Pulled the trigger--we're going to Discovery Cove!

[TimeforMe]

We've been hemming and hawing about spending the big bucks to do DC with our family of four. This weekend we watched the Travel Channel and they showed DC several times and we decided we're definitely doing it. So yesterday I called and made my ressie with my 25% deposit. August won't get here soon enough!

 

[Disney Debbie]

Good for you! We talked about doing it last year for our Anniversary - but we felt too guilty about not taking DD and went to Las Vegas instead! We're going to have to bite that bullet sometime too - it looks awesome. I have friends who went for their honeymoon and they said it was worth every penny.

 

[fairy god aunt]

How did you get a 25% discount?

 

[Cindy B]

25% deposit, no discount...

I only wish about a discount..

You won't regret it.. its amazing!

 

[fairy god aunt]

there must be something worng with me -- I'm discount obsessed!

 

[luvflorida]

We spent a day at Discovery Cove in February of '01, and loved every minute of it. The highlight was the dolphin swim. It was amazing to actually pet a dolphin, learn hand signals from the trainers, and get a tow into shallow water by our dolphin. The entire park is beautiful and never crowded because DC keeps visitors to a minimum each day. There is a nice white, sandy beach to relax on and from certain locations on the beach, you can watch the dolphins leaping and playing in the lagoon. The snorkeling in the reef area and manta ray pool is spectacular, although my youngest daughter didn't want to get too close to the rays. They are very friendly and not the least bit shy!

The lunch included with admission was delicious and the portions were huge! A day at Discovery Cove is quiet and relaxing, and tons of fun. I hope you enjoy it as much as our family did!

 

[TimeforMe]

Originally posted by fairy god aunt
there must be something worng with me -- I'm discount obsessed!

LOL! I know the feeling.

Thanks everyone for your comments! It is such a large sum of $ to spend for one day, but my kids are getting older (13 and 15), and we want to make this vacation special as we will soon be thinking of college before you know it.

Nice to hear you had such a nice time. I'm a little self-conscious about my weight and was thinking of sitting out, but decided to go for it. I know my dd will be hesitant about the rays, too. She's afraid of fish, but can't wait to do the dolphing swim

 

[robvia]

It's worth the money. People have a hard time justifying the price because they're used to a park ticket ($50) and then getting discounts. So when you're talking close to $200, you need a different mindset. Think of it as a big trip, like a ski vacation. Even though it's one day, the memories will last.

The rays look scary, but don't bite. Their teeth are way back in their mouth. You make a fist, hold the fist between your fingers, and they suck it out. By the end of the day, your DD will make "friends" with the fish and you'll have to drag her out of the lagoon.

Get to the gate early to avoid the crowd.

You can look at my TR for more pics. It's been 2 years so some things may have changed, but you can still see the pics and get an idea.
http://home.attbi.com/~robvia/SeaWorld1.htm

 

[2bemarried]

I absolutely LOVE dolphins. I have a huge curio cabinet filled with dolphin figurines made of crystal and wood and candles too. Plus other little items. So when my fiance and I decided that we were going to WDW for our honeymoon, he had no reservations about booking a swim with the dolphins for us (primarily me). I can't wait...it's going to probably be the highlight of our hm.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there...

First of all .. congrats - you will have an amazing time at Discovery Cove.

Now some words of advice.... we were at Universal/Disney last August for 2 weeks and EVERYDAY there was a lightning/thunder storm that moved through the area at around 2:00pm-3:00pm.

One of these days was our Discovery Cove day... our dolphin swim was for 1:00pm.... and we had just finished it (1:45PM) when the lightning started and torential downpours... everyone had to get out of the water and there were no more Dolphin swims for the day.

People were complaining like crazy and kids crying.. the whole works.. there was a BIG line up at Customer Service with people looking for refunds? or rescheduling.. it was not a pretty sight.

The swims are assigned on a first come first serve basis - so check in early - we took the shuttle bus from the Royal Pacific to Sea World and then the DC Land Rover transfer... but we did not get ther till about 10:00am and there was a huge line up - right outside the lobby and down the path outside...

Try to get there as early as possible.. grab a cab or drive... but the frees shuttles are terrible... if I was going again I would want to be there by 9:00am.

The Lunch is also very good here.. we had Fajitas and enjoyed them very much, also great desserts and a live band playing while you eat.

Make sure you stop in the Aviary to feed the birds that was one of the highlights of our day (besides meeting Rose - our Dolphin)
The Lazy Rive runs through the aviary and you can leave the water at several points to explore the aviary.. you will also see little tiny deer around.

The birds are friendly and will fly to your hand.. or head to feed.

There are some photos on my website link below if you are interested...


>>^..^<<

 

[2bemarried]

Cass.....
I LOVE that picture of your daughter and the dolphin. Was that one taken by the staff members at DC? How many do they take?
Thanks

 

[>>^..^<<]

Hi there...

You are not allowed to take your own camera into the water with the Dolphins... you can have a friend/family member take photos from the beach...

The photographer is in the water with you and constantly snaps shots of all the encounters... there is also a photographer (videographer?) filming the antics... conveniently - the video is available for sale immediately following! Imagine that!

They really push the photos/video packages.. it is like they are selling timeshares or something LOL... they have it all set up on TV monitors and you just click what you want and the order goes through and you pick the photos up when you leave.. easy as that.

We only bought the one photo of my daughter Noel... I looked like hell in all my photos LOL (Her pic was 16.00USD)

Also they take a photo of you with your party when you first arrive in the gardens area.. and this is free for you to take home.

Hope this helps

>>^..^<<

 

[2bemarried]

Thanks Cass. Hopefully they're get some good pictures of us.

