DiveQuest in The Living Seas at EPCOT

[cavdeb]

You CAN do Dive Quest without an EPCOT ticket. You meet outside the park gates and the cast member walks you in a back way. However, any family/friends that want to see you dive DO have to have a park ticket to enter and I believe you need park tickets to stay the rest of the day in EPCOT after your dive. Non-divers can walk around the Living Seas exhibits while you prep. Obviously, you need supervision for kids; it is NOT provided by Disney. They do, however, have a list of approved sitters. It is pricey, as you must pay a 1-day park ticket plus transportation and an hourly rate for minimum 4 hours.
TIP: If I did it again, I would go through the exhibits first with my kids (ages 6 and 8) and pick a window for them to stand in that I would recognize from inside the tank. My husband and I actually never clearly saw them (tho' they did see us) and they bored quickly after the initial excitement of seeing Mom and Dad diving and left!

 

[Jerseybeachdiver]

No, non divers were not allowed on top of the tank or backstage. They played in the exhibits and hung out near the main viewing area. During the dive we were able to "present them Vanna White style" and our meeting was recorded on a dvd.

The entire dive is recorded on dvd and available for purchase, the proceeds also go for conservation efforts.

 

[coldwaterlloyd]

Your family has a couple of options for viewing , a restaurant and a large walkaround viewing area , overall a great experience . enjoy

 

[Busdiver]

My wife and I have done the dive 3 times with different friends. The whole backstage thing (post dive) is different with every intern you deal with. Sometimes they encourage you to bring your family backstage (post dive) other times they are not to thrilled. Our last time doing it our then 2 year old had a blast back stage (post dive). There is a neat fish tank in the staging room that one of the interns showed our rug rat the different sea life swimming around.

I will continue to do the dive when we are at Disney. It is a nice way to get in a mellow dive and it is fun to entertain the guests. It has always been a great way to introduce and explain SCUBA to my daughter. She now understands what mommy and daddy are doing when we ditch her on a saturday. Her response to me last saturday was "good daddy, you need to SCUBA." When we go to Disney we have kin in Tampa who drive over to spend time with us. They play with the kid. I guess on one dive she almost got in a fight with another kid who was waving at us. "That's my mommy and daddy!!!"

The cost of the dive goes to promote Disney's ecological activities. Disney claims they do not profit from the dive. They also have a video you can purchase. It is mostly stock video with you thrown in there occassionally.

Bus