Discovery Cove Tips

[FBandA]

Just wanting to get the most of our Day. Does anyone have any tips to give us, DH, DS11 and me. DH is passing on swimming with the Dolphins. Will he be sorry?

 

[SharonLowe]

Just relax and enjoy yourselves. This park isn't like going to WDW or the other theme parks - there is no need to rush to do everything. I do think the aviary is not to be missed - really fun feeding the birds. Tip on the river - it is not a lazy river! Take a noodle or two with you. There are some very deep parts (you'll have your vest on though) and places where you need to do more swimming but it is great fun. Wear water shoes if you have them - there are things in the bottom of the river where you can easily scrape your toes. The snorkel reef is of course great fun and they will help you learn if you don't know how to snorkel.

Not doing dolphin swim - I think he will be fine and I can understand not wanting to do it. He can watch from shore and take photos/videos.

 

[Squirlz]

Take several disposable underwater cameras with you. We went through three! You can buy them there but the prices are ridiculous.

 

[HopperFan]

- Get there early. It will take them awhile to check you in, take photo, give you id, walk out to "beach" area, have breakfast, get vest/wet suit and gear, change your clothes, get your locker......and then finally get to beach.
- Pick lounges either between the reef (and stingray) and resort swim area (my preference), or between resort and dolphin. We loved going from reef, to resort (warm water) and back. Also showers, bathrooms and snack bar right there. We felt we were perfectly in middle of it all.
- Water cameras for in water, disposable for on beach....I would not take good cameras, we were often gone awhile from our lounge chair. If you want to video dolphin, then just leave camera in locker.
- Water shoes. We forgot ours and bought really nice ones there for $16. Coral can tear your feet if you hit it and the river, where you could "stand" was rough too. I tried without just once.
- We did not dolphin swim, but did watch it.....I was okay that we skipped this trip. If he is not doing, have him stand on beach and take video/photos. He'll be close enough.

I marked the map with the area we sat in in purple/yellow. To the left between resort and dolphin was nice too.....but I would still return to purple spot again next trip. Loved being so close to all.

 

[englishrose47]

Does everyone in the party have to do the swim and how much is the swim and the non swim???

 

[mickeysaver]

These tips are great! I think this deserves a sticky! Any Mods watchin'?

If not for this thread, I would have never purchased swim shoes for $2 on clearance at Walmart. That's way cheaper than $16! Maggie

 

[Capt_BJ]

Does everyone in the party have to do the swim and how much is the swim and the non swim???

by 'the swim' I'll guess u mean the dolphin swim and no then

there is actually a price with dol' swim and a no dol' price (at least there was when we went) - dig on the web site for current prices

and it would appear that they sell more admissions than there are dol' swim slots cuz when we went we reserved for 3 with swim. Later we called to add one and we could get in - but not with the dol' swim - that was full. So he had one watcher from the beach - which was OK cuz they took pictures.

 

[the_princess]

i did the dolphin swim and loved it. my mum didn't, she just watched it from the beach, but she got invited to watch the video with me. She didn't feel like she missed out on anything cause the place is so beautiful and there is so many other things to do.
Yes, get there early and be prepared to spend the whole day there...
Don't get the wetsuit if the weather is hot, you will boil inside it.
Last but not least: Enjoy it, it's amazing and worth the money.

 

[FBandA]

Just going over everything for our trip. Thanks everyone for the tips. I think I will have everything I need for our Dolphin swim. We borrowed a video from my Aunt, that is a tip I would offer. Now we know what to expect.

 

[FBandA]

Just back and what a great time we had. DH was fine not doing the swim. He had a hard time seeing us from the beach, but he was able to get a great video, better than the one we bought, because he was only focused on us. The sun was shining right in his face. We were in Section A not sure if that changes but we were the furthest away from the beach. We only had 5 people in our group. We did buy the DVD/video, and with the DVD you get a CD of all the pictures they take during the day, I did not know about this, we have some great pictures of the Aviary.

Some stuff I want to share is that in the showers, they had shampoo, cream rinse, body wash and lotion. They also have mouth wash; this is helpful when you get the salt water splashed in your mouth by the dolphin. The breakfast was served until 10:30 and lunch was served until 3:00 but the snack bar seamed to be open until 5.
Do the Aviary first thing if you can. Birds were much more active when we first went in then they were later in the day.
We did pick the lounge area between the reef (and stingray) and resort swim area. Thanks "HopperFan" very good area. It was close to the Aviary also and DH liked the Aviary.
For us the water shoes were a must when swimming, I picked them up a Wal-Mart before we left.
Also wanted to let everyone know we did get the DVD, but it did not have our talking on it, they had put music in, so we were not able to hear what we talked about. When we borrowed my Aunts we could hear what everyone said in the group, and all the questions that were asked. That is something I wish we could have had.
What I remember about our dolphin her name was Natalie and she does not like shallow water. She is 12 and has been at the resort for 8 years. Also my bathing suit had a skirt to it and Natalie did not like my skirt.
Lockers are great you put your number in and only you have that number for the locker. They also have a video camera above the locker area.
DS and I had to go to First Aid. We both had major chaffing under arm pits, they put A&D ointment on for us and were very nice. I think they must see this a lot.
I brought in my curling iron and my hair brush.
We got there about 8:15 and there was already a line of about 20 people out the door way. We took a taxi, it was about $35 each way from Coronado Springs. CM said it was cheaper to get cab from DTD, but we just decided to get it from CSR and to also just go back to CSR. We did stay until they told us it was time to get out of the water.
If anyone has any questions just ask. I am trying to get some pictures together so I can post.