 

[TimeforMe]

Cass--thanks for the great tips. We were considering taking the shuttle, but after reading your post have decided to drive since we'll have our rental onsite. Your pictures are great and are making me more excited!

Thaks again!

 

[mitymott]

Good for you! You are going to have a great time. We did it and loved the entire experience. In fact, we can't wait to go back.

 

[MiaSRN62]

when the lightning started and torential downpours... everyone had to get out of the water and there were no more Dolphin swims for the day.

People were complaining like crazy and kids crying.. the whole works.. there was a BIG line up at Customer Service with people looking for refunds? or rescheduling.. it was not a pretty sight.

I'm assuming that you would at least be refunded the "dolphin swim" portion of the admission ? I believe that's in the area of $80 above the regular non-swim admission ? We're considering doing DC in August, but know how lightening and t-storms can be that time of year. We're a family of 5, so paying the extra $400 for us and getting nothing for it in return would not be my idea of fair ? I would not expect a full refund, just for the dolphin-swim portion. Does anyone know how they deal with weather-related problems like this ? Thanks.

 

[SheriB]

We went in July of last year. Our DD and DS (15 and 11 at the time) did the dolphin swim. Plan to get there as early as possible to opening time. They ask you (if you get there early enough) when you want to schedule your dolphin swim. We chose 9:30 a.m. for the exact reason that we knew there were thunder storms every afternoon. Some people would like to end their day with the dolphin swim, but I wanted my money's worth, and made that the first thing we did!
It was the best day of our kids' lives (we know because they thanked us and told us it was!). Don't get suckered by the photography sell. We did. The close-up pictures were nice, but the video ($60!!) was nothing more than a big commercial for the park, then at the end, each person in your group shown during their dolphin swim. My kids were the last out of a group of 8, so we got to see the other six people's experience, and then our kids'. My husband and I didn't do the dolphin swim, we stood on a raised part of the beach and video taped from there. Honestly, our video was better than the one we paid $60 (yes, that's $60!!) for.
The lunch was really good-a lot to choose from. They give you your own supply of sunblock that's non-toxic to the fish, etc. So don't slather up before you get there-there are changing rooms and really nice showers (they give you shampoo, towels, even blow dryers!) for when your day is over.
As far as discounts-we belong to AAA. I was able to order passes through AAA South and saved over $125.00 on our whole admission(this more than paid for our annual membership). Even without the discount, I would have paid full price just for the experience. It was an awesome day. Have a great time!

Sheri

 

[MiaSRN62]

They ask you (if you get there early enough) when you want to schedule your dolphin swim. We chose 9:30 a.m. for the exact reason that we knew there were thunder storms every afternoon. Some people would like to end their day with the dolphin swim, but I wanted my money's worth,

I went to the web site and it said no refunds within 7 days, but I find it pretty unreasonable to ask you to pay for the dolphin swim portion of it if you never get to do it. For my family it would be losing $500 due to weather. I feel this is a big monetary risk as noone has control over the weather ? I agree I'd most likely try for an early am swim, but again, that no guarentee either. I'd have to be lucky enough to get an am swim out of 500 people and also hope no lightening hit in the morning. I'll never forget a day in '97 while at Blizzard Beach. There was lots of lightening in the morning and the CM's made everyone get out of the water around 9:45 am. It remained this way until about 1 pm. So ya never know.

We did. The close-up pictures were nice, but the video ($60!!) was nothing more than a big commercial for the park, then at the end,

How much was the picture,may I ask and is this of the entire group of people in the water or just your individual family ?

As far as discounts-we belong to AAA. I was able to order passes through AAA South and saved over $125.00 on our whole admission(this more than paid for our annual membership). Even without the discount, I would have paid full price just for the experience.

Sorry for the questions. Do you get the additional day at Sea World with the AAA package ? On their web site they say that that extra day is not eligible with "promo" packages or something like that ? Thanks.

 

[SheriB]

Maria,

The pictures were $99 for a package(plus the video separately-approx $160 total-yikes!). I think we got to pick 4 or 6 5x7's, two keychains with your choice of 1 picture and a snow globe with a picture in the background. The pictures were really nice, close-ups of my kids each with their dolphin, one of both of them together, and one each riding with the dolphin.

When we got there (we got there before opening), we were one of the first families to get in, and we did get our choice of swim times. I would imagine that if we got there even a half hour later it would have been slim-pickins, as it started to get a little crowded very shortly after we started our welcome tour. I will say the overall crowd was low, as they do limit the number of people per day, but your choice of swim times then get fewer, too.

As for AAA, I don't know what the deal is now, but we did get the 7-day pass to SW when we checked in at DC. They take your picture and give you a bar-coded i.d. badge. They told us that was also good for 7 days at SW. Unfortunately, we didn't even get to use the pass, because the rest of our days were pretty tightly scheduled. If we had known ahead of time that we would be given the additional admission to SW free, we would have definetely scheduled it in (we love SW,too).

No matter what you decide to buy there or not (don't forget the souvenier shop, too!!), your day will be absolutely awesome. And when it did start to thunder and the sky got really dark, we couldn't get my husband out of the water until they forced everyone out. Luckily, this was around 3:30 in the afternoon and I believe the park closes at 4:30. We had just enough time to shower, change and leave before the downpour.

Hope I answered some of your questions. Good luck!

Sheri

 

[MiaSRN62]

Hope I answered some of your questions. Good luck!

You did--thanks so much Sheri ! I'm still not 100% sure we'll do this in August, but I'm seriously interested. I guess I'll have to call DC directly and ask them about their policy of lightening and refunding the dolphin swim portion of the admission. I know my dh won't be too thrilled (nor will I) if we lose $500 due to lightening. But thanks so much---if we go, we'll defintely get the picture package and forget the video.