Penguinempress
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 11, 2015
The idea of posting a trip report of my entire 2 week vacation was too daunting so I’m doing it in little pieces. Apparently no one has read it but I’ve got a review of my Disney days here http://disboards.com/threads/so-happy-together-april-2016-mk-and-epcot.3518327/ and this will be a review of day at Discovery Cove (April 12th). This was my first trip to Discovery Cove and the advice I got from you guys here really helped so thank you!
A little introduction – I’m Sandra and my husband is Darren. We’re Canadians who love theme parks, Florida and animals. Expect lots of pictures.
I originally wanted to do Discovery Cove on a trip last year but it wouldn't fit in the schedule and I thought it was too expensive. It was one of the first things I booked this trip and when I really worked it out, the cost wasn't really as bad as it initially seemed. After tax, I paid $668 for Darren and I. That included our day at Discovery Cove (with the dolphin swim), unlimited admission to Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens Tampa for 14 days (including parking at all parks). We weren't interested in Aquatica but had already been planning on going to Busch Gardens. So if you consider that we did 3 parks (and the Discovery Cove day included all food and drinks), it wasn't as bad as it initially seems - about $100 per person, per park, per day, which is typical for Orlando. And after actually visiting Discovery Cove, I feel like it was 100% worth it so I’m really glad we went.
The water at Discovery Cove doesn't open until 9am but everyone here said you should get there really early. So we arrived just after 7am and it was a good move - we were one of the first people in line and they started letting everyone inside about 5 minutes after we arrived. We signed in and got the first dolphin swim time for the day, 8:30. It was good to have an early time so we could relax for the rest of the day and not ever have to worry about checking the time. After getting our ID card, we got our free souvenir photo taken (I look pretty awful, as I didn't really do my hair and makeup, seeing as we'd be spending all day in the water). We grabbed some breakfast (which was good - lots of choices and everything was fresh) and sat outside to eat. While we were eating, Darren was telling me about a couple he'd seen at breakfast in our hotel that morning (he'd gone down for a 'pre-breakfast' of coffee & cereal while I was getting dressed). She went to gather up their used plates & cups and take them to the garbage and her husband stopped her - "What are you cleaning up for? They've got people for that." So they just walked away and left all their trash on the table - so rude! When we were done our Discovery Cove breakfast, Darren gathered up our dirty plates and other garbage and went to look for an area to drop them off. A park employee came rushing up to him. "Sir, sir! Please do not ever handle your dishes and garbage, just leave it all on the table. We've got people for that." Hahahaha!!!! Any staff that we encountered all day were super friendly and helpful. It really felt like we at a resort down south, not in the middle of Orlando.
Waiting for opening.
Breakfast!
Before our dolphin swim, we had to get changed into our bathing suits and either a wetsuit or swim vest. If you are in the water at Discovery Cove, a wetsuit or vest is mandatory (they say it's safety reasons, helps make you more visible to the lifeguards). Since it was early and the water would be cool, we opted for wetsuits for the dolphin swim. I was out of the change room first and Darren wasn't out yet - strange. I put my stuff in a locker, put on sunscreen and waited for him. When he finally showed up, he explained that he struggled to get the wetsuit on and when he came outside, some kid was staring at him and smiling. Darren noticed that their wetsuits looked different. 'Hey, yours zips up in the back....do I have mine on backwards? I do! Why didn't you tell me?" The kid laughed and said, "I don't know, I figured that was just how you wanted to wear it." Hahaha! So Darren had to struggle to get it off and put it back on the correct way. Then he couldn't get the zipper up (women are used to zipping up dresses or doing up bras, I can reach any part of my back with no problem. Darren's range of motion is a lot more limited so I guess he had a really tough time getting the zipper up). And getting the thing off and on to go the bathroom was a total nightmare so after our dolphin swim, we both changed into the vests instead.
A little introduction – I’m Sandra and my husband is Darren. We’re Canadians who love theme parks, Florida and animals. Expect lots of pictures.
I originally wanted to do Discovery Cove on a trip last year but it wouldn't fit in the schedule and I thought it was too expensive. It was one of the first things I booked this trip and when I really worked it out, the cost wasn't really as bad as it initially seemed. After tax, I paid $668 for Darren and I. That included our day at Discovery Cove (with the dolphin swim), unlimited admission to Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens Tampa for 14 days (including parking at all parks). We weren't interested in Aquatica but had already been planning on going to Busch Gardens. So if you consider that we did 3 parks (and the Discovery Cove day included all food and drinks), it wasn't as bad as it initially seems - about $100 per person, per park, per day, which is typical for Orlando. And after actually visiting Discovery Cove, I feel like it was 100% worth it so I’m really glad we went.
The water at Discovery Cove doesn't open until 9am but everyone here said you should get there really early. So we arrived just after 7am and it was a good move - we were one of the first people in line and they started letting everyone inside about 5 minutes after we arrived. We signed in and got the first dolphin swim time for the day, 8:30. It was good to have an early time so we could relax for the rest of the day and not ever have to worry about checking the time. After getting our ID card, we got our free souvenir photo taken (I look pretty awful, as I didn't really do my hair and makeup, seeing as we'd be spending all day in the water). We grabbed some breakfast (which was good - lots of choices and everything was fresh) and sat outside to eat. While we were eating, Darren was telling me about a couple he'd seen at breakfast in our hotel that morning (he'd gone down for a 'pre-breakfast' of coffee & cereal while I was getting dressed). She went to gather up their used plates & cups and take them to the garbage and her husband stopped her - "What are you cleaning up for? They've got people for that." So they just walked away and left all their trash on the table - so rude! When we were done our Discovery Cove breakfast, Darren gathered up our dirty plates and other garbage and went to look for an area to drop them off. A park employee came rushing up to him. "Sir, sir! Please do not ever handle your dishes and garbage, just leave it all on the table. We've got people for that." Hahahaha!!!! Any staff that we encountered all day were super friendly and helpful. It really felt like we at a resort down south, not in the middle of Orlando.
Waiting for opening.
Breakfast!
Before our dolphin swim, we had to get changed into our bathing suits and either a wetsuit or swim vest. If you are in the water at Discovery Cove, a wetsuit or vest is mandatory (they say it's safety reasons, helps make you more visible to the lifeguards). Since it was early and the water would be cool, we opted for wetsuits for the dolphin swim. I was out of the change room first and Darren wasn't out yet - strange. I put my stuff in a locker, put on sunscreen and waited for him. When he finally showed up, he explained that he struggled to get the wetsuit on and when he came outside, some kid was staring at him and smiling. Darren noticed that their wetsuits looked different. 'Hey, yours zips up in the back....do I have mine on backwards? I do! Why didn't you tell me?" The kid laughed and said, "I don't know, I figured that was just how you wanted to wear it." Hahaha! So Darren had to struggle to get it off and put it back on the correct way. Then he couldn't get the zipper up (women are used to zipping up dresses or doing up bras, I can reach any part of my back with no problem. Darren's range of motion is a lot more limited so I guess he had a really tough time getting the zipper up). And getting the thing off and on to go the bathroom was a total nightmare so after our dolphin swim, we both changed into the vests instead.
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