The encounters and pictures are way over priced but it was worth it to have a once in a lifetime experience. If you are not planning on swimming with the dolphins or having another animal encounter then it's not worth the price of admission. They don't have very many exhibits there. The food is reasonably priced, however the burger I ordered was horrible. I paid $89 for pictures on a CD for two people because they make it impossible to get a good picture during the encounters.
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So my daughter has been wanting to swim with the dolphins for like ever. So for her 6th Birthday i took her, she's not a midget but she's relatively small in size, she could only participate in the dolphin encounter which was fine because of her height i only actually had to pay for my ticket..hints she could not do the swim alone. So Fast forward to the swim our trainer was sweet but bland but my daughter didn't care it was about the dolphin's for her. Our dolphin name was "Angel" she was born at Gulf World and was 3 years old (umm that means that all their animals aren't rescued!!) Anyways my daughter enjoyed it but spectators we're not allowed to take any pictures..reason why is they want you to buy their pictures, so im like okay that's fine the pics are only $55 not a big deal.
The staff was so RUDE!!! I mean incredibly rude, As if i had not spent a great deal of money there!! No one was on the same page, one person said one thing while other was saying something completely different. However the Photographers had to be the rudest and pardon my french MR'ers in there. Rude and might I add racist comments being made!! Then when attempting to purchase my pictures because clearly this is a memory they insisted i had to pay the price for 2 people because it was me and my daughter in the photo's, which i found to be absurd, so finally i said "Just give me all the pictures of her with less of me in them" and they reluctantly agreed wit the worse attitude, He basically went through and picked 67 pics and said okay. It was just unreal how they made me feel as a customer.
I wouldn't suggest anyone bring their business here!! 2 Starts because the experience and my daughters happiness slightly made it worth it.
A wonderful place to take your family when looking for an attraction indoors. The dolphin show was absolutely AMAZING! The only problem we had was finding a place to park.
Was really disappointed in the enclosures. The red eared slider turtles had no basking light. Which is a very basic need for these turtles. Without proper lighting, their shells will rot. (I own one as a pet and was surprised my cheap setup was nicer than these professionals setups.) The seal pool also seemed way too small for them. (Hopefully there was a larger pool in the back for them but idk if there was.) Wasn t much to do. The dolphin show was nice, but unless you do an interactive program, doesn t seem worth the price. Overall everything just seemed really cheap like they weren t willing to put any money into the animals enclosures.
Today wasn't as good as the previous visits but I still love this place. The shows we're shorter and not as active with the dolphins as usual. A lot of the wildlife seemed to be missing also. Hopefully it will get back to the way it was.
The place is small but actually really nice with touching zones and show areas. Swimming with dolphins is cool, you can book it online $90, but you cannot take pictures and they ask $50/person for photos.
Decent shows, tiny place. No aquarium. Just a large bird exhibit and a sting ray petting pond. Not to bad for 30 bucks a person. The shows make up for size of the place, my daughter enjoyed the shows very much.
Fantastic! The swim with the dolphins was unbelievable...better than the one in Hawaii! Special thanks to trainer Rachel, photographer Mary, and guest services Marilyn Crawfield. There is so much to see and do but not overwhelming...just perfect. This is beyond 5 stars. Thank you...we'll be back and encourage others to go to.
My family and grandchildren participated in the Dolphin encounter. It was FANTASTIC. Much more than I expected. Each participant gets a lot of "quality time" with the dolphin and trainer. They have a professional photographer that takes a lot of amazing pictures. They do allow you to take your own pictures too. We LOVED it!
Not worth the money. Not very many animals, and pretty small for what it's worth. Unless you're wasting money swimming with the dolphins it's a not worth visiting. We spent less than an hour here, and even with Florida resident half off discount it was $45 for 2 adults and a child. The Gulfarium on Okaloosa Island is way better and cheaper.
We took a fam vaca to panama city beach FL Great place fun for kids decent prices awesome dolphin and seal shows they have a touch tank and alota animals to look at
I thoroughly enjoyed the shows and the strong encouragement to recycle and save the planet. However, for all the education on recycling this facility contains zero recycle bins...how is this possible?? Cans and plastic bottles are sold in vending machines and yet there is not one place to recycle. Very disappointing. Add recycle bins and I add 2 more stars!!!!
