erparamedic
Vampire Girl......er Dork
What a true Disney experience in all aspects!
Rod and I arrived at Epcot for the 4:30 Dive Quest on December 10. We were greeted at Guest Services and soon the divemaster came out to greet us. They take your bootie, BC, wetsuit, and tshirt size. You give them your c-card, and off you go to thru a "cast only" door.
Once thru the Cast Only door, you are behind The Living Seas. They show you the filtration system and give you the stats on how many millions of gallons are filtered in "x" amount of time. They tell you that the max depth will be 25 feet for 40 minutes. They explain that, though it's hard to do, if anyone is to get bent.... (pointing over to a green box-like thing)... "that's" the recompression chamber and it's guaranteed to get all bubbles out! LOL.... it was a trash compactor! LOL
They also said that if we get too close to the "grate" that is part of the filter, we may get "sucked" up against it.... no worries though... they say they have a 5 foot long spatula to pry us off so we can continue our experience! LOL
Then you'll go thru the back door into the exhibit itself.... right where the patrons view the exhibit. The DM explains that even though the "coral" looks like it's inches from the acrylic panels, it's actually 5-10 feet away, and that the divers can actually "pop up or down" from "nowhere".... and "awe" the guests. He explains that the kids typically love seeing the divers... but inevitably, there will be a couple that get scared. He said, at that point, the kid will back up and start to cry... but then the "Dad response" kicks in... and Dad will grab the kid and hold him/her right up to the glass and say, "Look at the cool diver!" All the while the kid is screaming! LOL The DM says at this point, we can continue to torture the kid, or can swim off... he says, it's the parents that have to pay for the therapy! LOL They also explain that there's an area that's about 10 feet out from the acrylic, and under the grate (which is on the lower level at that point) that has a "holographic" Nemo deal. They ask for divers to stay out of that area cause it's not a good Disney experience (for little kids) when Nemo swims into your mouth and out your ear or butt!! LOL (No lack of good humor!)
We then went thru another door and into a classroom. Here, they show a quick little film of what we will be doing/seeing. They explain that it is a NO TOUCH environment, and that we are not allowed to decend "into" the coral. LOL But, he did say that the "coral" is all made from dental plaster.... and if anyone breaks any, they'll make more, so no worries. Then we decend down a stairway and thru another door.
We are given a key to a locker and shown to the locker room. Once inside it was amazingly clean and everyone had a bag hanging on a hook with their name. In the bag was our wetsuit and booties. We had personal changing areas. They instruct the females (and males if you have long hair) to remove all hair ties, and they will provide "krill" hair ties when we gear up.... safer for the fish if it falls out or breaks.
After this, we are all lead back up the stairs, thru the exhibit in our wetsuits.... lots of heads turn as you now look like an "important employee". LOL We go thru another door and up a spiral staircase that has a nice air conditioner blowing... feels good once you're hot in the wetsuit! We emerged in the center atop the exhibit. All our BCs (weight integrated) were already on the tanks, regs attached, and fins leaned up against them. No depth guages... only the air guage. No octo. Fins were atomic splits. All equiptment was Scubapro and Atomic... very nice! They call your name and you sit in order (they have the tanks and such in order) and get geared up. They explain a few more things, introduce other staff, and off you drift toward the float ball where you'll decend.
Once down on the bottom, you'll get about a 10 minute tour where everyone goes into the bell, removes mask/reg, and give a good wave, you'll do a swim thru of a "coral" structure, and a swim around the resteraunt and viewing areas.... Then the DMs tell you to buddy up and you're on your own from there. At the end of the 40 minutes, they bang 2 rocks together and everyone heads back to the main area to surface. You are supposed to stay with your buddy, but when everyone looks exactly alike... that's kinda hard to do!
Fish life-- Well... there were 9 sharks! Two sand tigers 8-9 feet long, and then there were brown sharks, black nose sharks, a silkie, and I think a grey shark too. The smallest was the silkie at about 4 feet long, maybe. The Loggerhead turtle was enormous! Nice rays... including a big spotted eagle ray. Lots and lots of fish.... and I'm not a good fish IDer.... but there were thousands! One of the sand tigers swam right up beside me... what an awesome feeling, and when I turned around, there were 3 more sharks behind me! Cool!
I knelt on the bottom by the resteraunt and posed for many photos! One guy kept trying to hand me his wine... I kept trying to grab for it, but the acrylic was just to tough to get thru! I'd take out my reg and smile at them.... what fun! I did scare some little 2 year old (roughly)... not intentionally, but it was kinda funny! (I know... that sounds mean!). I removed my reg and smiled and he DID NOT like that! LOL
After the dive, we de-geared and went down that same spiral ladder. Remember that air-conditioner I mentioned.... It's freakin' cold when you're wet!! LOL We trapsed back thru the exhibit all soggy and wet... and back to the locker room where we had nice warm showers with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash provided. There were plenty of towels. Hair dryers were also provided. Then we went upstairs where our "Dive Quest Certificates of Completion", T-shirts, Logbook sticker, and they'll have refreshments and drinks. You'll view your video that they take underwater, and have the option to buy it for $35. I bought it! You fill out a little survey, and then you are let free into the gift shop where you can (technically) roam the park.... as they don't escort you out! How nice!
I highly recommend the experience if you're ever around Epcot. It's a must do... at least once! I'm sure that Rod and I will definitely do it again, given the opportunity.
