DeputyDan
Contributor
I know - This should be in the Florida regional thread - but we all have to buck authority in some form or fashion.
My oldest child is a senior in high school so the family decided to do the "Orlando thing" since we don't know what college will bring to the family dynamics or to the budget. I am sure that many of you have been there and done that.
Based on the information on this board, we knew what to expect from the Dive Quest operation and I must say that pretty much everything was just as other posters had indicated. As far as discounts go - AAA was better than SSI or PADI.
We flew in early on Saturday the 25th of March and spent the day in the Epcot theme park. I will have to say that the Disney Parks are getting old and tired. The many years of pod people (more on this later) have taken there toll on the facilities. The original "living Seas" operation is now closed. Now the living seas consist of looking at the pretty fish in the aquarium, four male dolphins, several recovering manatees, and a younger child's show focused around the "Finding Nemo" movie. The underwater research facility is long gone.
Everything with the Dive Quest operation went very smoothly. We were met at 5:30pm and taken on the tour. It was pretty clear that our guide did not dive when he did not know what some of our questions were - let along how to answer them. There were six divers in our time slot - three from my family and three guys from Venezuela who were all very pleasant.
When gearing up, one of my kids told the Disney DM's that we sure were not using rental gear. They got a kick out of that. Everything was top notch Scuba Pro.
The dive was approximately 40 minutes and as other posters have noted - yes it became somewhat boring toward the end. But its still diving.
My wife and several family members had the opportunity to watch from the viewing area. This was excellent because she does not dive and it gave her an opportunity to see a little glimpse of what goes on down below.
Back to the pod people; because it was obvious that there were children diving in the tank, my wife received many, many inquiries from park visitors about how to sign up and what did it cost. She commented that no one asked about "real diving" it was all about lets dive in Disney. Very few inquiries about certification either. Thus I conclude that divers have no real real fears from the podsters. It it does not have a mouse on it or a cruise ship port nearby they won't come anyhow.
What I consider the real bonus of doing this dive was the discussion afterwards about what was in the tank versus what was on a reef and why the differences. We had extended discussions on christmas tree worms and pedersen shrimp and the fact that none were in the tank. We also discussed the lack of eels and reef squid.
All in all I would give the entire experience a thumbs up and say that you should do if given the opportunity. My kids loved the opportunity to show off in front of the crowds. However, I do not plan to repeat.
DD
My oldest child is a senior in high school so the family decided to do the "Orlando thing" since we don't know what college will bring to the family dynamics or to the budget. I am sure that many of you have been there and done that.
Based on the information on this board, we knew what to expect from the Dive Quest operation and I must say that pretty much everything was just as other posters had indicated. As far as discounts go - AAA was better than SSI or PADI.
We flew in early on Saturday the 25th of March and spent the day in the Epcot theme park. I will have to say that the Disney Parks are getting old and tired. The many years of pod people (more on this later) have taken there toll on the facilities. The original "living Seas" operation is now closed. Now the living seas consist of looking at the pretty fish in the aquarium, four male dolphins, several recovering manatees, and a younger child's show focused around the "Finding Nemo" movie. The underwater research facility is long gone.
Everything with the Dive Quest operation went very smoothly. We were met at 5:30pm and taken on the tour. It was pretty clear that our guide did not dive when he did not know what some of our questions were - let along how to answer them. There were six divers in our time slot - three from my family and three guys from Venezuela who were all very pleasant.
When gearing up, one of my kids told the Disney DM's that we sure were not using rental gear. They got a kick out of that. Everything was top notch Scuba Pro.
The dive was approximately 40 minutes and as other posters have noted - yes it became somewhat boring toward the end. But its still diving.
My wife and several family members had the opportunity to watch from the viewing area. This was excellent because she does not dive and it gave her an opportunity to see a little glimpse of what goes on down below.
Back to the pod people; because it was obvious that there were children diving in the tank, my wife received many, many inquiries from park visitors about how to sign up and what did it cost. She commented that no one asked about "real diving" it was all about lets dive in Disney. Very few inquiries about certification either. Thus I conclude that divers have no real real fears from the podsters. It it does not have a mouse on it or a cruise ship port nearby they won't come anyhow.
What I consider the real bonus of doing this dive was the discussion afterwards about what was in the tank versus what was on a reef and why the differences. We had extended discussions on christmas tree worms and pedersen shrimp and the fact that none were in the tank. We also discussed the lack of eels and reef squid.
All in all I would give the entire experience a thumbs up and say that you should do if given the opportunity. My kids loved the opportunity to show off in front of the crowds. However, I do not plan to repeat.
DD
