MEV Vacation Tips: Stingrays on Disney�s Castaway Cay
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If you don�t normally spend much time at the bottom of the ocean but would like to experience a little of what the sandy bottoms hold, the Stingray Experience on Castaway Cay (pronounced �key�), Disney�s private island, is a fantastic experience for little kids and BIG kids alike!
The whole adventure takes about an hour, and it�s an hour well spent. You need to pre-register for this �port adventure� either on the ship or ahead of time online. At your pre-determined time, check in at Stingray Ray�s shack, and get snorkel equipment. After a brief but informative talk on the different species of stingrays and their behavior by a Disney cast member and trainer, it was off to the water!
There are seven time slots during the day, and each one allows 30-40 people to experience this at one time. Once gathered at the water�s edge, we were split into groups of 6-8. Each group was led into the water (which is only about knee/thigh high) and placed around some specially-designed ramps that the stingrays are trained to go up and down. Each person in the group is taught and shown how to feed these amazing creatures and have several opportunities to do so. The stingrays are very well trained and look forward to the 7 feeding times each day, with a fun twist on how they trained these creatures, but I can say that they may call their meals �Mickey munchies!� The small lagoon holds at least 40 stingrays, and the cast members know each one by name!
After feeding and touching the stingrays, guests are free to snorkel in this contained lagoon for the remainder of the hour. The tropical Bahamian water is crystal clear, so staying on the surface and watching from above is no problem for visibility at all. Just a hint � here�s where the �tip� comes in � if you are snorkeling and want to see the most stingrays, head to the far right side of the lagoon and follow the fencing. The stingrays seem to want to all hang out over there, and they are so cool to watch!
All in all, this was a port adventure with �big doin�s!�
Interested in visiting Disney�s private island, Castaway Cay? Contact your MouseEarVacations.com� Travel Specialist to book your next Disney Cruise Line� vacation!