Discovery Cove or a day by the pool

[chttyangel]

After months of planning our vaca is less then 60 days away!! I have all my ADR's, I am making my final payment next week AND I have every day planned out. ALMOST........I say almost because I can not make up my mind about Discovery Cove.

We will be in Orlando for 9 days. 1 day at US/IOA, 6 days at WDW, 1 day OPEN and a few hours on depature day for any Disney stuff we missed or pool time. So here is the delima. I have read great things about Discovery Cove and it looks amazing but;

- It is $$$. Is it worth paying almost 900 for 3 people to enjoy 1 day?
- Do we need a day of rest by the pool? We are staying only 2 of the nights at CBR; the rest are at POP. Will we need a day to explore the resort and swim??
- Will the snorkling and dolphins be too much for a 7 year old??

This is a one time trip; too many other places to explore. I know only I know my how much my family can handle and if we need a day off BUT I am the only adult going so I just need some help with my thoughts. I worry we will be tired and wish we saved our money BUT I also worry we will regret missing it!

 

[ccgirl]

After months of planning our vaca is less then 60 days away!! I have all my ADR's, I am making my final payment next week AND I have every day planned out. ALMOST........I say almost because I can not make up my mind about Discovery Cove.

We will be in Orlando for 9 days. 1 day at US/IOA, 6 days at WDW, 1 day OPEN and a few hours on depature day for any Disney stuff we missed or pool time. So here is the delima. I have read great things about Discovery Cove and it looks amazing but;

- It is $$$. Is it worth paying almost 900 for 3 people to enjoy 1 day?
- Do we need a day of rest by the pool? We are staying only 2 of the nights at CBR; the rest are at POP. Will we need a day to explore the resort and swim??
- Will the snorkling and dolphins be too much for a 7 year old??

This is a one time trip; too many other places to explore. I know only I know my how much my family can handle and if we need a day off BUT I am the only adult going so I just need some help with my thoughts. I worry we will be tired and wish we saved our money BUT I also worry we will regret missing it!

IMHO, I think it is well worth it. I'm sure there will be others who say it won't. Remember Discovery Cove includes all of your food and drinks (including alcoholic) drinks for the day. It is very relaxing. There was so much to do there. My DD was 7 when we went and she said it was, "the best day of her life!" She still often talks about it and it has been almost 3 years. It closes fairly early like around 5pm so it's not super long day.

If you can afford it, I would say to go.

 

[chttyangel]

IMHO, I think it is well worth it. I'm sure there will be others who say it won't. Remember Discovery Cove includes all of your food and drinks (including alcoholic) drinks for the day. It is very relaxing. There was so much to do there. My DD was 7 when we went and she said it was, "the best day of her life!" She still often talks about it and it has been almost 3 years. It closes fairly early like around 5pm so it's not super long day.

If you can afford it, I would say to go.

Thank you!!! Your actually the second person who had a child give this place such high remarks. My realtor said his on (8 at the time) talked about this and some show he saw in DTD for years after.

 

[KBF]

With a purchase of a discovery cove ticket, you also get free unlimited admission to seaworld for up to 14 days before or after your discovery cove visit. So if Seaworld is open late, you could even hop over there for a few hours after Discovery Cove. Or if you really wanted to, take one of your disney days and make it a Seaworld day.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Definitely worth it, if the budget would allow. Discovery Cove is, IMHO, the best park in Orlando. Period.

Me personally, I would give up a Disney day and do what KBF suggested....either before or after your DC day, visit SeaWorld with the free admission given to you with your DC ticket.

 

[keishashadow]

Discovery Cove is such a lovely day. Well worth the expense of 'losing' a day at another park.

 

[chttyangel]

Thanks for all the thoughts. I looked online today; our date was still listed at 289 BUT all the days before/after ours jumped to 329 for some reason. So I figured it was time to make a move and bought!!! Still want to hurl over the price but super excited.

I will have to look more into Seaworld. We have been to the one in CA before and it looked so similar didn't even give it a thought. But since the tixs are free; worth keeping in my pocket. Thanks for all the advice!!!!! Can't wait for the big day!

