Renting a Cabana @ Discovery Cove

[Pluto914]

Is it worth renting a Cabana at Discovery cove. We are a party of 7 and we are going at the end of August. Any suggestions or advise on the Cabanas?

 

[floridianer]

As far as I know the cabana is 179$... Plus tax

A special occasion package (includes the cabana) is 229$ and has a lot of little perks (photo frame, personalized buoy brought by a dolphin and so on)

I like the little shaded areas separated from the rest of the park. We won´t spend a whole lot of time there but at least for one hour it is nice!
Oh, you´ve got an own stuffed fridge there too!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We have a cabana rented for our DC day in August. We wanted somewhere to escape the sun (or get out of the rain, if that's the case) so for us, its worth the extra expense. We are not doing the dolphin swim this trip so it will be a nice place to kick back and enjoy an afternoon siesta .

A couple of things you might want to know....

There are only 13 cabanas in the park. For a cabana rental only (as a stand alone and not wthin one of their "packages"), you can't reserve until 3 weeks in advance of your reservation date. Just to give you a point of reference, we are not going until August 29th, and when we booked our cabana two weeks ago (as part of a package) half of the cabanas are already reserved. And at that point, it was only April.

If you want to guarantee your cabana now, then you must reserve it within one of their packages. Like the PP said, the cheapest option is the premium package where you get the cabana rental, plus an assortment of extras (underwater camera, t-shirt, frame or stuffed toy, a themed buoy delivered to you during your swim, etc.) AND a discount on the ultimate photo package. If you are planning on getting the large photo package anyway, this is a better way to go. PLUS you get all the extras for your family to enjoy. This package can be reserved anytime (you are not restricted to waiting until 3 weeks out) based on availability,

I think you will want to check on the max occupancy of the cabanas, though. Something seems to tell me its six. If that's the case, you might need two, which would certainly be pricey.

 

[bas71873]

Anyone know what the options are for the "personalized buoy"? Curious if you can get your name on it or are there just standard sayings to pick from? I'm going to book the premium package for our trip in August later today.

 

[floridianer]

50 letters

 

[bas71873]

50 letters

Thanks. I just went with Family Vacation 2012.


So how does the "delivery" work? Do you let you know what time to be at the cabana for delivery? My DD is going to burst with excitement!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thanks. I just went with Family Vacation 2012.


So how does the "delivery" work? Do you let you know what time to be at the cabana for delivery? My DD is going to burst with excitement!

If you have a dolphin swim scheduled, the dolphin will deliver it to you while you are in the water . If you have day resort only admission, it will be left in your cabana for you to receive upon arrival.

 

[bas71873]

If you have a dolphin swim scheduled, the dolphin will deliver it to you while you are in the water . If you have day resort only admission, it will be left in your cabana for you to receive upon arrival.

THANKS. Can I pick your brain some more Gina?

1. We plan to arrive a bit before 8:00 AM. What is the earliest dolphin swim time? I'm kinda thinking I'd rather have that around 11:00ish so can we ask for a time when we check in?


2. Should I bring our own towels? I'm leaning toward that because we are staying at the Renaissance and will have some resort time to use their cool pool, also going to Gatorland for a day (and they have a water area for kids) and we are also doing Aquatica...all before we head over to HRH.


Any other tips you can offer. I know about the no sunscreen & no jewelry thing and I'm getting rash guards for all of us to go under the vests.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

THANKS. Can I pick your brain some more Gina?

1. We plan to arrive a bit before 8:00 AM. What is the earliest dolphin swim time? I'm kinda thinking I'd rather have that around 11:00ish so can we ask for a time when we check in?


2. Should I bring our own towels? I'm leaning toward that because we are staying at the Renaissance and will have some resort time to use their cool pool, also going to Gatorland for a day (and they have a water area for kids) and we are also doing Aquatica...all before we head over to HRH.


Any other tips you can offer. I know about the no sunscreen & no jewelry thing and I'm getting rash guards for all of us to go under the vests.

