**It's Smiley Kylie's First trip report!**- DAY 5- DISCOVERY COVE

[xxSmileyKyliexx]

INDEX:

INTRODUCTION
DAY 0-TRAVEL DAY
DAY 1-UNIVERSAL STUDIOS & CELEBRATION
DAY 2-ANIMAL KINGDOM & MNSSHP
DAY 3-SHOPPING AND OLIVE GARDEN
DAY 4- MY BIRTHDAY, MAGIC KINGDOM & EPCOT

I was awake at 6:15am, even with the extra hour I was feeling tired! Today was discovery cove day =) Carys had only found out last night so she was really excited. We had decided to arrive early, I’d been previously and been advised by others that getting there early is best to make the most of breakfast and get an early swim. I watched sex and the city, put minimal make up on, shoved up my hair, packed my new Betsey Johnson bag and dad dropped me, Carys and Astrid off. We arrived at about 8am and said our goodbyes to dad. He and Ben would be doing whatever they wished today as this was our girly day.





The park doesn’t officially open till 8:30am but to avoid the queues people arrive early and are allowed to enter the park but not the water. They can have breakfast, visit the aviary, collect wetsuits etc ready for when the park officially opens. I thought this was a great way to reduce queue waiting times. We queued up and were soon dealt with by the friendly staff, we were booked in for a 10:05am swim in starfish cabana which we were happy with. I had read on peoples trip reports and watched videos about the Seaventure at Discovery Cove, I really wanted to do it but as I’ve explained previously I am terrified of being under water, can’t swim and won’t even lift my feet off the floor! So the thought of Seaventure terrified me! I really wanted to experience something different though, Astrid and Carys decided they wouldn’t do it; I must have had my extra brave head on today as I just ended up booking it! It cost $59 plus tax, this was booked in for 1:25pm. We had our pictures taken and lanyard given to us, round our necks they went and off we trotted.



This was a new experience for both Astrid and Carys, it was lovely to see them looking around and admiring everything. We followed the path round and had our complimentary photo taken. I can’t actually find it anywhere; I’ve wrecked the house trying to find it without success, but never mind it was a bad pic anyways!

We decided to go straight to the Laguna Grill restaurant for breakfast. Oh my, the breakfast here is delicious! I loved it last time I went and this time I loved it more! We scoffed all round us, seriously like we’d never been fed! There were lots of choice, sausages, bacon, brekkie potatoes, eggs, pastries, fruit, yogurt, granola, juices, coffee and lots more! I felt like a complete animal literally picking up one of everything ha! I was starving! I didn’t do too badly either here we are and the before and after shots. I realise I have 4 drinks on my tray! Not surprised I was dying for a wee wee. The water was put in my bag for later =)







That definitely filled a gap ha, I was so stuffed! We all enjoyed the breakfast, Astrid loved the French toast and I loved the granola! The restaurant itself was lovely, lots of seating, and themed well inside, glad we arrived early as on our way out the breakfast line was huge! We waddled along the way admiring the lovely park, its quietness and exoticness. So relaxing and peaceful here! The sun was beaming, already it was feeling warm and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky! By far the best day weather wise of the holiday so far so it was lucky we had discovery cove on this day.







We then collected our wetsuits and snorkels. You have a choice to wear an ever so flattering wetsuit that shows up every lump and bump, camel toe and everything or a vest top, I had no choice as I had to wear a wetsuit for Seaventure! The others chose wetsuits too as they were so flattering ;P Once changed, we took a few pics, put our belongings into the lockers provided and went for a mooch.







I can’t explain how perfect this park is. Unless you’ve been there it’s so difficult to describe. It is literally like paradise! Palm trees, sand, sun, water, lots to see and do and plenty to eat. It is so peaceful aswel, no crowds, no business, everywhere is immaculate, it’s just pure bliss! We chose 3 sun loungers near the grand reef and were happy to have this as our base for the day. You needn’t worry about not being able to find loungers, there are so many scattered all over the park. We was all in fits of laughter at one point because Astrid went to sit on the lounger and fell straight through it, her legs were like stuck between the plastic bits! Gave us a good giggle! It was still early and most people were probably in the restaurant getting breakfast, we stood and watched the dolphins in the lagoon, you could hear them and see them happily swimming around, it was great to be able to watch them from a distance. The sun was feeling hot, I knew today was going to be one to remember.











