Tell me about Discovery Cove--have you gone???

[Cindy B]

AS for cameras, we brought two of them. One NICE Minolta 35 mm (an oldie but goody from DH)

and two FUJI underwater cameras I bought at Target. The Fuji cameras were wonderful

 

[kentdebbie]

We, [being me, my mum, daughter, 2 sisters and son's girlfreind] went to D.C on the 8th may 02. The weather was fantastic, the place was fantastic, the food was fantastic all in all everything was fantastic. My daughter who is 13, has dreamt of swimming with Dolphins for ages, she was in her element. She spent 2 days in our villa pool practising snorkling and she done well. We bought a few of the photos and a video of us, which is good, a little bit expensive, but is a good keepsake and 1 to show her friends. We also took a waterproof camera, which was cheaper in Wallmart and they came out good. As the men didnt go with us, my DH says next time we go he wants to swim with the dolphins ect because all he got was the video to watch. This was our first time to WDW and we had a great time and will be going back again, we've caught the bug.

DEBBIE

 

[hellokitty]

WE WENT TO DISCOVERY COVE ON JUNE 3RD.
IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE. THE KIDS HAD A SUPER TIME.
THE FOOD IS VERY GOOD AND WE STAYED FROM 9 AM UNTIL
5 pm. the sunscreen did a good job keeping us from getting burned.

i cant say enough about the place. the stingray feeding was
so cool. the bird avaray (sp?) was neat, too. you get to feed the birds right out of your hands. the lazy river was fun and there are two waterfalls you go through. swimming / snorkeling with the fish was great, as well.

all of it was fun and well worth the money. it was a once in a lifetime experience.

we got to spend more time than i would have thought with the dolphin, during our swim. and i would recommend getting to the park early to ensure a morning swim when it is not so scorching out. the water is very very cold feeling when it is so hot out....
it didnt feel so cold when the temp was closer to that of the water. but later in the day we had a hard time swimming in anything but the warm lazy river!!

 

[pattyT]

Thank YOU!
I have been hesitating if we made the right choice to spend one of our ten days at disney going to Discovery Cove! I saw thinking of cancelling! NO WAY DD is going to love it!

 

[Pixie_Dust]

Originally posted by ivanova
They even make you take off water moccasins, ALL jewelry, etc. before getting into the water.

Even wedding rings?!? That's good to know as I would not want to get there and be told I had to put them in a locker!

 

[WebmasterBarry]

If you need a preview of Discovery Cove, Robb Alvey has a video called "Robb Alvey's Coaster Season 2001." It has a few minutes and photos of Discovery Cove video. It also has coasters from around the U.S., including IOA, Sea World, BGT, and someplace called WDW.

Check it out at www.themeparkreview.com

 

[madcoco]

Discovery Cove was wonderful! Thanks for the tips.Was very well worth it and the 7 day pass to SeaWorld was an added bonus.DD loved feeding the stingrays.We could have stayed in the Dolphin pool all day.The water wasn't as cool as we thought it would be.The aviary was a wonderful surprise.They do open the doors for swim registration early. We were there 40 min before "official park opening" and the first time slot was filled already. IMHO It is nice to do the swim early and relax the rest of the day especially in the summer when the afternoon fun/thunderbusters let loose. Also the new snorkels they are using were leaking quite a bit.Had ours replaced 3 times before they gave us old models which worked fine.

 

[experiment 626]

i think it's an awesome idea to take your 8-year-old! swimming with the dolphins is awesome! you get kiss them, do tricks, and even take a ride! there's also the stingray pool, where you can pet, and sometimes feed smaller stingrays (their barbs are shaved). there is also a much larger lagoon where you can swim with many schools of fish, stingrays, and view baracudas and sharks through glass under the water. also there's the aviary which you can swim into(or you can walk) through a small river. the aviary is amazing! some birds will perch on you arms (or even head!) when you feed them! the scenary is beautiful!

 

[MCazer]

Can you bring your own snorkel and mask? What about fins? My husband is a size 13, will he have any trouble?

We will all have our own snorkel equipment with us, just wondering if we need to bring it.

Thanks!

 

[vickyBaby]

This sounds so great. Do they have wet suits for you to wear if it is cold weather?

 

[hellokitty]

they do have wet suits to wear but get there early as
they run out, not sure about big feet, my husband has 11
but, we did not use flippers, just the mask
and snorkel.
they give everyone a snorkel they get to keep!!

 

[alexandra uk]

We ( me, dh, & 14 month old ds ) go to Dis. cove on 3rd Dec.
After reading this I really can't wait.
What exactly can my ds do there ? Would he be allowed in the lazy river, or to float around the coral reef with me and his Dad ?
It would be lovely to experience it as a family, and not to have to keep swaping the baby over ( obviously we would have to for the dolphin swim. )

One more question - How much footage is actually taken of the group dolphin swim?

