Sticker Shock!

[loving mom of two]

I was just out on the Discovery Cove website checking out the rates for 2006. Much to my surprise, the rates went up $40.00 per ticket! Their justification was that all snacks and a continential breakfast are included. I don't know about you, but my family does not eat $40.00 worth of snacks per person in one day. Not sure if it is worth $279.00 a ticket? My DD is really looking forward to going to DC on our next trip, not sure what to do now.

 

[robvia]

That's the first I've heard about the continental breakfast. Who has time for that if your dolphin swim is early in the morning?

 

[loving mom of two]

I agree, we want to get the early dolphin swim early and will probably just grab breakfast in our room. My DD eight and DS 11 have been saving their own money for this trip and still want to go even though they will need to save an additional $40.00 each.

 

[tam012864]

I know exactly how you feel!! It will be $600 for myself and my son and if we get pictures we are looking at close to $800 for one day...Yes I believe Sticker Shock says it all!!!! (But we will still probably go )

 

[Principessa1284]

personally, i think their prices were atroscious (sp?) to begin with, but I was willing to pay them to swim with a dolphin. We went on the last day of october, and it was a mid-season (compared to off season, peak season) price which dropped around $50 I believe from the peak season. It drops again in December or January (who wants to swim in ice cold salt water in january?), for those who like the smaller price but keep in mind that water is COLD even during the hot summer months. I would be willing to go in January, but I wouldn't spend all day there like we did in October, and it was rather cool if we were wet & out of the water. (You see, I don't do wetsuits, they don't really accentuate my curvacious pooh figure, so maybe i would have been a lot warmer.) In any case, it's worth the price to me.

 

[bdg100]

My family and I were there in August of this year. I have to tell you that we would not pay the price to visit again. We were in the water with the dolphin for 20 minutes or so. We got to touch it, watch it do some tricks and get a picture of it being kissed by us. We also got to hold it's fin for a 20 yard ride in the pool while being video taped. It was cool to think about doing it, but, after feeling the rubbery skin once the thrill was over. I'm not sure what I expected, I guess spending the day swimming with a pool of dolphins jumping out of the pool and having us feed them etc. was probably not realistic. However, the short time you get to interact with them is heavily, overly, monitored by the trainers and IMHO, simply not worth the money especially for those on a budget. For a family of four it is well over $1,000 if you buy pictures. Sea World itself is much less expensive, not as crowded and Disney and has much to do. I do recommend Sea World for at least one day of your vacation. If you really want to feel a dolphin buy 10 bucks worth of fish and get there early for the dolphin feeding.

 

[andromedaslove]

I have to disagree with the pp. My Dh and I went when they first opened, and yeah sticker shock is an understatement, but it was worth every penny. There is nothing like hanging on to a dolphin as it swims through the water. To get to swim and play with them, even if it is only 20 minutes. The other pools are definately nice too. One of the most memorable things was when my DH and I first got there we were pretty much the only people in the parks, and we went into the pool with all of the fish. As I was walking in this humongous sting ray came swimming right at me, I RAN out of that pool as fast as I could. Scared the mess outta me. I didn't know sting rays got that big. There are plenty of things to do, the food is awesome, and if you LOVE animals especially sea life then it is well worth it.

Dana

 

[Cass]

It's worth it, our day there was magical and will be a life long memory for my child. I know it's expensive, but really make the most of your $$$ by spending the whole day and enjoying the other areas.

 

[april riddle]

Well I guess I am one of the people who wants to go into cold salt water in January as my family will be there next Saturday. I did not realize that continental breakfast is included. We paid what my DH thought was way too much but after some friends came back in November and they told us what a great day they had he hasn't said too much. We will be spending the day at Sea World on Friday after flying into Orlando so when you subtract the price of that entrance fee plus what you would pay to eat (lets face it any of the parks the food is very expensive) I really don't think it is a bad price. It's not like we do it everytime we go to Orlando. I don't know if the price jumped for the winter months but I had read on their website that the prices were going up. I booked in the summer and got 2005 prices.