Compensation for extended thunder storms at DC

[cinderellamom123]

Has anyone ever gone to Discovery Cove and had a day with long thunderstorms where they had to evacuate (like more than an hour or two)
If so, what was the process? Where you compensated in any way or allowed to go back a few hours on another day? I do understand the hurricane guaranty, but I am talking about a good old lightning storm. We are just so excited to go next week but every day calls for some storm threat. Wouldn't mind if it was 20 minutes but afraid it could cut into part of our day.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KBF]

Has anyone ever gone to Discovery Cove and had a day with long thunderstorms where they had to evacuate (like more than an hour or two)
If so, what was the process? Where you compensated in any way or allowed to go back a few hours on another day? I do understand the hurricane guaranty, but I am talking about a good old lightning storm. We are just so excited to go next week but every day calls for some storm threat. Wouldn't mind if it was 20 minutes but afraid it could cut into part of our day.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Not sure about the rain policy. Summer time in Florida, you will get thunderstorms pretty much every day which is why the forecast calls for a thunderstorm threat every day. Most of the time, the thunderstorms pass very quickly and are gone within the hour. It shouldn't be a total washout. Thunderstorms are common anytime between Noon and 8pm.

 

[Metro West]

Not sure about the rain policy. Summer time in Florida, you will get thunderstorms pretty much every day which is why the forecast calls for a thunderstorm threat every day. Most of the time, the thunderstorms pass very quickly and are gone within the hour. It shouldn't be a total washout. Thunderstorms are common anytime between Noon and 8pm.

 

[JulieSharp]

When we went it was raining, as it got near our time slot it started thundering and lightning, so the dolphins had to go away and we were re-scheduled for the dolphin swim at a later time that same day. No compensation was offered.

 

[Treelight]

We went on 8/3/12 and there were afternoon lightning storms and rain. We were evacuated from the swimming areas 2-3 times. It seems somewhat disorganized during evacuations and even more disorganized when guests are allowed back into the swimming areas. We would see people in dolphin lagoon resuming their dolphin encounters while the lifeguards near the lazy river and freshwater oasis were not allowing swimmers back into the water??? I don't think DC has a great plan for communication during these stormy times. However, they did extend the closing time for the day to 6 pm. We swam right up to 6pm and then took showers and gathered our things from our cabana. No one rushed us out of the park. We went to the photo area and found the line to be very long (which we expected). We didn't actually leave the park until almost 8pm. We did not feel rushed at any time. While we waited for our pictures to be printed, we chatted with the guest relations employee and she stated that there were many employees who are scheduled until 845pm and therefore would be working whether the park extended its hours or not. All staff are courteous and helpful.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We went on 8/3/12 and there were afternoon lightning storms and rain. We were evacuated from the swimming areas 2-3 times. It seems somewhat disorganized during evacuations and even more disorganized when guests are allowed back into the swimming areas. We would see people in dolphin lagoon resuming their dolphin encounters while the lifeguards near the lazy river and freshwater oasis were not allowing swimmers back into the water??? I don't think DC has a great plan for communication during these stormy times. However, they did extend the closing time for the day to 6 pm. We swam right up to 6pm and then took showers and gathered our things from our cabana. No one rushed us out of the park. We went to the photo area and found the line to be very long (which we expected). We didn't actually leave the park until almost 8pm. We did not feel rushed at any time. While we waited for our pictures to be printed, we chatted with the guest relations employee and she stated that there were many employees who are scheduled until 845pm and therefore would be working whether the park extended its hours or not. All staff are courteous and helpful.

When guests were removed from the water during the storms, where did you go? Just wondering, as when we were there in January, there didn't seem to be that many covered areas when you consider they could be sheltering 1000 guests during a storm. Would you know if those in cabanas were allowed to remain there until the storms passed, or did they have to vacate the cabanas during the lightening as well?

We are scheduled to visit on August 29th.....we are expecting the normal Florida afternoon thunderstorms to roll in.....

 

[bas71873]

When guests were removed from the water during the storms, where did you go? Just wondering, as when we were there in January, there didn't seem to be that many covered areas when you consider they could be sheltering 1000 guests during a storm. Would you know if those in cabanas were allowed to remain there until the storms passed, or did they have to vacate the cabanas during the lightening as well?

