Animal tours/experiences at Seaworld? (e.g., beluga) - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
PassPorter.com
Award-winning travel guidebooks

   guidebooks   |   news   |   podcasts   |   boards   |   blog   |   worksheets   |   photos   |   articles   |   updates   |   register   |   follow us on


Forums Closed
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.

So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.

Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.

And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.

We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm​. You made it all happen.

There are other changes as well.

Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:

We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.

It's time to move on and move forward.

PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.

But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.

So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.

And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.

That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!

If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.

So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

Go Back   PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums > PassPorter's Florida Destinations Beyond Walt Disney World > Central Florida Attractions: SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, Busch Gardens
Register


Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.

To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.

If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-05-2010, 04:22 PM   #1
coastgirl
Community Rank: Trekker
 
coastgirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Nova Scotia Canada
Posts: 1,906

Post Thanks / Like
Animal tours/experiences at Seaworld? (e.g., beluga)

Hoping for a first trip to Seaworld in February. Dh and ds have been looking for something special for themselves every since I did that Astronaut Training a few years ago. I saw the beluga experience at Seaworld, wonder if anyone has any experience with that or the other special experiences at Seaworld? There are smaller things, like behind the scenes with the dolphins and also sea lions...any one do any of these? My SIL and niece did the dolphin experience at Discovery Cove a few years ago, but that's $500 for two, a bit rich for my blood...
__________________
JoAnne and family (dh, ds 10 and dd 7) WDW May 06 (Pop/AKL/Poly); Jan 07 (CBR); DCL Magic Eastern, Dec 07. CSR Sept 2009.

Hoping to book for February 2011 to check out Hogwart's
coastgirl is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2010, 01:59 PM   #2
Fortissimo
Recovering VMK Addict!
PassPorter's Club Passholder


What's this?

PassPorter Guide

Community Rank: Explorer
 
Fortissimo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Thornton, CO
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 13,087

Post Thanks / Like
I haven't done any of the SeaWorld tours, but we did do the Dolphin swim at DC. Yes it is expensive but worth every cent.

Hope someone can answer your question about the SW tours!
__________________
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous TripsDLR 6/1976 & 3/1986. WDW offsite Sept. 1985, Jan. 1988, Dec/Jan 1990/91, July, 1999. Enough of the off-site stays! CBR June 2000; PO-R June 2002; POP, CBR and Daytona Beach June 2005; 40th b-day celebration PO-R & AKL, June 2006; POFQ, Daytona (to watch Stinky win Nationals!) and back to the Fish (Dolphin) 2007.
Fortissimo is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Old 10-19-2010, 12:46 AM   #3
twins4me
Community Rank: Adventurer
 
twins4me's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: WI
Posts: 980

Post Thanks / Like
We had the dolphin tour booked on 9/27. Arrived at SeaWorld, checked in for the tour, we were given out tickets, and told our tour was at 2 p.m. We were told the wrong meeting place, then when we found our spot, no one showed up. I had to call the reservation number to book a tour and finally be transferred inside the park to be told our tour was canceled. There was no employee waiting to tell us, no sign, nothing. We were told it was canceled, with no logical explanation, no apology.

I sent SeaWorld an e-mail about their poor customer service skills and gave some thoughts on how this could have gone more smoothly (take people's cell phone numbers in case of a cancelation, have someone there to meet your tour groups with some sort of explanation, a "sorry, but our dolphin was sick" parting gift, etc.) We were really disappointed. This was our first time at SeaWorld and maybe our last.

Hope someone has some positive experiences for you. I know our friends loved DC and had some good experiences there.
__________________
Trish




My Countdown Counting down to: Heading Home Again!
Another great trip for the books!
My PassPorter Bookshelf
My Previous Trips2/2005 Disneyland, Paradise Pier 4/2006 WDW, CBR 12/2007 WDW, POR 4/2009 WDW, ASMo 9/2010 WDW, POFQ 4/2012 DL, Disneyland Hotel 5/2014 WDW, AKL
twins4me is offline  
 
Reply With Quote
Reply



Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump










Please login or register to hide these ads -- it's free and easy!

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:22 PM.

-->

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like v3.4.0 Patch Level 1 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
(c) 1998-2017 PassPorter Travel Press/MediaMarx, Inc.
Celebrating 19 Years of Making Dreams Come True
Ad Management plugin by RedTyger