# What is Discovery Cove's Rain Policy?



## SeeJackRunn

I'm going on the 29th, and the early forecast says it will be thunder storming.  I know it's still too far out to be sure what the weather will be like, but I just wanted to be prepared for the worst.  Will they charge me a fee if I decide to switch days?

Thanks!


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## kathy884

I always recommend that people who want to do Discovery Cove book Discovery Cove early in their trip.  When we booked unfortunately the day we had reservations was a rainy stormy day (five great warm/sunny days and one really cold rainy one which was our Discovery Cove day).  We showed up in the morning, and they offered us other days where they had openings (there were quite a few choices).  They wanted people to move to a different day and didn't charge anything for this.  They did not offer refunds, however, as the park was open, but tried to get people to pick a different day.  Unfortunately for us, this was the last day of the trip, so we didn't have that option, but many people moved to different days.  It's definately in their best interest for you to have a pleasant experience.  Who knows -- you might come again and recommend it to your friends.  Believe me -- Discovery Cove on a rainy yucky day is no prize and with our negative experience we haven't been back or recommended it to others.


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## SeeJackRunn

thank you!  i did book discovery cove for our first full day in orlando and do have some other days available to go.


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## greenclan67

This may be a little long, but i will proceed with what happened to us this year!
 We got to Orlando on March 8th (Mon) we were there until March 19th, (Friday) we booked Discovery Cove for March 12th (Friday) knowing we had a week if the weather was bad. We booked it with my brother, his wife and son, they booked to do the dolphin swim, my family (2 adults, 2 kids) booked to do just the park. We had been last Feb and did the dolphin swim so just wanted to enjoy the serenity of the park. We booked with them, cause online, it says you have to have at least 1 person in your party doing the swim. We also used a discount code TNC09 our rate without the swim was $124, and my brothers was $224. Which compared to regular prices was good.
 The day before we were to go (thurs) was the day there was tornado warnings, and rain, rain ,and more rain. It was calling for it to continue into the next day with thundershowers. I phoned DC and asked them what could be done if indeed Friday was miserable and what they called for. They said I could change my day over the phone, so I asked what was available, they gave me some dates, and I said alright, I will talk to my brother and call back. I did just that, called back with the day to switch to, and they told me there might be a change in price, came back on the phone and told me that there was a price increase of over $500 I said I don't think so. Told me that because we were due to come in on the last day before spring break price increases we would have to pay the difference. I was livid. Don't get me wrong it is a nice park, but right on there website, it states, 1 complimentary change, but they were not honoring that. 
 She then said the other alternative was to come in the morning, even if it was crappy weather, and they would see about switching us free of charge, cause we can't go in the water with lightening. So we got up early Friday, I called the park, cause it was storming out, thunder and so on, and they told me over the phone that they were still open, and that if there was any lightening, they would just pull us out of the water until it was over. It thought I am not paying this kind of money to go sit in the rain, especially when we were going to enjoy the park. So my brother decided to pay the difference for the 3 of them, and change his date, which cost him an additional $209 on top of what he already paid. I held fast and said I wasn't paying the difference, and wanted my complimentary date change, I went back and forth with them between emails, and phone calls, they finally agreed to let me change my date at no extra cost, and would hold my ressie for up to 1 year. Which was great but the didn't resolve this until Weds afternoon, so the only day we could go was Thurs, and it 68 and cool that day. We had to fly home Friday morning. We were not planning on going to Florida next year at all, we have been 3 years in a row, we planned on somewhere different next winter. Now we are going back to Orlando next year to use our DC day. 
 My brother, being the whole ressie was on his credit card, ended up getting a refund back of $209 that he had paid extra, so it helped him with my struggle with them, but I have to take another trip to FL, to use mine. 
 Just an FYI so everyone knows. Sorry it is so long!


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## SeeJackRunn

well...that sounds all kinds of awful.  how far in advance do you have to cancel without being penalized?


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## greenclan67

I have copied and pasted this right from the Discovery Cove website, 


If you need to reschedule your Discovery Cove visit, one complimentary date change is allowed, pending availability. Bookings made within 3 days of original reservation date will be booked at the original rate. Books made outside of that time will be subject to change based on seasonal rates for the new date chosen. Please note: If you decide to cancel your Discovery Cove reservation within 30 days of your visit there is no refund. If the cancellation notice is provided more than 30 days from arrival, you will receive a full 100% refund.

 AS i was reading this, I was kind of laughing to myself, I have the original copy of my whole reservation, and the cancellation policy on the copy I have does not have the part that says,  *Bookings made within 3 days of original reservation date will be booked at the original rate. Books made outside of that time will be subject to change based on seasonal rates for the new date chosen* 
 Good to know that I maybe had an impact somewhere, LOL


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## SwooshICE

I find that policy totally reasonable.  If they allow date change without asking paying the difference, everybody would just book the admission on days when it is cheapest, and use the "complimentary change" to move to an otherwise more expensive date.


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## andrews_dad

SwooshICE said:


> I find that policy totally reasonable.  If they allow date change without asking paying the difference, everybody would just book the admission on days when it is cheapest, and use the "complimentary change" to move to an otherwise more expensive date.



If the weather is perfect and someone is using a loophole for a lower charge, that is one thing ... but if there is horrid weather, as the poster says above in their case .... there is NO reason DC should get a higher fee.  That is crazy talk.  What sort of business is that?  As mentioned above, all parks need good word of mouth.  If I am going to plop down $1000 plus for ONE DAY with my family, it had better be a home-run great time.  Knowing I might have to get into the water with tornado-like conditions at hand to avoid several hundred extra bucks .... no thanks.


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## greenclan67

And to be honest, we were there last year, and loved, loved the park, it was awesome. Would I have had the same impression had I had to go in tornado weather, NO WAY! It totally ruins your experience. It is just a shame it took them all week, and by then we couldn't go. I guess the upside is we get to go back to Florida!


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## southernsam

We were booked to go to DC on Wed 3rd March, got up that morning and it was cold, phoned DC to enquire about changing the reservation to another day, they were really helpful, no problem to change date, checked the weather forcast for me, advised to change to following Tue or Wed, no extra charge at all. We chose to go on Tue 9th March and had a great day (although Wed 10th was warmer weather! should have gone then!)


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