116 to go

 

[cslogg]

I visited DC in January this year with two other "mature"adults and readily agree with all the comments in this thread its a not to be missed day.A bonus for us was the fact that the day we went there was only 300 visitors and the weather was surperb.
One of he first things we saw once inside the park was the sight of about a dozen trainers with dolphins out on the water.Each trainer was holding on to a dolphin which was laying on its back,the trainer appeared to be stroking the dolphins belly.We all thought how sweet it was that they were doing a bit of bonding.We were told later that the trainers were taking urine samples,lovely!!

cslogg

 

[madcoco]

Thanks for a laugh to start the weekend cslogg.I heard that will now be part of the new Dolphin Swim.Let the Tourists do it.

 

[pattyT]

DO IT!
Don't hesitate! We called it a once in a lifetime thing - but my DH has already said we will go there again!

We were in the 'sand dollar' cabana with a 10:15 swim! The weather was beautiful - our dolphin Tyler was awesome! The trainers were great! DH got awesome pics and video footage! We also chose to buy the $100 cd of 5 pictures (split with friends we were with!) so we have the 'rights' to our photos.
They even let DH and DS (2) come down for a pic with the dolphin and DS loved petting the dolphin! Guess what I'm sending out for christmas cards!

DH loved the lazy river! even though they had to close it for a while (first we heard something about a snake then it looked like they were replacing a broken light fixture or something

the food was excellent - well exceeded our expectations of 'buffet' LOVED the oroe cheesecake!

all in all it was a great r-n-r day! My only regreat is that we didn't take better advantage of the Sea World days! 10 days was not enough for us! WE only got to spend 1/2 a days at sea world - but loved it!

I think if you figure out the actual price including sea world - lunch, one free picture, etc. youll realize it isn't that bad! WEll worth every penny!

fell free to ask any questions - I'll do my best to answer!

 

[corvair]

My DD would love to do DC. I still am unsure. A couple questions. When do you make your reservations? I can get tickets through the goverment a little cheaper. Do I book the day through them when I buy my tickets. Or do you call DC to set up a date? Also how far in advance do you need to book? Thanks for any help or info you can offer....amy

 

[pattyT]

Hi Amy!
I called Discovery Cove directly - the number is on their website. I know they only allow 1000 people a day. If you have a specific date you want I would book early! When you call you can book for those swimming with the dolphin (199 or so) and those who are not (119ish). I believe it was 25% down the remainder 30 days before.
I don't know how the government discout works - but I am sure if You called DC they could answer your questions!
They mail you a confirmation that you bring with you - (everything is prepaid 30 days out usually) - when you arrive you check in they take your photo for id and assign you to a swim area and swim time.
There are many things to do BESIDES swimming with the dolphins! Our whole family loved it!
If you decide to do it I hope you have as good a time as we did!
Patty

 

[corvair]

Thanks for your help. It sounds like I will not be sorry if we decide to do this... thanks again...amy

 

[Granny]

We have done Discovery Cove twice, so I guess that speaks for itself. The first time, we all went on the dolphin encounter. The second time, just my two daughters.

If you stand on the beach, you can get some pretty good pictures if you've got some kind of zoom. My camera only has a 3x zoom and took this picture of my girls' dolphin "CJ" leaping:

<img src="http://home.earthlink.net/~readers4/_uimages/Dolpinleap.jpg" width=450>


It's a great experience...and the best "vacation" day of our vacations!!

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hello,

I took my 8 year old daughter to discovery cove last august.

It is a very lush and tropical place and the staff was very friendly and efficient in checking us in. Our dolphin swim was for 1:30pm.

We had a brief tour of the facilities and were given our gear and life vests. They also take a photo of you at this point and it is free if you want it. We then found a nice spot on lounge chairs on the beach so we could watch the dolphins.

The lazy river through the aviary was alot of fun and when we left the water we had the opportunity to feed the birds. They are very used to humans and sat on our heads!

The water in the ray lagoon was cold - so we got out real quick. But there were lots of snorkellers in there swimming around.

Lunch was great - I had fajitas and my daughter had chicken fingers. There was lots of food and great desserts. They also had a live band playing calypso music while we ate.

There was a birthday at the next table and there was a cake with a dolphin on it for a little girl. The band played happy birthday to her and everyone clapped.

Our dolphin swim was with Rose.. a sweet six year old dolphin... she did some tricks and gave us all the dorsal tow.. My daughter does not swim- but she was fine with the life vest even in the deep water. We were with her for about 40 minutes - only 5 minutes one on one time.

My only complaint was the hardsell tactics after the swim to try and make us buy photographs. Whe did buy one and then later it was a mad house trying to pick them up from the photo processing desk. There were so many people and lines forming everywhere - people were cutting in and it was very disorganized.

THe washrooms and lockers are fine, there are plenty of extra towels should you need more. The changing area and locker area is very busy at the end of the day - som many people trying to leave at the same time.

Other than the photo sellers - it was a wonderful day and I would go back... I hope you decide to go - I am sure you will not regret it.