Rod and I arrived at Epcot for the 4:30 Dive Quest on December 10. We were greeted at Guest Services and soon the divemaster came out to greet us. They take your bootie, BC, wetsuit, and tshirt size. You give them your c-card, and off you go to thru a "cast only" door.
Once thru the Cast Only door, you are behind The Living Seas. They show you the filtration system and give you the stats on how many millions of gallons are filtered in "x" amount of time. They tell you that the max depth will be 25 feet for 40 minutes. They explain that, though it's hard to do, if anyone is to get bent.... (pointing over to a green box-like thing)... "that's" the recompression chamber and it's guaranteed to get all bubbles out! LOL.... it was a trash compactor! LOL
They also said that if we get too close to the "grate" that is part of the filter, we may get "sucked" up against it.... no worries though... they say they have a 5 foot long spatula to pry us off so we can continue our experience! LOL Then you'll go thru the back door into the exhibit itself.... right where the patrons view the exhibit. The DM explains that even though the "coral" looks like it's inches from the acrylic panels, it's actually 5-10 feet away, and that the divers can actually "pop up or down" from "nowhere".... and "awe" the guests. He explains that the kids typically love seeing the divers... but inevitably, there will be a couple that get scared. He said, at that point, the kid will back up and start to cry... but then the "Dad response" kicks in... and Dad will grab the kid and hold him/her right up to the glass and say, "Look at the cool diver!" All the while the kid is screaming! LOL The DM says at this point, we can continue to torture the kid, or can swim off... he says, it's the parents that have to pay for the therapy! LOL
They also explain that there's an area that's about 10 feet out from the acrylic, and under the grate (which is on the lower level at that point) that has a "holographic" Nemo deal. They ask for divers to stay out of that area cause it's not a good Disney experience (for little kids) when Nemo swims into your mouth and out your ear or butt!! LOL (No lack of good humor!)We then went thru another door and into a classroom. Here, they show a quick little film of what we will be doing/seeing. They explain that it is a NO TOUCH environment, and that we are not allowed to decend "into" the coral. LOL But, he did say that the "coral" is all made from dental plaster.... and if anyone breaks any, they'll make more, so no worries. Then we decend down a stairway and thru another door.
We are given a key to a locker and shown to the locker room. Once inside it was amazingly clean and everyone had a bag hanging on a hook with their name. In the bag was our wetsuit and booties. We had personal changing areas. They instruct the females (and males if you have long hair) to remove all hair ties, and they will provide "krill" hair ties when we gear up.... safer for the fish if it falls out or breaks.
After this, we are all lead back up the stairs, thru the exhibit in our wetsuits.... lots of heads turn as you now look like an "important employee". LOL We go thru another door and up a spiral staircase that has a nice air conditioner blowing... feels good once you're hot in the wetsuit! We emerged in the center atop the exhibit. All our BCs (weight integrated) were already on the tanks, regs attached, and fins leaned up against them. No depth guages... only the air guage. No octo. Fins were atomic splits. All equiptment was Scubapro and Atomic... very nice! They call your name and you sit in order (they have the tanks and such in order) and get geared up. They explain a few more things, introduce other staff, and off you drift toward the float ball where you'll decend.
Once down on the bottom, you'll get about a 10 minute tour where everyone goes into the bell, removes mask/reg, and give a good wave, you'll do a swim thru of a "coral" structure, and a swim around the resteraunt and viewing areas.... Then the DMs tell you to buddy up and you're on your own from there. At the end of the 40 minutes, they bang 2 rocks together and everyone heads back to the main area to surface. You are supposed to stay with your buddy, but when everyone looks exactly alike... that's kinda hard to do!
Fish life-- Well... there were 9 sharks! Two sand tigers 8-9 feet long, and then there were brown sharks, black nose sharks, a silkie, and I think a grey shark too. The smallest was the silkie at about 4 feet long, maybe. The Loggerhead turtle was enormous! Nice rays... including a big spotted eagle ray. Lots and lots of fish.... and I'm not a good fish IDer.... but there were thousands! One of the sand tigers swam right up beside me... what an awesome feeling, and when I turned around, there were 3 more sharks behind me! Cool!
I knelt on the bottom by the resteraunt and posed for many photos! One guy kept trying to hand me his wine... I kept trying to grab for it, but the acrylic was just to tough to get thru! I'd take out my reg and smile at them.... what fun! I did scare some little 2 year old (roughly)... not intentionally, but it was kinda funny! (I know... that sounds mean!). I removed my reg and smiled and he DID NOT like that! LOL
After the dive, we de-geared and went down that same spiral ladder. Remember that air-conditioner I mentioned.... It's freakin' cold when you're wet!! LOL We trapsed back thru the exhibit all soggy and wet... and back to the locker room where we had nice warm showers with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash provided. There were plenty of towels. Hair dryers were also provided. Then we went upstairs where our "Dive Quest Certificates of Completion", T-shirts, Logbook sticker, and they'll have refreshments and drinks. You'll view your video that they take underwater, and have the option to buy it for $35. I bought it! You fill out a little survey, and then you are let free into the gift shop where you can (technically) roam the park.... as they don't escort you out! How nice!
I highly recommend the experience if you're ever around Epcot. It's a must do... at least once! I'm sure that Rod and I will definitely do it again, given the opportunity.