Okay....let's see......sometimes there's not much to pick .....

As far as I am aware, you swim time is assigned only (no time requests). I would guess this is because they need to make up groups of 8 as people arrive, and accomodating time requests would impede their ability to keep the numbers running as they need to to get groups of 8 for each swim. We arrived at approximately 8:15 and got a swim time of about 9:45 am. We thought that was perfect because it allowed us enough time to enjoy breakfast before getting our wetsuits on and heading to our dolphin swim cabana. Then we did the swim and had the balance of the day to relax and not worry about having to be anywhere at a specific tim. That said, at check-in we were never offered a choice of times or our preference.....we were told the time and that was that .

Far as your towel question goes, for DC, I wouldn't worry about bringing any along. Their towels are white and fluffy and super nice . Much nicer than beach towels! And there are hundreds of them in their beautifully clean bathrooms, so you don't need to worry about them running out.

If you want to bring towels in your luggage for Aquatica, the hotel recreation facilities, and Gatorland, that probably makes good sense (when I first read your post it sounded as if you were planning on doing all that in one day and all I could think of was .... but then I realized you must mean that those activities are planned for the balance of your trip .... yup, I can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes). You will likely need beach towels for anywhere but DC.

What day are you visiting in August? We will be there on the 29th .

 

[mjohnson96]

FYI - they will only let you book a Cabana for a party of 6 or less, if you have 7 in your party they will make you get 2 of them. This includes infants as well now too. For our trip last year we had 6 + infant and we only got 1 but this trip I had orignally booked the same ppl and was told now I had to get 2, well now we have 10 so it was worth it but still ouch!

They would not budge at all....just wanted to give you that warning.


But otherwise....we LOVED our Cabana last trip and so it really is great to have for grandma and the baby to have a nice place to go and relax. I think the new ones also have fans in them but not to sure, hope to find out next week.

 

[bas71873]

Okay....let's see......sometimes there's not much to pick .....

As far as I am aware, you swim time is assigned only (no time requests). I would guess this is because they need to make up groups of 8 as people arrive, and accomodating time requests would impede their ability to keep the numbers running as they need to to get groups of 8 for each swim. We arrived at approximately 8:15 and got a swim time of about 9:45 am. We thought that was perfect because it allowed us enough time to enjoy breakfast before getting our wetsuits on and heading to our dolphin swim cabana. Then we did the swim and had the balance of the day to relax and not worry about having to be anywhere at a specific tim. That said, at check-in we were never offered a choice of times or our preference.....we were told the time and that was that .

Far as your towel question goes, for DC, I wouldn't worry about bringing any along. Their towels are white and fluffy and super nice . Much nicer than beach towels! And there are hundreds of them in their beautifully clean bathrooms, so you don't need to worry about them running out.

If you want to bring towels in your luggage for Aquatica, the hotel recreation facilities, and Gatorland, that probably makes good sense (when I first read your post it sounded as if you were planning on doing all that in one day and all I could think of was .... but then I realized you must mean that those activities are planned for the balance of your trip .... yup, I can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes). You will likely need beach towels for anywhere but DC.

What day are you visiting in August? We will be there on the 29th .

Thx for the scoop. We r going August 17.

 

[Fuhnuh]

bas71873,

I was reading this thread and noticed that you are going on August 17. I believe that is the day my DW, DD11, and I will be going. Perhaps we will be cabana neighbors. It will be our third August visit to Discovery Cove. We had a cabana last year and thought it was great. On our previous two trips we arrived right before 8:00 and I believe received a 9:30 time on a slow morning and 10:30 on a busier one. We will also be visiting Gatorland and Aquatica, so if you see us at multiple places, we really aren't stalking you. You might also see us pool hop to HRH.

 

[floridianer]

Well, actually you can´t request a swim time BUT they were always very helpful if you WISH to do it early or late

This year we are going to try Sea Venture aswell... Let´s wait how it is

As you are going in August I would suggest to pick the EARLIEST time they can offer you because normally the storms come in later in the day.

