Here is a review of Discovery Cove in Orlando by my reader Allyson. What an amazing day my family had at Discovery Cove. And even though it may seem pricey, the benefits you get and the memories you will make are well worth it. A recent search for the end of May gave me a price of about $300 per person. Before you let out an audible gasp, let me detail what the price includes. For that $300, you get unlimited tickets to Seaworld and Aquatica Water Park for 14 consecutive days, unlimited admission to Busch Gardens in Tampa (about an hour’s drive from Orlando) and a one day admission to Discovery Cove with a dolphin interaction. Included in the Discovery Cove Day is breakfast, lunch and unlimited snacks, beverages and alcohol. Oh, and parking. They supply your wetsuit if you so choose (I did, that dolphin water was freezing!), snorkel gear and sunscreen. You can choose to purchase a picture package, much like the PhotoPass CD at Walt Disney World.
Upon entering Discovery Cove, you walk though a lush garden oasis, overgrown with plants and flowers. There are many shady paths to explore and places to relax. The park only lets in about 1,300 guests per day so you never feel like it is crowded. There is a new Grand Reef, where you can snorkel with tropical fish and stingrays. There is an aviary with hundreds of birds who will literally eat out of your hand. There is the Wind Away River, a floating lazy river of sorts that goes through the aviary. There are quiet beaches if you just want to relax. And then there is the dolphin encounter (you must be 6 years of age to do the dolphin swim).
You can reserve an encounter time when booking your tickets and you will be given a brief introduction to dolphin behavior and what to expect during your encounter. Then its everybody into the water! We were in a group with about 8 people. The dolphin swims by and you can touch it, pet it, rub it and feed it. Our beautiful dolphin’s name was Dash and she had quite the personality! Our trainer was wonderful and very informative. Then you proceed into deeper water and your dolphin comes by and gives everyone a dorsal fin ride back to shore. There is nothing like the sensation of being pulled by a dolphin! After everyone has had a swim with the animal, you pose for pictures with the dolphin alone or in your family group and you get a chance to kiss your dolphin on the nose! I got a great shot for my Christmas cards! There are photographers in the water with you all the time capturing those great shots, although I didn’t really notice them to be intrusive at all.
I think at first glance, $300 a person may seem like a lot. But add up all the tickets to the other attractions that you get, plus the amenities at Discovery Cove and it actually turns out to be a pretty reasonable price, especially when you consider that doing a similar dolphin excursion from a cruise ship or in Mexico can cost between $150 and $200 per person for a brief 30-45 minute encounter. We made so many memories here and it was so hard to leave at closing time. It was like being on a beautiful tropical island. Our family took a 9 day trip – 3 days in Busch Gardens, one day at Discovery Cove, 3 days at Seaworld and two days at Aquatica. Nine days for $300 a person (not including hotel of course) – you can’t beat that! So when in Orlando, you should definitely put Discovery Cove on your “to do” list!
Don’t miss the Castle Couture shop in the Magic Kigndom.
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Sonja says
I went alone on my honeymoon in 2009. My husband was for the first time in the US on a Sunday since 1996 to enjoy his football games and I got to swim with the dolphins – win win :).
I have to say the dolphin interaction itself is only about 20 Minutes – so the point about them being only 30 Minutes long on cruises doesn’t quite cut it. I loved Discovery Cove, don’t get me wrong. It is a great place. They even had prescription snorkle wear,something I hadn’t even thought of, having glasses that helped a lot. I got lucky and was at the stingray pool when they handed out food to feed them while standing in the water – great experience. The snorkle pool was great and the aviary with the birds was a lot of fun. The food – well, it’s theme park fare. Out of all the choices I like the desserts and salads best – and got me a couple of them. They also have beer and pretzels at the beach bars, which is also included.
The photo package I bought was at the time 99 dollars, and I received a DVD with my dolphin swim and a couple of prints for that. It’s not crazy expensive but not really cheap either. My luck was that I was alone and so my group consisted of one real big family and me – so they got to do all the interactions with seven people, and I always received my “single slot” which gave me actually more time with the dolphin.
