Is Discovery Cove worth the price?
Written: Jul 09 '01 (Updated Jul 09 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: An incredible experience for you and your family to remember!
Cons: Photos and video are very costly!
The Bottom Line: Although it is costly to visit this park, the memories we made will be remembered for a lifetime!
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| sblaydes's Full Review: Discovery Cove |
Just a quick note ... this review on Discovery Cove is quite long. I couldn't stop writing about our great adventure and what this theme park has to offer!
Last summer while our children were attending Camp Sea World in Orlando, Florida, employees at the Sea World Park were talking about their newest adventure, Discovery Cove, which were finalizing preparations for their grand opening. All my son and daughter had to hear were four words … swim with the dolphins … and they were eager to go! There was only one problem … my daughter was not old enough to swim with a dolphin according to Discovery Cove’s age requirements, one must be 6 years of age to swim with the dolphins. While our daughter could participate in the other activities Discovery Cove has to offer, she would not be able to swim with a dolphin because she was only five years old. Both my husband and myself agreed that YES we will definitely go checkout this new park and shared this news with our children, but not until our daughter was old enough to swim with the dolphins. Clearly there was major disappointment by both our children when they heard of this news … but as we reminded them … most things that are really good are worth the wait!
~ Can we go now? ~
Shortly after his sister turned six, our son began reminding us of Discovery Cove. While my sister was visiting in March he expressed to her that all he really wanted for his birthday (in July) was to swim with the dolphins. The month of May was nearing an end and both the kids were beginning to mention Discovery Cove on a daily basis. After conferring with our son and discussing that the trip to Discovery Cove would be the majority of his birthday gift, and would that bother him … it was time to make a reservation.
~ Let’s make a reservation ~
Yes, you really do have to make a reservation with Discovery Cove and there are several ways to go about this.
~ phone them ~ Reservations may be placed by phoning 1-877-4-DISCOVERY
~ web site ~ Discovery Cove may also be reached at their web-site ~ www.discoverycove.com. While I did not place a reservation through this site, I did browse the many pages to have a better idea of what to expect from this park.
~ AAA ~ That’s right! In the end, we opted to make our reservations through our local AAA office. By doing this, we saved ourselves $31.00. Mind you, that this is not a large amount, but the way we looked at it was we had an extra $31.00 for a breakfast/lunch while in the Orlando area.
AAA price ~ $191.25 per person (with dolphin swim package)
Discovery Cove price ~ $199.00 per person (with dolphin swim package)
Discovery Cove price ~ $109.00 per person for the NON-SWIM dolphin package. This is for those adults who care not to participate in the swimming/dolphin portion and for those children ages 3 – 5 years of age.
While I purchased our tickets for Discovery Cove at our local AAA, I still had to phone Discovery Cove myself and make the reservation. This can only be done after you have paid at your local AAA and they have given you vouchers. On each voucher there is a separate identification number. Once you have these vouchers in hand, you need to call the Discovery Cove/AAA toll-free reservation number, 1-888-887-8028, to place your reservation. Why is this so important? All reservations are on a space available basis. Yes, Discovery Cove limits the number of participants inside the park.
~ We’re here! Now what do we do? ~
When I had made our reservations on the Discovery Cove/AAA toll-free reservation line, my attendant Holly was very helpful. While the park itself opens a 9:00 a.m., she advised me to arrive a half an hour early. This was to allow ourselves to book our dolphin swim in the morning, rather than the afternoon. (In case you don’t know, Florida is notorious for afternoon rain showers/thunderstorms during the summer months!)
Discovery Cove park hours … 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
We arrived at the park around 8:00 a.m. Yes, it was early, but we were not sure what the traffic on I-4 was going to be like and we did not want to get stuck in traffic. I was certain that we had arrived too early to check in, but … was pleasantly surprised to see that it was not. In fact, there were approximately 50 people who had arrived before us.
