Discovery Cove: worth it?

[mshanson3121]

Is the admission price of Discovery Cove worth it do you feel, if you are NOT going to use the entry to SW or Aquatica? Do they ever offer anything cheaper if you JUST want to do Discovery Cove by itself?

 

[Portugal1000]

I absolutely love DC but to pay and not use any other park is a very expensive. We pay about £140 but we will always go to Aquatica atleast four times, SW twice and BG once so I think it's a great deal. This year with our ticket we also got free entry to Gatorland which we never tried before and free parking at BG, AQ and SW for the full free weeks so I think it's excellent value. However we are there for three weeks each year so have plenty of time to use our tickets.

 

[Hopeful8]

We did DC last April (with the dolphin swim) and felt it was worth every penny! We only did Seaworld (not Aquatica) and felt that Seaworld was just okay. This year, we did DC again (no dolphin swim but did rent a private cabana again) and chose not to go to SW or Aquatica and still felt it was worth it. DC is my kids favorite place to go. When we were contemplating returning to Orlando and what to do there, we talked to our kids (9 y.o.) about what parks they wanted to do and the first thing they said was "Discovery Cove!" It really is amazing there.

ETA: we got a good price this year, we bought the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deal and I think we paid $526 for 4 of us (plus $218 for the cabana)

 

[nicolebridget22]

OMG, yes, a thousand times yes! We went in 2006 and did the dolphin thing then, and this year we're planning a 2 week Disney anniversary trip and DC was my husband's top request. So we're not doing the dolphins this time, choosing instead to try Seaventure, and hopefully we'll rent a cabana too, so it will end up being pretty pricey. We're probably not going to have time to get to Sea World. Having said all that I STILL feel it's worth every penny. DC is a fantastic "rest" from the overcrowded parks surrounding it, and I'd even go so far to say that this is the thing we're looking most forward to on our trip!

 

[detroitdad]

nicolebridget22 - If you haven't been since 2006 you may want to do some research. We went for the first time in 2008 and loved it! Fast forward to planning for our 2016 DCL trip and we thought we would add in DC. Apparently A LOT has changed, as the park is definitely set for higher number of reservations for the day before they cut off the attendance , food quality and service have declined tremendously as well. I read way too many negative reviews from families that had been before and how disappointed they were with their most recent trip to warrant spending that kind of money for less than what we had experienced before. Disappointing to say the least.

 

[nicolebridget22]

I'm sorry to hear that... We'll give them this chance and if the value isn't there for us we won't return.

 

[keishashadow]

nicolebridget22 - If you haven't been since 2006 you may want to do some research. We went for the first time in 2008 and loved it! Fast forward to planning for our 2016 DCL trip and we thought we would add in DC. Apparently A LOT has changed, as the park is definitely set for higher number of reservations for the day before they cut off the attendance , food quality and service have declined tremendously as well. I read way too many negative reviews from families that had been before and how disappointed they were with their most recent trip to warrant spending that kind of money for less than what we had experienced before. Disappointing to say the least.

We've enjoyed DC many times during the time period you reference. other than the photos pkg costing more and the design layout changing, can't say i've noticed any dip in quality as to food or service, nor did it seem more crowded overall.

will say the snorkeling area can get congested, you need to time it. If it's busy, we go do something else and return later.

it could be since we don't have long stretches between visiting, changes aren't as visible to us. I honestly notice a lot more changes between several disney trips each year, some good - some bad lol.

DC is very expensive, we've never felt tempted to add on cabana rental, etc. and we feel the day is enjoyable as is. IMO DC provides an amazing experience overall.

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

It depends on if you like "amazing" or not...

It is an incredible day that always seems a bit too short. Value is really dependent on budget - it is just one day if you don't take advantage of the other parks, and it is worth saving for. However, one day does not make a vacation for my family, so we don't go every time we are in Florida. Sometimes, the budget just doesn't work. With that said, I have been twice and sent my wife and her bestest one other time on a girls weekend and we both can't wait to go back again!

So, we have two great pictures of my son kissing the dolphin, and it is awesome to see his growth over the years. I have one pic of my daughter, she was too young our first visit. We want/hope to do it every 3 years or so to keep getting those pictures. It is expensive, but they are also our most cherished souvenirs from all of our vacations. I guess that equals value.

 

[detroitdad]

keishashadow- I guess it all comes down to preference. I'm glad that repeat visits have worked out for you. Reading too many negative reviews has personally made me leery of spending that kind of money for a family of 6.

 

[keishashadow]

keishashadow- I guess it all comes down to preference. I'm glad that repeat visits have worked out for you. Reading too many negative reviews has personally made me leery of spending that kind of money for a family of 6.

I'm not quite a Disney on a Dime sort but I pick and choose carefully to enable my travel habit. More than few go for broke, then have buyers remorse afterwards. There's no one way to enjoy Orlando but it's a harsh reality that the parks are in business to make a profit and trim the fat as much as possible. People need to be realistic.

if anything, majority of people here are so invested & tend to drink the koolaid as to all the parks/DVC/DCL cruise line. Can't say i've noticed any recent reash of negative comments here or on other sites, but I wasn't looking either lol. I take it all in with a huge grain of salt, just sharing my personal experience.

enjoy planning your trip, however you decide to go

 

[THEDISNEYTHREE]

We've enjoyed DC many times during the time period you reference. other than the photos pkg costing more and the design layout changing, can't say i've noticed any dip in quality as to food or service, nor did it seem more crowded overall.

will say the snorkeling area can get congested, you need to time it. If it's busy, we go do something else and return later.

it could be since we don't have long stretches between visiting, changes aren't as visible to us. I honestly notice a lot more changes between several disney trips each year, some good - some bad lol.

DC is very expensive, we've never felt tempted to add on cabana rental, etc. and we feel the day is enjoyable as is. IMO DC provides an amazing experience overall.

Well said. We haven't noticed a difference either and we pretty much go yearly since it opened. Absolutely love it! Now if you want to talk Disney crowds I feel your pain. I will pretty much buy any add on to get out of that madness.

 

[Nutbean]

We went to Discovery Cove for the first time last year and thought the value was there, but this was largely because we hadn't been to Seaworld or Aquatica before either. We ended up going to Seaworld four times and Aquatica twice. Discovery Cove was our favourite of the three parks and my kids really loved it (they swam with the dolphins, DH and I didn't) but I don't think it's a whole lot different than an all inclusive vacation in the Caribbean which we've done many times as well.

I personally would not pay the money to go again if I were not also planning on several trips to Seaworld and/or Aquatica. Seaworld was okay but I definitely feel like we've seen all that there is to see and do there and we only spent half days at Aquatica having done all the slides several times by lunchtime. Then we were bored so back to Seaworld we went until it was time for the shuttle pick up back to our hotel.

 

[cgh]

We have our choice of places to take our 2 and 7 year old for a day in Orlando. We are already doing a week+ at Disney. My husband's company offered to give us tickets Discovery Cove or Universal. Looking at the website it seems Discovery Cove really if for people who can swim? Am I missing something?We are also doing the Clearwater Marine Aquarium on our vacation. Thoughts?

 

[MrsDuck]

Absolutely positively worth it!! GO! You will not be disappointed.

DH and I skipped Aquatica but did go to SeaWorld. However, the incentive wasn't that pressing for us as I am a FL teacher and get in free every day. DC is so so worth it on it's own.