Eclpz314
<font color=red>ADDICOMNIAC<br><font color=teal>I
- Joined
- May 15, 2003
- Messages
- 13,347
It's our day for Discovery Cove. I had made everyone get their stuff together the night before so we were ready to go. I knew we had to get there early to get a good dolphin swim time so we got a wake up call for 7am. You have a choice of voices to wake you....dh had chosen Olive Oyl since the phone was closest to ds17's bed. Ds just picked up the ringing phone and hung it up, never getting to hear the voice. Everyone sluggishly gets up and about, to the lounge for a small breakfast, and out the door to catch a taxi. Note: the first shuttle to Sea World was not until almost 9 am, and then we would've had to take a DC shuttle from there. We arrived at DC just before 8am and they were already checking in people as they came. We were welcomed and sent immediately to a check-in desk.....it's always a relief when they say they do have your reservation. We were assigned an 8:45AM swim---a little earlier than I would've liked but still ok. I was asked for photo id and reached in my wallet to get it.......hhmmm, where the heck is it? Ended up using dh's license, still wondering where mine went. We had our pictures taken for the DC id badges we would wear all day....this is also the one that will get you into Sea World for 7 consective days. We moved to another desk to pick up our ids. While waiting I still rumaged through my wallet for license. DC also takes a complimentary family photo on the way in...really good photo too! HA! it's right there! it just got shoved down where I couldn't see it! Whew! on with the day! We were given our mesh bags with towels, lotion, masks, snorkels(you keep this) and sent to pick out a locker, change, etc. The locker was plenty big enough to keep our 4 changes of clothes, cameras, shoes, etc. You set your own combination on these. We then went and pick out our wetsuit jackets. Off to a restroom pit stop and we're set to go look around. Nope. A check of the clock tells us that our swim starts in less than 20 min. and its' time to go to the pre-talk in the cabana. Dh did not do the swim with us so he waited outside. Heather was our guide for this part, explaining dolphins and showing a short movie. She also assigned each person a group letter for their swim. Note: Heather is also my daughter's name. We were headed to the dolphin lagoon before we knew it. Such a flurry of activity as we watched the trainers working with all the dolphins in the distance! We broke into our assigned groups of 7 or 8 and our trainer came over to us. Note: turns out he not only used to live where we do, but graduated in '79 from ds17's high school! weird! Anyway, first thing he said after "good morning, welcome" was "this water is kept cold for the dolphins. In order to get used to it I want you all to kneel down to shoulder depth now" "Now!" ok, brrrrrrrr!!!!! but he's right, after a few minutes we all seemed to adjust to the water temp.....kind of ; ) Then he introduced the dolphin we would be working with. Her name was Hailey. Note (you're not going to believe this) Hailey is one of my cat's name at home........this was just too funny! I'm not going to give away all of the details of our encounter but if you have questions, please ask me. Both sons were thrilled to be this close to a dolphin....ds14 would've been more thrilled had his wetsuit jacket fit a little tighter. It kept floating up around him during the deepwater time. MAKE SURE YOUR JACKET FITS YOU SNUGGLY! They will expand a little after they're wet. If you need to go back and exchange it, do! You will have a much more enjoyable time...plus you won't get chaffed from it. You have to wear this anytime you are in DC waters. After our dolphin rides back to shore, the guides all gave their groups hand signals to give the dolphins. On the count of 3 everyone in the pool gave theirs signs and the dolphins became a syncronized group and did a few things. We didn't feel rushed during this encounter although I'm sure all 3 of use could've stayed a lot longer. Dh was able to get really good video of the whole thing. Even the baby dolphin that was out while it's mother was with one of the groups! They do have DC photographers in the water with each group and they take you to a hut afterwards to let you choose any pictures you would like. I did buy the one of both sons standing with Hailey...too neat to pass up! ($15) We were told to pick up the photos later and went off to explore. We found empty lounge chairs and plopped down our bags of towels n' stuff. My husband was going back to the locker to get the water cameras and asked him to bring my purse back too. When he returned and announced "your purse isn't in the locker" ...ok, so many of us have had that sinking feeling. I went back with him and tore that locker apart....no purse. I went immediately to one of the many attendants and asked about it (thinking at this point I must've left it hanging in the restroom at the very beginning of the day) She asked "Can you describe it?" and when I described it down to the last piece of lint in it, said "yes, we found it in the restroom, follow me to security" Whew!!!!!! feeling silly, but very, very relieved! I had to describe it again when we got to security and sign for it...but got it back: ) Turns out that they automatically check after groups of people because this happens a lot. By this time, the kids have already started exploring the water areas so we go to hunt them down. Gosh, everyone looks alike here....all a sea of identical wetsuit jackets. They see us and want us to go look at everything they've seen. I'm just going to give a rundown of the different parts:
