?RE:Family of 5--2 swimming with dolphins, 3 not

[rbuzzotta]

I would love to plan this for my DD's 11th birthday this summer. However, my 6 and 4 year old will not swim with the dolphins, so my DH will swim with my oldest DD.

Anyways, can someone tell me what the day is like? Is is pre-planned (ie: swim times, lunch etc.). Because 2 will swim and 3 of us will not, will we still have the opportunity to enjoy DC as a Family?? How long is the dolphin swim?

How have others worked this situation out??

Open for any and all suggestions......

Thanks

 

[dbail2]

Friends of mine did the swim with only one child and the other adult stayed with the younger child. It worked out great for them . The dolphin swim is only about a half an hour and you can wait on the sand and watch them. (and take pictures, remember a few disposable water cameras). There is a training session before the swim that lasts about 10 minutes. If you arrive early you can pick the swim time you want. We have swam both times in the early AM (sometimes it rains in the afternoon so AM is better). After the swim you can all go and swim the rest of the park. It is a really wonderful day. Lunch time lasts a few hours in the middle of the day. You pick the time you want to eat. There are beach chairs all over the place you can make your home base and leave your things. Hope this helps.................

 

[BVC4us]

We just did Discovery Cove on april 14th. What an awesome spot. It was so lush and tropical. It was also very well kept and the staff were so friendly.
We checked in about 8:15 a.m. Get there early if you want a morning swim. We had the first swim of the day..9:00 a.m. When you check in they take your picture and give you a lanyard with your picture on it. You get your lockers , vests and snorkels and you're ready to start your day. 2 of us swam with the dolphin and my husband and other son took pictures and a video for us. Our swim was at 9:00 and we got out of the water at 9:45. It was so much fun..you get to touch, kiss, do a trick and ride on the dolphin. There were 8 people in our group. The instructors were wonderful too. I was very impressed. after that we had the rest of the day to snorkel, go in the ray pool, swim in the lazy rive, go to the bird aviary or just hang out on the beach.
Lunch is wonderful too. The portions are quite big so you might want to get 2 meals at lunch time and 2 more later in the afternoon. We all got steak and chicken fajitas that were excellent. The meal came with a drink, salad and dessert.
They also take a picture of your family when you first arrive. This is presented to you when you leave in a nice Discovery Cove folder. It is free. If you want to buy any of the dolphin swim they are $15.99 per picture. I bought one and it too was put in a nice folder.
I was truly impressed with this place. Everything about it was wonderful. I'm a disney fanatic but there is life outside of Disneyworld.
Have a great time.

 

[crazyme5kids]

You will be able to enjoy the day! There is so much to do. There is a fresh water lazy river that you go through waterfalls and a cave. I took my son (who was almost 4) around it using one of the noodle things, just grab one and go. A lot of adults used them as well. The salt water pool with all kinds of fish was beautiful! I did the dolphin swim with the older kids, my husband stayed on shore with my two younger ones. The trainer let me bring my younger son in near the end for the group picture and to touch the dolphin. It is a day well worth the money.