 

[SYDCOLEMOM]

For us Discovery Cove was going to be a once in a lifetime splurge during our vacation last May. My family will agree it was our favorite vacation days ever ! it was probably one of the best days of 2012 period! So great I bit the bullet again and booked us again for this May. It is hard to stomach the price but when I think about the time we spent there along with the Seaworld tickets it was $$ well spent. I also spent the extra $20 and purchased the Busch Garden tix as well. Now Im feeling like 11 nights just wont be enough (we have 3 day Universal and 4 day WDW tickets as well) have a great trip !!

 

[ccgirl]

Thanks for all the thoughts. I looked online today; our date was still listed at 289 BUT all the days before/after ours jumped to 329 for some reason. So I figured it was time to make a move and bought!!! Still want to hurl over the price but super excited.

I will have to look more into Seaworld. We have been to the one in CA before and it looked so similar didn't even give it a thought. But since the tixs are free; worth keeping in my pocket. Thanks for all the advice!!!!! Can't wait for the big day!

For us Discovery Cove was going to be a once in a lifetime splurge during our vacation last May. My family will agree it was our favorite vacation days ever ! it was probably one of the best days of 2012 period! So great I bit the bullet again and booked us again for this May. It is hard to stomach the price but when I think about the time we spent there along with the Seaworld tickets it was $$ well spent. I also spent the extra $20 and purchased the Busch Garden tix as well. Now Im feeling like 11 nights just wont be enough (we have 3 day Universal and 4 day WDW tickets as well) have a great trip !!

With DC, I believe you have a choice of Sea World, Aquatica, or Busch Gardens. EIther of those three are wonderful. As the PP I quoted above indicated, you could add all of those parks for a small fee as well. If you purchase the refillable cup, remember to bring it to all parks as they will all fill them.

Have a great time. So jealous!!!

 

[waikiki]

Let me see...

Seaworld + Aquatica included 120$ - one day food & drink & suncream & so many things 80$. One day in a park 70$ (average) - so a dolphin swimm for 30$ worth it ! & for 20 more you have got one day in Busch Gardens ! Only if you have 4 days available...

But my answer is too late....

 

[Bearybear]

I know you already reserved DC, but I have to say you won't regret it. In addition to including breakfast and lunch, all snacks and beverages (soft and hard) are included. They provide everything. Towels, sunscreen, wet suits if it is cold, snorkels and masks, shampoo, etc. The park is kept immaculate! And it is like nothing else you've probably done. We've gone two years in a row. It includes Sea World and Aquatica tickets, so I agree with the others about possibly including those parks into your trip.

 

[PetePanMan]

Great place but IMO only "worth it" if you can also take advantage of seaworld and aquatica

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

You won't regret doing DC. It was our best day on our last trip and all 3 of my kids really enjoyed this park.

It cost us right at $1500 for the 5 of us for just one day. That was very hard to pay for on the day I bought the tickets but I knew it was a once in a lifetime experience and would be glad we did it.

We paid the $20 extra dollars per person and upgraded to the Ultimate ticket and got unlimited entry for 14 days into Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens.

Busch Gardens was an amazing park. It has tons of rides and more animals than a zoo. It makes Animal Kindgom look like crap.

Since you have 6 Disney days I would definitely use one of the Sea World days and go check out Sea World. It is a good park and they have a ton of shows going on all day long. One time we spent an entire day there just seeing shows.

Remember when you go to Discovery Cove, show up around 7:45 to check in because the park officially opens at 8:30 but you have to get checked in and have your ID cards made then you want to go eat breakfast before the park opens. If you get done eating by 8:30 when the park opens you can go straight to the bird aviary and start feeding the birds first thing in the morning while they are still hungry.

The earlier you check in the earlier your Dolphin swim will be. We checked in at 7:45 and our swim was set for 9:30. I wish I had thought before hand to ask him to schedule our Dolphin swim for after lunch so that we had all morning to do other things before doing the Dolphin swim but it turned out OK.