When entering the building (after receiving our complimentary coffee prior to entering) we were quickly ushered by staff to an unoccupied podium to be registered in. We caught the first staff member off-guard with our AAA vouchers. Apparently these work as money in their drawers, and we were quickly moved to another podium/staff. We soon discovered that were supposed to have received a reservation certificate prior to our departure to Discovery Cove. We had not. But I came prepared with our vouchers, receipt from purchase and a letter from Discovery Cove/AAA regarding our upcoming adventure. I also needed to present a form of ID to verify myself.
Our names were found in the system (after a few minutes of searching) and we were then each given an ID badge with our picture along with the date, our swim time with the dolphin, and some internal numbers for Discovery Cove operations. We were given the choice as to whether we wanted changing privileges on this ID badge (only available at Discovery Cove). We choose to do this as it saved getting out our personal belongings (okay, our $$$) on several occasions. (Yes, they will want to get at more of your money!) :) These ID badges come on a nylon cord, which can easily be worn around your neck throughout the day. Do NOT loose these ID badges as they are your entrance fee into the Sea World Park (included in admission price).
*** Are you celebrating a special occasion? When I made our reservation I mentioned to my reservationist that we were celebrating both my son and husbands birthdays. She made a notation in the computer. They both received a coupon towards a complimentary smoothie drink, ice cream novelty or a frozen drink novelty. I thought that this was a special touch. ***
~ We’ve got our badges, now what? ~
Once we had our badges and were signed in, we were ready to begin our adventure. Feeling as though I was about to embark into Jurassic Park (yes, there were two huge doors that we needed to pass through!), we waited a few short minutes while our guide gathered our group together. Once she opened the doors we were able to get a spectacular view of the park. And let me tell you, the view did not disappoint us. We felt as if we had walked smack onto a tropical island. Our guide gave us a short tour of a portion of the grounds, explained where the amenities were, and …let us go on our merry own way! I should mention that while walking towards the activities, our family photo was taken and we were given a certificate to pick up our complimentary photo before we left the park.
Our first stop was by the cabana to pick up our snorkeling gear. Included in this mesh bag was; snorkel and masks for two (the snorkel you may take home with you), two towels, and a fish guide w/wrist band (so that you may wear it while snorkeling and identify fish). We were each given a swim vest to wear throughout the day. Also available were wetsuits, life jackets and fins. The swim vests were lightweight but did an amazing job in keeping us buoyant. I would highly suggest wearing a wetsuit if your visit is during the cooler months as the water with the dolphins and the snorkeling with fish/stingrays is cold!
After receiving our snorkeling gear, we headed towards the lockers. A Discovery Cove employee was standing nearby handing out keys to these lockers that could be used throughout the day. We placed all our valuables inside the locker then decided that we had better lather up on sunscreen.
*** Do not bring your own sunscreen as Discovery Cove provides this for you (at no additional cost!). This is due to the fact that they are considering the safety and well being of their marine friends. The SPF we used was a 25, and we found it to be incredibly thick and work well. ***
Once sufficiently lathered up, we decided to take a quick tour of the park until it was our turn to swim with the dolphin. Our scheduled time was at 9:10 a.m. and we were told to come to the Sea Horse cabana 5 minutes prior for an orientation prior to meeting our dolphin. With about 20 minutes to spare, we walked around the park to familiarize ourselves with the Laguna Grille, coral reef, ray lagoon, resort pool, tropical river and aviary. I should mention that these areas of the park remain closed until 9:00 a.m. Entrance into these areas is not permitted.
~ It’s time to meet our dolphin! ~
Right on schedule, one of the Discovery Cove trainers came into our cabana to begin the orientation process. Let me say that she was a very energetic trainer who loved what she does! You couldn’t help but be drawn to her enthusiasm and love for the dolphins! We saw a brief movie and then our trainer went over a few tips with us to help aid in a better dolphin experience. Some items that were discussed; a few important areas on the dolphin (fins, nose, etc., where not to swim to close to while with a dolphin and … where a dolphin has hair! (Seriously!!) We were then broken down into four groups with approximately 8/9 people. Three additional trainers came to greet us and the four groups were off on our way to meet our dolphin for the day! (Okay, for 30 minutes!)
