marciemi
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 29, 1999
- Messages
- 4,842
I hope this is in the right place - I wanted to provide a quick DC review but it was just DC, not Universal so put it here rather than the Trips section. We (me, DH & DS21) had a really good time and perfect weather last Saturday (June 11). A few sprinkles but we were always in the water so it didn't really matter. The guys got the first Dolphin Swim time so we ate a quick breakfast and headed right there. I was able to take "okay" pics - couldn't get super close but good enough based on their ages (ie it wasn't my 5-year-old's adorable first-time pics). We were able to buy individual pics so just got one of the two of them - for $35 we got 2 keychain photos (wallet size), 2 extra wallets (not sure if you were supposed to get these but they included them since that was what printed on the page) and a 4x6 which I could scan in my computer. I got some nice videos of each of them with the dolphins doing the actual "swim" part but no easy way to post those.
We really enjoyed the Grand Reef part and went back there several times during the day. Also of course loved the lazy river and floated around there much of the afternoon, with a few quick breaks for food/drinks (they had a nice area right near there where you can sit in the water on the little green benches and drink your drinks). But the highlight really was the aviary - and we're not at all "bird" people. We spent probably 2-3 hours in there (broken over a couple visits) and were amazed by how much the birds interacted with you. Fun to float around the lazy river for a bit, get a drink, go back around the river, stop in the aviary and feed some birds/take pics then back to the river!
I never once felt it was crowded there and this was a Saturday after at least a couple days had probably had people reschedule due to the bad weather/tropical storm. I had followed advice and had them do the early swim, then go right to the Grand Reef and then Aviary, but when we went back to both multiple times during the day, there were never crowds, nor were the birds "full" - we had as much interaction at the end of the day as the beginning. The only reason I'd really see for doing the dolphin swim early would be so you didn't have to worry about time later (or possibly getting weathered out) and could drink if you wanted, but everything else really never seemed to be crowded. When we hit the buffet around 3:15 (shortly before closing), they had closed one side and there was a decent (maybe 20 people?) line on the other side but that was really it. Never a wait for drinks or snacks at the various bars, tons of chairs available all day, lots of room to swim and see the sea life in the Reef and the bird life in the Aviary.
I can honestly see NO reason to get a cabana. We were among the first people there and staked out chairs carefully by 7:20am or so and then never once sat in them. I suppose if you had babies or folks who weren't going in the water then maybe it would be worth it but we spent every single minute being somewhere else. To us the lazy river or those chairs nearby in the water were far better than just a beach chair somewhere. Also, we didn't wear any kind of water shoe at first - couldn't have them at the dolphin swim and then just left them. After the first time in the reef/aviary/lazy river we really wanted them so went back and got our Keen sandals - just some protection since the reef and lazy river had some sharp edges and just the amount of walking was tiring on bare feet.
Definitely an awesome day - we have Sea World AP's so it was just $169 for my husband (with dolphin swim), $99 for me (without) and $219 for our son (FL resident rate - he doesn't have an AP so that included 14 days at Aquatica and SW and he got to ride the front row of Mako twice and hit both of those parks twice). I would definitely do this again and would consider the dolphin portion to be a "one and done" part of it (I've swum with them before on cruises) and just enjoy the day.
Some pics (more of family but at least some of the park in general) - just click on the first and scroll through:
http://s7.photobucket.com/user/marciemi/library/Discovery Cove
Be glad to answer any questions!
We really enjoyed the Grand Reef part and went back there several times during the day. Also of course loved the lazy river and floated around there much of the afternoon, with a few quick breaks for food/drinks (they had a nice area right near there where you can sit in the water on the little green benches and drink your drinks). But the highlight really was the aviary - and we're not at all "bird" people. We spent probably 2-3 hours in there (broken over a couple visits) and were amazed by how much the birds interacted with you. Fun to float around the lazy river for a bit, get a drink, go back around the river, stop in the aviary and feed some birds/take pics then back to the river!
I never once felt it was crowded there and this was a Saturday after at least a couple days had probably had people reschedule due to the bad weather/tropical storm. I had followed advice and had them do the early swim, then go right to the Grand Reef and then Aviary, but when we went back to both multiple times during the day, there were never crowds, nor were the birds "full" - we had as much interaction at the end of the day as the beginning. The only reason I'd really see for doing the dolphin swim early would be so you didn't have to worry about time later (or possibly getting weathered out) and could drink if you wanted, but everything else really never seemed to be crowded. When we hit the buffet around 3:15 (shortly before closing), they had closed one side and there was a decent (maybe 20 people?) line on the other side but that was really it. Never a wait for drinks or snacks at the various bars, tons of chairs available all day, lots of room to swim and see the sea life in the Reef and the bird life in the Aviary.
I can honestly see NO reason to get a cabana. We were among the first people there and staked out chairs carefully by 7:20am or so and then never once sat in them. I suppose if you had babies or folks who weren't going in the water then maybe it would be worth it but we spent every single minute being somewhere else. To us the lazy river or those chairs nearby in the water were far better than just a beach chair somewhere. Also, we didn't wear any kind of water shoe at first - couldn't have them at the dolphin swim and then just left them. After the first time in the reef/aviary/lazy river we really wanted them so went back and got our Keen sandals - just some protection since the reef and lazy river had some sharp edges and just the amount of walking was tiring on bare feet.
Definitely an awesome day - we have Sea World AP's so it was just $169 for my husband (with dolphin swim), $99 for me (without) and $219 for our son (FL resident rate - he doesn't have an AP so that included 14 days at Aquatica and SW and he got to ride the front row of Mako twice and hit both of those parks twice). I would definitely do this again and would consider the dolphin portion to be a "one and done" part of it (I've swum with them before on cruises) and just enjoy the day.
Some pics (more of family but at least some of the park in general) - just click on the first and scroll through:
http://s7.photobucket.com/user/marciemi/library/Discovery Cove
Be glad to answer any questions!
I was just trying to point out with DC though that there was more than enough to do the whole day that I didn't ever feel the need to have somewhere to get away and if I had I probably would have felt like I was missing out on other things, at least on a first visit. And Lynne - since it was mid-June, being warm enough wasn't an issue for us but I can see that being really nice in the colder months!
