Is Discovery Cover Worth the Hefty Price Tag?

[fantasia73]

I wrote this over the summer for the DIS and it never was published, so I published it myself.

http://www.adventuresinridining.com/2016/11/is-day-at-discovery-cove-worth-hefty.html

 

[andyw715]

We got our tickets through undercover tourist for the day after Thanksgiving. It was $1019, not cheap.

BUT

We also priced out a place in Panama City Beach for an equivalent 30min experience. It was around 750 for the 4 of us.

To me an extra 250 is worth: the setting, the additional attractions in Discovery Cove, and the passes to Seaworld.
Definitely worth it!

 

[kathy884]

If you will be in the Caribbean, Mexico, or some place like that in the near future, I'd probably skip Discovery Cove and just focus more on theme parks in Orlando (You'll have great snorkeling, dolphin swim opportunities, things like that on your other vacation.) What Discovery Cove offers is your Caribbean beach day experience and dolphin swim experience right in the middle of central Florida. And it's pricey as they had to build everything from scratch and aren't located on the ocean.

Most people who go to Discovery Cove really enjoy it and think it's worth it. It's a lovely setting, and they do a good job caring for the animals.

What really cuts the price down for some are the package deals that include Discovery Cove, SeaWorld, Aquatica, and Busch Gardens. But that's only a good option if you want to do all four of those.

When we have done Discovery Cove we have just gone there and to SeaWorld (love that park). Note though we usually skip Discovery Cove, as we get to the Caribbean/Mexico pretty regularly.

 

[Joanna71985]

Thank you for the info! Discovery Cove is on my to-do list

 

[jon18uk]

For us Discovery Cove seemed like a no-brainer as we were planning to do SeaWorld & Busch Gardens anyway. It was £99 for a three-park ticket (Busch, SW and Aquatica) or £138 for Discovery Cove Ultimate (no-dolphin swim). £39 for bird-feeding, snorkelling, beer, lunch and snacks is awesome!

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Yep. We've been five times but never did the dolphin swim. We get there when it opens and stay till closing.

 

[Seeker615]

What is the food and beverages consist of?
We are considering this park for our trip next year.

 

[jon18uk]

What is the food and beverages consist of?
We are considering this park for our trip next year.

There was full breakfast of sausage patty, eggs, bacon etc with french toast and pastries too. The eggs were not good though, think they were powdered. Everything else was nice.

The lunch menu can be found here https://discoverycove.com/en/premier planning/meals and beverages
I enjoyed the Hawaiian chicken. It is all served to you, but from a cafeteria style counter.

At the kiosks there is Icee and Coke products, plus draught Bud and other bottled beers, wines and slushy cocktails (Pina Colada or Mango I think). There are also hot pretzels and choc chip cookies as well as bags of chips and snacks.

Everything is included in the price, even bottled water.

 

[kellia]

Would it be worth it to go and not swim with the dolphins? Also, has anyone been in February?

 

[greenclan67]

We have been once to swim with dolphins, and 5 times without swimming with dolphins, it was well worth it! We have been in Dec and March. Dec I found it cool but the water was very warm so we had to stay in the water of the lazy river. Sting ray bay isn't warm so it was chilly after that.

 

[jon18uk]

Would it be worth it to go and not swim with the dolphins? Also, has anyone been in February?

Yes. We didn't do dolphin swim and still had a great day, there is still plenty to do. Don't forget all tickets also include SeaWorld and Aquatica.

 

[mom2rose&john]

We did Discovery Cove with the dolphins experience and added on Busch Gardens. I think it is a great deal. We were there from 11-11 to 11-17. Saturday 11-12 we did Discovery Cove and it was an amazing day. Very laid back but never boring. Our tickets were $284 for the Ultimate package with Dolphin Experience. It would have been $204 without the Dolphins. We went spent 1 day at Busch Gardens and Aquatica and 2 days at Sea World. $204 divided by 5 is about $41 per day at each park including the parking. A bargain when you look at the cost of WDW and Universal IMHO. If you spend more days in the park (you get 14 days usage) it's even more of a bargain. Plus you do not have to spend money on food for the day at Discovery Cove.

 

[Seeker615]

Thanks for posting your insights. I am really considering doing this on our next trip. I would have to add the dolphin swim as it is on my bucket list.

 

[andyw715]

We just got back from our Dolphin Week 2016 trip. My daughters (8 and 10) love Winter and Hope (Dolphin Tale) so we went to Clearwater Marine first, went on a pirate ship (and saw some dolphins and a manatee), went to the sponge docks, then over to Orlando. SeaWorld on the first day, hotel day on Thanksgiving with dinner at Disney Springs, Discovery Cove on fri, SeaWorld on Sat.

This week had the girls grinning from ear to ear.

At first I really wasn't all-in on the dolphin swim for myself, but I'm glad I did. We had 2 dolphins in our experience and it is amazing how they interact.

My only gripe is the food. We bought the BOGO meal plan (Blue Friday) for Seaworld and noticed the similar quality food at Discovery Cove. I wish the SeaWorld Group would up their game, meh.


One thing I wish I added to Disc Cove was the SeaVenture, it looked fun. Next time!