Discovery Cove

[Steve R]

Hi all, first time on this site (I wish I'd known about it a few months ago as we are going in 6 weeks!). We're giving serious thought to arranging a day at Discovery Cove, and I was wondering if anyone has thoughts on whether it is worth the somewhat extortionate charge.

My wife (who by the way is not too fussed about going to WDW in the first place, she wanted a new kitchen) has said swimming with dolphins would be the highlight of the holiday, but is it worth around £950.00 just for 1 day.

thanks,

 

[GFShelley]

I have been and loved it! It was very relaxed and serene. Definitely a special moment, I plan to go again in a few years.

 

[wayneg]

Welcome.

You have to remember your day also includes 14 day tickets to the parks you choose.

We have been twice but both times with Annual Pass discount so not paid anywhere near full price but they have to be 2 of the best days we have had in Florida.

Compare prices, see if you can get a better price.

 

[disneyholic family]

we went years ago, the year it first opened.

we thought it was very lovely.

i don't know how it's run now, but at that time, they really kept the number of people allowed into the park to a pretty low number so it felt like a really private place compared to everywhere else in orlando in the summer.

we all enjoyed the dolphin swim a lot.
also their version of the lazy river was very nice.

i don't think we'd do it a second time because of the cost, but we definitely enjoyed it and thought it was worth what we spent on it.
There were 4 of us.
although only 3 of us did the swim.

the park was actually very nice about that.
i'd made reservations for all 4 of us to do the swim, but on the day we went, DD wasn't feeling well.
they were very nice and didn't charge me for her swim, even though i'd reserved it. I only had to pay for her entrance...i think i'd paid in advance and they refunded the difference. that was very nice of them i thought.

anyway, we enjoyed it and thought it was very well run.
But again, this was a very long time ago, when it first opened.

 

[scoobydooby]

I've been twice. Great day out and as Wayne says it includes tickets to one or two other parks for 14 days depending what ticket you buy. Still expensive though. It's a beautiful park and they do limit numbers. The ticket includes two meals, snacks and alcohol. My son could spend all day in the reef.

 

[wayneg]

I've been twice. Great day out and as Wayne says it includes tickets to one or two other parks for 14 days depending what ticket you buy. Still expensive though.

Nobody moans about costs more than me but I don't think its that expensive, although it depends on time of year and price you can find.
Just priced up for our dates in Sept, £143pp regular or £158 for Ultimate.
Busch/SW ticket costs £79 leaving £79 for day in DC which includes meals, drinks & snacks all day.

Cheaper if you do non swim, the dolphin part of it doesn't do a great deal for me, so I did non swim the 2nd time we went, I think I paid about $79 with AP.

 

[chmurf]

Discovery Cove was one of the highlights of our stay

They only let something like 1300 guests per day, so it's a very relaxing day, especially when crowd forecasts say the day will be a nightmare in regular parks.

You get all you can eat food, beverages (non alcoholic) and snacks free all day (well, free as in "included in the admission price which is not free at all" )

Next time we'll probably go again, but on a non swim ticket.
Dolphin interaction is something that's worth doing, I don't think it's that expensive if you do it as a one off. But, for us, doing it a second time would make it expensive. We're very happy that we've done it, but would not do the swim again.

One of the perks is that you get 14 days of entry at both Seaworld and Aquatica, and for a few quids more you get 14 days + transportation at Busch Gardens.

 

[wayneg]

You get all you can eat food, beverages (non alcoholic) and snacks free all day (well, free as in "included in the admission price which is not free at all" )

Includes alcoholic beverages also, we only drank sodas on our 2 visits but alcohol was freely available.

Your Dolphin Swim Day Resort Package includes:
•A reserved 30-minute dolphin swim
•Snorkeling with thousands of tropical fish and rays in The Grand Reef® .
•Encounters with playful otters and curious marmosets in Freshwater Oasis®
•Hand feeding exotic birds in a free-flight aviary
•Relaxing on pristine beaches
•Floating along our scenic Wind-away River
•Freshly prepared breakfast and lunch and unlimited snacks, drinks and alcoholic beverages
•Lockers, sunscreen, snorkel gear, changing facilities
•All day self parking at Discovery Cove
•Unlimited admission to SeaWorld® and Aquatica, SeaWorld's Waterpark™ in Orlando for 14 consecutive days around the date of your reservation.

 

[scoobydooby]

When I went the alcohol was free as well. Line infused lager. Yummy!

 

[scoobydooby]

^ lime infused

 

[wayneg]

^ lime infused

I guessed after a little thought

 

[chmurf]

Oh, yes, of course. My bad, I took a shortcut : It's just that you need to show ID at check in so that they issue a personnal ID card with the "over 21" mention in order to allow the guest to order alcohol. Otherwise you can't get alcoholic beverages.

 

[zavandor]

I absolutely loved it!
However the price is huge, above all if you also want to get the picture package, that is over-over-over-priced.

I will probably do it again in the future (as others said, since Sea world is included, the difference is not that much) without dolphin swin (once is great but enough).

 

[pickers1982]

We loved it! They ve added a reef since then too!

Wouldnt do it every trip but definately a must do once imho.

 

[Princess Leia]

We went for the first time last summer. We loved the place. I wasn't overwhelmed by the dolphin experience. I love swimming but you don't get to swim with the dolphin just get towed along. I still am not all that comfortable with the idea of dolphins in captivity so that definitely was a factor. My photos are still in a polythene bag - they are all very posed. Poor dolphin getting kissed by some random person! I much preferred our boat trip in Portugal this year when the dolphins were swimming alongside our boat. I did like all the other areas of the park. It is a lovely relaxed day. My daughter loved snorkelling in the grand reef. The river area was very popular with my son. You may enjoy the dolphin experience, many people do, but for me it wasn't a magical moment!

 

[JulieSharp]

Ds and I booked the dolphin swim but told the CM that we were not interested in being towed along, so the CM said Cindy the dolphin could come over to us. So we spent 10 minutes all on our own stroking her, it was so relaxing that Ds fell asleep, good job he had his life jacket, I had a vision of him floating off

I had to nudge Ds awake as you don't have long in the dolphin swim and it was a lot of money.

Dh has just mentioned that was 2005, so must be due another trip, this time I think we will book non-swims.

 

[robinbutterfly]

We are thinking about going too! DC is making WDW tickets look very CHEAP!

 

[Dad2Buzz]

We loved it. My kids (10 & 7) say it was their best day of the holiday.

It is just the most perfect, gorgeous day and we are going back next year.

We make use of the other tickets too which I think makes it decent value.

 

[maclondon]

I wonder how you buy tickets if you already have orlando flex tickets - which we have covering our 14 days. they include sea world / aquatica already so don't need that 'bit'

sounds lovely.

 

[wilma-bride]

I wonder how you buy tickets if you already have orlando flex tickets - which we have covering our 14 days. they include sea world / aquatica already so don't need that 'bit'

sounds lovely.

You just buy tickets, however as you have already discovered, the additional entries (Sea World or Busch) that you get with DC entry are pretty much wasted. Presumably, if you were already planning a DC visit, you wouldn't buy the flex tickets as that would be a bit of a waste. If you already have bought flex tickets, I suppose you need to ask yourself whether it is worth the cost just for the DC day.