2BoysMum&Dad
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2004
In my hand-written notes I made at the end of Friday 23rd July, I spookily gave the days report the heading The Calm Before The Storm, only because it was the day before we flew out to Florida and didnt think at the time it was really a very good or apt title. I have decided to name all the parts of my trip report The Calm Before The Storm Tour, in honour of the climax of our trip - Hurricane Charley which gave us an extra day in Florida.
Tuesday 10th August (Michaels Birthday at Discovery Cove)
THE CAST
Sergeant Major Zoe You WILL enjoy yourselves
DH Trevor I am NOT going to like this
Birthday Boy Michael (aged 10 to 11)
Why to everything Piers (aged 8 and a bit)
Yes, you read correctly, we were really teasing Michael about the booking of sole use of one of the elevators in Tower of Terror for his special birthday treat! He and I had chickened out of doing this on our visits to the Disney MGM Studios park so that would obviously not be his idea of a perfect birthday treat! One of the first things I did months ago while preparing our holiday was to book a day at Discovery Cove, so I knew exactly what we were doing for his birthday.
Michael had received a few birthday cards from people before we came to Florida from people who knew we would be away for his birthday so we could bring them with us. So his first job was to open these. He also had one from us which wed bought from Wal-mart. We had breakfast as usual in the room and still winding Michael up about going to MGM to get him onto the Tower of Terror. Then I decided I ought to tell the boys where we were really going and showed them an up to date leaflet of Discovery Cove I had been given at SeaWorld on Sunday. Their eyes lit up and were very excited! This was going to be a wonderful day never to forget. As we leave the room, we see our maid and I mention to her its Michaels birthday (in the hope there might be something waiting for him when we return).
So we arrive at Discovery Cove at around 9am and are immediately impressed with the ambiance of the place. Even the car park seems more welcoming, more green than anywhere else wed been so far. As you walk up to the main entrance, you already get the feel that this must be a posh 5 star hotel. Inside the entrance building, despite there being quite a few people mingling about, there is an air of calm. Theres no stress or urgency about anything.
We head towards a desk, I present our D.C. reservation tickets and Im asked for photo ID, they only need to see mine. Theres a webcam attached to the computer and we all have our photos taken. Piers decided he wanted to get into the background of other peoples photos but luckily only managed it in Michaels. After a few minutes we are given credit card sized passes which showed various information. Theres your picture, name, time of your swim, various reference numbers and a bar code for scanning when charging something to your account. You are given the option as to whether each card holder in your party can charge items to your account. The idea of this is that you can put all your belongings including money and credit cards in your locker until the end of the day. The cards come conveniently attached to a cord so you can have it round your neck. The time of our swim was 2.10pm which I was initially a bit disappointed with hoping wed get one a bit earlier, like around 11am. As it happened, 2.10pm was perfect for us. The main worry of having a later timeslot is that theres a higher chance of your swim being cancelled if there is a thunder storm (and these tend to happen more often from lunchtime onwards if they happen at all). We were lucky and had perfect weather all day.
While we were at the desk, I told the woman it was Michaels birthday. She gave us a voucher for a free ice cream.
D.C. have a maximum intake of 1,000 visitors per day and every guest is treated very well throughout the whole day. You pay one all-inclusive price which covers everything you need (except a swimming costume!) and includes lunch, towels, wet suit, snorkel, goggles, locker use, soap, shampoo and a revitalisation liquid (whatever that is) and an endless supply of dolphin/fish friendly sun cream. Theres even free supplies of feminine things! If you arrive wearing a normal sun cream, you are asked to remove it and only use the one provided. We are also advised to top up our sun cream every two hours.
The cost of a dolphin swim ticket at Discovery Cove is not cheap. But considering what you get for your money and the level of attention and service, its not terribly surprising. There are plenty of staff on hand including loads of lifeguards around the place.
The whole park is divided into several areas. Once we had gone through the main building, had our complimentary cup of coffee and had our complimentary picture taken, we were taken by a member of staff through to the main area and given an explanation of how the park works. We were also given our snorkel and goggles, were told were allowed to keep the snorkel but the goggles get recycled. Next stop the lockers. We take two for the four of us and get changed. Unfortunately, Trevor managed to leave his swimming trunks back at the room so had to use his shorts, which fortunately looked very much like swimming trunks anyway. He blamed me and I blamed him (oh, wedded bliss!). What cheek, they are his swimming trunks after all!
