graceandhayes
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2012
- Messages
- 102
My wife and I took our children (son 7 and daughter 6) to Sea World and Discovery Cove this past weekend. A quick report on our trip. I will be happy to answer any questions about our trip.
We stayed at the SpringHill Suites Orlando at Sea World Thurs through Sat night. I highly recommend this hotel. The rate was reasonable and the staff and the hotel room were excellent. I loved the layout of the hotel room with 2 Queen beds, sitting area, toilet separate from the shower and sink. Room was very clean and housekeeping was excellent. The free breakfast was pretty good with a good selection of food. The pool and pool bar/cafe was great.
Spent Friday at Sea World. Our first trip to Sea World, and probably our last. No real complaints, just not enough there to justify another trip. My wife and I like roller coasters, but did not ride Manta or Kraken because we were with our children. We saw 2 shows: Clyde and Seamore & Blue Horizons. Both shows were good. The pirate mime before C&S show was hilarious! Blue Horizons was an amazing show! We did the Dolphins Up Close tour and enjoyed it. Turtle Trek was interesting, but the volume on the movie is way too loud, and scared both of my kids. I was looking forward to Turtle Trek and was disappointed. Had lunch at Spice Mill which was pretty good for park food.
Reservations for Discovery Cove on Saturday. Arrived about 7:45 with no waiting. Got our dolphin encounter reservation for 10:05. Had a great breakfast, then went and got our wetsuits, mask and snorkel.
Here is my two cents on the wetsuit vs the vest. I am usually pretty warm, and cold water does not bother me. I considered getting a vest, but went with the wet suit because my wife and kids were getting wet suits. I was not sorry. It was in the low 80s on Saturday and warm outside. The water everywhere except the Freshwater Oasis took some getting used to. We were told by a lifeguard the water in the Wind Away River is normally warmer than it was last week. She said they had gotten some feedback that the water was too warm so they were working to adjust it. Too cold was our feedback. I don't want to scare anyone away. The water is cool, but you get used to it quickly - even in the dolphin pool. I recommend the wetsuit, but plenty of people were just wearing the vest. The wetsuit also helps keep you afloat. In fact my one complaint about the wetsuit was it made it hard to dive down to the bottom of the reef, and stay there. We were told you can always switch if you change your mind. My advice is get the wetsuit. If you are uncomfortable in it, and think the water is warm enough, go trade it for a vest.
The food and drinks were excellent. Not typical theme park food. Breakfast had a good selection of hot food (eggs, potatoes, sausage, french toast sticks) as well as fruit, yogurt, cereal, pasteries, bagels. Plenty of coffee, tea, juice and soft drinks to choose from (Coca-Cola products). Lunch was Cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs, French Fries, Grilled Tilapia, Jambalaya, Pork BBQ, Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich, Chicken Fingers, Mac and Cheese, Penne Pasta with Meatballs, Salads, Desserts and Coca-Cola products to drink. The snack bars have Beer, Sodas, Icees (Cherry or Lemonade), Frozen Adult Drinks (Mango or Pina Colada), Ice Cream Sandwiches, Soft Pretzels, Trail Mix, Chips, Granola Bars, etc. All the food was great!
The dolphin encounter was amazing, and worth the price. I recommend doing it at least once.
The Grand Reef is very cool. The water does start to get cloudy later in the day as the sand gets stirred up. Underwater pictures taken earlier in the day are more clear. Used a Kodak Play Sport camera which took good underwater photos. About 5:00 some staff came out in the shallow part of the Grand Reef with shrimp and fish and gave everyone the chance to feed the stingrays in the reef. Very cool experience.
The Bird Aviary was a big hit with my family. Highly recommend taking some time to walk through and feed the birds.
The Wind Away River is a great place to relax and float down the river. They have noodles for the kids if they are not great swimmers.
The freshwater oasis is also fun. You can check out the otters and marmosets. Water is nice and warm.
We stayed until 5:30 and wished we could have stayed longer. Truly a special day that was worth the price.
I highly recommend the SpringHill Suites. Sea World was fun, but I am not sure I would pay for admission. We only went because it was free with the Discovery Cove tickets. Just wasn't really a big hit with my family, and even less exciting after our trip to Discovery Cove. Discovery Cove is amazing, and worth the price. I think the Dolphin Encounter, Bird Aviary, and Grand Reef should not be missed. Please feel free to post specific questions. I will be happy to answer and provide my opinion on SpringHill Suites, Sea World, or Discovery Cove.
