The Vittetoe family goes diving in Disney (without me!)

As some of you may know, despite my love for Disney, I’ve never actually been to Disney World. My sister and I used to give my parents a hard time about our never making a trip to the magical land that all our friends revered, but last week my family (without me!) got to make the most amazing Disney World trip I’ve ever heard of. In order to fully explain the trip, I need to give a little background info.

My family’s favorite thing to do together is scuba dive, and over the years it’s become much more than just a hobby. My parents met through scuba diving almost 25 years ago, so it’s pretty safe to say that our family is founded on scuba diving. Ever since I turned 12 and became old enough to get my diving certification it’s been an adventure that we all share a love for and can do together. In 2009 my parents started a small scuba diving shop called Tank Worx. For the past two years my parents have gone to a conference called DEMA (Dive Equipment and Marketing Association) to look at scuba gear they might want to put in the shop. This year the conference was held in Orlando and my sister got to go with them as a “consultant” (that’s what the business cards she made for herself say anyway).

Now we get to the exciting part of the trip. My parents, sister, and their diving friends who made the trip with them got to scuba dive in the shark tank in Epcot! They got to use the gear that the animal trainers and other underwater workers use and spent 45 minutes in the tank with manta rays, sharks, and a bunch of other saltwater fish. At first they just swam around the front part of the tank where there weren’t too many fish and waved at the people watching through the glass. Then after about 15 minutes they were led to a part further back in the tank and kneeled down on the sand. Almost immediately they were greeted by hammerhead, nurse, and sand sharks. The sharks swam right by the group of divers, coming within a foot of my sister’s head! She said she was terrified at first but after a couple of minutes all she could think about was how incredible it was to be so close to such amazing animals. After their dive they were free to roam around the park until it closed (for free!). Hearing the stories about my family’s first Disney trip made me unbelievably jealous, especially because it was such a unique way to visit Disney for the first time. The good news is the conference is being held in Orlando again in 2015, so that gives me two years to convince my parents to bring me with them next time. Here are some pictures and what my sister said about the trip!

Karly says:

It was absolutely a once in a life time experience. Diving in the Living Seas Exhibit in EPCOT was such a special moment in my life because millions of people see this exhibit, but very few see it from the other side of the glass as I had the opportunity to. My favorite part of my Dive Quest in the Living Seas Exhibit in EPCOT was the communication with the children on the other side of the glass. Blowing everyone bubble rings, waving to people as they sat to enjoy their supper, and taking pictures with the kids were just a few of the events special to me.