We are scheduled to visit on August 29th.....we are expecting the normal Florida afternoon thunderstorms to roll in.....

I'm curious about this too. We go on Friday. YIPPEE!!!!

 

[MarkF0wle]

I was there 8 years ago today, a day before Hurricane Charlie ripped through Orlando. We were evacuated from the park not long after midday, no compensation was offered. Admittedly we didn't have a Dolphin swim scheduled after that time.

I think it's all part of the small print that everything is weather dependant & alternative dates won't be offered.

We've been several times since, whenever it rains we took shelter in the courtyard by the restaurant. But a high percentage of the time the rain came about 4pm time when we were ready to leave anyway. Have to agree it seemed somewhat disorganised. No loud speaker announcements, so nobody knew when it was time to get back in.

 

[gh015c4116]

we were there aug 3 2012 as well and after the second time of being asked to leave the pools we decided to go and get ready .
A employee asked us on the way out if we had had a good day and my 10 year old said "it wasnt as good as last year i only had a few mins with the stingrays" (it was actually feb she was talking about).
Anyway they took us to guest relations explained what happend and asked when we were leaving.
We said tomorrow so they replied well were expecting this weather to last tomorrow as well so we would like to ensure you enjoy your next visit so have a day on us anytime in the next 2 years,
We were blown away by there generosity (sp) and they just took our booking details said a note had been made on our accout and gave us an email addy and to let them know when.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

we were there aug 3 2012 as well and after the second time of being asked to leave the pools we decided to go and get ready .
A employee asked us on the way out if we had had a good day and my 10 year old said "it wasnt as good as last year i only had a few mins with the stingrays" (it was actually feb she was talking about).
Anyway they took us to guest relations explained what happend and asked when we were leaving.
We said tomorrow so they replied well were expecting this weather to last tomorrow as well so we would like to ensure you enjoy your next visit so have a day on us anytime in the next 2 years,
We were blown away by there generosity (sp) and they just took our booking details said a note had been made on our accout and gave us an email addy and to let them know when.

Wow....that was super generous of Discovery Cove .

Who says pixie dust only happens at Disney?

 

[Treelight]

When guests were removed from the water during the storms, where did you go? Just wondering, as when we were there in January, there didn't seem to be that many covered areas when you consider they could be sheltering 1000 guests during a storm. Would you know if those in cabanas were allowed to remain there until the storms passed, or did they have to vacate the cabanas during the lightening as well?

We are scheduled to visit on August 29th.....we are expecting the normal Florida afternoon thunderstorms to roll in.....

It just so happened that the first evacuation occurred during our dolphin encounter and our trainers took us back to the Starfish Cabana that we originally met at before the encounter began. (Please note-this cabana was not our private cabana that we rented for the day.) While we waited for the storm to pass, they played a DVD about Sea World's conservation efforts focusing on animal rescues. After the video was over, the trainers put on a microphone and conducted a little Q & A session. I did notice that some guests were arriving at the cabana for their scheduled encounter times and were asked to return at a later time. All encounters were running behind the day we were there, even before the storms rolled in. It did seem as though most people were going to the eating area. My husband and daughter went to get a dessert during the storm delay and it took a long time. They just sat down with their choices as we were able to return to the water. We returned to the water and finished our dolphin encounter, which was great. Our dolphin was Latoya. She was very gentle. Then another dolphin named Jenny delivered a buoy to our daughter at the end of the encounter. We returned to the eating area and found that one of the employees covered their food trays and placed a sign on the table that stated "Reserved for Trainer for the Day". (We weren't actually part of this program, she just used this sign to keep our food from being thrown away.) This was customer service at its best!! We finished the desserts and were going to return to swimming just in time for another evacuation. We were on our way to our private cabana and passed our cabana attendant and he stated that we were not able return to our cabana during this evacuation due to lightning in close proximity. Again, most people were going to the eating area during this time. It did not seem too crowded and we found another table easily. Later in the day during another evacuation we were in our private cabana and the cabana attendant came by and asked if we needed anything. He did not ask us to leave. ?? I'm not sure, but I think it depends on the level of the evacuation as to whether or not you can stay in the private cabanas. Just my guess though.