Discovery Cove -- All Day Adventure?

vikequeen

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 4, 2015
We are planning on our first visit to Discovery cove next June. We are not doing the dolphin swim, but are planning on the animal trek. Is this an all day till park close kind of park? or do people find they've done what they want by mid afternoon? The latter is usually our experience at the water park, and this experience starts even earlier. Just trying to plan ahead a little bit and think about whether we will want an evening activity.
 
We spent all day and would have stayed longer if able. Granted we did the dolphin swim. But it is a relaxed, enjoyable day. For reference, we only did an afternoon at Aquatica and about 4hrs at Volcano Bay as my friend "isn't a water park person." She enjoyed DC a lot and filled the day easily. We did an escape room in the evening after DC closed at 5pm.
 
we've always stayed til near closing but note ... that's much earlier than typical parks .... closing at 5:30

we usually are gone by 5

Discovery Cove is a full day adventure with operating hours of 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. daily. Check-in begins at 7:15 a.m. If you’re participating in 3 or more add-on experiences during your visit to Discovery Cove, please plan to arrive by 7:30 a.m. for check-in and proper scheduling of your day. If your participating in Ray Feeding and your visitation date is between March 12 and November 4, please plan to arrive by 7:00 a.m. If your visitation date is between November 5 and March 11, please plan to arrive by 7:30 a.m.
 
I would agree with the other responses - we haven't done dolphin swim or other upgrades and still always wish we had more time at DC.
 


I'm hoping to go in February 2021 on a non-wdw day. Is it too cold to do DC in winter, if say, its 60 degrees outside?
 
most water parks closed a couple of days last week when temps were near freezing at night

it can get cold in Orlando ....

DC has heated water, but that doesn't stop cold air . . .

I'm sure there were people still at DC ... locally we call them tourists!!

remember DC offers one free date change: At Discovery Cove, we recognize that vacation plans sometimes change. To accommodate this, we will allow one complimentary date change prior to your visit. Further changes to your itinerary will be provided for a nominal charge of $50 per change. If you need to reschedule your Discovery Cove visit, one complimentary date change is allowed, pending availability. Bookings made within 7 days of original reservation date will be booked at the original rate. Bookings made outside of that time will be subject to change based on seasonal rates for the new date chosen.
 


Silly question but do you spend the day in wet suits?? One of our party isn't keen on it. I'm thinking it is only for certain things?
 
My family stayed in the wetsuits all day both times I went, each time in late May. When you have a Scottish dad and an Irish mom, the kids don't get much melanin so we went with wetsuits to keep the sun off our skin as much as possible! :rotfl2:

It got a little warm a couple of times but snorkeling in colder water felt super comfortable. I dunno if I would do the wetsuit in the dog days of the Summer with heat and humidity in the upper 90s.
 

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