We explored a little taking in the beauty of the park. There are a few snack shops scattered around the park where you can get snacks/refreshments. There was a good selection to choose from aswel, crisps, pretzels, fruit, beer, coffee, frozen cocktails and other bits. More than enough to keep you going for the day! Remember that all of this is included in the price of the park ticket so no need to carry cash around, just pick up what you like and enjoy! It was brilliant to have that freedom.
Before we knew it, it was time to make our way to the starfish cabana where we were given a short safety lesson as well as some dolphin history. We filled in a disclaimer and asked any questions. Then we were led in groups by our trainers Jackie and Eileen to the dolphin lagoon. That water was cold! I had nips and everything but soon got used to it! I think there were about 9 of us in our group. We had the pleasure of meeting 2 dolphins. First up Capricorn, he was a big fella! He was in his late 40’s and only had 7 teeth bless him! We had lots of interaction with him, feeling him several times, feeding him and learning about his different markings, their tails are like our fingerprints, no 2 tails are ever the same which I found very interesting. He was adorable! He seemed really happy and our group were lovingly stroking him, avoiding his head and face area. The trainers explained about how well they are looked after, where they came from and how they learn. It was all very informative. We said goodbye to Capricorn and said hello to Jenny. Jenny was in her mid 30’s and still had a full set of gnashers. She has been a movie star! Starring in Jaws 3 with one of the other dolphins too, Cindy I think. Jenny also had her baby called Coral at discovery cove with her, we were informed that Jenny was the motherly one of all the dolphins; she’s like an aunty to all the others which was really sweet. They really give you the impression that the dolphins are one happy family. We were taught a few hand actions so Jenny could show off her tricks, it was brilliant to see how clever she was! The time came to have our swims. You get the choice of a deep swim or a shallow one, it was me and one other who chose the shallow one, I was told I only have to tread water in the deep bit, but I don’t even know how to do that! And to save the drama of me probably drowning and a dolphin having to save my life I figured the shallow swim would be my best bet! Oh by the way there is a photographer in the water during the whole interaction, she was videoing everything and taking our pictures. I was second to swim, I was instructed to hold onto Jenny’s fin and flipper and lift up my legs. I didn’t feel nervous at all, I loved every moment! I was thinking surely she can’t pull my lardy body along, but nope she pulled me along so gracefully without any struggle or a care in the world. It was mind blowing, I could have cried! Was over way to quickly but I’ll never forget it!



Everyone else took their turn whilst Jenny happily swam along with them, Astrid and Carys loved it, I watched from a distance and had a big massive smile on my face watching Carys and knew I’d made a good decision booking this as her birthday present.

Continued below...

[xxSmileyKyliexx]

We then all had individual photos and group photos with Jenny. I won’t put them all on as I’ve already been overly picture happy!











Astrid didn’t like her individual photo which was a shame, but I think it’s lovely =) The dolphin interaction came to an end with a big finale of dolphins jumping and dancing. It was a great sight to see and the perfect way to end our dolphin experience. Jenny waved goodbye to us and got us wet! We were taken to view our photographs and pick any we’d like to purchase. The photographer had heard that it was my birthday yesterday and had added an extra photo of me which I thought was lovely of her, she must have overheard me talking to someone as I didn’t tell her it was my birthday! The photo packages can be expensive but I think they are so worth it, to have pictures of our experience and be able to share them with everyone. We went for the adventure package costing $149 plus tax but split 3 ways was only $50 so can’t grumble at that. We ordered what ones we wanted and they would be ready later to pick up.
We headed back to our loungers by this time it was 11:30am so the whole dolphin experience had taken quite a while. The sun was still out, feeling lovely and hot! I was a happy Kylie! We chilled for a while and then Astrid and Carys changed from wetsuits into vests which were a lot more comfortable and cool for them. I stayed in my sexy wetsuit as it would be time for Seaventure soon.





