OT: discovery cove
Ed @ Home
Can anyone give me info on this one?
Is it worth visiting? Can you spend all day here?
Because this is OT pls mail to reply...@hotmail.comnospam
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thanks a lot and sorry for posting OT
Ed
Roy
http://www.discoverycove.com/tickets.asp?flash=T
for details.
my question: how far ahead do you need to book?
Is August this year full?
Roy.
"--
Our Vacation Rental home in Florida
http://www.biddulph.u-net.com
Treat yourself,You are dead a long time.
Figmentdad
few days in sea World FREE! All you need to bring is your swim suit everything
else is furnished, even towels, shampoo &conditioner. One meal is also
included. Check the web site Discoverycove.com or seaworld.com
Jackie
This is a little on the long side, but here is an exerpt from my trip report
back in November. We had a great time and if you're into dolphins and sea
life, by all means it's worth the money.
Our visit to Discovery Cove was an anniversary present from me to Rick back in
May. I called to make reservations at the end of June. Rick has been
fascinated by Dolphins for as far back as I can remember so I thought this
would be a great treat. We had discussed going but we decided we couldn’t
afford it on this trip, but I decided later this would be a great anniversary
present. The cost was $179 for Rick who would do a dolphin encounter and
$89 for me as a companion. Just FYI, you must have one person swimming with
the dolphins for every companion admission. My admission included everything
except the dolphin encounter.
We arrived at park opening, 9:00 am, parked the car (free parking) and were
admitted into a huge registration area. The girl asked for my last name and we
were asked for photo ID then she took pictures of both of us and assigned Rick
a dolphin swim time (9:55am). We headed over to another desk where she handed
us our laminated, photo ID’s with lanyards (a very nice souvenir!). A tour
guide then gave us a mini tour of the park. Along the way, a
photographer took our picture, which they give you at no additional cost.
We went to get our wet suits and other gear and changed. Thank goodness
everyone was in the wet suits, I didn’t feel so awkward in those skin tight
outfits! They were short sleeved/short style wet suits that were blue and
yellow with a Discovery Cove logo on the front. They require everyone where
these when in the water so they can keep track of you. You could also get just
a vest to wear but with my bathing suit, I felt like I was naked
underneath, so I opted for the wet suit. Also available at the counter was
unlimited free aquatic-safe sunscreen. You were asked not to wear your own as
it could harm their sealife. We didn’t need any sunscreen though, we never
burn. We stashed our stuff in the lockers and headed off to our cabana for the
pre-dolphin info session.
The briefing included a movie, a discussion about dolphins and how they look,
communicate and maneuver. Then we headed out to the lake and I stood on the
shore to take the pictures. About 6 or 7 people are assigned to a trainer and
you get right into the water and they do a variety of things with the dolphins.
Because Rick was by himself, he had a lot of interaction time. If you plan on
taking your family there, you may opt to go separately so
you can #1. have more time with the dolphins and #2. so someone can take
pictures or video tape from the shore. While I thought I got some good photos,
you really are pretty far from the whole dolphin interaction, so unless you
have a mega zoom lense, the odds of getting any great pictures are pretty slim.
There is a professional photographer in the water the whole time taking good
shots though. After about 25 minutes of the dolphin interaction,
they took us to a hut with I-Mac computers to view the pics the photographers
took. You can buy individual 5x7’s for about $16. There are other packages
you can buy also if you are interested. You view all the pictures right on the
computers and place your order by yourself and pick it up later at the photo
store. The photographer took quite a few shots of Rick and we ended up
purchasing just one of him hugging the dolphin, it was very cute!
The park itself is very tiny, there was no problem navigating around. We
decided we better get in and eat since we were starved! Our admission included
choice of 1 main entree, 1 salad, 1 dessert and 1 n/a beverage for lunch. They
had burgers w/ fries, chicken fingers w/ fries, large Caesar salad plate, large
chef salad plate, chicken and beef fajitas, and stir fry as the main entrees.
