Discovery Cove First Time Questions

[black562]

Hello everyone...I am a resident Disney expert who is planning on venturing out of my comfort zone and give Discovery Cove a try. That being said, I am clueless, and have some questions.

1. I understand the dolphin swim is 30 minutes, but how much of that time do you actually spend with the dolphin, physically touching and interacting?

2. I know you get a photo included, but other photos you have to buy, including the famous kissing the dolphin? How much are these, to buy maybe one or two photos?

3. Lockers...are there keys, is it a code lock? I'm always frantic about losing a locker key.

4. Is it truly all inclusive...no nickles and dimes here?

5. Going at the end of August. I know we must book in advance and it's non refundable. How do you deal with rain, thunderstorms, etc... We will have only one day we can do this and wouldn't be able to just come back another day...so it's all or nothing on that day. Has weather ever been a problem for any of you?

I don't want to leave disappointed because something wasn't what I expected. I would rather know exactly what to expect and feel as if it were money well spent.

Thanks in advance everyone!!!!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We have been to Discovery Cove three times (in fact, we were married there!) and I will try to answer some of your questions.

1. We've only done the dolphin swim once. It's about 15 minutes in the water with the dolphin. You meet at a gazebo where you watch a short video and are given some instruction. The instructors then take everyone down to the water and divide everyone up into 3-4 groups of 6-10. You go with your instructor into cold waist deep water and form a semi-circle. A dolphin is called over, does a few hand tricks with the whole group (like you all do a hand motion and the dolphin reacts). Then those who wish to go into deeper water can line up and the dolphin will swim each person once across (a distance of maybe 50 feet? I'm terrible with distance). Some people choose not to do this (in fact, two people didn't in our group because they were afraid to tread water for their turn). Then everyone lines up again and does the dolphin kiss one by one and they take pictures.

2. The picture you get for free is when you first get to Discovery Cove on the little bridge walking into Discovery Cove. I don't know how much the individual photos are, but pretty much all their photos are expensive. We always end up buying the DVD with all the photo's for the whole day for around $150 (usually comes with a picture frame for "free" ). They have people taking pictures in the lazy river and sometimes in the aviary, grand reef, and the new section (where the monkeys and otter are). Hopefully someone else can help you out on individual picture prices. I do know that if you want any photos (even your free one) you should get over to the photo center before 4 p.m. Between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. it can be packed!

3. I cannot for the life of me remember how we close the lockers . My memory fails me! I want to say that I'm pretty sure they have keys and you put them around your wrist.

4. It is absolutely all inclusive. The only thing you may want to spend money on is the gift shops or on pictures. None of the food kiosks or restaurant take any money for anything. We had a cabana during our wedding and we tried to tip our hostess and she told us she is not allowed to accept tips. The bathrooms/showers have Crabtree & Evelyn shampoo/conditioner/soap and they have plenty of towels, hairdryers, and even provide plastic bags to put your bathing suit or wet clothes in. They provide snorkels, swim masks, wetsuits, and sunscreen.

5. When we went for the first time in December 2011 it was 60 degrees and pouring down raining. I really didn't want to go, but I knew we wouldn't get our money back so we just went. We had a wonderful time! The water in the lazy river is heated and, honestly, when you're in the Grand Reef or the other places, we were so into what we were looking at we didn't even notice the rain. There are covered and uncovered places to eat at the restaurant so it was nice to take a break for lunch and just listen to the rain hit the roof over the eating area. We've never been there during lightning so I can't tell you what happens then. If it's just a typical summer thunderstorm I'm sure they just get everyone out of the water and reopen the water areas after it passes. I do know they only close the park if it looks like it's going to be terrible thunderstorms with lightning all day (a "rarity" so says the DC employee I spoke with at our wedding).

Hope you have a wonderful time! We'll be there next month!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Individual prints are $25 for a 6 x 8 . You can find the full price list in this TripAdvisor thread from September 2013:

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic...package_prices_Sept_2013-Orlando_Florida.html

If you do the dolphin swim, I would recommend trying really hard to budget for the smallest package that comes with the CD of all pictures taken during your visit. You will want them. Honest. The photographers are right in the water and do a great job capturing those amazing moments. It seems like a pricey add-on (on top of an already pricey day) but its well worth it IMHO.

Your swim time will be shared with a group of approximately 8 people total (including yourself). Everyone gets to feed, touch, kiss and "ride" with the dolphin. Total time in the dolphin pool is 30-45 minutes but its not "exclusive" time as you are in a small group.

Lockers are keys (on a wrist strap), not a code.

Definitely all inclusive . They even supply shampoo and body wash for showering when you are ready to go home.

I know DC has a "peace of mind hurricane policy" which gets you a full refund if Mother Nature's fury happens to hit, but most other inclement weather must be ridden out by guests. The good thing is, most August thunderstorms don't last all day, so your scheduled day shouldn't be a total wash.

 

[Lynne G]

We went at the end August a few years ago. It was so hot, the cold water felt even colder. It rained late in the day, but since you can always get a dry towel, very few people got out of the water. Lucky, no threat of lightning.

So, I would say, end of August is a great time to visit. I hope you will have a great time. We really enjoy DC.