We mooched on over (I realise I use the word ‘mooch’ quite a lot don’t i?! ha!) to explore the freshwater oasis bit where all the marmosets and otters are, this bit was new to me as wasn’t there when I’d visited discovery cove previously. It was like a little tropical island! The palm trees, crystal water, winding rivers, it was gorgeous! I can only describe it as like a moat around the marmoset island where they were left free to play in the trees and bushes, you literally could get right up close. We saw a few of them hidden in branches, they are tiny! So cute though! I was a bit nervous in the water as didn’t know if it would suddenly go deep causing me to drown! Luckily I didn’t though! Ha!









To be honest there wasn’t many marmosets, we saw a few but not as many as we would have liked, maybe they were too hot and hidden in the shade or something. We ventured into the explorers aviary instead. Oh we had so much fun in here! We laughed so much! We were given a small pot of mushy looking food for the birds and literally within a minute of being in there we had them flying all over us! Me being a big girl totally screamed in shock and scared a few off, oops! Not for long though as they were soon back for food. A couple took a liking to both Astrid’s and Carys’ heads as they stayed put for ages, it was really funny to see. Carys was totally freaking out she was walking along hoping the bird would fly away but nope he stayed put!









We saw lots of different species in the aviary, so many different colours, some big, some small, all singing and soaring around. They were all friendly and not scared of us at all! If anything it was me scared of them! Last time I came here we literally had no interaction with the birds as it was late afternoon and they must have been all stuffed from the food! This time was different, birds were just landing on us all the time, we really enjoyed our time in here!
We were a little peckish after here so stopped off for some snacks, think we picked up a pretzel and some crisps each and I had a blue raspberry slush which was lovely and kept me cool! We saw the ‘sunken seats’ area. This is where there are a lot of seats sunk into the pool and people were sat in them enjoying a drink. Looked very cool! It was nearly time for my Seaventure so we just relaxed and enjoyed the sun for a while, I was starting to feel nervous as it was a new experience for me and I didn’t know what to expect! Plus the others weren’t doing it so I’d be braving it on my own!
It got to about 1:15pm, Astrid and Carys walked with me over to Seaventure where again I had to fill in a disclaimer and watch a brief safety and information video. The video was enough to put me off! For people that don’t know what Seaventure is, it’s an underwater walking tour, where you get up close and personal with the sharks, stingrays, various fish and underwater wildlife. You wear a helmet which provides your oxygen and literally walk on the reef floor. This for me would be a big achievement! The safety video explained how to keep your head upright and breathe normally and not hold your breath while underwater, how to pop your ears when going under as the pressure would change, all different hand signals, to follow the path and stick together, how heavy the special helmet was etc. I literally was thinking ‘oh my god, this is going to be the death of me!’ But I wasn’t backing out now, I’d come this far. The others stayed with me until I had gone into the water. There was a group of 9 going down, I was last in the line. It didn’t help that there was a dad and 3 of his sons in front of me and one of them was actually crying his eyes out because he was that scared. His dad was reassuring him telling him he would love it and it’s all part of learning and overcoming fears etc, I was listening intently and taking his words on board for myself! Ha! Everyone was disappearing one by one into the water, my nerves were building and I felt like I was going to vom! Here are what I thought were my last moments on earth in pictures.









My god even looking at these pictures is making me freak out! So with my underwater camera in hand, down into the water I went! It is such a weird feeling I can’t even describe! Of course I breathed in whilst going under and then remembered I didn’t need to! I was yawning to get the pressure in my ears right and doing everything they had told me. That ladder seemed to go on forever, I was thinking jeez this is deep, I’d never been in water that deep before! Once under I felt ok! Walking felt really weird, it took a while to adjust but then I was fine. The little lad in front was holding on to the rail for dear life bless him. Walking felt as though you were walking on air, it was all really light and everything seemed closer than it was. Immediately I had stingrays swimming over me and different coloured fish. The guide person had an etcher sketch board thing writing out facts and telling us what creatures were around. Soon enough I was stood there with a load of sharks in front of me! Think there was about 5 different species. Of course they were behind a sheet of glass, but you kind of forget that being so close! I was thinking oh my god what if they bash it down or something and eat me! The things that go through my mind are shocking! I think I was actually talking to myself aswel! Deary me!

