Timing Questions

[DisPhanatic]

Good morning!

I have made several trips to Disney in the past and hit Universal for a few days. This is my first non-Mickey trip to Orlando and we are trying lots of new things. Unfortunately, I am a total newbie at the planning part. My travel dates are 5/5-5/13. We are staying at the Hard Rock and primarily seeing Universal. However, we want to do one day at Discovery Cove, one at Sea World, and one at Aquatica. One member of my party is inclined to skip Discovery Cove. So, here are the planning questions:

- When should I make my reservation for Discovery Cove? Is directly through them the best / most affordable way? Are there ever any sales?

- Since that includes my Sea World and Aquatica tickets, I don't have to do any other ticket purchases, right? For my one party member skipping DC, how / when / where should I purchase his tickets?

- Should I do quick queue at SW or Aquatica? When would I book this?

- I've heard there is a parking pass I should look into. When do I purchase this?

Are there any other special experiences I should look into? We are swimming with the dolphins at DC. We plan to visit SW and Aquatica mid-week.

Thanks so much!
DisPhanatic

 

[mjhtvchick]

I have had good experiences buying my Sea World, Aquatica and Discovery Cove tickets through Undercover Tourist. Discovery Cove tickets are lumped in with all the Sea World parks tickets...https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/seaworld-orlando-resort/

If you choose the Ultimate Day Resort with Dolphin Swim Package, you get the 14 day access to Sea World and Aquatica, as well as to Busch Gardens (in Tampa) but you also get free self-parking! This is v. important as while parking is always included at Discovery Cove, it is not at the other parks and can run you around $20 per visit.

You will have to choose your date when you book your Discovery Cove tickets so keep that in mind if you are at all uncertain about your trip dates.

We tend to get a cabana if we can when we go to Aquatica - it just makes the day go smoother for us. We always have a "home base" if we get split up and it is a nice relaxing spot to get away (and for mom to read while the others go on the crazier waterslides )

We have also done a couple of the "behind the scenes" tours at Sea World - they are great!!

 

[shh]

Just a caveat: buying from any 3rd party vendor like UT, AAA, etc will save you money. But if you buy directly from SW, you get one complimentary Discovery Cove date change (in case it's projected to storm or something comes up and you want to switch.) This is not included on third party tickets. I went back and forth, as I could have saved $12 /ticket with AAA, but ended up buying direct. So glad I did. Ended up switching my date because the weather was iffy that day. Many people take the chance and are fine...but it was just DH and I...so for $24, it was well worth the extra to have more flexibility

 

[georgina]

I'm just going to throw this out there for consideration - my DH and I did a split Universal/Seaworld trip in Sept. Since you are going to be in the Seaworld area for several days, have you considered staying in a Seaworld partner hotel for part of your trip? There were numerous benefits, including discounts on food at Seaworld, free parking at the hotel (as opposed to the $22 a day fee at Uni), free one time Quick Queue at Seaworld (but not Aquatica) but it did not include Mako. Many also have free breakfast. We also went mid-week and found the crowds at Seaworld were lower than the weekend, we really did not need the QQ mid-week.

 

[DisPhanatic]

Thanks so much for the tips. I will look at the split stay but I think we want to stick with Universal. We want to head over one or two days just for a quick visit - we've never done the water stuff (Popeye's, etc) and will walk over, get soaked, and then go back to the hotel.

 

[andyw715]

Here is a data point for your consideration.
We are going to DC Nov 21
4 Dolphin Swim tickets through undercover tourist is $1019 - which includes the 14 day Seaworld/Aquatica visit.
These tickets bought via DC is $1103 - straight up

Now I contacted UT and they said their tickets follow the same policy of complimentary date change / $50 subsequent date change.

UT is regarded as one of the few discount ticket outlets that sell an equivalent product to the original seller (disney/DC/SW/Univ)

One thing to note is that when you book say a hotel via DC and add Dolphin Swim tickets, they (DC) actually charges more for the tickets. I was quoted on the DC site $1231 for the same date tickets when also looking at room prices.

Also official/partner hotels usually have really good deals that might make you think twice about the Universal hotels (I'm not familiar with Universal hotel deals)....many of the hotels offer 3rd and 5th nights free.

i.e. our Fairfield or Springhill suites for 4/5 nights is $315 Turkey day week.

 

[shh]

Here is a data point for your consideration.
We are going to DC Nov 21
4 Dolphin Swim tickets through undercover tourist is $1019 - which includes the 14 day Seaworld/Aquatica visit.
These tickets bought via DC is $1103 - straight up

Now I contacted UT and they said their tickets follow the same policy of complimentary date change / $50 subsequent date change.

That's great - wished I knew that before I booked ours! Maybe we could have saved some money. Uni told me only tics bought direct qualified and since I rarely trust one phone rep, I called a couple, then checked the site's terms and conditions and everyone/everything confirmed. Next time, I'll know better and go through UT.

But again, for us, it was just 2 people, and UT doesn't offer Fla resident rate - so not sure we would have saved much in the end. And I know AAA's don't qualify. But in your example - wow, close to $100 less!

 

[DisPhanatic]

You are all amazing - thanks for the advice. I've bought Universal tickets from UT before and it sounds like they are the way to go for DC. I appreciate it!

 

[janicept]

You might also want to wait to see if they do Blue Friday deals again for SeaWorld. I'm not sure if Discovery Cove has ever been included in the deals but it's so close now it wouldn't hurt to wait a few weeks. I'm sure if and when the deals come out it will be posted on these forums. I believe the deals were advertised a few days before Thanksgiving but couldn't be purchased until Black Friday.

 

[squirrel]

I agree with switching hotels and staying at a partner hotel. We stayed at Springhill Suites. Free breakfast and bus drop off at parks. I ended up getting an AP so we didn't need the discount on dining but I did use the QQ for the rides. I think they even let us use it for Mako, there wasn't a big line or anything that day (might be different if it's busy).