Is Discovery Cove Really Worth the $$$?

Great to read all your comments so far! I have a few questions I hope you can help with!!!
1) We will be going in August........if it rains and you can't go in the water do you get your money back?!! A voucher to come back another day?

2) Do they have sloths you can interact with at DC? Saw this on a TV prog, but hadn't seen it before!

3) What do you get for lunch and breakfast? What snacks and drinks are available during the day?

4) What time does the park close in the summer?

Thanks!
Debsx
 
Yes, yes, and yes! Not only do you get lunch, but you get tickets to SeaWorld for 7 consecutive days after your day at Discovery Cove, and the quiet and peace you find there is well worth it. We did it in 2005 and swam with the dolphin ($249 for each of us - my daughter and I) and we have incredible memories of that day. Yes, it's expensive, but you get so much out of it that it is very much worth it. At least, IMHO. ;)
 
Yes, yes, and yes! Not only do you get lunch, but you get tickets to SeaWorld for 7 consecutive days after your day at Discovery Cove

The tickets for Sea World can also be used BEFORE your DC visit per the website. You have 7 days consecutive days to Sea World that can go before or after or before and after.. :)
 
The tickets for Sea World can also be used BEFORE your DC visit per the website. You have 7 days consecutive days to Sea World that can go before or after or before and after.. :)

You are absolutely right - thank you for clarifying!
 


Can you tell me if the sea world passes are transferable? My mom wants to do Discovery Cove, but won't have time for Sea World. Can someone else use the passes?
 
No, they are not transferable the Discovery Cove ID that acts as the Seaworld pass after your day at DC has your photo on it. If you go to Seaworld before going to DC you need the confirmation letter and photo ID.

dolphingirl47
 
Great to read all your comments so far! I have a few questions I hope you can help with!!!
1) We will be going in August........if it rains and you can't go in the water do you get your money back?!! A voucher to come back another day?

Not sure on this one, but I kinda doubt it. I know that they do the dolphin swims in the rain (not when there's lightning nearby, though), so my guess is it's a rain or shine experience. Besides, it's the rare day in orlando when it rains ALL day.

2) Do they have sloths you can interact with at DC? Saw this on a TV prog, but hadn't seen it before!

Yes, but the schedule is erratic. Look for the Coinservation Cabana at the center of the park and find out what animals will be there that day.

3) What do you get for lunch and breakfast? What snacks and drinks are available during the day?

Breakfast is "continental": breads, pastries, yogurt, etc. Lunch is cafeteria style, but quite nice. Menu items include jambalaya, pasta primavera, roast chicken, some eleborate salads, and of course cheeseburgers and hot dogs.

4) What time does the park close in the summer?

Day guests are shooed out at around 5:30. Guests for the Twilight Discovery experience start ariving at around 3 and stay until 9.

Thanks!
Debsx

You're welcome! :goodvibes
 


Kelly,
Thank you so much, that's great! I was surprised when I saw the Sloth on TV but will now hunt them down when we visit!! ha! ha! Looking forward to our very first visit to DC!
Debsx
 
We just got back from our vacation to Florida and Discovery Cove was by far the highlight of our vacation (we did Universal parks, Aquatica and Seaworld too). The park is just amazing. It seemed expensive when I booked it but after thinking about what you got out of it, I would definitely do it again. My kids ages 12, 10, & 7 had the time of their lives. The adults did too! My in-laws didn't do the dolphin swim and my mother-in-law didn't even swim but had a great time. We paid $290 and it included Seaworld and Aquatica passes. I booked several months in advance and they had 10% off promotion for that price. So if you look at $70 for Seaworld, $40ish for Aquatica (not sure on price) that makes it $180 for Discovery Cove and you get your meals, snacks, a free photo, snorkel to take home and a nice photo i.d. as a souvenier and of course the dolphin swim. My husband and I did a dolphin swim in Bermuda five years ago. I think it cost $150 and lasted 1 hour. It was a lot of fun but that's all you got. No food, beverages, pictures or any of the extras like discovery cove (stringray lagoon, coral reef, bird aviary, resort pool) The atmosphere is so beautiful, something you will not get anywhere else...it's like being on a tropical island. There was no crowds, no waiting in line for things. It was an exciting yet relaxing day. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
 
Totally worth it. :thumbsup2 DH and I went in 2004, and we loved it. The dolphin experience lasted about 30 - 45 minutes, but was amazing. I mean, you get towed through the water by a dolphin. How cool is that!

The rest of the park is neat too. We also loved the aviary, and the lazy river runs right through it, so you can hop out of the water & you're in the aviary. Loved the ray pool, we couldn't stay out of there! Got some great underwater pics in there. We also loved the fact that park capacity is limited, so it wasn't crowded, and the visitors were well behaved from what we saw. Very relaxing day. Lunch was pretty decent also.

Our initial thought was, yeah it's pricey, but we're probably only going to do this once, so let's go for it. Highly recommended!
 
100% worth every single cent that we paid. The whole park is beautiful and the dolphin experience is something I will never forget. Looking forward to going back without the kiddies :goodvibes
 
DH and I went to DC in 2004 and loved it! We are thinking of going again this year with DS who will be 3 and DD who will be 11 months, will we be able to do the swim at different times so that one of us can look after the kids?
 