The VIP experience was incredible! I can hardly even put words to it. We did a Bottlenose Dolphin Royal Swim. The foot push was worth the whole experience. Truly a once in a lifetime experience!
Don't go to a place that supports wild animal captivity...these animals aren't ment to be there...I know we wouldn't let to be taken from our homes and kept in small spaces??? Why support them? Just go to the beach and see them there not in a small tank.
Receptionists were kind at the front desk. That's about the best part of it. The habitats seemed run down. The ceilings were leaking water every where. They do have military discount so that's great. But our kids were excited for the dolphin encounter. We were there before 1:30 like they said to be. Everyone was waiting and none of the workers came over until 2:15 to say the encounter was cancelled. They seemed very disorganized. Then they tried to not refund us the full price even though they cancelled it. They tried to charge us for admission to the shows, which we weren't even there at any time a show was happening. Thankfully we ended up getting our full refund of $280. Also I saw the photo prices. It would have cost us $160 for a photo if we had gotten to do the encounter! That's insane. For the prices they are charging, it seems like it would be better maintained.
The people I spoke to over the phone were great, but the people tending the desks seemed to want to be rid of me from the word go.
We enjoyed the trainers a lot, they all knew their stuff and the facility was nice for a smaller city.
My only real complaint outside of the sour front desk staff is that during our dolphin meet and greet, we were the last to go even though we had two very small kids. By the time they reached us, our toddler, who to be fair, had woken up early that day already, was done waiting and was acting like a brat. It would have helped him and us get more out of the experience if we hadn't been dead last in the queue.
I was so excited to have my children at the park and have the opportunity of a lifetime to swim with the dolphins. Of course, we traveled from afar from no where near the ocean to have this event. We enjoyed the park but the chains were constantly redirecting traffic and a bit confusing. Some of the areas were outdated and needing repairs but for the overall price of admission, we understood. The shows were cute, entertaining and educational. The staff and aquatic performances were great. Some people were complaining about the no picture policy during the swim adventure with the dolphins but I had read carefully the rules. It is expensive to add on pictures. But while my children were in the water and I was observing, all I could smell was propane. I called over a member of the staff and alerted them as others with me smelled it too. While conversation transpired I missed my sons big swim. Then she came back and spoke with me letting me know they were working on it and I missed seeing my daughters big moment. I was crushed and dizzy from the fumes. The staff was helpful and sweet but I will be forever remiss that s I didn t see what I paid for. Overall, wonderful trainers, staff and wildlife. Facilities need a boost. Be sure to read their policies and don t blink if your child s swimming with a dolphin!
Its an ok place to take the children but its very small it doesn't have much to look at. It has a small fish tank with about 3-4 small sharks and a seaturtle, about 5 penguins, about 13 parrots and 1 flamingo and 3 dolphins and 2 sealions and thats it. Its mostly popular because you can swim with the dolphins but it costs extra apart from the regular admission and theres a big waiting line. They also have a show about every half hour.
Dolphin show drew up the overall impression, but otherwise little expensive to see. We did not participate in activities / training offers, where, among other things. can swim with dolphins, it is certainly a higher.
There was never a dull moment. You had showings, food, and many more attractions. The best part, in my opinion, were the dolphin shows and the sea lions.
It's small very small I was expecting am aquarium. But animals are great. I just hope it's not for profit and the exorbitant amount it cost to get in goes to the animals instead of someone's pockets. Because it isn't worth it unless it's for the animals.
Great way to spend the afternoon! We packed a lunch and had a picnic at the beach across the street before going in. I would also recommend buying your tickets in the parking lot before you go inside. We saved a bit of money that way!
We did the Royal Dolphin swim...it was AWESOME. Young girl at front desk VERY rude all other employees very nice and helpful. They say they are ckg temperatures they are NOT.
