The 3 Mouseketeers Non-Stop WDW Adventure (Aug 2018) Day 4 - Discovery Cove

[Custancia]

Day 3 is here

We had another early start today! We walked over to the main entrance of Riverside and got a taxi at 6.40am to go to Discovery Cove. We’d been in 2016 – which was going to be a once in a lifetime trip (OK, so you could probably guess how that was going to turn out, even before you started reading today’s report ). I started off considering maybe just a day swim. But DH and DD both struggle with the heat, and burn easily, so a cabana really started to make sense in order to make the most of a full day there. The cabana packages are expensive; on the other hand, they include a photo package of your dolphin swim. So that makes it a little closer to reasonable – as long as you’re doing the dolphin swim. So somehow I’d talked myself into Discovery Cove, a cabana and dolphin swims . DH and DD didn’t even try to talk me out of it! Luckily, I managed to get tickets, including a dolphin swim, in the Blue Friday sale. DH realised I’d managed to save a little money, and immediately spent it on booking Sea Venture.

There wasn’t much traffic at 6.40am on a Sunday, and we arrived at Discovery Cove by 7.00am.

There was already a small queue inside (which soon got much bigger). We soon got checked in, and were given our waterproof lanyards.

We wandered over to the main area, taking in the beautiful surroundings,

We made our way over to the food hut, which was nice and quiet as we were so early.

We joined the short queue to get breakfast, which we enjoyed.

Then we wandered over to Guest Services to arrange to go to our cabana. You can also borrow prescription goggles here.

We were very impressed with the octopus towel animal on the desk.

A lovely member of staff took us around to our cabana, which was near the Grand Reef. This map shows how it's all laid out:

She pointed out a few useful places as we went past – where to get our wetsuits

and the very pretty showers (there are also some in cubicles in the Changing rooms)

As we were walking I could see DH staring at the top of our guide’s head, and then he said “Excuse me, but there’s a small frog in your hair, would you like me to move it?” I looked, and there really was! It was quite small, about an inch in size. Anyway, DH scooped it off, and the frog hopped away. The poor lass looked really shaken though, and explained that she was scared of frogs. I felt really sorry for her; especially as she was clearly trying to recover herself and be brave, whilst apologizing for not being professional.

With no further incident, we got to our cabana. It had a fantastic location, backing onto the far side of the Grand Reef.

There were several chairs inside the covered area, plenty of towels, and a table with sunscreen.

There were two loungers just outside looking towards the reef area and a short sandy walk in to the Reef itself.

Inside there was also a tall cabinet with a glass fronted fridge, stocked with soft drinks, and a lockable locker above it.

Our guide explained that Newton would be our host for the day, and that he’d be over later to introduce himself and to find out what alcoholic drinks we’d like in the fridge. We had a quick dip in the reef (clearly at some point we’d put on our half-wet suits, and picked up our snorkeling gear – but I seem to have missed that in my notes! We did much better this time, now we knew that they zip up the back). As it was still quite early, the reef was only just open, so lovely and quiet!

And then it was time for our Sea Venture. This was an amazing experience. I’m really glad that DH talked me into this. You climb down a ladder into the water, and when you’re shoulder deep, they lower a large, quite heavy diving helmet onto you.

Before getting in they gave us all a quick safety talk, and explained that it works like if you put a cup or jug upside down in a washing up bowl. The air is all trapped in the helmet, and there are air lines into the helmet to keep refreshing the air. You just have to walk, breathe and have fun; all at once! Like this

They taught us a couple of signs, in case we had any problems, but also explained that if you feel water on your chin, it will be that you are leaning forwards, so if you stand upright it will fix itself (DH ‘tested’ this underwater, and apparently it’s completely accurate!) If you have your own underwater camera (and most crucially, remember to bring it with you to the Sea Venture ) then you can take it in with you. If not, then they will lend you a camera – and you can buy a package with your photos.

The water felt really cold when I got in, and the air in the helmet felt really warm which was a bit odd (although not surprisingly really as it was ordinary Florida air!). We went round as part of a group of about 8, with 2 guides.

The helmet was clear, and flat on the front, but rounded at the sides – so sometimes things didn’t appear to be quite where you expected if you weren’t straight on. It was a little strange walking underwater, but there was a (rather slimy) handrail to hold onto.

We had the chance to hold a few underwater animals in our hands (DD declined, as she was already outside of her comfort zone being surrounded by marine life. I was SO proud of her for doing this with us). The guides were really good at offering to take pictures for us.