Off to get our lifejackets, theres a choice between sleeveless jackets or full body ones which actually just cover the top of the arms (like a t-shirt) and the top of the legs (as long as a pair of shorts). We just opt for the jacket type ones. These jackets are not really needed for the main warm water areas but it seems 90% of people wear them all the time anyway. You will need them for the dolphin area and the fish and ray lagoons. I found it surprising how buoyant the jackets were. There is a supply of brown floaties which arent really necessary in most areas. Theres also a supply of life-jackets which lots of people use. Many people who come to Discovery Cove arent strong swimmers and these are really a wonderful way to enjoy the place without worrying about any deep water.
Enjoying the shallow warm water before we got life-jackets for the boys
An area we discovered early on was the river which flows around most of the park, starting and finishing in the main warm pool area. I ventured off by myself to investigate while Trevor looked after the boys and I took a few pictures.
Some bits are deep, but you can rest here!
There are a few 8 drops in the river area, but this bit was standing depth
The warm lagoon next to where you pick up your wet-suit is a perfect place to practice using your goggle and snorkel before venturing into other parts of Discovery Cove. Theres a lovely cave area there too.
When I finished going round the river bit on my own, I caught up with Trevor and the boys. Trevor said they both nearly drowned at the beginning of the river as they didnt turn left back into the main area. Michael was struggling a bit and Piers was calmly floating as best he could with his face just visible. A lifeguard came over and got one of them and Trevor got the other one into shallow water. I blamed Trevor again! There are signs around there somewhere that warn you that you are about to enter and 8 drop area. Cant trust men with anything, even the safety of their own children!
Anyhow, we decide its probably a good idea to get them both life-jackets and we go and investigate. They have run out of the right size for them and I wait with the boys while some more are found from a storage area. Trevor goes to have his turn investigating the river on his own.
Heres Piers trying out the life-jacket, totally drown-proof!
The birthday boy enjoying himself
It appears its virtually impossible to get under water wearing the life-jackets and we decide to take the kids around the river. They love this and can now make even better use of their goggles and snorkle. Its possible just to float face down wearing these and have a good look at stuff underwater. These life-jackets are really really really brilliant. Even if you or your children can swim a bit, they really make your life so much easier. We didnt have to help them at all after we got them these jackets and we could go anywhere with them.
Part of the river goes through an enclosed bird aviary, you enter and leave by swimming through waterfalls and there is very high netting above the level of the trees which is hardly noticeable.
Someone tries getting up close to a bird in the aviary
The fish lagoon didnt open until 11.30am and was very busy at this time. We thought it a great idea to have an early lunch, avoiding any queues in the restaurant and have time to let it settle before our 2.10pm swim slot. This would also allow time for the people entering the fish lagoon to disperse and spread out.
Trevor and I had the salmon with a grilled semi-circle piece of pineapple slice on the top. It was served with a ball of rice and some mixed cooked vegetables. Very tasty. Piers had a hot dog and Michael just had a plate of chips. Trevor and I both had the strawberry cheesecake for pudding and the kids had some jelly.
YUM YUM!
After letting our lunch settle and having a good swim around the fish lagoon, its time for our dolphin swim. Unfortunately, we had drunk rather a lot and had to make several toilet stops very close to our timeslot and I was worried about missing it! Im sure the cold water in the fish lagoon (and the dolphin lagoon) make my bladder shrink!!
Anyway, we make our way to the hut next to Sand Dollar Cabana (our assigned bit of beach) for the pre swim video and pep talk. The hut is very tastefully designed with a thatched roof and fans in the ceiling. There are enough chairs for around 24 people and a couple of tv screens in front of us. We were then split into three pre-determined groups going to different parts of the beach and we were with a family of four from Warwickshire in England. Very pleasant family with two teenage daughters. Two dolphin trainers were assigned to our group Susie and Buck. Our two dolphins were Oscar and CJ. We were later told that CJ is also 11 years old when I mentioned it was Michaels 11th birthday today.
Oscar spent a few minutes with us, letting us stroke him and doing the kissing photographs. Oscar swam away and then we were joined by CJ, who did the swimming bits with each of us one by one. Apparently he is an unusual dolphin, being a cross between two types. The several swim groups around the lagoon were very well organised because they got the whole group of dolphins to do simultaneous tricks.
