Discovery Cove Packages - Which way to go?

[RayaniFoxmur]

DH and I are currently saving our pennies to give each other a Discovery Cove day for Christmas. The problem is, I'm not entirely sure which package to go for!

The basic dolphin swim package alone sounds absolutely amazing to me, but the comments I have read on places such as You Tube it's actually more of an "eh" experience and then "Here buy $400.00 worth of photos for your 5 minutes of touching!". Is this true?

But then I was reading about the Trainer for the Day package and that sounds absolutely amazing! I know it's a bit more expensive (okay a lot more expensive) but if we're saving money anyway why not save a little longer? My only concern is that foot push. DH and I are big people... would the dolphins even be able to foot push us? Silly concern I know, but it seems to be a big part of the package.

So... what would you do? Is the basic package really as much of a rip off as I've been led to believe on other forums? Would the Trainer for the Day package work for bigger people too?

Gah I'm so confused!!

 

[Inkmahm]

If you've never been there before, do the basic program first. There is much to do at Discovery Cove besides the dolphin swim. I wouldn't want to tie all my time up in the trainer for a day program if I'd never experienced the rest of the park before. I've done the dophin swim several times now and plan to do it again later this year. Yes, the pictures are expensive. No, you don't have to buy them.

 

[scootch]

We just did the basic package, but loved it. It did not feel rushed and the rest of the park is so enjoyable too. My one dd loved the aviary as much as the dolphin experience. As far as the photos, to me they were priceless and noone was pushy. They are very high quality prints and since it was likely a once in a lifetime experience and I took my two daughters, they were worth every penny. We loved our experience there, it was truly amazing.

 

[Inkmahm]

We purchased the DVD with the pictures when we were there the first time. That gave us the ownership of the pictures so we used them in our picture montage for our wedding reception. They really are priceless.

 

[LovinPooh]

Do they charge per picture? How much do they run?