Discovery Cove bookings - how far in advance?

[Logan]

Hi

Just starting to plan my first ever trip to Florida, to America for that matter!

Got the flights booked for next June and sorting out accommodation now.

Next stage will be deciding priority attractions and sorting out tickets. Plenty of time for this I reckon, especially as some offers of free days, like Universal's may not be available for next year for some time.

But one attraction I know we must sort out is swimming with dolphins at Discovery Cove. Like a lot of children, this has been a lifelong dream of my daughters. It has taken me a long time to finally persuade my wife to go (she loves the idea of visiting Florida but hates flying), so this is one attraction which I dare not miss!

How soon do you need to book in advance and is this done when you order tickets for Discovery Cove? Does the ticket company ask you for a date/time or what way does it work?

I take it if someone goes with my daughter, but doesn't actually swim with the dolphins, they pay the non-swimming package?

I see too that the ticket includes admission to SeaWorld and/or Busch Gardens. As the 4/5 Park Flexi-ticket includes these, can someone suggest a combination with the Discovery ticket that takes in other Flex Parks?

Hope all that makes sense, thanks for any guidance!

[Jools99]

We have booked again for August 2006 if that helps:D :D :D We book direct with DC via the website www.discoverycove.com

Not sure how any other company works, but if you book direct you just print off the e-mail confirmation and take that along with you.:wink :wink


If you plan to visit DC i would book as soon as possible as places are limited.


Jools

[BCKloon]

Hi ,


How soon do you need to book in advance and is this done when you order tickets for Discovery Cove?

You can book direct with discoverycove.com upto about 12 months in advance

I take it if someone goes with my daughter, but doesn't actually swim with the dolphins, they pay the non-swimming package

yes

Note : You dont say how old your kids are , the dolphin swin can only be done by kids over the age of six


Forgot to say that the Dolphin swim times are on first come first serve basis , so if you want an early swim time then be at DC early..Also Early Dolphin swims in the morning are better in case of bad weather in the afternoon.

[JBT0108]

Sorry to hijack your thread but I've just looked at the website and it doesn't give you a price until you've entered all your details. May I ask how much it costs to swim with the dolphins?

[Jools99]

Non Swim $199plus tax,and 14 day pass
Swim $299 plus tax and 14 day pass



Jools

[ianpetchey]

For prices check Prices (http://www.discoverycove.com/vi_dcpackages_pricing.aspx) they chnage according to when you want to go. You can save a few pennies my buying from one of the standard UK vendors.

[loadsapixiedust]

I would book as far ahead as you can as places are strictly limited. You will get a confirmation of the date but the swim times are allocated when you check in on the day.
We had the ticket package which included 14 days admission to both Seaworld and Busch as we intended to visit both these more than once. We then bought Universal multi-day passes (2 day passes with 5 days free). It really depends which parks you want to see and how many visits you will make to each, but this worked for us, we thought the Flex tickets would have been a waste.
Discovery Cove was the most amazing day out ever.

[loopydiamond]

Hi Logan,

Im going to orlando next week :jump: and yesterday had my dolphin swim, that i had booked months ago at living sea's epcot, cancelled by WDW...(refub problems) anyway as you can imagine i was disappointed....I telephoned attraction tickets and they had vacancies for Discovery Cove on the day that we wanted (4th October) I couldnt believe my luck, I felt sure that DC would be fully booked at such short notice.... the cost was £144 and that included a 7 consecutive day pass for either Sea World OR Busch Gardens ... I chose Sea World... the girl on the phone told me that we could check in from 8am and then they would give us a 'dolphin swim' time.... we had originally thought about getting a flex ticket cos we want to go to Universal and Islands of Adventure parks too.... I asked on the phone if they had any offers on these parks and she offered me a 7 consecutive day pass to Universal and IOA for £55 which i thought was very good value... hope this info helps....

[geordie31]

we went to wdw for the first time last year around this time and we went to discovery cove half way through our 2 weeks it was absoultly brilliant from the booking in to swimming fantastic expensive but fantastic we spent over $150 on pics and the video so it can work out expensive but worth it and the meal was great to all in all a worth while experience book as early as you can to get the day you want we booked the date when we booked the holiday

[Logan]

Thanks for advice from everyone so far.

If I understand it right, can you only book the day but not the time in advance? Do you just turn up on the morning allocated, get your time and return if necessary, or can you do this by phone?

Seems a bit unfair and a waste of time, especially if you book your day months in advance. In theory, you could ring/arrive on the day and get a late afternoon slot and have to do something else until then.

Have I got this right?

Sorry, edited when I saw another posting. $150 on photos and video, I take it this is official stuff that DC offers? Are you allowed to take your own pics, video?

[Bob_and_Dawn]

Your dolphin swim time is allocated on check in but you have the use of the park for the whole day.

There is plenty to keep you busy while you wait for your swim time, snorkelling with the tropical fish, visiting the aviary, swimming around the lazy river etc, and dont forget that a 3 course lunch is included with your entry.

Dawn:D

[geordie31]

yes you book the day but not the time you swim but the whole day is great you can swim in the lagoon with the rays or just sunbath until your time to swim with the dolphins and yes you can take your own video and pics but the park have a guy doing a video as you swim you dont have to buy there do take some really good pics though got a great one of me kissing one lol

[loadsapixiedust]

Once you see the place you will want to be there all day long, not leave and come back. It is designed to be an all day experience. There is lots to do besides the dolphin swim. There is a lazy river, coral reef, stingray pool, lovely beach and aviary and you get a gorgeous lunch included in the price.

You can take photos and video, but I would budget for at least a few shots and maybe the video too as it is near impossible to get good shots of the actual dolphin swim yourself. You cannot take cameras into the water so the photographer will be a fair way away and you will probably find that the DC photographer is in front of the swimmers most of the time too.

My tip is to buy some underwater disposable cameras £8 from Walmart and use these around the park, we got some great shots whilst snorkeling. They are $20 in the DC shop.

I'm sure you will have a lovely special day.

[Ottilie]

Book asap. My DD did the dolphin swim & we watched. This was fantastic as she got a lot more attention from the trainer & had more interaction with the dolphin than the rest of her group. Make sure your children are comfortable treading water out of their depth, they do have buoyancy aids but it can scare a few children. Definitely get their for a morning swim ... our first visit there was almost ruined by a huge rainstorm, luckily no thunder otherwise the dolphin swim would have been cancelled!
Ottile

[ianpetchey]

Originally posted by Logan


Sorry, edited when I saw another posting. $150 on photos and video, I take it this is official stuff that DC offers? Are you allowed to take your own pics, video?

You will not be able to get shots or video the same quality the offical DC photographers take.

You may as well budget for the pics, you will end up buying some.

[Rio]

I booked on January 1st for 4th July (this year)as I knew this day would be busy.
When we arrived we were given an 8.40am swim as we were worried we might get an afternoon swim then get a thunderstorm, but as it happened we had glorious weather the whole day and even though we got sunburned...it was well worth it!!...lol.
We also bought the DVD and photos and keyrings and they are great souvenirs.
It's a fantstic day, not just the dolphin swim, but the whole day itself is very calm and relaxing and the lunch was delicious.
Best day of the holiday, you'll enjoy it. We booked direct with DC and when we arrived and gave our name, she didn't even ask for the page we printed off, just told us our swim time.Didn't need ID or anything.
Love Rio