Trying out DC and SW for 1st time this summer

[luvallprincesses]

We are doing a beach vacation in Ft.Myers this summer and the kids decided the one other thing they would love to do is swim with dolphins. Since we are going to take the AutoTrain into Orlando, we decided Discovery Cove would be great. Little did I know how much it costs, or that it was an all inclusive day, but before scrapping the idea saw that it includes access to Sea World and Aquatica. Now it sounds more reasonable. I have a few questions I am hoping you can help me with:

DH will not be able to come with us. Will this be difficult to have 2 kids to 1 adult at DC?

I am wondering for the three of us, including DD12 and DS6, how many days we should plan. A day at DC, a day at Aquatica, and one or two at Sea World? I am wondering due to summer crowds if we should plan for 2 days at SW? I haven't been in 20 years and know it has changed drastically.

Where is a good, close inexpensive place to stay? It will mainly be just a place to sleep and I will have my car via the AutoTrain (also a new adventure for us!)

Are there things my small DS6 at only 44" tall won't be able to do? I'm sure I can find the height requirements for SW but DC says ages 6+ for dolphins but height is taken into account. Very obscure. He is a good swimmer.

Thanks so much for your help. Excited to get a trip booked for June into July!

 

[Lynne G]

We liked DC so much, we will be doing it this year after visiting 2 years ago. I think you will be fine with the kids. My two kids were slightly older when I went with them 2 years ago, but it was fine. We stuck together at all the parks. I travel a lot with my kids as my spouse cannot come with us due to his work.

I think 1 day at DC and Aquadica is fine. You will love having all taken care of at DC. Aquadica is a great water park and will be great when it is hot. I say if you can, take 2 days at SW. The shows are all good, so spreading out seeing them over 2 days instead of squeezing into 1 day will make it more relaxing. Look into the neighbor hotels, as you get a free quick que for SW. Will help with some of the ride lines. I think one of the most reasonable was the Fairfield at SW. It is right on International Drive, at the corner of the Parkway, so a less than 5 minute drive to DC, SW, and Aquadica. Make sure it is the one at SW, as there is a Fairfield further away that also says convenient to SW area. The Fairfield is basic, but we thought clean, and has free parking and a free breakfast buffet. We would stay there again. If you want more of a suite, the Springhill is right next to the Farfield and they share the free shuttle to SW and very small pool area.


Have a great vacation whatever you decide to do.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We are doing a beach vacation in Ft.Myers this summer and the kids decided the one other thing they would love to do is swim with dolphins. Since we are going to take the AutoTrain into Orlando, we decided Discovery Cove would be great. Little did I know how much it costs, or that it was an all inclusive day, but before scrapping the idea saw that it includes access to Sea World and Aquatica. Now it sounds more reasonable. I have a few questions I am hoping you can help me with:

DH will not be able to come with us. Will this be difficult to have 2 kids to 1 adult at DC?

I am wondering for the three of us, including DD12 and DS6, how many days we should plan. A day at DC, a day at Aquatica, and one or two at Sea World? I am wondering due to summer crowds if we should plan for 2 days at SW? I haven't been in 20 years and know it has changed drastically.

Where is a good, close inexpensive place to stay? It will mainly be just a place to sleep and I will have my car via the AutoTrain (also a new adventure for us!)

Are there things my small DS6 at only 44" tall won't be able to do? I'm sure I can find the height requirements for SW but DC says ages 6+ for dolphins but height is taken into account. Very obscure. He is a good swimmer.

Thanks so much for your help. Excited to get a trip booked for June into July!

Alrighty, let's see if I can help with some of your questions.......

I don't think you will have any problems having two kids to one adult when they are 12 and 6. Two toddlers with only one parent around that much water might be tough, but unless there are behavioural issues then you should be fine with kids the ages of your children .

If you haven't been to SW in 20 years, definitely plan two days. It will allow you to enjoy all the features of the park at a much more leisurely pace, and there's a ton to see and do. I love touring when there's no blind panic to try and squeeze it all in. If you decide to spend two days, you will not find yourself idle.

We liked the Residence Inn SeaWorld. It was very affordable and gave us lots of space (including a fully separate bedroom and multiple TV's). There's a free hot breakfast buffet each day which is awesome. Its 5 minutes or less by car to SW, Aquatica and DC (and free transportation to the parks is included if you don't feel like driving). As an official onsite hotel, it offers free Quick Queue for all registered guests (which will give you front of the line access to the rides at SW). Parking is free and internet is free. They have a great lagoon style pool, a large hot tub, and a sport court.

