Dolphin swim questions

[MarBee]

Hello!
Although we’ve frequented Disney a ton, we’ve never done SW or DC. Looking at possible doing a trip this summer, but I was hoping someone could answer a few questions.

1) Does the dolphin swim allow you to actually ride the dolphins again? (Like holding on to the fin and being pulled)
I saw some reviews that said due to Covid the animals just swam near you

2) are wet suits required in the summer as well? It seem like that would be super hot given my Orlando experiences and my complete lack of experience with wet suits.

3) are cabanas worth it in your opinion?

4) any must-do extra experiences that we should add on?

We will be staying at the Renaissance if that makes a difference.

Looking for any and all input you can give. Thank you!

 

[puffkin]

1. Yes, they do a dolphin pull. We were there last week.
2. You have to wear a wetsuit or a vest. We wore a wetsuit in the morning since our dolphin swim was at 9:20 and the water is cold in the dolphin lagoon. We changed to vests after.
3. I don’t think a cabana is worth it. Maybe if you had really young children. There are plenty of free lockers and seats and you can grab food/drinks at several spots. We really didn’t sit much outside of lunch.
4. Besides the picture package we did not add on anything extra. We had plenty to do through out the day and did not feel like we were missing out.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I agree with literally everything puffkin wrote for 2-4 (have not been since covid, going next week!).

The dolphin pool & grand reef are cooler water for the animals (76 or 78 I think). The lazy river is much warmer.

As adults, we also didn't sit much aside from meals. Would not need a cabana regardless - seats & shade are plentiful. There are even stone loungers IN the lazy river area so you can lounge in the warm water.

We were doing stuff all day between the aviary, dolphin swim, reef snorkling, and various areas of the lazy river. Stayed until the waterways closed & showered after close (they even have shampoo/conditioner & bags for your wet suit)!

Question you didn't ask: the addon for 14 days at SW & Aquatica is a really good deal. If you take advantage of it and are driving, upgrade one ticket to the 3 park addon, which includes Busch Gardens and free parking at all the parks. It is cheaper to upgrade one ticket than to park twice at the other parks (DC has free parking). Of course, I would highly recommend BG also if you have thrill ride enthusiasts.

 

[puffkin]

Question you didn't ask: the addon for 14 days at SW & Aquatica is a really good deal. If you take advantage of it and are driving, upgrade one ticket to the 3 park addon, which includes Busch Gardens and free parking at all the parks. It is cheaper to upgrade one ticket than to park twice at the other parks (DC has free parking). Of course, I would highly recommend BG also if you have thrill ride enthusiasts.

That is exactly what we did. I upgraded my pass the one that included parking as we took advantage of the other parks and did SeaWorld and Aquatica. We stayed at SSR (I had DVC points to use up) and SeaWorld was very close. Then we had all of Disney Springs for the evenings. We moved over to Hard Rock Hotel and did Universal the end of the week (we have AP's for there). It was a nice trip.

 

[MarBee]

Thank you both! We’ve never been, so I’m super excited to try it out. Especially as we haven’t gone anywhere since February 2020. Although the thought of Disney in masks makes we want to faint from heat stroke just thinking about it, I’m thinking that I may tack on another day and go to MK for the day on the last day. I was debating BG but the heat is a lot for us and DH and DS aren’t into thrill rides that much.

So I think our plan will be this:
Day 1: arriving at hotel late night
Day 2: Discovery Cove
Day 3: Sea World
Possible Day 4: Trip to MK
Departing early Day 5

Do you think Sea World is enough for a whole day? Or should I plan to do something else at night? Maybe Disney Springs or Universal City Walk?

 

[puffkin]

Thank you both! We’ve never been, so I’m super excited to try it out. Especially as we haven’t gone anywhere since February 2020. Although the thought of Disney in masks makes we want to faint from heat stroke just thinking about it, I’m thinking that I may tack on another day and go to MK for the day on the last day. I was debating BG but the heat is a lot for us and DH and DS aren’t into thrill rides that much.

