secure your personal belongings during the experience. No jewelry is allowed. For any concerned (as I was), they do a really nice and very subtle job of sizing you for the wet suits (available up to 5x). Zero embarrassment. Side note for those with longer hair that you may have to swap your scrunchie/tie in order to use one of their approved hair ties.
Once everyone is suited up, you head further backstage and see the kitchen where the meals are prepared and learn some facts about how much and what kind of food the dolphins and other aquarium residents consume. Then you head into the area where they are doing research with the dolphins and observe some research exercises. Then you head out to the main tank to prepare for your ”hopeful interaction.” Again, interaction isn’t guaranteed but it sounded like it was a pretty solid bet. While waiting/preparing, we saw a manta ray and a sea turtle who were both featured on the Disney+ Animal Kingdom series.
I can’t stress enough that the tour is a small group (max of 8; height restriction applies) and there is ample opportunity to ask questions at ANY stage of the tour and all CMs we encountered without exception – our tour leads, kitchen staff, research staff, dolphin trainers etc. – were all very excited to answer questions in detail.
Soon it’s time for your “hopeful interaction.” You descend a ramp to a “shelf” above the tank. The water is cold but not unbearable. There is no swimming required. At first you sit on a bench and they have the dolphins approach. On our tour one of the dolphins was feeling playful in this initial introduction and splashed us unexpectedly. Side note- while you absolutely do NOT swim with them and never go beyond waist-deep in the water, you may get soaked due to splashes. I didn’t expect that based on the tour description, but it was so fun to experience the dolphins playing.
From there your group of eight will be split into two smaller groups and you’ll spend time with one of the trainers and the dolphins "close up and personal." We had the opportunity to touch them (always following instructions of the trainers) and we learned hand signals to ask them to do certain behaviors. It was fascinating to hear the stories from the trainers on their work with these dolphins. On our tour we saw the dolphins exhibiting a fair amount of independence and playfulness – as in they didn’t always follow directions precisely (but never ever anything remotely dangerous). But did result in a few playful soakings – see note above.
We each had an opportunity to take an individual photo (available via photopass) with a dolphin – note that you could also choose to have another member of your party in “your” photo with you if you wanted… but one photo per person. You essentially squat/kneel down and “hug” the dolphin close.
Then it’s back to the locker rooms. There are showers with shower gel, shampoo, conditioner. Hair dryers. And also a bathing suit drying machine.
You’re walked back to the point where you started – outside Guest Relations outside the EPCOT main gate.
We had a great time. Happy to answer any questions.
