discovery cove discounts?

L

laurafaith

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
hi all! discovery cove has been on my "bucket list" for like 5 years...I really want to go on our upcoming trip in October....but it will be me and my 2oldest sons doing the dolphin swim and my DH and our younger son just doing the park tickets....
so...if I buy tickets right now its looking like - $1135!!!

im trying to talk my husband into it ...but that is ALOT of money when we are already spending thousands to be at Disney -- we were thinking of doing sea world -- and if im reading right u get to go to sea world another day for free right?

I guess my question is .. is there ever discounts -- is it better to buy now? or wait till closer to the date? thanks!
 
Discounts are offered occasionally, but I wouldn't count on one. They are sporadic and don't tend to follow any specific pattern.

In my experience, ticket prices only increase over time (prices go up as remaining availability decreases). Your price for 5 people sounds reasonable to me.....but of course, that's easy for me to say because I'm not the one footing the bill! Waiting to book could cost you dearly....I have seen rates jump by $50 pp in the span of a few days.

Your DC admission includes 14 day passes to both SeaWorld and Aquatica (SeaWorld's waterpark). Both excellent parks, both worth at least a day's visit each (or more). To not use your included SW & AQ admission definitely decreases the "value" of your DC tickets, as essentially you are buying a component but not using it.

One way of purchasing tickets that *might* work out cheaper for you is to buy one annual pass to Aquatica (to qualify you as an Annual Passholder....an Aquatica pass is your cheapest route) and then buy passholder admission to Discovery Cove. It doesn't include admission to the other two parks (just DC) and with 5 people in your family, it often can work out to a savings. Passmember admission for DC starts at $169 pp (with the dolphin swim) and $99 (no dolphin swim). One Aquatica AP will run you $108. Not sure what your current price is, but this gives you something to compare overall costs to.
 
laurafaith, I'm with you. I can't swing the cost of DC if it were to only go there. I'm going this May and using the 14 day passes for SW and Aquatica to make a week of the three parks. I made my reservation several months ago when DC offered a discount, and I've casually kept an eye out to see how often they offer discounts. And it's pretty rare that they do. And like Gina said, the price only goes up the closer you get to the date you want.

What I'm afraid of is that DC will blow my kids' minds so every time we go back to Disney (which is about every other year), it will break their hearts if we don't go to DC.

I found the old email with the special I used. DC emailed the special December 5th and it was dolphin swim for $219 per person/no dolphin swim for $149 per person if reservations were made before December 25th. If memory serves me correctly, I think the dolphin swim price at the time was $289 per person. The current dolphin swim price is $319 per person.

Gina's idea of getting an Aquatica annual pass is pretty slick idea if you aren't interested in the 14 days of SW and Aquatica.
 
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It is an expensive park but when you think of everything that it covers it doesn't sound so bad - no paying for breakfast for 5 (could easily cost you $50-80 if you ate out), more expensive for lunch out so that's another $60-100, no parking to pay for and then throw in the free days at SeaWorld and Aquatica!.

Am I making this easier to convince your husband?? LOL! I hope so. I think they call this creative accounting but it works for me!

We are going August 8, 2015 and it will be our second trip there. We are going with friends who have never been and they are all doing the dolphin swim but we decided we would give it a miss this time to say a few $$$. We booked a while ago (November I think!) because we knew it would be a busy time of the year and it is already expensive $299 for swim, $199 without! so we didn't want to risk not getting in or paying any more.

Good luck with making your choices but if you choose to go you will have a great time.
 


so the Aquatica pass works like the SeaWorld pass for dates? It isn't more limited in availability or anything? I am getting ready to book and the pass option will save us $$$ but I want to make sure to get the lowest cost pass that ensures access to the discount admission to DC.
 
dljacob said:
so the Aquatica pass works like the SeaWorld pass for dates? It isn't more limited in availability or anything? I am getting ready to book and the pass option will save us $$$ but I want to make sure to get the lowest cost pass that ensures access to the discount admission to DC.
Click to expand...

The Passmember price is the passmember price....regardless off what park you have the AP for. Even though the AQ pass is less expensive than the others, it doesn't mean more restrictive DC availability with the discount :) .
 


Thanks! This is exactly what I needed to know! I can't believe how much $ it will save...the dolphin swim is still crazy expensive but the day rate is great!
 
ack! I bought an aquatica annual pass but it says I need to activate at the park which I can't do! Does anyone know if I can book discovery cove without activating or if I can remote activate somehow?
 
dljacob said:
ack! I bought an aquatica annual pass but it says I need to activate at the park which I can't do! Does anyone know if I can book discovery cove without activating or if I can remote activate somehow?
Click to expand...

Call Discovery Cove. They should be able to verify your AP purchase with the order number, then secure your DC reservation with the passholder discount. 1-877-557-7404.

You WILL have to activate that Aquatica AP before you actually arrive at DC. So be sure to build time for that into your plans.
 
Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina said:
Call Discovery Cove. They should be able to verify your AP purchase with the order number, then secure your DC reservation with the passholder discount. 1-877-557-7404.

You WILL have to activate that Aquatica AP before you actually arrive at DC. So be sure to build time for that into your plans.
Click to expand...

I was just coming to post the same question. Thank you!

Since my Ap hasn't been activated, I can't see the blackout dates. We will going to Orlando from May 25 to Jun 3. Any of those days blocked?
 
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thanks! Activating will be a bit of a pain...i have to do in person during open hours? Is Aquatica near Seaworld and DC?

the discovery cove people are very helpful...dont call the regular SeaWorld people...they are pretty clueless about DC. I called yesterday and got all booked for August! If you call and ask, they will quote the price for the days you are interested.
 
Aquatica, Seaworld and Discovery Cove are all located right next to each other. If you have a car I'm guessing it would be literally a 2 minute drive from park to park? Add a few minutes to navigate the parking lots and I would guess 10 minutes tops. But speaking of parking, that would be kind of a stinker to have to pay for parking at Aquatica if literally all you are doing is activating your annual pass and not really entering the park.
 
So 1 Aquatica passholder can buy tickets for other people(assuming that the passholder is in the group of course!)?
Also, having just had a quick look at the DC site, I can't see anywhere to apply the AP discount - or is it something you book via the AP site?
 
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