I think your DS will be fine, even with his short stature. I believe six years old is the legal requirement for the dolphin swim simply for liability purposes (and to be sure they can understand and follow verbal instructions from the trainer during the interaction). He will be able to have a wonderful time enjoying all the features of the park. If you (or he) feels more comfortable in using a flotation device, there are lots of lifejackets for him to use while in the water.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[luvallprincesses]

Thanks for the reassurance and thoughts on 2 days at SW. I did think of one other question that I didn't see on the DC FAQs. Will we need to visit DC first before being able to use the "free"admissions to the other parks? I am assuming the tickets can be mailed to me instead of a Will Call, if that would make any difference. The order of doing the parks will be very important for picking our day for DC in conjunction with the AutoTrain reservation.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

When you buy your tickets online you print them off at home. You can use your DC tickets to get into Sw or Aquatica BEFORE you ever go to DC. Also consider this, when you go to check out in the final stages of checking out online for your DC tickets it is going to ask you if you want to upgrade to the ultimate ticket for $20 more. I would do that. It gets you into Busch Gardens Tampa for just $20 when it is normally $90 to get in. That is if you have an extra day to drive over to Busch Gardens. It's an amazing park.

I would definitely give yourself 2 days of Sea World. You can spend one whole day just doing the shows and then another whole day doing the animal exhibits and rides.

Your DS6 is going to be too little to ride most of the big rides at Sea World if he is on the short side.

But also keep in mind, your DC tickets gets you UNLIMITED ENTRY into SW and AQ for up to 14 days. So you can go to SW 5 or 6 times and AQ 5 or 6 times. I know you probably won't, but you CAN if you want to.

The DC is an all day inclusive thing where you get breakfast, lunch snacks drinks everything all day long. They provide you towels, sunscreen, wetsuit, snorkel gear.

This is something we did too as far as eating goes. We had breakfast at 8 am, lunch at 11 am and ate a late lunch again at 2:30 right before they stopped serving at 3 pm. So we ate 3 times in one day. They have really good food.

They had some grilled Talapia that was some of the best Fish I have ever had.

They have slushy drinks for the kids. 2 or 3 different kinds of ice cream bars, salty and sweet soft pretzels and granola bars and chips. They have sweet tea that is very good.

Prepare your kids for the fact that the water in the Dolphin swim area is SUPER SUPER ICY COLD. It is some of the coldest water I have ever been in. And the water in the reef where you snorkel is slightly colder than that if you can imagine it.

The water is so cold in the reef area that I actually couldn't stand it. I let the rest of my family snorkel with the manta rays and I just stood on the sidelines.

They do have real life jackets for the little guy so he can swim and snorkel too. He will need it in the lazy river too because the lazy river gets really deep in some spots.

Be prepared to buy the photo package ($159) that gives you all your photos from all day on a disc and a few prints and keychains.

The little guy can do the shallow Dolphin swim. My DS12 and I both did the shallow Dolphin swim. He and I both know how to swim but neither one of us like the idea of having to tread water out in the deep water.

You should do fine with the 2 kids yourself because the 12 year old is old enough to ride the rides by himself while you ride with the little guy.

 

[luvallprincesses]

Thank you so much for the answers, thoughts, and advice. I hope to get this all booked next weekend for the end of June. I've never in my life planned a trip this late, so used to the mega-early Disney planning.

I am thinking we will do our 10-ish day Ft.Myers portion first in case we don't sleep well on the train on the way down overnight and want to relax. Then we can go hung-ho in Orlando for 4 days and will be certain to sleep the whole 19 hours back north.

 

[luvallprincesses]

As much time as I spend on the Internet researching for new trips, there's nothing like a good planning book. So is there a good book recommended to get myself comfortable with DC, SW, and Aquatica?

 

[jenniag]

We were at DC a few weeks ago. It was fantastic! My dd 5 1/5 years old did the dolphin swim. Yes I broke the rules. She wore a life jacket and when she rode the dolphin back one of the dolphin trainers waited with her until I came over. She was not tall enough to stand in some areas by herself (she is taller than most if the 6yr olds in her class so I don't think it was her age). I think you will be fine by yourself. I did not find the water that cold. It was 75.

 

[jenniag]

We were at DC a few weeks ago. It was fantastic! My dd 5 1/5 years old did the dolphin swim. Yes I broke the rules. She wore a life jacket and when she rode the dolphin back one of the dolphin trainers waited with her until I came over. She was not tall enough to stand in some areas by herself (she is taller than most if the 6yr olds in her class so I don't think it was her age). I think you will be fine by yourself. I did not find the water that cold. It was 75.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

As much time as I spend on the Internet researching for new trips, there's nothing like a good planning book. So is there a good book recommended to get myself comfortable with DC, SW, and Aquatica?

I haven't read it personally, but this is one I have always considered ordering:

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Disney...886080/ref=dp_ob_title_bk/189-3057387-3218608