Continued below...

[xxSmileyKyliexx]

Apologies for the bad pic quality, it was literally an underwater disposable camera! One of the divers was taking my pictures for me bless her as she knew I was on my own down there. We continued following the path keeping hold of the hand rail. There were plenty of divers around checking you were ok which was reassuring. I could see so many fish all different types, parrot fish, clown fish, blue tangs and loads more, I’m not a fish expert so I don’t have a clue, they all looked pretty though!



I was given the opportunity to hold onto a Sea Anemone (I think) and had a close up with a hermit crab. It felt weird holding onto these creatures, the crab was crawling onto my arm, felt really strange!





It was all very informative; the guide kept writing facts and information on his board making sure we knew what creatures were around us and what would happen next. It was time to feed the fish; they must have been hungry because I was swarmed by them all, literally to the point where I couldn’t see anything but fish! I wasn’t freaked out though; it was an amazing thing to be a part of!



We continued exploring and taking in the many sights of weird and wonderful sea creatures.







My diver took one final shot of me and then it was all over! The guide wrote ‘thank you’ on his board and blew me a kiss which I thought was lovely. I then headed back up the ladder and gave a sigh of relief when they took the 70 pound helmet off me. Man I was happy to be alive and on normal ground again! I think my first words were ‘wow that was amazing!’ The whole walk under the water lasted about 30-40 minutes, and I had overcome my fear of getting under water, so for me the price was so worth it! I was so chuffed with myself; jeez it makes me well up now ha! If you ever get the chance then do it! It truly is the best experience and one not to forget! I trotted off back to the loungers with a big smiley Kylie smile on my face and the others were just returning from their swim in the grand reef, I raved about how amazing Seaventure had been and they told me about the stingrays in the reef, it was all very exciting! I changed into a vest which was much more comfortable and the wetsuit had dug into my tan which I wasn’t happy about ha! It was now time for lunch as we were all starved by this point, even after our massive breakfast! So off we went back to the Laguna Grill. There were 2 queues on the right and left sides of the restaurant, both were very long from outside the doors! We’d come right when everyone else was too. We jumped into the left queue which we were probably stood in for like 20 minutes. Which I didn’t mind as I had a long think about what to pick!





I couldn’t decide so had a mixture, I had some salad, the burger, mac n cheese, chicken tenders and fries, with a slice of chocolate cake, a cookie and some fruit. Jesus! That is a dinner for someone who wants the most out their money ha! Here are before and after pics, I did well! Was probably about 3 stone heavier afterwards aswel!





What an absolute animal I am! The others did the same, we all thoroughly enjoyed lunch, there is so much choice and you definitely will not go hungry! We sat in the shade and enjoyed the lunchtime entertainment which was a steel band singing and playing reggae songs, made me think of my mum as she is Bob Marley and UB40’s biggest fan! It was a great atmosphere.
We had said to dad to pick us up at 3:30pm, it was nearly 3pm now and we were not ready to leave so made a quick call for him to come later instead. We still had to explore the wind away river and see the otters. I went in the grand reef for a while as hadn’t been in yet; it was as good as I had remembered with lots of ray swimming around you. Unfortunately there were also a lot of kids in here screaming and splashing about!
I got out and we headed to the river. I picked up a life jacket as knew that the river had deep parts and I would almost definitely drown without a jacket on! I also grabbed a noodle just to be safe ha! The river had a slow current which pulled us around its clear waters. The water was lovely and warm! It was beautiful, going through caves, under waterfalls (which got us drenched!) past beaches and a rainforest type thing. It was definitely paradise! I clung onto my noodle and Astrid pretty much all the way round, even with my life jacket on I hated not having anything to hold! Silly me! It was so relaxing and a great end to our perfect day! It amazed us all that there were still no crowds and it was still somewhat peaceful. Not like in the other parks where it gets busier and busier as the day goes on!
We finally came across the otters! They were behind a glass screen in their own enclosure. It was big behind there, they had so much freedom to roam around and play. We were given some fish to feed them aswel which was great! You slide the fish through a tube and the otters are waiting at the end to catch it. They had funny little characters and seemed really playful. There was a few of them in there that were playing with each other, was lovely to see that they have company. We literally just chilled and enjoyed doing nothing! Well apart from me who was trying to ensure I would get home alive! I think I did pretty well considering!
We decided to call it a day and headed back to the lockers and showers at around 4:45pm. We picked up a cocktail and some Lays on the way, the cocktails are really strong! If I had another one I would have needed carrying home lol! They were nice though and refreshing.