We did not take advantage of the tickets that are attached to the discovery cove visit as we were able to use the Salute to Heroes program to get into Seaworld (for active duty military). Oh, and by the way, they have military prices at Discovery Cove too, but the only way to get these is to contact the MWR in Orlando at the NEX. It doesn’t shave a lot off, most of the time only 10 to 15 dollars,but every dollar counts :).
We plan on going back to Orlando this year and I’m on the fence if I want to do it again or not – I loved it, but it’s quite some money. I would, however, go to Discovery Cove again before I book the Disney Dolphin experience which nearly costs as much and doesn’t have all the benefits of the Cove.
Cindy says
The prices also vary by when you go as well. I would like to say that the cruises do offer pretty reasonable prices on their excursions for this. My sister in law said that they only paid a little over $100 per person and they got like 4 hours in the facility which included a swim with the dolphins as well as with manatees. And all the ones we’ve been looking at for our cruise next year has been about $150 for the ones that do the push/pull and swim.
This has always been on our list of want to do but we had to wait until the youngest was old enough which is I believe 6?
Jenny says
I have to agree with Allyson, the reviewer. We went about a month ago and it was a great experience. After a few long days on our feet at Disney, it was nice to relax for the day. While it does cost more to swim with the dolphins (I think between $70-100 more depending on the date), it was well worth it. In my opinion, it’s worth it to save up and go when you can afford to experience all that Discovery Cove has to offer – dolphins included. One of the best experiences I’ve ever had. While it does seem like a lot to pay for admission, when, as Allyson pointed out, you include food, parking, use of towels, etc., it’s not a bad deal. And if you can stay an extra few days and do Busch Gardens, Sea World and Aquatica, it’s even better. We didn’t have the time to do so on our trip, but still felt it was well worth the money!
Jen says
I actually tell my family and friends differently. My family of 4, consisting of myself, my husband and at the time 2 years ago, my son,11 and daughter 6 had this on our must do list. There is no doubt that Discovery Cove is a tropical oasis when you enter but unfortunately the price definitely left a sour taste in my mouth and for that I do not recommend to my family when they ask. Discovery Cove asks you to arrive around 8:30 to take a pic and get an ID pass to wear around your neck while you are on the “resort”. The check-in took at least 20 minutes since everyone seemed to arrive at the same time. Not bad, but not fantastic either. We were then sent to eat breakfast. Once again, not bad. They had some healthy options on the menu, which was a plus. The dining area reminded me of Jamaica. It had caribbean music playing in the background and tiki huts set up around the area. We were then sent to the area to get wet suits (if we wanted). We all obliged because the water was cold. After spending close to $1,000 for the entrance tickets (with tax) it was an additional fee to swim with the dolphins. No thank you!!! The private beach area was nice. There was a man made sand area and this was the area that you could see other people swimming with dolphins. My kids were a bit disappointed but I could not spend an additional $500 for the family to swim. On the “beach” was a snack area open only during a certain time for unlimited snacks like chips and soda. The pool/lazy river area was where my family hung out most of the time just enjoying the calm water. There is an area to snorkel that was included in the admission and an aviary to walk through with beautiful birds. Lunch was decent and in the same area as breakfast. I appreciated the healthy options being served and it didn’t taste terrible. Not 5 star but I wasn’t expecting it to be, even though with that price they should serve on a white linen table. My family did enjoy the day here but it was just that, only the day. We were extremely disappointed to find out the park closes at 5pm!!! We couldn’t believe that with the outrageous price of the tickets, it was only going to last us until 5pm! Between the check in and waiting on line to get a wet suit, we only had 8 hours to enjoy the resort. As much as we enjoyed it, we will definitely not be going back here until they lower their price. Sorry for such a long comment, but every time I hear the word Discovery Cove, I just get so upset that we spend so much money for a few hours at a park!