Back from our week in Florida 
. We had a GREAT time and of course, our day at DC was the best. We were there on Friday, August 17th. We arrived around 8:00 AM and got assigned a dolphin swim time of 12:20 (Seahorse cabana) which I was happy about. We ate breakfast (it was just OK food wise. I wish they had had some healthier options, but it is what it is). We were escorted to our cabana which was at the Grand Reef. LOVED IT! Our view was kind of hidden behind the rock (it's right next to the lifeguard), BUT, that also gave us lots of privacy and didn't bother us a bit. Julie was our cabana attendant and she was awesome.
We all wore vests throughout the day and yes, the water is cold, but we got used to it quickley. We LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the reef. My DH didn't want to leave
The Freshwater Oasis (and all of the warm water pools) were WAY too warm. Almost sickenly warm. I also thought they could have done a lot more with that area. The otters are cute, but other than that, it's just like floating in a big bathtub. Nothing real special in my opinion. Therefore, we stayed in the Reef most of the day.
For our swim we were in the middle pool and had Morea as our dolphin. She was pretty playful and uncooperative at times, but that's a teenager for you I guess
. In fact, when it came time for our "ride", she wanted nothing to do with my DH (he was last) so Dixie came over and gave DH a whirl 
.
We were about 20 minutes into our dolphin interaction and were called out due to storms. We went back to the Seahorse Cabana to wait it out and they gave our snacks, waters and towels. I guess we waited about 30 minutes or so and then went back out to finish our swim. It was stilll raining during the second part and water seemed 10x colder, but we got through it, shivering and all. After all was said & done, it was around 2:30 so DH and DD wento grab lunch and I checked out our photos. I did get the ultimate package because all of our photos were so good (which is rare for our clan
!). I also bought one of the large photo frames for our family pic because it matches the decor in our family room. I ran over to grab lunch about 2:50 and there was still quite a line. I think because of the weather they kept the lunch place opened a bit longer which was nice. Lunch was good. The BBQ sandwhich was yummy, as was the cheesecake.
I did go pick up and purchase my pictures around 4:00 and there was no one else there so that worked out really well. At the end of the day the picture place at the restrooms were slammed so we just toweled off and left since we were staying at the Renaissance just up the road.
Here are a few pics. I have a Nikon Cool Pix S30 waterproof that worked really well I think. Later in the day though, when the water got murkier, the pictures didn't take as well, but the first part of the day I got some great photos! The really good ones are obvioulsy taken by DC photogs
We just spent the rest of the day lounging & snorkeling. DH is ready to go back. It's something we willl definately do again in few years.
If anyone has questions, feel free to ask
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. We had a GREAT time and of course, our day at DC was the best. We were there on Friday, August 17th. We arrived around 8:00 AM and got assigned a dolphin swim time of 12:20 (Seahorse cabana) which I was happy about. We ate breakfast (it was just OK food wise. I wish they had had some healthier options, but it is what it is). We were escorted to our cabana which was at the Grand Reef. LOVED IT! Our view was kind of hidden behind the rock (it's right next to the lifeguard), BUT, that also gave us lots of privacy and didn't bother us a bit. Julie was our cabana attendant and she was awesome.We all wore vests throughout the day and yes, the water is cold, but we got used to it quickley. We LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the reef. My DH didn't want to leave
The Freshwater Oasis (and all of the warm water pools) were WAY too warm. Almost sickenly warm. I also thought they could have done a lot more with that area. The otters are cute, but other than that, it's just like floating in a big bathtub. Nothing real special in my opinion. Therefore, we stayed in the Reef most of the day.
For our swim we were in the middle pool and had Morea as our dolphin. She was pretty playful and uncooperative at times, but that's a teenager for you I guess
. In fact, when it came time for our "ride", she wanted nothing to do with my DH (he was last) so Dixie came over and gave DH a whirl .We were about 20 minutes into our dolphin interaction and were called out due to storms. We went back to the Seahorse Cabana to wait it out and they gave our snacks, waters and towels. I guess we waited about 30 minutes or so and then went back out to finish our swim. It was stilll raining during the second part and water seemed 10x colder, but we got through it, shivering and all. After all was said & done, it was around 2:30 so DH and DD wento grab lunch and I checked out our photos. I did get the ultimate package because all of our photos were so good (which is rare for our clan
!). I also bought one of the large photo frames for our family pic because it matches the decor in our family room. I ran over to grab lunch about 2:50 and there was still quite a line. I think because of the weather they kept the lunch place opened a bit longer which was nice. Lunch was good. The BBQ sandwhich was yummy, as was the cheesecake.I did go pick up and purchase my pictures around 4:00 and there was no one else there so that worked out really well. At the end of the day the picture place at the restrooms were slammed so we just toweled off and left since we were staying at the Renaissance just up the road.
Here are a few pics. I have a Nikon Cool Pix S30 waterproof that worked really well I think. Later in the day though, when the water got murkier, the pictures didn't take as well, but the first part of the day I got some great photos! The really good ones are obvioulsy taken by DC photogs
We just spent the rest of the day lounging & snorkeling. DH is ready to go back. It's something we willl definately do again in few years.
If anyone has questions, feel free to ask
