SeaWorld/Discovery Cove -- How Much Time?

[jrtoastyman]

Contemplating taking a day off from our next Disney trip (early December 2013) to pay a visit to the SeaWorld parks. How much time would you want to set aside to see SW? Also, is Discovery Cove a separate experience of it's own warranting its own day, or is it the sort of thing that you can stroll over and do on the same day as a SW visit?

Thanks!

 

[KBF]

Contemplating taking a day off from our next Disney trip (early December 2013) to pay a visit to the SeaWorld parks. How much time would you want to set aside to see SW? Also, is Discovery Cove a separate experience of it's own warranting its own day, or is it the sort of thing that you can stroll over and do on the same day as a SW visit?

Thanks!

Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in early December, Seaworld offers it's nightly Christmas celebration which includes Christmas themed shows, rides and attractions. All are included with park admission. The Seaworld Christmas celebration is a highly rated experience not to be missed if you're in the Orlando area for the Christmas season.

With that said, I think Discovery Cove is a whole day experience. Seaworld would be the same, however, I think two days for Seaworld and One day for Discovery Cove will be your best bet. Since the Christmas Celebration is only at night, I would split two Seaworld days into half days. Do Discovery Cove the first day, Seaworld from Park open (9:00am) until about 4 or 5. The 2nd day. On that 2nd day, you can see the normal day shows, attractions and exhibits. And then the 3rd day at Seaworld, do 3 or 4pm until park close (11:00pm) To experience all the Christmas extras. Spending two days at Seaworld and 1 at Discovery Cove will definitely be worth your time.

 

[angelmom27]

Discovery cove is definitely a whole day event. You would be doing different things at different times through out the day. If you scheduled a dolphin swim you would pick what time your session would be. Throughout the rest of the time you would see other areas of the park. Discovery cove only allows so many people per day and it is a low number compared to the theme parks. They also serve breakfast, lunch, and snacks so you would want time for breaks during those times too.

SW during that time if you are there during the christmas events is definitely a two day park. We went last yr for new yrs eve and did two days and still missed one christmas show. We even skipped the regular shows since we are AP holders we knew we could see them later.

 

[meggiebeth]

For the money, DC is definitely an all day event- I wouldn't want to spend that money and not stay all day. There are lots of things to do and the dolphin swim is unforgettable although the pricey photo packages will get the better of you (great photos that we couldn't resist buying)

I would only go if doing the dolphin swim, because that is what I felt justified to some extent the high cost.

We were disappointed with Seaworld, and only went because we got free tickets from going to DC. We felt we'd never pay the price to get tickets. It took us half a day to see what we wanted, a few of the shows and all of the rides. A day will ensure you see everything. It just seemed so run down compared to WDW, everything looked worn and the poor animals were in such small tanks I felt truly sad.

Meg~ Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Bearybear]

Discovery cove is definitely an entire day experience. If you want to see all the shows, then you'll need two days at Sea World as it is nearly impossible to see them all without more than one day due to timing issues. And if you want to ride the big rides (Kraken and Manta) in addition to the shows, then 2 days is definitely needed.

 

[jrtoastyman]

I would only go if doing the dolphin swim, because that is what I felt justified to some extent the high cost.

You must have anticipated my next question, actually. We've had occasion to swim with dolphins a couple of times already, including a pretty recent trip, and I doubt we'd spend the money to do that again.

Thanks for the info, all, had no idea it was that kind of a time commitment to really feel like we'd seen what we would want to see. We'll be on WDW APs this trip, may try to stay on property and milk those passes for all they're worth this time and try to hit Seaworld the next time we're down.

 

[Yubbie]

1 day for Discovery Cove and at least 1 day for Seaworld. However, since your Discovery Cove admission also includes unlimited admission for 14 days to Seaworld and Aquatica, I'd plan to make as much use of that as I could.

 

[NauroraJbelle]

We just got back from Orlando including a trip to DC, SW, and Aquatica. We had not been to any of those areas before and loved it. Definitely a full day at DC. We did the dolphin swim and I'm glad we did as we hadn't done anything like that previously however when we go back I think that we'd not do the dolphin swim to save the money. The Grand Reef is so amazing for snorkeling that we could have spent so much more time there. More time to just wander and relax would be nice too. You save a lot of $ by not swimming with the dolphins. Still so much to enjoy We were at Universal the other 4 days of our trip. For us 1 daY at SW was plenty and we saw all the shows. It wasn't very crowded for us though.

Jeanne