 

[FBandA]

Aviary

 

[FBandA]

Natalie

 

[FBandA]

Do we have to leave?

 

[FBandA]

This could of been a bad thing.

 

[WDW Princess]

FBandA, thank you for the trip report - very helpful. Just a quick question, if you don't mind. You mentioned that if one buys a DVD of the swim, the disk with all pictures is included. Could you please elaborate a little on prices of pictures and DVD? I called DC the other day and was advised (perhaps I misunderstood) that DVD is 60$ and in addition to that, CD with all the pictures is 135$. Is this correct? I hope you don't mind my asking about the prices.

Did your husband enjoy the park? I am taking my DH, who is a macho military man , for his B-day in September and am hoping it's not too "cheesy" for him, if you will. He loves animals and abhors crowds so I thought DC was perfect, but am having second thoughts about taking him there...

Did the vest help you float at all? I must have asked this question hundreds of times - I am not a good swimmer and don't want to hold DH back. DH is a certified diver and a strong swimmer so I know he'll be like a dolphin and I would hate to hold him back. I am actually very physically fit and can swim from the stamina standpoint, but have a phobia of depth . What was your experience with the swim vests? Thanks for your answers in advance!

 

[jesters]

Thanks for the info and pics. I am also interested in the prices for the DVD and or the CD. Thanks!

 

[FBandA]

FBandA, thank you for the trip report - very helpful. Just a quick question, if you don't mind. You mentioned that if one buys a DVD of the swim, the disk with all pictures is included. Could you please elaborate a little on prices of pictures and DVD? I called DC the other day and was advised (perhaps I misunderstood) that DVD is 60$ and in addition to that, CD with all the pictures is 135$. Is this correct? I hope you don't mind my asking about the prices.
!

I just looked at my receipt, sorry everyone the CD of the pictures was not free, I think that the girl who talked with us said that it was free. I had just put the cost on my card and never looked at it, I can't believe I did that but I did, DH was not standing with me to ask me if I knew what the cost was, I need him to keep a check on me sometimes, I can blame it on the excitement of the moment, for both of us. This is the break down of what we got. Total cost on my charge was $197.03 that is with the tax.

Advanced Pacage-$135
Interactive DVD PC-$50
Tax$12.03

We got our Free 5x7 came with entrance fee
2 key chains, 2 wallets and one 5x7 (same picture for all)
5-5x7 we got to pick the pictures for the 5 picture from the dolphin swim only not from Aviary pictures.
CD of all the pictures for the day Aviary and Dolphin swim (maybe about 65)
DVD of the swim time with the Dolphins

Make sure you look at the CD and DVD to make sure they are your pictures, I had asked for all the pictures and the Aviary pictures were not on the CD so they had to burn a new one for me. When she brought the CD over we took a look at it and it was not of us. So she had to go back and get the right one.

Also do not wait till the end of the day to get your pictures I went at 2:08 to get our pictures and there was a short wait for me 1 person in front of me. (Our swim time with the dolphins was at 11:45). When we left there were about 10-15 people waiting to get there pictures.

Did your husband enjoy the park? I am taking my DH, who is a macho military man , for his B-day in September and am hoping it's not too "cheesy" for him, if you will. He loves animals and abhors crowds so I thought DC was perfect, but am having second thoughts about taking him there...

Did the vest help you float at all? I must have asked this question hundreds of times - I am not a good swimmer and don't want to hold DH back. DH is a certified diver and a strong swimmer so I know he'll be like a dolphin and I would hate to hold him back. I am actually very physically fit and can swim from the stamina standpoint, but have a phobia of depth . What was your experience with the swim vests? Thanks for your answers in advance!

My DH enjoyed the park, I don't think he missed out on the Dolphin swim, he enjoyed the Aviary, do this first thing if you can, the birds are best in the morning. The day was not to "cheesy" for him. It was relaxing, I took a picture of him sleeping and he could never do that in one of the Disney parks.

I am not a wonderful swimmer, I can hold my own, but as far at the vest goes. I did not have trouble with swimming, on the lazy river I did not use a noodle, and yes in some parts it is 8.5 feet deep. At the reef we just floated and it was great. DH and I had more trouble with the googles than with anything else (water coming in them). DS had no problem with anything, well maybe he did with stopping for food, he just wanted to swim. Just ask if you have any other questions.

 

[WDW Princess]

FBandA, thank you so much for your detailed reply - I appreciated it!

 

[Baghdad Bob]

Can you do both Sea Word and Discovery Cove in 1 day?

 

[FBandA]

I would not be able to do both in one day. Discovery Cove can be very relaxing if you take your time. We were there from 8:15 to 5:30. I am not sure what time SW closes. I guess we could of went after we left DC. DH and I enjoyed the slowness of this day. We did not make it back to SW this trip but we have been to SW. You could do both but it would be a rush for us. We did enough rushing for DW. JMO