Discovery Cove Speculation

KyCoKe16

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 4, 2013
I just posted this question on the June 11th opening thread, but had a few more questions/speculation. My fiancé and I were scheduled to honeymoon in Disney June 16-26. Obviously that isn’t happening now, but being annual pass holders we have held out until we’re absolutely certain it wasn’t happening. Now, we are trying to throw together a Sea World/Busch Gardens/Discovery Cove and Universal honeymoon. I noticed that you cannot currently book Discovery Cove in June. Have they specified whether or not they will be taking June reservations? I have not read anything that was specific and thought that maybe they just haven’t been opened yet because they’re waiting on governor approval. I was also curious how they are planning to limit attendance at Sea World and Busch Gardens and if anyone has heard anything about this?
 
It would appear that you can book a day at Discovery Cove that does not include the dolphin interaction. Maybe they’re still trying to work out how to do that with social distancing. If you take a look at the resort days, the ones in the second row on their homepage, they did show dates in June.
 
This is a bummer. From the Discovery Cove website:

As part of modified operational plans built into our re-opening timeline, certain components of animal meet-and-greets will be temporarily modified or unavailable. A special beachside dolphin presentation will be available to Discovery Cove guests with Signature Dolphin Swim reservations in lieu of the fully immersive experience to help maintain physical distancing.
 
I'm glad that we did not book the dolphin package after all. This change would not be worth the money.
 


I'm glad that we did not book the dolphin package after all. This change would not be worth the money.

Unfortunately, we already did. Hopefully by July when we go, they will have returned to an experience closer to the original.
 
Any reports on what this modified dolphin swim “beach presentation” looks like?
 
Any reports on what this modified dolphin swim “beach presentation” looks like?
We were there yesterday. It’s just like it sounds - you stand in about knee level water and they bring the dolphin about 10-15 feet away and go through a demonstration of the dolphins parts and some of the signals and behaviors they use. They said they are working with the dolphins to learn how to follow/use a ball at the end of the stick So that the trainers will be able to essentially lead the dolphins over to each guest for more of an up close experience. It didn’t seem like that will include the swim experience, though.
I will say that we had an GREAT time. Because we had already paid for the swim plus the animal trek, they gave us a cabana for free, plus we can go back and get a day pass + dolphin swim before the end of 2020 (which tells me they are going to figure out how to get that going again). They were seriously limiting #s — I’m thinking there were less than 200 people there. We never felt like we were being encroached by others, and while masks were not required when you were in the water or in a beach area, they gave us a small pouch with a mask and hand sanitizer when we entered. My 12 year old said it was the best park day she’d ever had!
 


Unfortunately, we already did. Hopefully by July when we go, they will have returned to an experience closer to the original.

I wonder if DC is giving refunds if you only want to drop the Dolphin Swim part of your ticket, due to the modifications...?

Has anyone asked?
 
I wonder if DC is giving refunds if you only want to drop the Dolphin Swim part of your ticket, due to the modifications...?

Has anyone asked?
Discovery cove isn't refunding money in a timely manner for cancellations. I've been trying since April 9 to get money out of them for our cancelled may/June trip. Don't book anything you aren't sure about. You may never get that money back.
 
Discovery cove isn't refunding money in a timely manner for cancellations. I've been trying since April 9 to get money out of them for our cancelled may/June trip. Don't book anything you aren't sure about. You may never get that money back.
I had issues with a few different travel providers, waiting for rather long refund periods versus what was initially promised when I contacted them...especially Royal Caribbean.

Once the promised time had passed for refund, I called back and informed them I’d be filing a charge back on my CC if I didn’t have a firm refund date. Worked like a charm.
 

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