OrlandoBelle - (almost) Live From Orlando ! Week 3

[TraceyL]

Just wanted to post a quick update as I've been too busy to post reports this week.

We've been blitzing the Disney Parks this week whilst the crowds have been low.

More excitingly we did Discovery Cove on Tuesday. What can I say but WOW ? The place is amazing, we all had a fantastic day and didn't want to leave. Well worth the expense.

The weather has improved greatly & is set to continue

Shoe count is now up to 15 pairs

We fly home on Saturday & I'm planning to take the girls to Universal by myself tomorrow (they want to ride MiB a few dozen times


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Some pics to go on with...

[TraceyL]

OK, I'll fill in a few blanks

Discovery Cove - Tues 24 Apr

I had kept this a secret from the girls until a few days earlier when they freaked in the 'Shark' lagoon at Typhoon Lagoon I had visions of us going and them refusing point blank to go anywhre near the water!

We arrived just before 8:30 and didn't have to wait too long to be checked in. I presented our confirmation, ID & credit card and we had our pics taken for our ID passes. We were allocated a swim time of 10:30 at the Starfish Cabana whch was ideal. Off to the next desk to pick up our passes which had maps attached on lanyards.
Next through the reception area and out to have our family picture taken before meeting our guide for a tour and briefing.
We opted to get our wetsuits/etc sorted first - Steve & I decided on vests (water was 76 degrees) and got wetsuits for the girls which they loved


Stowed most of our stuff in a locker and grabbed a couple of loungers between the resort pool & dolphin pool before heading off for breakfast. Pastries, muffins, yoghurt, juice & coffee went down very nicely!
The girls tried out their snorkels in the resort pool and before we knew it - it was time to go for our swim. We watched a brief video in the Cabana before going out to be introduced to our trainer - Skip. Now I have to be honest, I wasn't all that keen on doing the dolphing swim and almost didn't book for myself but decided it woul dbe better if we all did it so one of us could concentrate on Annabelle (she's only 6).
There were 8 of us all together (the 4 of us plus 2 couples) and we were soon heading into the water to meet Jen, our other trainer and Cindy our dolphin. The water was nowhere near as cold as I was expecting & I was fine in the vest. Annabelle couldn't touch the bottom even on the ledge so Steve had to hold her but neither her nor Rachelle had too much problem with the water temp.
The next 45 minutes were magical! The girls were so excited and were not at all apprehensive and were chatting continuously with both the trainers. When it came time for the deep water tow, Rachelle & I went out first. I got to go first so Rachelle could see what was going to happen but we needn't have worried - she was fine. Cindy is an ex 'show' dolphin from Seaworld and then decided to show us a few unscheduled tricks so we switched dolphins to Lester - a huge male. Steve & Annabelle went out next and (surprisingly) she stayed out with Skip whilst Steve did his swim before it was her turn. Well, you should have seen the grin on her face! Ear to ear
The other couples had their turn and we got to meet another dolphin - Hutch as Cindy was still doing her own thing.
Finally one of the other girls was 'chosen' to play with Ciindy to demonstrate how they like to play with toys. She took a buoy off the dolphin to find 'will you marry me?' written on it. Initial confusion before the penny dropped ... aaaawwwwhhhh.
We had a final chat with the trainer before going off to view our pictures (which we bought!).

We went and changed the girls' wetsuits for vests before going for a swim to waarm back up and visited the aviary before the birds had to much to eat.



By now it was lunch time - the choice was varied and the food good. Steve & I had salmon, the girls had chicken strips & mac n cheese. There was also a good selection of desserts, soft drinks & Bud.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wimming in the resort pool & the not-so-lazy river! There were plenty of snacks - I can recommend the strawberries & fruit punch before leaving when the park closed at 5:30.

It was worth every penny - for the whole experienc e- not just teh dolphin swim. It's a wonderful place to relax and get away from the hustle & bustle. Everything is provided, no lines and no stress

[spencem]

Great DC photos. We went in Feb and I can still clearly see the look on my DS' face as he was towed in, like you say it was worth every penny.

Did you go in the reef pool and the ray lagoon?

[TraceyL]

DH did but the air temp was quite high by that time and the girls did not want to go in (too cold!) so I stayed with them

[florida sun]

Fantastic photos Tracey, DC is fabulous.

[jockey]

Great report and pics!

[CHEK]

Lovely pics , this is something we haven't done yet as I think my 6yr old would probably freak

[chriswol]

great report and fantasic photos as a family we went to dicovery cove two years ago, i was the only one who swam with the dolphins as it was my 40 birthday treat. we are going back next year to disney and i am saving money like mad so we can all swim, my dd9 cant wait. i would say to anyone it is definitely worth it, and it was the best day of our hols, and somthing i will remember for a very long time

[mark&sue]

I still have the photo of dd and dh with their dolphin on my computer at work from our trip in 2000.

Great report


susan

[Minniespal]

Excellent

[wils]

Glad you had a great day

I was the only one who swam with the dolphin last time although DD was allowed in the water for a photo (she was just 2). Can't wait til the kids are old enough and we can all do it together - probably should start saving now!

[arieljasmine]

What a wonderful day, Tracey. We loved our dolphin swim - we had Hutch too! It truly is the most magical experience. Some lovely photos too, thanks for sharing.

Laur's