All the while, I tried to make sure that I was in a direct line of the video and camera team. I am in no way vain you understand, but if we were going to pay a load of money for the video, I wanted to make sure there was enough of us in it to get our moneys worth. The videoing will include everyone in your group, normally eight people, so it was us and this other English family.
Immediately after our swim session, we were taken into a hut with computer screens and shown the photographs taken of us. They couldnt show us any of the video because apparently that wouldnt be ready until later in the day. We were shown a laminated sheet showing the various price options of various photographic packages. They dont come cheap, but they do emphasise that you are also paying for the copyright of the video and photographs and you are therefore allowed to do what you want with them when you get home (e-mailing, duplicating etc).
I had previously mentioned nothing to Trevor about the videoing and photography of our swim, just in case he would gear himself up to be obstinate about spending any more money! As it happened, he was happy to pay for the video and the package of 10 pictures (which is actually 11 because you get one free). We were shown how to operate the computer system, which was actually a touch screen system. When we had selected our pictures, the computer came up with a much higher price than was indicated on the laminated sheet. I dont know if this was just a wheeze on their part to make the true price sound not so bad, but we queried this higher price with a staff member who told us that the system had an out of date and more expensive pricing system still on there. Realistically, I dont believe Discovery Cove would really come up with a story like that unless it was true (or would they?!).
Our video order form
Our order placed and we then went back to enjoy the rest of our day in the other areas. For the last few hours we had been looking for the ice cream voucher we were given as Michaels birthday treat from the woman at the desk this morning. Trevor finally found it in the back pocket of his shorts which hed had to use as swimming trunks, so it wasnt terribly identifiable! Never mind. We decided we didnt really have time for ice creams anyway and wed rather visit Ghiradelli later.
We spent quite a bit of time in the fish and ray lagoons, investigating them fully and taking some more pictures. When we visited the smaller of the two with just rays in it, we were advised to keep our feet on the bottom and to tuck in anything dangly (like the locker keys and passes around our necks).
The fish lagoon is very interesting and they even have parts with barracudas and sharks, luckily they are behind thick perspex. Piers seemed to be shivering slightly and his lips were turning a pale colour. I asked a nearby life-guard what time the park closes and he said it doesnt! There are various parts of the park which do close but according to this chap, they dont have an official closing time as such.
We decide wed better get out and get Piers (in particular) warmed up and dressed. Trevor dried his shorts the best he could, but in the Florida heat, clothes dont stay soggy for long even if they dont dry out totally. They have good shower facilities with all the supplies of toiletries you need and a plentiful supply of towels and hairdryers.
I queued up to collect our pictures and video while Trevor and the boys had a good look around the gift shop. Discovery Cove have a good system of little screens next to each till which shows you a small section of your video to ensure you are collecting the right one. I then suddenly remember the free complimentary picture which I hadnt collected earlier that morning (like most people), but it did mean there was not a queue at that desk. I went to join the others and we bought various things, including some t-shirts for me and Trevor and some cuddly dolphins for the boys.
Time to head back to CBR. I was a little disappointed there wasnt a little surprise for Michael waiting for him, never mind, maybe tomorrow thered be something? We got changed and went to Downtown Disney for ice creams at Ghiradelli, yum yum! After wed finished those and were heading back to the car, I spotted the large Disney store, supposed to be the biggest in the world. It certainly was huge! Rumour has it that if you are after a Disney branded item, itll certainly be for sale in this shop. It certainly looked like it. But, isnt it always the way that if you are trying to find a straight forward item, you cant find it! Eventually, I find what I am after my very own special Mickey Mouse! Hes got lovely crushed velvet fur and soft velvet red shorts and soft velvet yellow shoes. This Mickey was meant for me, he was calling my name from the shelf and has spent the whole time sitting on the table watching me write my notes this evening in our room! When I was paying for him, I told the woman cashier that I was buying him for me, he wasnt a present hes mine, all mine! She seemed genuinely pleased and told me that many people do not buy things for themselves. I explained how Mickey would be spending the night with me and Trevor (if necessary) would have to sleep on the floor! She asked me what he thought of all this and I replied by saying he thinks Disney is all a load of nonsense unfortunately and he doesnt have a heart!.
