# Discovery Cove Tips?  What you wish you knew before you went!



## lovmy2girls

What am I forgetting?  I dont know.   

They have everything right?  Towels, sunscreen, food, drinks?  

What did you wish you knew before you went?


Give me your tips? or suggestions?


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## mickeysaver

After reading through all of the stuff that I can find, so far, we have made several purchases and plans.

We have ear plugs and swimmer's ear drops to help get any water that might make it's way into our ears out.

We have purchased a special beach towel for us to share and a personal beach towel for each of us.  I know that towels are provided by DC, but sometimes, you just want your own towel.

We have purchased spray on sunscreen.

We have purchased "do rags" to help protect our sensitive scalps.

We have purchased several underwater disposable cameras.

We have our own special "beach bags" to hold our goodies.

We have purchased water socks/shoes.

We have new sunglasses for the trip.

We also have hats that we can wear when out of the water.

We plan to arrive at 8:00am for the check in process.  The park officially opens at 10:00am.  I understand it takes a bit of time to get checked in.....like 45 minutes or so.

The day is pretty much all inclusive, with the exception of the souvenier photos and videos.  Happy planning!  I look forward to seeing what others post too.  Maggie


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## lovmy2girls

mickeysaver said:


> After reading through all of the stuff that I can find, so far, we have made several purchases and plans.
> 
> We have ear plugs and swimmer's ear drops to help get any water that might make it's way into our ears out.
> 
> We have purchased a special beach towel for us to share and a personal beach towel for each of us.  I know that towels are provided by DC, but sometimes, you just want your own towel.
> 
> We have purchased spray on sunscreen.
> 
> We have purchased "do rags" to help protect our sensitive scalps.
> 
> We have purchased several underwater disposable cameras.
> 
> We have our own special "beach bags" to hold our goodies.
> 
> We have purchased water socks/shoes.
> 
> We have new sunglasses for the trip.
> 
> We also have hats that we can wear when out of the water.
> 
> We plan to arrive at 8:00am for the check in process.  The park officially opens at 10:00am.  I understand it takes a bit of time to get checked in.....like 45 minutes or so.
> 
> The day is pretty much all inclusive, with the exception of the souvenier photos and videos.  Happy planning!  I look forward to seeing what others post too.  Maggie



Thanks for your list.  I would like to have our own towels too, but I didn't want to have to keep up with them during the trip.  We have big ones, but the ones at DC will have to do.

Ok DC vets, tell us your tips and things we should know.


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## Krispy

I know you want to  bring sunscreen but they actually provided us with sunscreen at check in. It's "dolphin" safe. Please don't bring your own!


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## CapeCodDoug

If you're going to SW and BG too, purchase your parking online before you go. We arrived at the SW gate, and there was no option to buy the 14 day parking pass there. Inside SeaWorld you could upgrade, but the pricing wasn't right in their computer. It took several calls from SW managers to DC to get things straightened out.

Basically, you want your invoice from DC to have SW/BG parking itemized right on it. Then you give the invoice to the lot attendant each day instead of cash. At SW we got preferred parking, not at BG. Discovery cove parking itself is, ofcourse, free.

Have fun!


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## MemoryMakers2669

Outside sunscreen is NOT allowed, at all, so don't bother bringing it.  They provide oil free for you.  Also, towels are plentiful and clean, but that really is personal preference there.  We had no issues with using their towels.

We arrived at 7:45 and were checked in and were assigned the first dolphin swim of the morning...9:20!  It didn't take long at all to get checked in.

They checked our bags, then we went to the check in desk.  Here they took pictures and put our credit cards on our accounts.  There were three of us and we each were able to put our own cards on our own accounts..which was nice.  

We then started the walk through and stopped for our free photos (again, each person in the party got a copy).  Then we had the option to stop for breakfast or go ahead and get our lockers and swimvests (or wetsuits).  We weren't ready to eat, so went to the locker area.

One note here, they send people to the locker areas based on when they arrive.  The earlier you arrive, the further back your locker area.  Not a big deal really, but at the end of the day, we were tired and having to walk all the way back to the last locker area to get showered and dressed was a pain.  

We were given our wetsuits, given a locker, then we went and changed into our swimsuits and wetsuits.  Swimsuits must be worn under the wetsuits.  The wetsuit was tight and just plain uncomfortable, won't get one again, will go with the vest.

We then headed to breakfast, which was all sugar!  Nothing but donuts, pastries, etc.  Very little fruit and nothing like bagels, no hot foods.  It was fine though as we don't really eat in the morning.

By then it was time for our dolphin swim, so we did that.  Just awesome!  30 minutes seemed like a long time to us, we were very happy with it all.  We were lucky enough to get Capricorn!  He is the oldest dolphin there, and just so lovable and gentle.

After this, we changed from the wetsuits to the vests and went to the Stingray/Reef area where we stayed the rest of the day.  We did all of the things over there, and when we were done, we went to shower and change into clothes.  The bathroom/showers were very nice and clean, the shampoo/conditioners were very nice.   

We stopped off and ate lunch and took pictures before heading out.  We were there for 7 hours and felt we had a good fill of the place.  We would always arrive right before opening!

We took with us, a hairbrush, deodorant, swimsuit and that is about it.  Since we changed right away after getting there, we just wore those clothes back out.  

I do wish we had thought to bring underwater cameras.  They were $15 there.  We could have had two from Walmart for the same price.  So that would be my main tip, buy them, at least two, and bring with you.

OH, and they have prescription goggles there, so get them early!  They seemed to have a good supply, but I would stop on the way in to get them.  They are on the left after you enter the main area, right next to the first store.


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## lovmy2girls

Wow thanks for all the great tips Dis'ers!  

Could we ask for locker closer I wonder, if you were one of the first to arrive, maybe you could get your pick, just like the dolphin swim.


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## MemoryMakers2669

No, about the lockers, we tried.  They made us go all the way back.  Now, we didn't try to move later in the morning, that might have worked.  Like after the dolphin swim, when we were heading to the main water area.  You can always ask.


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## mickeysaver

Wow, that's some great info.  Thanks folks.  Maggie


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## lucky_hiccups

Thanks for all the great info.


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## lucky_hiccups

Is it really worth the price they charge though?


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## wysbcc

thanks for the parking tip. I knew about the ultimate parking package but I was just going to get it when we arrived, but after what you said, I called up DC and got it added to my package for $35. 
They also set me up with a username and password for the DC website so I was able to log on and print out the new reservation with the parking included on it as she admitted that a lot of time can be wasted trying to get confirmation at the parking booths that the parking has already been paid for.


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## wysbcc

With regards to the "is it worth the price that they charge" question, I can only give my opinion bearing in mind I haven't been yet. We're there on the 31st Aug 08.

When you take into account that there are 5 of us, plus we went for the ultimate dolphin package which includes 14days unlimited access to Seaworld, Busch Gdns and Aquatica and now includes the parking, the total came to £857.
If you then break that down it works out at £171.40 per person
Then if you divide that by the number of parks dc, seaworld, BG and Aquatica it worked out at £42.85 per person per park. 

But that is only taking into account one visit per park. In our itinerary, we have Seaworld down for 2 full days and additional evenings. 2 days a Busch gardens and we are go to do 1 morning and a couple of evenings at Aquatica, so you really want to break it down even further, then it works out at £21.42 per person per day for the 8 days we are planning to attend at least one of the parks. 

That was how I justified the cost to the wife anyway, oh and the fact that we were going to swim with the dolphins LOL


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