We just did DC on Thursday. DC is great if you are a beginner snorkler with little or no experience. I believe however that 1000 in the park is too many. Their is not enough to keep the crowds spread out. Their was a lot of unsupervised kids who were not versed in pool etiquette and few adults too. Being booted in the head too many times finally pushed me out of the lagoon. After a while you cannot see anything with everything being stirred up. Lazy river is nice but...too lazy. The water in the river is as warm as a bathtub. I had to push myself along quite a bit to keep going and the water depth changes constantly so you get scraped up a bit. Aviary was neat. We have large birds in our home but still found the conures charming. The staff was very professional, helpful and answered all our questions. Security is very heavy! The fake bird, cricket noises and coral reef are a little cheesy but add to the ambience. The dolphin swim is not a swim but an experience....and a brief one. It was still fun though. The only thing available for alcohol beverages was beer or beer mixed with fruit flavours. Is it worth it on its own?...no (IMO) but with the added value of choosing a BG, SW or AQ pass add on does make it worthwhile. With that all being said dh wants to take the kids there in December when we go back as it truly is a fantastic family activity.:goodvibes

"1000 in the park too many." I was surprised to read this. We have been on the 4th of July and will be there again on the 4th this year. We did not experience a "crowded feeling" even though the park had reached the 1000 people limit. We had no problems finding empty chairs or getting kicked while snorkling in the
lagoon. That's not fun!
Hey,I hope your next visit is better!
Enjoy your vacation!! :goofy:
 
Kind of bummed, since I finally decided what day we wanted to do DC and wanted to pay the $30 for the Sea World and Aquatica add-ons (instead of just Sea World) and they no longer have that option (ended about a week ago). The only way to get Aquatica is too pay $50 and get the DC/Aquatica/BG option. I guess I have to figure out if we can fit Busch Gardens in. Never been there, is it worth it?
 
I went in 2006 and loved it. I don't think it seems that expensive if you don't do the dolphin swim. Take your $169 admission, and subtract out about $60 for a week at Seaworld. That's $100--but wait, your food is included. When we went last year, we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner there (dinner was early, but we got our food at 3:50 right before they closed the kitchen.) Assuming even normal Orlando prices, say $5 for breakfast, $8 for lunch and $8 for dinner, and another $4 for snacks/beers etc, that makes admission to Discovery Cove really around $75. You get to keep your snorkel and mask--so let's call it $70. :) If you end up paying $50 for the additional entrance to Aquatica and Busch Gardens (with a free shuttle!) you get an even better value provided you actually want to go to those parks.

Now if you're going to WDW and only plan to spend a day at DC and want to do the dolphin swim, then Discovery Cove is a very expensive day.
 
I went in 2006 and loved it. I don't think it seems that expensive if you don't do the dolphin swim. Take your $169 admission, and subtract out about $60 for a week at Seaworld. You get to keep your snorkel and mask--so let's call it $70. :) .


We are going next Saturday.. it's 189.00 plus tax for the day. It was just ver 800.00 for my family of 4 without a dolphin swim. We are OK with that because the reviews here are so positive. I did factor in the Sea World tickets and the food too. We don't drink so that doesn't factor in but the rest and he low attendance max. makes it sound like a fun unique thing to do. And I didn't know about the snorkle and mask. That will make the kids jump for joy!!!

Thanks
 
We are going next Saturday.. it's 189.00 plus tax for the day. It was just ver 800.00 for my family of 4 without a dolphin swim. We are OK with that because the reviews here are so positive. I did factor in the Sea World tickets and the food too. We don't drink so that doesn't factor in but the rest and he low attendance max. makes it sound like a fun unique thing to do. And I didn't know about the snorkle and mask. That will make the kids jump for joy!!!

Thanks

I hope you have a great time! We went during a lower season (September) so it was cheaper. Don't tell your kids about the mask--I'm trying to think now if we had those and lost them or if they actually had to be returned. We do still have a couple snorkels lying around the house, so I'm positive on those. If you have anyone with glasses, they have prescription masks there (definitely have to return those!). I'm practically blind without my glasses, so it was wonderful to be able to see underwater.
 
You can not keep the masks, just the snorkels. The masks have to be handed in at the end of the day.
Is it now possible to book just the non dolphin swim experience for your party? In the past there had to be at least one person per party who did the dolphin swim. I would love to spend a day at Discovery Cove as I love the aviary and the lazy river/resort pool, but I am thinking about doing a dolphin swim on our cruise and Dolphins in Depth at Epcot. So this might be a bit too much dolphin for one vacation.

dolphingirl47
 
Is it now possible to book just the non dolphin swim experience for your party? In the past there had to be at least one person per party who did the dolphin swim. I would love to spend a day at Discovery Cove as I love the aviary and the lazy river/resort pool, but I am thinking about doing a dolphin swim on our cruise and Dolphins in Depth at Epcot. So this might be a bit too much dolphin for one vacation.

dolphingirl47

I didn't know this. I booked late (just last week) and the only thing available was non-dolphin swim for everyone. It was not available online but I called directly and she was able to book the non-dolphin swim for the day we wanted so yes it is available to go for only a fun day and not pay the extra 100.00 for a dolphin swim.

And i didn't realize the difference in times resulted in a different price. that is a good savings to go during a slower time. Unfortunatetly for us we can only take our vacations after the kids get out of school....
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top