Back to CBR, write notes and time for bed (with Mickey
)
Discovery Cove was planned as the highlight of our trip to Florida and I can now definitely and genuinely say we were not disappointed. If you are considering going to Discovery Cove, theres no doubt in my mind that its worth the money.
Tuesday 10th August (Michaels Birthday at Discovery Cove)
THE CAST
Sergeant Major Zoe You WILL enjoy yourselves
DH Trevor I am NOT going to like this
Birthday Boy Michael (aged 10 to 11)
Why to everything Piers (aged 8 and a bit)
Yes, you read correctly, we were really teasing Michael about the booking of sole use of one of the elevators in Tower of Terror for his special birthday treat! He and I had chickened out of doing this on our visits to the Disney MGM Studios park so that would obviously not be his idea of a perfect birthday treat! One of the first things I did months ago while preparing our holiday was to book a day at Discovery Cove, so I knew exactly what we were doing for his birthday.
Michael had received a few birthday cards from people before we came to Florida from people who knew we would be away for his birthday so we could bring them with us. So his first job was to open these. He also had one from us which wed bought from Wal-mart. We had breakfast as usual in the room and still winding Michael up about going to MGM to get him onto the Tower of Terror. Then I decided I ought to tell the boys where we were really going and showed them an up to date leaflet of Discovery Cove I had been given at SeaWorld on Sunday. Their eyes lit up and were very excited! This was going to be a wonderful day never to forget. As we leave the room, we see our maid and I mention to her its Michaels birthday (in the hope there might be something waiting for him when we return).
So we arrive at Discovery Cove at around 9am and are immediately impressed with the ambiance of the place. Even the car park seems more welcoming, more green than anywhere else wed been so far. As you walk up to the main entrance, you already get the feel that this must be a posh 5 star hotel. Inside the entrance building, despite there being quite a few people mingling about, there is an air of calm. Theres no stress or urgency about anything.
We head towards a desk, I present our D.C. reservation tickets and Im asked for photo ID, they only need to see mine. Theres a webcam attached to the computer and we all have our photos taken. Piers decided he wanted to get into the background of other peoples photos but luckily only managed it in Michaels. After a few minutes we are given credit card sized passes which showed various information. Theres your picture, name, time of your swim, various reference numbers and a bar code for scanning when charging something to your account. You are given the option as to whether each card holder in your party can charge items to your account. The idea of this is that you can put all your belongings including money and credit cards in your locker until the end of the day. The cards come conveniently attached to a cord so you can have it round your neck. The time of our swim was 2.10pm which I was initially a bit disappointed with hoping wed get one a bit earlier, like around 11am. As it happened, 2.10pm was perfect for us. The main worry of having a later timeslot is that theres a higher chance of your swim being cancelled if there is a thunder storm (and these tend to happen more often from lunchtime onwards if they happen at all). We were lucky and had perfect weather all day.
While we were at the desk, I told the woman it was Michaels birthday. She gave us a voucher for a free ice cream.
D.C. have a maximum intake of 1,000 visitors per day and every guest is treated very well throughout the whole day. You pay one all-inclusive price which covers everything you need (except a swimming costume!) and includes lunch, towels, wet suit, snorkel, goggles, locker use, soap, shampoo and a revitalisation liquid (whatever that is) and an endless supply of dolphin/fish friendly sun cream. Theres even free supplies of feminine things! If you arrive wearing a normal sun cream, you are asked to remove it and only use the one provided. We are also advised to top up our sun cream every two hours.
The cost of a dolphin swim ticket at Discovery Cove is not cheap. But considering what you get for your money and the level of attention and service, its not terribly surprising. There are plenty of staff on hand including loads of lifeguards around the place.
The whole park is divided into several areas. Once we had gone through the main building, had our complimentary cup of coffee and had our complimentary picture taken, we were taken by a member of staff through to the main area and given an explanation of how the park works. We were also given our snorkel and goggles, were told were allowed to keep the snorkel but the goggles get recycled. Next stop the lockers. We take two for the four of us and get changed. Unfortunately, Trevor managed to leave his swimming trunks back at the room so had to use his shorts, which fortunately looked very much like swimming trunks anyway. He blamed me and I blamed him (oh, wedded bliss!). What cheek, they are his swimming trunks after all!
