Discovery Cove/Dolphin Swim

[BranNich]

We will be visiting Discovery Cove in December and I'm wondering about the dolphin swim with my 11 year old. She has her heart set on it but the problem is...she is not really much of a swimmer. Has anyone does this with their kids who were weaker swimmers and did they still enjoy it???

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

The bulk of the dolphin interaction is done in water that your 11-year-old should be able to stand in with her feet touching the bottom and it not being too deep (unless she's very short for her age).

Everyone (including adults) has the choice to have the "swim" portion of the interaction in deep water or shallow water, and the staff overseeing your swim will ask before the interaction begins who wishes to have the deep-water swim and who wants to have the shallow-water swim.

She is also welcome to wear a lifejacket in the water for the dolphin interaction, if it would make her feel more secure.

DC is sooo much fun....if she has her heart set on it, I say BOOK IT! We had a very tiny six year old in our group of 8 (part of the other family who was in the water with us) who could neither swim nor touch bottom standing up, and he did just fine with a life jacket .

 

[SmallWorld71]

As PP mentioned, you do not need to be able to swim to "swim" with the dolphins. My daughter was 7 when we went and the youngest in our group and she was able to stand fine in the water.

Also, when you get to the part where the dolphin pulls you, you can do it in either the deeper water or shallow water. There were 9 in our group; our family plus a family from Ireland with 2 girls around 9 years old. The 5 kids and the 2 moms did the deep water swim and DD and I did end up treading water for a while as our dolphin decided to spend some time checking up on the other groups first before doing our swim. But, the 2 dads were both nervous and did the shallow water swims. So, at no point were they where they couldn't stand up. It's the same experience - one just has you going from deep water to shallow where the other has you going across the pool staying only in shallow water.

As far as everything else, there are life jackets in all sizes that can be used in the other swimming areas as well.

It was a blast!

 

[BranNich]

Awesome! I was pretty worried about spending the money if she possibly wouldn't enjoy it. This makes me feel a lot better. Thanks for the info!!

 

[phoenixphantom]

I am thinking of doing Discovey Cove instead of the trip Disney offers. How did you get there?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I am thinking of doing Discovey Cove instead of the trip Disney offers. How did you get there?

We had a rental car, so we drove from our hotel (on International Drive). Parking is free .

That said, alcohol is included (and unlimited), so for our next trip we are gonig to take a taxi. Then DH and I can enjoy ourselves without worrying about driving back to our resort.

 

[SmallWorld71]

I am thinking of doing Discovey Cove instead of the trip Disney offers. How did you get there?

We did DC as part of a Universal/ SeaWorld trip and were staying at a Universal Hotel. We just took a cab.