Discovery Cove - Photo Packages, Worth it?

[Portugal1000]

We visit on 30th July. There will be 7 of us. 4 of us will be doing dolphin swim, my brother and his 2 girls aged 6 and my son who is 12. Deciding on whether to get photo package so was wondering if people could share their experiences. We would want to share it, i.e my brother have some of the photos and I also. Can you choose what photos you get or will they be standard shots? What is the dvd like that you get, how long? Also would I be able to get close enough to take photos and video.

Thank you

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We purchased a photo package, and thought it was very much worth it. The experience of swimming with the dolphins (and the DC experience on the whole) is so special, I wanted to make sure we preserved those memories forever.

Our pictures were excellent quality. For the dolphin swim, the photographers are right in the water (much, MUCH closer than you will be on the shore) so the photos are clear and very close up. I cannot imagine that you would be able to capture comparable pictures with your own camera.

There are different photo packages available for purchase, so you don't necessarily have to buy the most expensive one which comes with the DVD (we didn't). Our package, which was about $159, gave us all photos from the entire day on CD, several 6 x 8 prints, and a few photo key chains. We also were given a free stone 6 x 8 photo frame, but I'm not sure if they are still doing that or not. The largest package, which retails at about $219, comes with the DVD (probably about 30 minutes long....but that's just a guestimate based on the amount of time you are actually interacting with the dolphins), a poster, a scrapbook, and all the other items listed in our smaller package.

For photos taken during the dolphin swim, they are all pre-arranged shots and will be taken the same for each participant.

One pose with the dolphin "smiling" (open mouth):



One giving the dolphin a kiss:



And one of you "swimming" with the dolphin:



Multiple shots of each pose of each person are taken. For the "smiling" dolphin pics, they will also do different configurations for you. For example, we had DH alone, DS alone, me alone, DH & I together, and the three of us together....and at least two shots of each of those, and sometimes more.

In addition to the dolphin photos, photographers can be found in the Aviary, in the lazy river, and in the Freshwater Oasis. All you need to do is go ask one of them to take your picture, and those photos will be added to your CD as well. Here is one we had taken in January 2012 in the lazy river:



I think we had about 45 pictures of the three of us on the CD, and that was before the Freshwater Oasis had opened (so now there's even more opportunity to add more pics to the CD). And with your larger group, you would definitely get some good value out of the photo package.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Portugal1000]

Great, thank you. I didnt realise you got a cd with extra photos on too. That will make all the difference because I was worried that with 4 doing dolphin swim we would still end up having to buy extra photos on top of the package one. I will definitely book it now. This is our 10th trip but first time to DC so want to make it special.

 

[AndieGow]

Definitely worth every penny in my opinion. We went last year & the photos were great xx

 

[Bearybear]

We went two days this past March. On our dolphin swim day, we bought the photo package that came with the CD. On the day without the dolphin swim we used our underwater camera instead. The only way we got pictures of the 3 of us together was on the CD. The pictures are good, but they didn't have as many photographers this year as they have in the past, so we only got a couple of pictures outside of the dolphin swim.

In short, I think it is worth it if you are doing the dolphin swim and it is a "once in a lifetime" visit, but I doubt we'd buy it again.

 

[sdwrdt]

One comment I want to make. We bought the DVD, glad we own it, but be forewarned: there is no talking on it. So it can get a bit boring. It just has an instrumental soundtrack on it.

We didn't buy all the pictures, just bought a few, but glad for the ones we own! Might have bought the full one if we'd taken more advantage of the photographers, but our older daughter didn't want her picture taken very often.

Plus, we missed the underwater photographer in the lazy river and you can't swim backwards. So, if you want that picture, be prepared for it! (We had no idea about it until we were at the point the person was taking the pictures.)

 

[Portugal1000]

One comment I want to make. We bought the DVD, glad we own it, but be forewarned: there is no talking on it. So it can get a bit boring. It just has an instrumental soundtrack on it.

We didn't buy all the pictures, just bought a few, but glad for the ones we own! Might have bought the full one if we'd taken more advantage of the photographers, but our older daughter didn't want her picture taken very often.

Plus, we missed the underwater photographer in the lazy river and you can't swim backwards. So, if you want that picture, be prepared for it! (We had no idea about it until we were at the point the person was taking the pictures.)

What exactly does the underwater photgrapher do? Do they take pictures of you underwater My son would love that, me not so much! I assume you can go round lazy river as many times as you like if you miss them the first time.
Were there photographers all round the park. Do you have a photopass card like in Disney?
Thank you

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

What exactly does the underwater photgrapher do? Do they take pictures of you underwater My son would love that, me not so much! I assume you can go round lazy river as many times as you like if you miss them the first time.
Were there photographers all round the park. Do you have a photopass card like in Disney?
Thank you

In one section of the lazy river, there's an underwater feature on the river floor. There's sometimes a photographer there, who will dive down under the water while you dive down under the water and capture your picture. There's a sample pic on their Facebook page....let's see if I can direct you to it:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4722748265851&set=o.127537745692&type=1&theater

You can definitely do as many rounds of the lazy river as you want. It takes about 20 continuous minutes to do a full loop around. The photographer may or may not be there when you go 'round the next time!

The photographers use your ID card (which are issued to each of you at check in) instead of a photopass type card. They will take your photo, then take photo of your ID card, and all your pictures are linked together that way.

 

[momtoaaliyah]

I visited in 2008 and bought the photo package, they are some of my favorite photos ever, shame they are with my ex boyfriend so I don't displa them anymore .

Anyways, we hesitated at the cost them but in the end we were very happy with our purchase.

 

[Fuhnuh]

We love our photos and movies from DC, but pay attention when they ask you to check your photos. We got the package and somebody gave me the responsibility for picking up the package and I ok'd the poster that had someone else's daughter riding a dolphin. We had shipped the photo package along with some other stuff home the next day and when we got home DD12 let me know that she wasn't going to put up her poster because somebody she didn't know was riding a dolphin in it. I paid more attention the next time, though DD12 has gotten a lot more mileage out of my mistake than she probably would have out of the poster.

 

[paul_toria96]

We bought the DVD and CD with the photos on when we went in 2010, it was great as there was 8 of us in our group so there was just the 2 families. We had loads of photos taken and have wonderful photos, the photographer got right up, a lot better than in 2005 when our children we too young to swim so we took it in turns with my mum and tried to take photos of each other but just got backs

hopefully we are going back there next year, not sure if I would buy the whole package again as don't know if all 8 of us would be swimming but def would if we all swim, so worth the money

Oh and we got a glass photo frame free

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Oh and we got a glass photo frame free

When we purchased the photo package in January 2012, we got a beautiful stone frame at no charge. It was not advertised as part of the package though .

I haven't heard any recent reports of the photo frame being included when the package was purchased. Maybe someone who has visited in the last little while could confirm or deny?

 

[kkmcan]

Can you buy individual pictures? I was thinking of just buying 1 or 2 of the family and not an entire package. How much are those?

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Can you buy individual pictures? I was thinking of just buying 1 or 2 of the family and not an entire package. How much are those?

Yep, you can definitely just buy a couple of 6 x 8's if you prefer. I can't remember the exact cost, but I am pretty sure they are around $20 each.