Off to get our lifejackets, theres a choice between sleeveless jackets or full body ones which actually just cover the top of the arms (like a t-shirt) and the top of the legs (as long as a pair of shorts). We just opt for the jacket type ones. These jackets are not really needed for the main warm water areas but it seems 90% of people wear them all the time anyway. You will need them for the dolphin area and the fish and ray lagoons. I found it surprising how buoyant the jackets were. There is a supply of brown floaties which arent really necessary in most areas. Theres also a supply of life-jackets which lots of people use. Many people who come to Discovery Cove arent strong swimmers and these are really a wonderful way to enjoy the place without worrying about any deep water.
Enjoying the shallow warm water before we got life-jackets for the boys
An area we discovered early on was the river which flows around most of the park, starting and finishing in the main warm pool area. I ventured off by myself to investigate while Trevor looked after the boys and I took a few pictures.
Some bits are deep, but you can rest here!
There are a few 8 drops in the river area, but this bit was standing depth
The warm lagoon next to where you pick up your wet-suit is a perfect place to practice using your goggle and snorkel before venturing into other parts of Discovery Cove. Theres a lovely cave area there too.
When I finished going round the river bit on my own, I caught up with Trevor and the boys. Trevor said they both nearly drowned at the beginning of the river as they didnt turn left back into the main area. Michael was struggling a bit and Piers was calmly floating as best he could with his face just visible. A lifeguard came over and got one of them and Trevor got the other one into shallow water. I blamed Trevor again! There are signs around there somewhere that warn you that you are about to enter and 8 drop area. Cant trust men with anything, even the safety of their own children!
Anyhow, we decide its probably a good idea to get them both life-jackets and we go and investigate. They have run out of the right size for them and I wait with the boys while some more are found from a storage area. Trevor goes to have his turn investigating the river on his own.
Heres Piers trying out the life-jacket, totally drown-proof!
The birthday boy enjoying himself
It appears its virtually impossible to get under water wearing the life-jackets and we decide to take the kids around the river. They love this and can now make even better use of their goggles and snorkle. Its possible just to float face down wearing these and have a good look at stuff underwater. These life-jackets are really really really brilliant. Even if you or your children can swim a bit, they really make your life so much easier. We didnt have to help them at all after we got them these jackets and we could go anywhere with them.
Part of the river goes through an enclosed bird aviary, you enter and leave by swimming through waterfalls and there is very high netting above the level of the trees which is hardly noticeable.
Someone tries getting up close to a bird in the aviary
The fish lagoon didnt open until 11.30am and was very busy at this time. We thought it a great idea to have an early lunch, avoiding any queues in the restaurant and have time to let it settle before our 2.10pm swim slot. This would also allow time for the people entering the fish lagoon to disperse and spread out.
Trevor and I had the salmon with a grilled semi-circle piece of pineapple slice on the top. It was served with a ball of rice and some mixed cooked vegetables. Very tasty. Piers had a hot dog and Michael just had a plate of chips. Trevor and I both had the strawberry cheesecake for pudding and the kids had some jelly.
YUM YUM!
After letting our lunch settle and having a good swim around the fish lagoon, its time for our dolphin swim. Unfortunately, we had drunk rather a lot and had to make several toilet stops very close to our timeslot and I was worried about missing it! Im sure the cold water in the fish lagoon (and the dolphin lagoon) make my bladder shrink!!
Anyway, we make our way to the hut next to Sand Dollar Cabana (our assigned bit of beach) for the pre swim video and pep talk. The hut is very tastefully designed with a thatched roof and fans in the ceiling. There are enough chairs for around 24 people and a couple of tv screens in front of us. We were then split into three pre-determined groups going to different parts of the beach and we were with a family of four from Warwickshire in England. Very pleasant family with two teenage daughters. Two dolphin trainers were assigned to our group Susie and Buck. Our two dolphins were Oscar and CJ. We were later told that CJ is also 11 years old when I mentioned it was Michaels 11th birthday today.
Oscar spent a few minutes with us, letting us stroke him and doing the kissing photographs. Oscar swam away and then we were joined by CJ, who did the swimming bits with each of us one by one. Apparently he is an unusual dolphin, being a cross between two types. The several swim groups around the lagoon were very well organised because they got the whole group of dolphins to do simultaneous tricks.