We really enjoyed our visit here. At first I felt like it was very expensive for what it was, but after walking around the whole place and realizing how much there was to see and do I feel the price was appropriate for all the fun we had.
Honestly, seeing the entire park would probably take only 15 to 20 minutes, as it is fairly small, but we had a pleasant time, nonetheless. The time spent gets drawn out from watching the staff train (they re just feeding) the animals, or the various shows during the day, which are okay. The Pets show probably had seating for 200 people, although there were only about 25 attendees, which felt kinda sad. The water/dolphin shows are pretty cool, and were more populated - my daughter and I were the only ones to sit in the splash zone and get soaked, just for the heck of it (when in Rome). The park itself had a bit of an overpriced tourist trap vibe (low-budget Seaworld), but Panama City has limited choices and the ticket staff at the entrance had a plethora of coupons, bargain options, group rates, etc. to get in, so we saved money on admission. There are a couple of underwhelming walk paths, a stingray petting area that s kind of cool (for a few minutes), and a few other animal exhibits. My kids opted for the dolphin experience, but we were prohibited from taking photos because the flash startles the dolphins - yeah, but their camera guy snaps photos, non-stop (with a flash) and then price gouges you if you want one (that dynamic was a jip). In fact, now that I think of it, they REALLY push the photo thing, with exclusive photo staff roving the park to get another dollar out of the next person willing to pay for it. Ahhh, the joys of capitalism. Enjoy!
My boyfriend decided to bring me here as a part of our get away mini vacation and I LOVED IT! Yes it is small but it's very enjoyable and hands on.
We purchased the $30 photo special which lets you get photos of you kissing sea lions, dolphins, seals and holding countless animals. At the end of your visit you go to the photo counter and receive a disk with all of your photos from the day. Also the photographers were super friendly and tons of fun!
Being able to interact (hold/ feed/ kiss/ shake hands/ pet) with all the animals was definitely the highlight of my visit but the shows were just as impressive.
I work in the veterinary field so the care and over all appearance of the animals was the first thing i looked for. I wasn't dissapointed, everyone looked healthy, happy and stimulated.
If you have the opportunity please take the time to visit.
This review is about the experience that I had just trying to reserve a spot for one of the three Dolphin experiences. I cannot rate "Gulf World" itself because I never even got the opportunity to speak with anyone or have someone contact me about questions regarding this experience for my special needs daughter and our son.
1) You are directed from their website to call via phone to speak with one of their team members for special needs children. I called 5 different times during operating hours, navigated thru the options only to re-direct me to book it via the website. I never spoke to a "friendly team member". I left two messages to have someone call me back. No return calls.
2) I used their website and "Contact Us" feature after the first two calls and sent them an e-mail to have someone contact me as I had questions. No return e-mail or call.
Clearly "Gulf World" doesn't know the word Customer Service and they lost out on $500 worth of income, had this family done the Dolphin tour. And this visit was during the non-peak season.. prior to Memorial Day.
I guess they don't need the money or happy customers. If you are looking to experience this, better show up at the door or book it online. Oh and I drove past the place.. good luck on finding a parking spot. This tells me they are so busy people like me, well we just don't matter and that is sad. Sad because we could have had a wonderful experience instead of feeling like we did not matter.
We found a much better way to spend our hard earned money. The Sea Screamer was an excellent experience and of course we were able to take the money we would have spent at Gulf World and purchase more souvenirs.
Gulf World, you really need to fix your customer service or continue to read bad reviews such as this one. What I experienced was really a 0 Star not 1 star rating.
We participated in the Dolphin Encounter and had an amazing time! Everything was very well organized, albeit very rushed since we were in the first session and they don t open very early! BE ADVISED while the dolphin experience is amazing and a once in a lifetime experience, the pictures are nearly as expensive as the experience, budget accordingly.
Very disappointed this year. We have been 2 other times and there was so much more then. The dolphin show was extremely diappointing... more entertaining in the previous years. Our family of 3 was $76. No flamingoes, only a handful of birds. I very rarely post negative reviews, but I am extremely disappointed bc I know how it use to be. Thankful for what they do for the community.
gulfworldmarinepark.com
