Back from our SW and DC adventures!

[Pooh93]

We went to SW on 6/22. We were there from about 9:30am-9:30pm. We had a wonderful time! There is so much to see from the dolphin show to the shark reef. It is a wonderful place. I rode Krakken and Journey to Atlantis with dd's. Did the Dine with Shamu show and had a great table! (#16). The food was fair, but I could have cared less about the food after being that close to that beautiful killer whale. Forgive me because I can't remember his name. Started with a "K" and he is their largest male whale. I took about 20 pics of him and he was simply AMAZING!! My only complaint was the people eating would not quiet down enough to hear the trainer speak. I couldn't believe people paid all this money to "Dine with Shamu" and then weren't listening to all the great facts the trainer was giving. Anyways, to each his own! We finished the day with "Shamu Rocks America" and boy did that stadium rock. We sat in the soak zone and much to my dd's dismay, we did not get wet!

On 6/24 we went to Discovery Cove. What an awesome place!!!! It's like an island all within itself and we had the most wonderful relaxing day. Our dolphin swim was at 11:15 and his name was CJ. Talk about another beautiful animal!!! Our trainers were wonderful and the family we shared the dolphin swim with was alot of fun! The time went fast, but at the same time not too fast if that makes sense. I was just in awe being that close to something so amazing. It really was one of my dreams in life that have come true. We did purchase a CD with 11 pics on it and even though it was expensive, I knew going in there was no way I was walking out without pics of our experience.

The snorkeling lagoon, stingray wading pool and lazy river (as I called it) were awesome. I couldn't believe how fast the day went!! The food was excellent also.

My kids and dh are still talking about DC as one of the great highlights of our trip. We would highly recommend it to anyone!!

 

[jockey]

Thanks for the report, I can't wait until our doplhin swim on 28th September

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

We swam with CJ as well in June! I agree, it was our second time doing DC, and we love it. But my daughter is still not too big on the snorkeling part. Last trip, she refused. This trip she did it, but I had to beg and plead with her to go in, and even then we did it in small increments. She loved the ray pool though. I bought the CD as well (but only the 5 picture one) and the video!!
Their food is sooo good, and with getting into SW for 7 days (although we only went the day before DC, and then again the evening after we left DC), I don't think it is a bad deal!!

 

[westjones]

We want to do DC and SW next year on our trip to Orlando. Is 1 day enough for Sea World?

DJ

 

[vernon]

DJ, it's possible to cover a good portion of SW in one day, but it's not possible to cover all of it. The show times and distance between attractions make it practically impossible to get all the shows in one day. The is a lot of SW that improves if you take the time to watch what's going on. Dolphin Cove and the Pacific point preserve ( seals and sealions) are both a case in point. One can walk up to these attractions, peer over the wall/barrier and say "OK we've seen the ..... let's move on to the next thing" but you'd be missing out on a lot of fun. I could easily spend 30-40 minutes at either of these attractions and not be bored. I don't expect everyone to be as entertained as I am, but they do warrant more than a cursery glance.

IMHO you really need one full day and at least an extra half a day to cover the park completely. If you're thinking of going to DC , I would suggest using the 7 days access to SW to take in the park spread over 3 or even 4 half days. At least that way you're getting good value for money from your cost of entry to DC. IMHO it's a reasonable way of justifying the cost of DC and it does allow for you to have a slightly more relaxing vacation as you have plenty of time to do other things around the SW days (pool time, lie in, shopping etc)

 

[westjones]

Originally posted by vernon

IMHO you really need one full day and at least an extra half a day to cover the park completely. If you're thinking of going to DC , I would suggest using the 7 days access to SW to take in the park spread over 3 or even 4 half days. At least that way you're getting good value for money from your cost of entry to DC. IMHO it's a reasonable way of justifying the cost of DC and it does allow for you to have a slightly more relaxing vacation as you have plenty of time to do other things around the SW days (pool time, lie in, shopping etc)

Good Point! I was just wondering if there would be enough to make it worth planning to go more than one day. Sounds like it might be 'nice' to just for a few half days and go back to the resort in the afternoon for swimming and relaxing.

BTW, do you know if you have to do the DC part before you can go to SW, or is just any 7 day around your day at DC?

Thanks again!
DJ

 

[vernon]

You can certainly do before OR after, I'm reasonably sure you can do it around.

If memory serves me correctly ( at my age it's questionable LOL) if you take the Busch Garden AND SeaWorld offer (7 days at each) that has to be one park before and one park after DC, but if you've just got one park I think it's ok. Unless they changed the rules

 

[westjones]

Thanks!
DJ

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Great report! Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to go in a few weeks!