The showers were getting quite busy as most people were leaving now. I enjoyed my shower although the water was cold! Definitely cooled me down after a hot day! The amenities in the shower rooms were great, they had shampoo/conditioner/shower gel, hair dryer, towels, plastic bags for wet clothing etc I couldn’t have faulted it! I did however forget to pack underwear! So had to go commando with no bra aswel which must have been an awful sight!
We visited the gift shops; I picked up a photo frame which I was planning on giving Carys for Christmas as a memory. Carys picked up a couple of vest tops too. We collected our photos from the photo pick up place, paid the $149 plus tax and made our way to the exit. I must add that we had some pictures from the aviary which a photographer had taken and added them to our package; there wasn’t any from my Seaventure though. It surprised me that they didn’t do a photo package for this so was grateful that I had my own camera. We made our way to the exit, taking a couple of pictures on the way.





We had all enjoyed the day thoroughly! Astrid thanked me for suggesting it and Carys thanked me for such a great birthday present.
We all wondered what dad and Ben would have been doing, they had mentioned about going to Kennedy space centre or shopping, but we weren’t sure what they would do, we later discovered that they just dossed round the villa all day watching football and playing table tennis! Dad picked us up at 5:30pm, we had spent nearly 10 hours at discovery cove! Didn’t feel tired or shattered in the slightest though as it was so relaxing! We all spoke about our days and dad told us that he had got lost on the way, going through several tolls in the process, which made us all laugh! We arrived back to the villa and had a chilled evening watching some tele and being your typical silly family.



I showered, tanned and tidied my room as it was beginning to look like a bomb had hit it! I hate living in mess! Wrote up my notes and was in bed by 9:30pm, probably dreaming of dolphins and feeling very proud that I had gone under the water.

Wow! I’ve just read this back, I thought it was going to be a quick day but I’ve gone into alot of detail and added in lots of pictures so hats off to you if you stuck with it and read the lot!

Next up we visit Islands Of Adventure, I have my first taste of cheesecake factory and our Perkins dinner becomes an epic fail!

Until then

[l33na]

Excellent read. I felt like I was there again. My husband was one of the first to do sea venture when it opened and there was a photo package for him which he purchased. You are so brave doing it as I wanted to but know I couldn't have done it. What a lovely present from you to Carys

Really enjoying your trippie

[Sue Turner]

Another fantastic day, thanks for sharing your holiday with us, Discovery cove is just beautiful isn't it? Looking forward to reading more 😀, congratulations on being so brave.

[Helen0705]

Fantastic day for the three of you ... and good on you for being so brave . Well done

[Luby-lu]

Oooooo I went to DC in 2004 its pretty mint int it:-)
another good day
Im looking forward to this perkins disaster...
there rubbish at the time but make a good story when you get back lol
xx

[TP80]

Brilliant day, brings back happy memories as we had Jenny for our swim too x

[Tink2010]

Fantastic day and photos, I am so desperate to go there next time

[star sprinkles]

Great day have added sea venture to our list thanks to this report x