Discovery Cove in Orlando

[CubFan]

Don't forget to add 6% tax on that $219 per person--we are going right when we get off the ship on July 4th--cost for family of 4 is $928.56--we called and reserved about a month ago, but I would call well in advance--we decided to do DC when we tried to book shore excursions and they were already filled up--they said if we were there by 11 am we would still be able to do everything with an afternoon "swim"--other posters said they were off the ship and at DC by 9:30 and kids weren't too tired or anything--so we will see! I will try to get a report together when we return home on July 6-7th--

 

[disneyholic family]

Barb,
the area the dolphins live in at DC is quite large...much larger than what is typical at a sea world type place...
and they're very protective of them....there are very strict rules about what you can and can't do when you're doing the dolphin swim part of the visit....actually during any part of the visit to DC...
before the swim you have a 15 minute to a half hour explanation about dolphins including safety instructions that are meant to protect the dolphins....
as i said in my earlier post, it is an exceptionally well run operation...
on all counts....service, organization, safety, cleanliness, attitude towards the dolphins as well as the fish and various and sundry sea creatures...

it IS extremely expensive, but it's a one of a kind sort of place....

the people working there are highly trained and dedicated......

i doubt we'll ever go back, mainly because where we live we have access to free living dolphins....but if that weren't the case, i'm sure we would visit again this year...

we all enjoyed the dolphin encounter.....as well as the stingrays (though my daughter was bitten by one when she was feeding them....but the DC people were spectacular in their response......it was only a minor wound...nothing to be concerned about....)....we especially enjoyed the lazy river.....it was such a pleasure to have no crowd at all instead of wall to wall people.......if you've ever been at blizzard beach or typhoon lagoon you'll know what i'm talking about....

and the place itself is lovely and peaceful....and beautifully landscaped.....it sounds silly to mention, but the bathrooms and showers are dreamy....

bottom line, i definitely recommend it....we only spent a half day there as we never spend more than that in the sun.....but you could easily laze away the day there....

so i guess i'm saying that it's worth the money....surprising as that might seem considering how much it costs....

 

[3cheers4DIS]

we ( myself, DH and DS 12 ) have booked to do DC during the week we are staying at BWV before our Western cruise, we will also go to seaworld at least twice that week ( possibly once during the day and once in the evening after spending the day doing something else )

The main reason we chose this week to go is because we thought it would be an ideal opportunity to get in plenty of snorkel practice in a more "controlled environment" before hitting the seas at Grand Cayman and Cozomel. I must admit though, I'm looking forward to the dolphin swim best of all

 

[Mulljac]

Well, we seemed to have changed our plans once again!! My niece just got back from Disney and decided to do Discovery Cove. She had a blast!! After seeing a picture of her kissing a dolphin I just have to go. So my husband said go ahead and make reservations. Now after our July 6th cruise we will be heading over to the Hard Rock Hotel for 2 nights and going to IOA. Then it's off to OKW for 3 nights and a day at Discovery Cove. Guess we won't need to go to Stingray City after all. I was told I could feed and swim with the stingrays at DC. So that's good. At least I'll save a bit of money there. Besides, I will need it to pay for DC. Total for the 4 of us came to $928.56. My niece said that it is well worth it. And she said the food is great!I'm so happy!!! We were going to wait until next year to go, but since we're down there, hey what the heck!

 

[sharond150]

Discovery Cove was well worth the admission fee ..especially with the 7-day Sea World pass. However, the dolphi encoutner was probably something that you could pass on and not feel as though much was missed and use the $100 elsewhere.

 

[Mulljac]

Sharond150, I thought the dolphin swim was well worth the money and my kids were thrilled. They were so excited that they got to ride on C.J. and we just had to buy the picture for them. We got to the park at 8:30 and we were one of the last people to leave the park that night. I could have stayed another few hours if they had let us. My feeling is that if you're going to experience Discovery Cove that you should do the whole package. Who knows if you'll ever get another chance to do something like this and I wouldn't want to be kicking myself saying "I should have done this or that". We even bought the video even though it was a bit on the high side. It's something that we all can watch to relive our experience. Plus it gave our family back home a chance to see what Discovery Cove is all about.

 

[danicaw]

We are going to DC on our Sept trip, before our 3 day Cruise.

I am really looking forward to it.
Less than a Month!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MinivanMom]

We went to Discovery Cove on August 2, following our July 28th Wonder cruise. All 5 of us thought it was great, and worth the money. The grounds are beautiful and the the food choices are very nice. The lazy river winds past a very cool bird aviary. It's well worth the time to get out of the water, and visit the 3 separate aviaries. Employees give you grubs and birdseed to hold, so the fabulous tropical birds sit right on your hand and help themselves.

Snorkeling in the cool, salt-water lagoons with the stingrays and tropical fish is wonderful. If you pay for the dolpin swim, which we did, they assign you a time when you check in. It would be useful to have a watch (we did not) so you know when your swim time is approaching. The swim time is short, and is largely built around phots and video-taping, which of course they encourage you to purchase. They were not pushy, and we did buy 2 photos. It was worth it for one time. If we ever go again, next time we would do the $100 option.

We used the free Sea World pass the next day, and enjoyed it - especially the water ski show, Shamu show, sea lion and otter show. My husband and kids liked Kraken and Atlantis, but I passed on those.

Hope that helps!