We stayed at the SpringHill Suites Orlando at Sea World Thurs through Sat night. I highly recommend this hotel. The rate was reasonable and the staff and the hotel room were excellent. I loved the layout of the hotel room with 2 Queen beds, sitting area, toilet separate from the shower and sink. Room was very clean and housekeeping was excellent. The free breakfast was pretty good with a good selection of food. The pool and pool bar/cafe was great.
Spent Friday at Sea World. Our first trip to Sea World, and probably our last. No real complaints, just not enough there to justify another trip. My wife and I like roller coasters, but did not ride Manta or Kraken because we were with our children. We saw 2 shows: Clyde and Seamore & Blue Horizons. Both shows were good. The pirate mime before C&S show was hilarious! Blue Horizons was an amazing show! We did the Dolphins Up Close tour and enjoyed it. Turtle Trek was interesting, but the volume on the movie is way too loud, and scared both of my kids. I was looking forward to Turtle Trek and was disappointed. Had lunch at Spice Mill which was pretty good for park food.
Reservations for Discovery Cove on Saturday. Arrived about 7:45 with no waiting. Got our dolphin encounter reservation for 10:05. Had a great breakfast, then went and got our wetsuits, mask and snorkel.
Here is my two cents on the wetsuit vs the vest. I am usually pretty warm, and cold water does not bother me. I considered getting a vest, but went with the wet suit because my wife and kids were getting wet suits. I was not sorry. It was in the low 80s on Saturday and warm outside. The water everywhere except the Freshwater Oasis took some getting used to. We were told by a lifeguard the water in the Wind Away River is normally warmer than it was last week. She said they had gotten some feedback that the water was too warm so they were working to adjust it. Too cold was our feedback. I don't want to scare anyone away. The water is cool, but you get used to it quickly - even in the dolphin pool. I recommend the wetsuit, but plenty of people were just wearing the vest. The wetsuit also helps keep you afloat. In fact my one complaint about the wetsuit was it made it hard to dive down to the bottom of the reef, and stay there. We were told you can always switch if you change your mind. My advice is get the wetsuit. If you are uncomfortable in it, and think the water is warm enough, go trade it for a vest.
The food and drinks were excellent. Not typical theme park food. Breakfast had a good selection of hot food (eggs, potatoes, sausage, french toast sticks) as well as fruit, yogurt, cereal, pasteries, bagels. Plenty of coffee, tea, juice and soft drinks to choose from (Coca-Cola products). Lunch was Cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs, French Fries, Grilled Tilapia, Jambalaya, Pork BBQ, Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich, Chicken Fingers, Mac and Cheese, Penne Pasta with Meatballs, Salads, Desserts and Coca-Cola products to drink. The snack bars have Beer, Sodas, Icees (Cherry or Lemonade), Frozen Adult Drinks (Mango or Pina Colada), Ice Cream Sandwiches, Soft Pretzels, Trail Mix, Chips, Granola Bars, etc. All the food was great!
The dolphin encounter was amazing, and worth the price. I recommend doing it at least once.
The Grand Reef is very cool. The water does start to get cloudy later in the day as the sand gets stirred up. Underwater pictures taken earlier in the day are more clear. Used a Kodak Play Sport camera which took good underwater photos. About 5:00 some staff came out in the shallow part of the Grand Reef with shrimp and fish and gave everyone the chance to feed the stingrays in the reef. Very cool experience.
The Bird Aviary was a big hit with my family. Highly recommend taking some time to walk through and feed the birds.
The Wind Away River is a great place to relax and float down the river. They have noodles for the kids if they are not great swimmers.
The freshwater oasis is also fun. You can check out the otters and marmosets. Water is nice and warm.
We stayed until 5:30 and wished we could have stayed longer. Truly a special day that was worth the price.
I highly recommend the SpringHill Suites. Sea World was fun, but I am not sure I would pay for admission. We only went because it was free with the Discovery Cove tickets. Just wasn't really a big hit with my family, and even less exciting after our trip to Discovery Cove. Discovery Cove is amazing, and worth the price. I think the Dolphin Encounter, Bird Aviary, and Grand Reef should not be missed. Please feel free to post specific questions. I will be happy to answer and provide my opinion on SpringHill Suites, Sea World, or Discovery Cove.
but most items were pretty crowd-friendly) . Everybody's tastes are different, so I'm always curious to find out what other's didn't enjoy.