I opted for the burger & fries, small garden salad w/ Italian
dressing, chocolate pudding w/ whipped cream and lemonade. Rick got the
fajitas, small garden salad, cheesecake and pepsi. There were plenty of tables
outside in under umbrellas so we headed out. The park seemed very un-crowded
even though it was a sold-out day. Because DC only allows a few hundred people
in each day, there aren’t really any lines or crowds. Ahh, what a nice
feeling!
After lunch we headed over to the chlorinated lagoon pool, shaped like a big
circle, where you could practice snorkeling and go under waterfalls and swim
around. As you swim your way around the huge circle, you go under bridges and
waterfalls and go through the bird sanctuary. We stopped to feed the birds
which was a highlight of the trip. They give you small bowls of either fruit
or small worms and the birds come right down and land on your wrist
or arm and eat. There are small birds & large birds, all very colorful and
friendly. My suggestion would be to go there early in the day, as the birds
are particularly hungry and interact more with the guests. Having the birds
just come down from the trees and eat out of your hand, was such a cool
experience, a very nice touch. Then we swam back out again and finished our
round.
The next stop was the sting ray pool. There is a small pool filled with sting
rays (with no stingers, they remove them) where you can wade around with them.
They are very fascinating looking and slimy to the touch! The pool is only a
little deeper than waist deep and the rays aren’t really afraid of people.
They swim together in a circle and if you’re standing in the way, they simply
go around you. They are actually quite beautiful creatures.
The only pool left now was the snorkel pool with salt water. This is a man
made snorkel pool with several different kinds of fish, coral, rays, and sea
life. There are also sharks but they are on the other side of a glass wall
that you snorkel by. It’s actually quite strange swimming along and seeing a
shark because you can’t really tell they’re behind glass at first! Rick had a
great time swimming around in there. I had to go get a life vest to
put on as I’m not a very good swimmer!
We decided we would go lay out by the dolphin lagoon for awhile to catch some
of those Florida Rays. They provide lounge chairs with umbrellas on the white
sand beach by the dolphin lagoon. We watched others still on their dolphin
encounters and Rick took some pictures for himself. I went and got us a couple
drinks at the concession stand which I charged on our admission badges that
also had charging privileges if you left a credit card number at
registration. That was very convenient since there really wasn’t anyplace to
put money in those wet suits! The drinks were pretty reasonably priced, much
cheaper than at Disney World, I think I paid $5.50 for a beer for Rick and
orange soda for me. I also stopped over and picked up our free photo and
Rick’s dolphin photo (also charged it using our admission card). We laid out
by the lagoon for about an hour and a half and by that time it was
nearing 3:30 or so.
I decided to go take a shower to get all that salt water off and do my hair.
They provide you with warm showers in each of the bath houses and there is
shampoo and shower gel in dispensers on the wall. I brought my own, but it is
there should you need it. There is an infinite supply of towels in each
bathroom along with large hampers. There are also built in hair dryers to dry
your hair, with large mirrors. Rick reported that there were hair
dryers in the mens room as well. I brought my cordless curling iron also to
touch up my hair after washing it. Just as I was leaving the bathroom, it
looked as though a lot of people were just starting to come in to take their
showers. So if you want to beat the crowd, I would suggest getting into the
bathrooms around 3:30pm or shortly thereafter.
On our way out, around 4:15 pm, they asked us to fill out a short survey on our
visit then we were on our way. The park officially closed at 5pm and we had
been there since it opened at 9am. I was pretty apprehensive about our visit to
DC being that this was a hefty amount of money we’d be spending. But in the
end it was definitely worth it. Our admission included free souvenir picture,
lockers, towels, snorkels, masks, sunscreen, wet suits or
vests, lunch w/ N/A beverage and 7 days admission to Sea World Orlando before
or after your DC visit and your dolphin interaction of course. Then all the
convenient features like showers, hair dryers, mirrors, no lines etc. It made
for a very relaxing day on our tired aching feet and a day away from the crowds
was also very nice. I couldn’t get over that the park was sold-out that day
and while there were people there, it never seemed crowded or
congested. I was so glad we visited DC, our feet thanked us also.
Jackie (Jake...@aol.com)
Just give me Barry Manilow and Ricky Martin and I'll be happy forever!!