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Discovery Cove: My Quick Review

Vyrus

The man with the master plan
Premium Member
Feb 11, 2010
6,580
408
Miami, FL
It was cool. Thanks.



I keed, thats all I won't write. First off, it was not at capacity, and at the price point it is offered at I highly doubt this park is EVERY at capacity.
The grounds are immaculate, and beautiful, and is spectacular. For the price, it includes, breakfast, lunch and snacks. Drinks both alcoholic and non-alcoholic as well are included. This is a major plus and what literally makes DC the BEST VALUE of any theme park in Orlando, and once I break it down at the end you will see.

Aviary:
Very cute and cool, they give you as many trays of food that you would like and you feed the birds as much as you'd like. They do pretty much fly to you on your hand, or reach down from vines and branches. You are pretty free to do as you please next to picking them up, or putting your hand for them to climb on, all birds were very tame.

Lazy River:
Wasn't so lazy in my opinion, since you float in the water and not on an inner tube. It was a little bit of work because the current wasn't the strongest and on depth of the water can go anywhere from 8 ft, to 2 feet without warning. There are also alot of random things place throughout the river too so I banged my feet and toes a couple of times. The new Freshwater Oasis is being built in the center of the river and that is still not open yet.

Grand Reef:
This was one of the coolest things in the park without a doubt and it was really neat to snorkel and see soo many fish, rays, sharks(behind protective glass), and coral underwater. Only downside was the masks they provide you are standard size and mine did keep filling up with water so I had to keep stopping and pouring out the water. They provide the mask and snorkel tube and you can actually take the tube home if you'd like as a keep sake. The only other downside, and its no fault of DC, but is stupid people. They either don't watch where they are going or kick and splash water that goes right into your tube while your breathing. I had to stop a couple of times to cough out water because of this. Besides that, once you make a couple of loops around the lagoon you've seen it all.

Dolphin Swim and Encounter:
Very cool and very sweet, you get about 35 - 45 minutes total in the water with them. You pet them, do tricks with them and do about 20 - 30 foot ride along with them as well. One tip, if you have a child with you, have them ask more and more questions, and that gives you more time and you see more tricks if you ask for them to do some extra tricks too. But the real intention of this is the upsell photos and videos they sell you. The cheapest is $25 for 2 4x6's and 2 key chains(which we got), the largest package is $219 which a family we were there with bought.

Overall:
I will definitely be back because I didn't have enough beer, which they serve Bud (blah), Bud Light (blah), and Landshark (not a bad beer). They also have frozen coladas, mango coladas, and margaritas on tap.

But the value is undeniable, and here is how:

We went with a FL resident promo they offer on the off season (summer get up to $300 a person) at $199 a person.

$199 a person for the park ticket, which includes entrance into Sea World AND Aquatica for 14 days after your visit or even before.

$199 - $60 ticket to Seaworld - $60 ticket to Aquatica, you end up only paying $79 to go into DC, and that includes food and drinks which could easily add up to that total anyways.

If you haven't gone, you should go because you cannot beat the bang for the buck.
 
I love Discovery Cove and agree once you go you understand the value of it. Its IMO the best kept secret of theme parks EVER.
 
Sorry for some of the grammar errors in my report, I tend to type faster than I'm thinking and miss words :lol:

But I definitely plan to be back in a year or so, but they do need to add more stuff to the park too. There isn't a whole lot to do outside what I mentioned above except to sit on a chair and vegitate for a couple of hours.
 
Great review, thanks for sharing! I loved Discovery Cove. I think people get a bit intimidated at the cost upfront, but it really is a great value when you factor everything in.

The Grand Reef was one of my favorites! I love swimming with stingrays. I definitely want to go back someday, will wait at least till after the Freshwater Oasis opens. The price of a non-dolphin swim package with the SeaWorld AP discount is not bad at all.

I've read that for some people vacationing in Orlando, their DC day was their favorite because it was so relaxed in comparison to their other theme park days.
 
I LOVE Discovery Cove. Been twice and hoping to do a third-go for my birthday in August. The only problem is it's right before the start of off season so I might have to postpone a bit.
 
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