It was time to get wet … let me rephrase that … it was time to get wet in cold water! Even with the Florida heat/humidity at 9:15 a.m., it took a good couple of minutes to get adjusted to the cool water temperature. But I must confess … once I got my first look at Natalie (our dolphin), I completely forgot about the temperature of the water. I was completely enthralled with this dolphin! Natalie was a five-year-old dolphin, which, according to our trainer, is very young. Apparently dolphins can live to be 25 – 30 years old. Our group had 7 people, and we were asked to form a single line next to our trainer. (I should mention that another trainer accompanied Natalie, and … many other trainers were walking about as well.)
During our 30 minutes of fun with Natalie, we were each given the chance to interact with her several times. We were taught several signals, such as; cupping our hands right above the water which signaled Natalie to place her nose in our hands, touching Natalie on top of her head which would have her blow air out of her blow hole, turning around in a circle, and so many more. She sang a song for us and, according to our trainer, Natalie was singing Happy Birthday to my husband and son! :)
The best part of all was just getting our hands on Natalie. What an incredible feeling that was! And when it was our chance to give her a kiss, I never even questioned that I was kissing a marine animal. Natalie had such a fun personality you couldn’t help but fall in love with her! I could get a small sense of why our trainer loved her job so much.
You will be going out into deep waters, so you will need to be able to tread water. My daughter had no problems doing this, and with the swim vests on, you can almost stay afloat without moving. While you interact with your dolphin more out in the deep water (we broke into several small groups for this!), Natalie would go from us (my daughter & I) back towards the others interacting. When it was time to go back into shallow water, Natalie assisted us. With the option of riding on her belly or grabbing onto a dorsal fin and pectoral fin, Natalie gave us all a quick ride back. It was a thrilling experience to share some time with Natalie and we were all sad when our time with her came to an end. I could have spent hours interacting with Natalie!
~ But why can’t I take a picture of her while interacting with her? ~
Really hoping that I could get some great shots of my kids with Natalie; I was a bit disappointed to learn that we could not take our cameras with us during our dolphin interaction. Safety for their dolphins is their upmost concern. Plus, my underwater camera more than likely would have been a big distraction (play toy!) for Natalie which could have resulted in less one on one interaction time.
Secondly, they have been taking photos and video for you during your dolphin swim time. Yes, while you are out in the water with your dolphin, there are several photographers out in the water with you. At first I was really turned off by having these people floating around in the water with me. In the end, I was glad that they were because I now have some incredible photo keepsakes. But … these photo keepsakes come at a high price!
Directly after your swim with your dolphin your trainer escorts you to a cabana to view your photos. Personally, this was a bit too touristy for me! You knew as soon as you entered the cabana they were coming at you to buy something, and the prices were hefty! Prior to viewing your photos a member of the Discovery Cove staff explains the different packages available for purchase. Or, you could purchase a 5 x 7 photo for $15.99 plus tax. I found myself sitting there hoping that my pictures would be terrible, but then again, wanted them to be good so that we had a keepsake. Well, they were good! Our photographer had taken nearly 20 photos of our interaction with Natalie. And yes, that would include us kissing Natalie, a family photo with Natalie, our daughter taking a ride with Natalie and our son with Natalie and that big smile (by both!). We were sunk … We ended up with a package that consisted of 5 – 5 x 7 photos (different poses) and two snow globes with each child kissing Natalie. All this for a whopping $99.00. As an extra (perhaps after you spend over $100.00?) a screen saver disk from Discovery Cove was given to us at no charge. I haven't had the opportunity to check this out as of yet.