 

[bas71873]

bas71873,

I was reading this thread and noticed that you are going on August 17. I believe that is the day my DW, DD11, and I will be going. Perhaps we will be cabana neighbors. It will be our third August visit to Discovery Cove. We had a cabana last year and thought it was great. On our previous two trips we arrived right before 8:00 and I believe received a 9:30 time on a slow morning and 10:30 on a busier one. We will also be visiting Gatorland and Aquatica, so if you see us at multiple places, we really aren't stalking you. You might also see us pool hop to HRH.

HAHA. That's funny! I am really looking foward to the DC day. I wasn't going to get the cabana, but then decided it would be a nice treat for ourselves. We will be a party of 3 as well....very TALL people

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

also going to Gatorland for a day (and they have a water area for kids) and we are also doing Aquatica.

We will also be visiting Gatorland and Aquatica.

Since you are both travelling before me, I hope you will pop back and give trip reports for both Gatorland and Aquatica.....we have both on our agenda for our week in Orlando and we have never visited either venue.

Looking forward to having you share you best tips when you return .

 

[Fuhnuh]

bas71873,
We are an average height family. The only standout characteristics we may have is DW's pink hair and DD11's dark brown and whatever color streaks she will have at that time. I'll be the graying brunette. DD11 enjoys emailing in anticipation of her trip, so if your DD is interested in exchanging emails and past experiences, PM me and I can give you her email. Enjoy your stay at HRH, I wish we were going back there, but RPH restaurants work with DD11 allergies much better. DD11 is pretty excited about the future addition of the Freshwater Oasis at DC.

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina,
My daughter's name is Zoe, but I have been trying to convince her that her full name is Zoezoeboboe Bananafanamomoe Memimomoezoe to know avail. I should be better about trip reports, maybe this year I'll give some back to the board. All I know is my parents took me to Gatorland as a kid and I can't stay away as an adult. We don't have many alligators here in the Pacific NW.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina,
My daughter's name is Zoe, but I have been trying to convince her that her full name is Zoezoeboboe Bananafanamomoe Memimomoezoe to know avail.

My son (who's 16, a "jock" and uber-cool ) is mortified (and yet not surprised) that I have such a silly user name on the Disboards . Yet it suits me to a "T" . I like to laugh....its therapeutic. Life is too short to take yourself too seriously.

Have a great time at DC and Gatorland. Our vacations will be here before we know it!!!

 

[JimShockz]

Is it worth renting a Cabana at Discovery cove. We are a party of 7 and we are going at the end of August. Any suggestions or advise on the Cabanas?

We suggest that if a cabana is available to jump on it,for the florida sun can take its toll on one,so book it if you can.

-JH

 

[Fuhnuh]

To answer one of OP's questions. Discovery cove is one of my favorite cabana experiences. They surround the snorkeling lagoon and offer a place to meet throughout the day. That being said, we did not rent a cabana the first time and I do not remember any negatives from that trip. We essentially spent most of our time exploring. If you are someone that really enjoys cabanas, it is a pretty good value (compared to the pricing of others). But if it doesn't work out for you, I wouldn't worry about it, DC does not seem to get overcrowded because of their sensible limitation on the number of guests. I never felt like I couldn't find a place to sit. We are a party of three though. Getting 7 loungers together may be a taller order.

Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina,

Now that DD is 11, she not so hip on her dad being goofy. I get a lot of eye rolls. Sometimes I respond by acting like what she thinks a normal dad would for a while. She likes this even less.

 

[Pluto914]

I want to thank everyone for your reply. You were right mjohnson96 they will not let you book a Cabana if you have 7 people. I tried really hard too. We are now booked for 2 Cabanas and can't wait to go. Even though it is extra money, in the grand scheme of things, we are spending enough money as it is we might as well suck it up and pay for the extra Cabana to ensure we are comfortable and have a great time. Thanks Again!!