Discovery Cove
Sunshine, palm trees, soft sand, dolphins… What’s not to love in this beautiful Orlando park. From the very first steps you take onto the property, you feel like you have walked into a tropical paradise. Leave the hustle and bustle of Orlando’s very busy theme parks behind and allow yourself to relax as you visit all the wonderful things this park offers. Discovery Cove has something for everyone.
Discovery Cove is an all-inclusive day resort. This includes breakfast, lunch, snacks, (even alcoholic drinks for those over 21), wetsuits, snorkel gear, towels, beaches, lazy rivers, and plenty of birds and aquatic sea life.
Our family wanted to enjoy as much relaxation and adventure that we could, so we made sure that we were there at 7:00am. And guess what…parking is free!
Upon arrival, you will get your picture taken for your waterproof ID badge. These badges will have your excursion times (if you booked excursions), and a map of the park. They will also serve as your entry ticket into other SeaWorld parks (if you have added these parks to your trip). The earlier you get to the park, the better the chance of doing excursions, because they will book up!
After we checked in and got our ID badges, we headed to breakfast. Breakfast is served at the Laguna Grill from 7:15 until 10:30. Our breakfast options included hot items such as eggs and sausage, as well as muffins, cereal, fruit, coffee, tea, and much more.
Preparing for the day
As soon as we had our fill of breakfast, we headed to gather our gear for the day. Some of us grabbed wetsuits and some of us just grabbed life vests. Wetsuits were required to wear if you were swimming with dolphins or doing the SeaVenture excursion. After some unfortunate struggling to get on wetsuits, we applied lots of sunscreen that was provided for us and is safe for sea life. You are not permitted to wear your own, so leave it at home. We were also given swim towels for the day and snorkel gear, so you can leave those home too.
The Grand Reef
Finally, 9:00 came and we were permitted in the water. We couldn’t wait to snorkel so we headed to The Grand Reef. None of us had snorkeled before. I admit, I think it took me longer to tell my brain that I could breathe and not drown in the water. Once we all got the hang of it, it was amazing! We were swimming alongside sting rays and multiple kinds of fish, both big and small, and feeling like we were in the ocean and not in the middle of Orlando.
Dolphin Swim
After spending an hour or so at The Grand Reef, it was time for the kids to swim with dolphins. Before swimming with dolphins, the kids were shown some video instruction and safety procedures. If your kids are between the age of 6-12, they must swim with an adult. Luckily, my son was 18 and was able to go with my youngest. I wanted to be able to just stay on the beach and take pictures. During their dolphin encounter at The Dolphin Lagoon, the kids got to interact with a dolphin by telling it to do a trick, by petting it, by feeding it, and giving it a kiss. Then, the dolphin took them for a swim across the pool. My kids thought that the dolphin encounter was the best part of the day.
Wind Away River and Aviary
All this morning excitement made us hungry for lunch, so next we headed back to the Laguna Grill to eat. Lunch consisted of an assortment of hot foods like burgers and chicken, salad, dessert and more.
While our stomachs settled from lunch, we decided to take a soothing ride down Wind Away River.
While riding down the river on pool noodles, we went through caves and past water falls. As we were riding we came upon the entrance for The Explorer’s Aviary, so we dropped our pool noodles and went exploring!
There were so many beautiful birds in the aviary. The handlers gave us cups of food to feed them. The birds came and rested on us for a while during their meal. Two birds decided to just hang out on my son’s shoulder and take a nap! Another bird kept bringing my husband sticks. Apparently, she was looking for a mate to build a nest with! We had a great time in the aviary!
Snacks
When we had visited all the birds, we located our pool noodles and continued on in the Wind Away River. By the time we were finished here, we were ready to check out the snack huts.
Unlimited snacks are offered in several snack huts throughout the park. The huts have bagged chips, hot pretzels, ice cream, slushies, drinks (even alcohol for those over 21). I think we got a little bit of everything here. We decided to take our snacks into The Sunken Terrace. The terrace is a pool that has about 18 inches of water or so in it with seats to enjoy your food in the water. Such a fun idea! Of course, we had to try really hard not to spill our stuff.
Freshwater Oasis
The Sunken Terrace led right into The Freshwater Oasis, so we did that next. We grabbed some more pool noodles and swam around the oasis. During the swim, we were able to see marmosets hanging out under some trees and sea otters that were enjoying an afternoon nap.
SeaVenture
After all this eating and relaxing, we were ready for the next adventure. The SeaVenture as a matter of fact. The SeaVenture was an add on excursion that my son, husband, and I just had to try. This excursion is an underwater walking tour that you do while wearing a dive helmet. Just like with the dolphin excursion, we were made to watch some safety and instruction videos. I was already starting to get a little nervous.
After our instruction, we were taken to a pool of water that was about 10-15 feet deep. As we went down the ladder, I will admit I did freak out a bit after they put the helmet with oxygen on me. However, I was able to calm myself down and go down the ladder into the pool. And… I am so glad I made it!
As we walked on the reef floor, we came eye to eye with sharks (behind glass of course), tons of fish, and other unique sea life. We were able to take pictures and hold some of the sea life as well. We communicated with an instructor the whole time while he used an Etch a Sketch. They had also taught us signals to use incase we needed to leave the pool before our twenty-minute adventure was complete. I am thankful that I didn’t have to use that.
Relaxation
After the SeaVenture, we decided to take a break and just lay on the beach in lounge chairs and hammocks with a drink and a snack. When we..I mean the kids..had enough lounging, we went back to The Grand Reef to snorkel.
Snorkling
By this point, we were all pros at snorkling! Check out my snorkling video here! https://www.facebook.com/magicalenchantedvacationswithchristina/videos/396161267513365/
Our family loves dolphins, and otters, and sharks and well really, all sea life! We were happy that even though our day was coming to an end at Discovery Cove, we were still planning to spend a day at SeaWorld and SeaWorld’s water park, Aquatica. These parks, along with Busch Gardens in Tampa, can be added onto your Discovery Cove vacation package for a fraction of the cost of doing these parks alone. And you have 14 full days to enjoy them!
We had such a wonderful time at Discovery Cove and SeaWorld parks! My kids have told me that this was one of the best trips ever. We will definitely go again soon.