Then there was the video … for $39.99 you could have a video of your group with your dolphin interaction. I’m not quite sure what happened here, but this was the only time we experienced any difficulty while in the park. My husband mentioned several times that we would like to purchase the video. In fact, we were even charged for it. Then, when it was time to pick up our photos/video, our video was missing. We were told that we needed to fill out a form for this, and had we? No … isn’t that something we should have been told when filling out our order form? So, we fill out a new request and wait another 45 minutes for it to be ready. Once back in our condo, we couldn’t wait to watch our video. The first 20 – 25 minutes is a documentary on Discovery Cove. Then comes the exciting part. Or, so it should be! We were not on this tape! Great, we paid over forty dollars to watch two other groups interact with their dolphin. Funny thing is … when ordering this tape we asked if we could see what we were buying. We were told that it was not possible. We should have gone with our gut feeling then…
The next morning we stopped by Discovery Cove to return the video. It was my impression that this was not the first time this has happened! We were given the opportunity to have them find the correct tape and mail it to us, but quite honestly, what we saw on that tape did not make us want to spend the money. Besides sharing air time with another group (or pod as they refer to), the tape was not done close in. In fact, you really had to look to see who was kissing their dolphin or riding the dolphin. I’ve been told that this is an outside company who makes these videos. I definitely have a few comments that I would like to give them regarding their filming. They gave me no problem what-so-ever in returning this video and quickly gave me a credit on our credit card.
~ Off to experience the rest of the park! ~
Once our dolphin encounter was finished we gathered our masks and snorkels and dove on into the water! Our first stop was the tropical river. Good news … the water in the tropical river/resort pool is not salt water, and … is not cold! Yippee! So off we went lazingly exploring the river. There were caves, waterfalls, and even sunken treasures down below to gaze upon. We spent nearly an hour in just one section of this river. There were many rocks, pottery, etc … on the bottom of the river. My kids were having a blast diving deep down to pick up rocks and such. This is not an easy feet with your swim vest on, that is for sure! This was also a great opportunity to get some fun underwater photos of my kids. (But buy your camera before you arrive, as you will pay almost double the price in the gift shop.)
We experienced the aviary from the tropical river and enjoyed floating by looking at the different variety of birds. On one of our cruises through the aviary a beautiful pink bird was nibbling at a lifeguard. The lifeguard mentioned that the bird would not harm us and both my son and daughter got an up close look! (Another photo opportunity!)
Then it was time to cool-off by entering the coral reef and ray lagoon. I have only had the opportunity to snorkel a few times (Key West and Hawaii) so my experience is limited. But what I saw took my breath away! The first time I saw a sting ray swim by me was an incredible rush! What an intriguing species this is, and to have the opportunity to swim with several of them was great! And then there was the fish … wow … lots of fish! Every once in a while a huge school of fish (50 or more) would come swim right past you. And then there were the colorful fish that are so much fun to see! I had one that seemed very interested in my swim shoes as it kept following my foot. In two separate areas there were glass walls that had some barracudas and sharks, which would swim nearby, but behind that wall giving me an uncomfortable feeling at first. (I had to make sure that there really was a wall!) And don’t forget to check out the grouper inside the shark tank! He is absolutely huge! This grouper was recently moved from the Museum of Science in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was great to see him swimming in a more natural environment and, a much larger tank. The artificial reef was done well, although I would assume it is hard to assimilate a real reef.
*** Bring along your swim shoes! The terrain is rocky in some area and you could really hurt your feet! Don’t worry if you forget to bring them, they sell them in the gift shop! ***
~ Want to play in the sand? ~
One of the first things you will notice about the park is the white sand. Yes, it is very tropical! Surrounding the different attractions are sandy white beaches complete with lawn chairs and umbrellas. If you have little ones who like to dig in the sand, bring along a bucket. They will have a blast! But grab a chair right away, as they seem to vanish quickly!
~ Hungry? ~
With Discovery Cove being a theme park, I wasn’t prepared to have a good meal. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised! Included in your admission is your choice of entrée, choice of side dish, dessert and a non-alcoholic drink. If you desire more, items are available at additional cost. But will you need more? We sure didn’t. I was impressed with the selection of entrees available. They had something to please even the pickiest of eaters. And if you are on a diet, a large salad is also available. While not limited to, we each had a different entrée; salmon with rice & grilled pineapple, steak & chicken faitias, hot dog with fries and cheeseburger with fries. Then we had a few side salads along with a potato salad a big cup of fresh watermelon. Then came time for desserts … they had cookies, pudding, Key Lime pie, chocolate/cherry cake and a couple of varieties of cheesecake. Yes! We definitely had plenty to eat and my husband in particular was thrilled to have something “healthy” for lunch.
