CONFIRMED: The Seas Pavilion Is Canceling VIP Tours Due to "The Safety and Well-Being of the Animals" in EPCOT

One of the best ways to enhance the magic of a trip to Disney World is by checking out some of the special VIP tours that are available in the park!

In EPCOT, you can check out the Behind the Seeds tour at Living with the Land, and recently, DiveQuest was brought back after an extended closure. However, we’ve got some bad news — multiple DiveQuest tours have been canceled once again. After a little investigating, we found out why.

Recently, we got word that Disney has been canceling some upcoming DiveQuest reservations due to “the safety and well-being of the animals.” Those who booked a DiveQuest reservation were told there was no exact timeline for when the experience would return.

Naturally, we had to get to the bottom of this mystery, so we headed to EPCOT. A Cast Member told us that the DiveQuest tours have been canceled for now because Hali, a hammerhead shark, started to swim laterally. The Cast Member added that she’s always moved through the water with a little tilt. Now that the DiveQuest tours have been canceled, though, it appears that the shark has started swimming less laterally. (An improvement!)

Currently, Cast Members are testing things to see if the divers are the reason Hali started to swim differently, or if it has something to do with the new netting inside the tank. The netting was expanded to help separate species that need a little more TLC from other, more active animals.

Disney has only canceled DiveQuest tours for the next few weeks. That said, since divers are no longer in the tank, Hali is behaving normally. This does mean that it’s possible the divers were negatively affecting Hali, and Disney is choosing to prioritize the well-being of its animals, which we think is absolutely the best move.

More Recent EPCOT News!

The good news is that there are plenty of other AWESOME tours and behind-the-scenes experiences in Disney World. We LOVED the Behind the Seeds tour in The Land Pavilion.

Behind The Seeds Tour

If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!