So I think our plan will be this:
Day 1: arriving at hotel late night
Day 2: Discovery Cove
Day 3: Sea World
Possible Day 4: Trip to MK
Departing early Day 5

Do you think Sea World is enough for a whole day? Or should I plan to do something else at night? Maybe Disney Springs or Universal City Walk?

Seaworld can easily fill a whole day, especially with the different shows. You will probably want a dinner the night of Discovery Cove, as that closes at 5, check in is at 7:30. Especially if you are going in the summer, I would get there as early as possible to get a morning dolphin swim spot in case there are storms later. IMHO, I would switch your Seaworld and Discovery Cove days, but that is just me.

 

[MarBee]

Seaworld can easily fill a whole day, especially with the different shows. You will probably want a dinner the night of Discovery Cove, as that closes at 5, check in is at 7:30. Especially if you are going in the summer, I would get there as early as possible to get a morning dolphin swim spot in case there are storms later. IMHO, I would switch your Seaworld and Discovery Cove days, but that is just me.

Thank you! I’ll totally switch the days for sure but just curious as to why you suggested that.

 

[puffkin]

Thank you! I’ll totally switch the days for sure but just curious as to why you suggested that.

Mainly because I never like to do something important when arriving late the night before. You just never know what could happen with traveling (even with driving, but especially flying). Plus at least for my kids, going to SeaWorld and seeing all the animals and marine life was a good introduction into Discovery Cove and helped get them excited.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I'd plan it more by day of week if applicable - ie, DC is limited admission and no lines, so I put it on a Sat / the busiest day. If days are equal, normally I'd be inclined towards DC in the middle because A) it's the crown jewel and more to look forward to than SW, and more importantly B) it is a more relaxed day between 2 more active park days (also it is a mask break between 2 fully masked days). You have a short enough trip that it doesn't really matter, since you only have 2 consecutive park days regardless (to me DC counts as a rest day; there are no lines, crowds, distances, stairs, schedules, it's not hot, etc).

Really, the only reason I'd move it in your case of 3 days would be to put the other parks on less busy days of the week.

 

[MichelinMan]

Notice you are staying at the Renaissance. We thought that hotel was fabulous - loved the fact you could just walk across the road to SeaWorld, plus the facilities there (including the little water park) are great. Lovely big rooms too. We thought the hotel was every bit as good as Hard Rock Hotel and the Poly, which were the other hotels we stayed at last trip.

As for the wetsuits at DC, because you are in the water virtually all day (at least we were!), and the water can be a little colder than a pool, the wetsuit or vest is actually quite nice. We went in middle of July, and it was needed even then.

Glad somebody has confirmed they are doing the dolphin pulls again - that might have put us off going again next year if they weren't doing that.

Finally, I would pick DC for one of the busiest days, because crowds aren't a factor. MK is normally busiest Monday or Tuesday, so if you avoid those days for MK, and maybe do DC one of those days, if your trip includes those days of the week.

 

[MarBee]

Notice you are staying at the Renaissance. We thought that hotel was fabulous - loved the fact you could just walk across the road to SeaWorld, plus the facilities there (including the little water park) are great. Lovely big rooms too. We thought the hotel was every bit as good as Hard Rock Hotel and the Poly, which were the other hotels we stayed at last trip.

As for the wetsuits at DC, because you are in the water virtually all day (at least we were!), and the water can be a little colder than a pool, the wetsuit or vest is actually quite nice. We went in middle of July, and it was needed even then.

Glad somebody has confirmed they are doing the dolphin pulls again - that might have put us off going again next year if they weren't doing that.

Finally, I would pick DC for one of the busiest days, because crowds aren't a factor. MK is normally busiest Monday or Tuesday, so if you avoid those days for MK, and maybe do DC one of those days, if your trip includes those days of the week.

Thank you! We haven’t solidified our dates yet but I’m thinking midweek at some point this summer.