The hours of the Laguna Grille are from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Once you have your food you head to the cashier. She will scan your card, which I would assume limit the chances of someone coming back a second time. We found seating to be plentiful with ample amount of shade. Another huge plus with my husband! While we ate at 11:30 a.m. and had no crowds, it did not appear to ever be over crowded.
There were also two other cabanas that sold food/beverages throughout the day. This is where we redeemed the certificates that both my husband and son received for their birthdays.
~ Do you need to shop? ~
You really didn’t think you could go somewhere and not have a gift shop, did you? Actually, the few gift shops around pleasantly surprised me. In fact, I only counted three of them. While some of the items were a bit pricey, there were a few items that I felt were reasonably priced. Take for instance boys surf shorts. My son picked up a pair that he liked and they were priced for $18.99. There was also an adorable cover-up for girls for the low price of $7.00. But if it is film that you need, buyers beware!
~ Need a shower? ~
Normally I wouldn’t bother to bring up the subject of restrooms and indoor/outdoor showers. But after spending a great deal of time in salt water or on the sandy beach, this becomes an important factor. I frequented the restrooms (in two locations) several times throughout our visit. I was always impressed with the cleanliness of them! And, there were no paper towels. Located in several spots throughout the restrooms were towels/washcloths for your use. And inside these restrooms were showers/changing areas. There were also showers located outside of the restrooms, which come in real handy after walking through the sand.
~ How is the parking? ~
Discovery Cove seemed to have ample parking. While we arrived early we noticed upon our departure that the lot was never completely full. Self-parking is included in your admission price. Don’t knock it! The price to park at Sea World is $6.00 and at Islands of Adventures it is $7.00.
~ Want to go to Sea World? ~
If you do, then guess what? You are in luck because as part of your admission price into Discovery Cove, you receive a seven-day, come and go as you please admission to Sea World. This must be used consecutively with your visit to Discovery Cove and can take place either before, after or a combination of both.
Considering that the admission price to Sea World is close to $50.00 for adults and $40.00 for children (ages 3 – 9), this is a pretty cool deal! We only had the time to visit the park twice during our stay in Orlando, but enjoyed our time immensely.
~ Would we come back again? ~
Yes! Although it won’t be anytime soon as the cost of this park is high. For our family of four we spent more than $900.00 after admission and photos. But was it worth it? Oh yes! Very definitely! We have created some great memories with our visit with Natalie (dolphin). The park was clean and did not appear to be over-crowded at any point during our visit. We definitely had fun discovering the many possibilities that Discovery Cove has to offer and I would recommend it highly. Add in the seven-day pass to Sea World and the scrumptious lunch and you can make your admission price go a long way!
*** Side Note: It has recently come to my attention that children under the age of six are allowed to swim with the dolphins. The magic age of six becomes a factor if you want to be a “Trainer for a Day”. “Trainer for a Day” must be six years of age. This package is available $369.00 and if your child is under the age of 13, they require a full paying adult (another $369.00) to accompany this child. Benefits for the “Trainer for a Day” are:
~ Guided snorkeling tour of the Coral Reef and Ray Lagoon
~ Assisting in personal training of dolphins and small mammals
~ Behind the scenes animal food preparations and record review
~ Feeding and care of exotic birds in the free-flight aviary
I was not aware of this package until we were exiting the park. Grabbing an extra brochure to keep on hand here at hand, I found this flyer as well. ***
Discovery Cove
6000 Discovery Cove Way
Orlando, Florida 32821-8097
1-877-4-DISCOVERY
www.discoverycove.com
Recommended:
Yes
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