All the while, I tried to make sure that I was in a direct line of the video and camera team. I am in no way vain you understand, but if we were going to pay a load of money for the video, I wanted to make sure there was enough of us in it to get our moneys worth. The videoing will include everyone in your group, normally eight people, so it was us and this other English family.
Immediately after our swim session, we were taken into a hut with computer screens and shown the photographs taken of us. They couldnt show us any of the video because apparently that wouldnt be ready until later in the day. We were shown a laminated sheet showing the various price options of various photographic packages. They dont come cheap, but they do emphasise that you are also paying for the copyright of the video and photographs and you are therefore allowed to do what you want with them when you get home (e-mailing, duplicating etc).
I had previously mentioned nothing to Trevor about the videoing and photography of our swim, just in case he would gear himself up to be obstinate about spending any more money! As it happened, he was happy to pay for the video and the package of 10 pictures (which is actually 11 because you get one free). We were shown how to operate the computer system, which was actually a touch screen system. When we had selected our pictures, the computer came up with a much higher price than was indicated on the laminated sheet. I dont know if this was just a wheeze on their part to make the true price sound not so bad, but we queried this higher price with a staff member who told us that the system had an out of date and more expensive pricing system still on there. Realistically, I dont believe Discovery Cove would really come up with a story like that unless it was true (or would they?!).
Our video order form
Our order placed and we then went back to enjoy the rest of our day in the other areas. For the last few hours we had been looking for the ice cream voucher we were given as Michaels birthday treat from the woman at the desk this morning. Trevor finally found it in the back pocket of his shorts which hed had to use as swimming trunks, so it wasnt terribly identifiable! Never mind. We decided we didnt really have time for ice creams anyway and wed rather visit Ghiradelli later.
We spent quite a bit of time in the fish and ray lagoons, investigating them fully and taking some more pictures. When we visited the smaller of the two with just rays in it, we were advised to keep our feet on the bottom and to tuck in anything dangly (like the locker keys and passes around our necks).
The fish lagoon is very interesting and they even have parts with barracudas and sharks, luckily they are behind thick perspex. Piers seemed to be shivering slightly and his lips were turning a pale colour. I asked a nearby life-guard what time the park closes and he said it doesnt! There are various parts of the park which do close but according to this chap, they dont have an official closing time as such.
We decide wed better get out and get Piers (in particular) warmed up and dressed. Trevor dried his shorts the best he could, but in the Florida heat, clothes dont stay soggy for long even if they dont dry out totally. They have good shower facilities with all the supplies of toiletries you need and a plentiful supply of towels and hairdryers.
I queued up to collect our pictures and video while Trevor and the boys had a good look around the gift shop. Discovery Cove have a good system of little screens next to each till which shows you a small section of your video to ensure you are collecting the right one. I then suddenly remember the free complimentary picture which I hadnt collected earlier that morning (like most people), but it did mean there was not a queue at that desk. I went to join the others and we bought various things, including some t-shirts for me and Trevor and some cuddly dolphins for the boys.
Time to head back to CBR. I was a little disappointed there wasnt a little surprise for Michael waiting for him, never mind, maybe tomorrow thered be something? We got changed and went to Downtown Disney for ice creams at Ghiradelli, yum yum! After wed finished those and were heading back to the car, I spotted the large Disney store, supposed to be the biggest in the world. It certainly was huge! Rumour has it that if you are after a Disney branded item, itll certainly be for sale in this shop. It certainly looked like it. But, isnt it always the way that if you are trying to find a straight forward item, you cant find it! Eventually, I find what I am after my very own special Mickey Mouse! Hes got lovely crushed velvet fur and soft velvet red shorts and soft velvet yellow shoes. This Mickey was meant for me, he was calling my name from the shelf and has spent the whole time sitting on the table watching me write my notes this evening in our room! When I was paying for him, I told the woman cashier that I was buying him for me, he wasnt a present hes mine, all mine! She seemed genuinely pleased and told me that many people do not buy things for themselves. I explained how Mickey would be spending the night with me and Trevor (if necessary) would have to sleep on the floor! She asked me what he thought of all this and I replied by saying he thinks Disney is all a load of nonsense unfortunately and he doesnt have a heart!.
Back to CBR, write notes and time for bed (with Mickey
)Discovery Cove was planned as the highlight of our trip to Florida and I can now definitely and genuinely say we were not disappointed. If you are considering going to Discovery Cove, theres no doubt in my mind that its worth the money.