**Coral Reef area: this is soooo neat! with this kind of snorkel you have to stay on the surface or just below....and even then we managed to drink a little saltwater. We snapped pictures like crazy with our underwater cameras! schools of different fish, all sizes and colors. I was snorkeling behind ds17 to follow him to shark area. When I came up out of the water, I realized I had somehow ended up following someone else! Did I say how much everyone looks alike in the vests? lol Anyway, after about 15 min. we located each other again. Shark area is neat but kind of hard to find. Son got some great pictures here. DS17 managed to cut his foot on a piece of coral. NOTE: WATER SHOES! we were going to get them but never did. and buy them before you get there$$$
**Tropical River: this was ok. Some waterfalls, caves, and entrances to the aviary. This area goes from 3' to 8' and back again. We found it to be a very "toe-stubbing"experience just trying to push off to coast with the water.
**Aviary: every bird here seemed out to show off for ds17, flying as close to his head as possible. I enjoyed the colorful birds and feeding them. I had one that landed on my shoulder and fell asleep, having to be removed by the attendant. This area is actually divided by doors into sections. Not as big as I'd thought it would be.
**Stingray Pool: THIS WAS GREAT!!! unless you don't want anything to touch you. There are all size/kinds of rays in here. DS17 about came unglued when one swam thru a railing and it started flapping away to get through. Unfortunately, son was with back to that railing and got thoroughly spanked by the fins! I also had the experience of hearing a splash behind me and getting smacked in the shoulder blades by what I thought was a kid jumping. Ds17 says "did you see that? It went airborn and landed on your back!" Dh looks at my back and says "Yep, there's the mark from it right on your shoulder!" All I can think is "thank goodness I wasn't facing toward the thing when it jumped!" We also got to feed the rays. The attendant gave us big shrimp and fish, then told us how to feed them. "And don't let the regular fish eat the food, this is for the rays" Easier said than done...as soon as we had the food, we were surrounded by every fish and ray in the pool! flapping against us, jumping, etc. At that point I didn't care what ate the food, as long as I got rid of it! It was really a lot of fun, but at one point we couldn't see the water for all the fish and rays....3 1/2' deep and we couldn't see bottom! Dh took a picture during this "busy time" and the look on my face says it all! lol great time in this part! Do it if you get the chance.......feed them if you like a lot of action!
**Our meal-- I don't remember what time we finally decided to take a break and eat, afternoon sometime. There was a line but it moved right along. We all chose our salad,entree, dessert, and drink. Then they scanned our id cards and we went to find a table. For those of you interested, there are tables divided by the bldg. Smoking/non-smoking. Our meals were all good and almost too much to finish. Second wind and time to go explore again.
At around 4pm we noticed the sky getting dark so headed for the locker room to shower and change. Dispensers of soap, shampoo and conditioner in showers are nice. Hairdryers and extra towels came in handy. I did not take time to blowdry my hair because we wanted to make a quick exit before the storm hit. I headed out to the lockers to meet up with the family. Too late....they tell everyone to stay where they are until the storm passes.....darn! I should've stayed in the locker room to dry my hair! Finally, after about 15 or 20 min, the attendants get the "code white" signal which basically meant "make a run for it if you have to, but there's still lightning in the area" So, we made a run for it and caught a taxi back to the hotel. What a great way to spend a day! One thing I did notice 3 different times. People would forget to get to their dolphin swim and you'd see the rest of their family hunting them down and yelling things like "it's too late now, we missed it!" Guess I'm glad our swim was so early in the morning.... we barely even had time to wake up, let alone miss our time! lol Everyone, this Discovery Cove thing sounds really expensive. But it's an experience that is well worth it. Plus you get 7 days at Sea World with your id badge! We didn't use that part because our pkg already included SW. Go for it!!
**Coral Reef area: this is soooo neat! with this kind of snorkel you have to stay on the surface or just below....and even then we managed to drink a little saltwater. We snapped pictures like crazy with our underwater cameras! schools of different fish, all sizes and colors. I was snorkeling behind ds17 to follow him to shark area. When I came up out of the water, I realized I had somehow ended up following someone else! Did I say how much everyone looks alike in the vests? lol Anyway, after about 15 min. we located each other again. Shark area is neat but kind of hard to find. Son got some great pictures here. DS17 managed to cut his foot on a piece of coral. NOTE: WATER SHOES! we were going to get them but never did. and buy them before you get there$$$
**Tropical River: this was ok. Some waterfalls, caves, and entrances to the aviary. This area goes from 3' to 8' and back again. We found it to be a very "toe-stubbing"experience just trying to push off to coast with the water.
**Aviary: every bird here seemed out to show off for ds17, flying as close to his head as possible. I enjoyed the colorful birds and feeding them. I had one that landed on my shoulder and fell asleep, having to be removed by the attendant. This area is actually divided by doors into sections. Not as big as I'd thought it would be.
**Stingray Pool: THIS WAS GREAT!!! unless you don't want anything to touch you. There are all size/kinds of rays in here. DS17 about came unglued when one swam thru a railing and it started flapping away to get through. Unfortunately, son was with back to that railing and got thoroughly spanked by the fins! I also had the experience of hearing a splash behind me and getting smacked in the shoulder blades by what I thought was a kid jumping. Ds17 says "did you see that? It went airborn and landed on your back!" Dh looks at my back and says "Yep, there's the mark from it right on your shoulder!" All I can think is "thank goodness I wasn't facing toward the thing when it jumped!" We also got to feed the rays. The attendant gave us big shrimp and fish, then told us how to feed them. "And don't let the regular fish eat the food, this is for the rays" Easier said than done...as soon as we had the food, we were surrounded by every fish and ray in the pool! flapping against us, jumping, etc. At that point I didn't care what ate the food, as long as I got rid of it! It was really a lot of fun, but at one point we couldn't see the water for all the fish and rays....3 1/2' deep and we couldn't see bottom! Dh took a picture during this "busy time" and the look on my face says it all! lol great time in this part! Do it if you get the chance.......feed them if you like a lot of action!
**Our meal-- I don't remember what time we finally decided to take a break and eat, afternoon sometime. There was a line but it moved right along. We all chose our salad,entree, dessert, and drink. Then they scanned our id cards and we went to find a table. For those of you interested, there are tables divided by the bldg. Smoking/non-smoking. Our meals were all good and almost too much to finish. Second wind and time to go explore again.
At around 4pm we noticed the sky getting dark so headed for the locker room to shower and change. Dispensers of soap, shampoo and conditioner in showers are nice. Hairdryers and extra towels came in handy. I did not take time to blowdry my hair because we wanted to make a quick exit before the storm hit. I headed out to the lockers to meet up with the family. Too late....they tell everyone to stay where they are until the storm passes.....darn! I should've stayed in the locker room to dry my hair! Finally, after about 15 or 20 min, the attendants get the "code white" signal which basically meant "make a run for it if you have to, but there's still lightning in the area" So, we made a run for it and caught a taxi back to the hotel. What a great way to spend a day! One thing I did notice 3 different times. People would forget to get to their dolphin swim and you'd see the rest of their family hunting them down and yelling things like "it's too late now, we missed it!" Guess I'm glad our swim was so early in the morning.... we barely even had time to wake up, let alone miss our time! lol Everyone, this Discovery Cove thing sounds really expensive. But it's an experience that is well worth it. Plus you get 7 days at Sea World with your id badge! We didn't use that part because our pkg already included SW. Go for it!!