We saw some sharks through a glass screen, and were told some fun facts. When I say told, obviously we were underwater which makes speaking difficult – so the guides wrote messages on a board for us to read.

Then we experienced the fish feeding – there were suddenly a lot of fish swimming all around us.

There was time to admire the beautiful coral and surroundings.

Then it was time to climb back up the ladder. There was a very big fish swimming around, trying to block our way to the ladder, so this took a little while!

When you surfaced on the ladder, they fitted the winch back to the helmet and lifted it off. And someone was there offering a towel as you climbed out. The total adventure lasted about 30 mins in total, I think.

Then back to our cabana for drinks, and the snacks which had been put in a chest on our table.

Then some snorkeling in the reef. DD had found her confidence with the rays, and was snorkeling all over!

Then at 12 noon, we headed over for our dolphin swim. This was delayed (as it had been in 2016) because the dolphins were more interested in socializing with each other rather than with humans, and they suggested that we return about 1pm. So we wandered over to look in the gift shop, and happened upon an animal encounter with a sloth. They have a booth near the main buildings area where there is often a member of staff holding an animal (eg marmosets, and armadillos). DH had read that they have sloths, and really, really wanted to meet one (it’s a bucket list item) but there is no guarantee one will be out. Photo of gift shop - taken earlier!

DH went to join the small group of people meeting Lucky, the three-toed (or maybe two toed?) tree sloth, and I dashed back to the cabana to get our camera from the locker. But it was about 5 mins away, so by the time I got back, the sloth had got too tired and been taken to have a rest – and as it turned out, the battery on the camera was now flat! Clearly, we were just not intended to get photos!

I had previously taken a photo of a lovely quiet beach area though!

It was now time to head back for our dolphin swim, but only after the signing all of the disclaimers! The dolphins were still keen to do their own thing, and trainers seemed all a bit out of sync, so we started off with one person working with our group, and then got swapped to another trainer, who apparently had been allocated to our group. However, this made it feel a bit more personal, and less like a slick production line – which was a bonus. There was a young boy with his dad in our group, and I particularly noticed them because they obviously had a really good relationship. At the end of the section, where they are encouraging the dolphins to show off their tricks, I could tell that there was clearly some issue with the dad and his son. The son had a cochlear implant, and it appears that the battery had just died, so he wasn’t able to hear anything, including any instructions. The dad explained this to the staff, and gave some basic advice on interacting with his son – and was clearly a bit worried about leaving him by himself to do the swim, but all went well. It was lovely to see what could have been a stressful situation for them managed so well.

And that was the end of the swim, except we were supposed to get a buoy as part of our cabana package, so just as we were getting out, they called our family back in so the dolphin could swim over with our buoy. When we got out, Newton met us with a gift bag, and some towels – which was a very nice touch, and we were taken over to select our photos.

By this time, we were starving, so DH and DD headed over to the Restaurant Hub to get food for us all, I took our gift bag back to the cabana and collected the swimming goggles, then got drinks and a table – and was still waiting for them to get outside with food. No photos of all this, as our camera had no battery! My notes say “we all ate lunch” - no idea what! I recall having a nice glass of wine with it though! (And I may possibly have picked up a cocktail slushy, as I walked past a stand on my way back to the cabana)

To let our food settle, we went round the lovely, long lazy river, and stopped for a bit at the Aviary. We got out, and grabbed some warm cookies (and if memory serves a bottle of beer) in passing, then swam over to see the marmosets on their island, and the otters. At, least we tried to see the otters they were doing a good job of hiding!

Then back to the cabana for a chill, more drinks, and a swim/snorkel in the Grand Reef.

DD was overjoyed to see that a towel octopus had appeared on our table, and Newton had also collected our swim photos for us, and brought them to the cabana.

Then it was almost 5pm and time to start getting changed and ready to go. It was so peaceful at times, although it wasn't usually this quiet!

We needed to collect the Sea Venture photos and there was a huge queue. (I really wished we’d thought to ask Newton if he could sort this for us – we did need to pay though, so perhaps it wouldn’t have been possible). We didn’t help the queue, as DH got completely muddled up with the PIN for the payment card (to be fair, we don’t usually use the Halifax credit card at home) so I had to switch on my phone so he could look it up on LastPass! The member of staff was really nice though, and chatted to us whilst we sorted it; she’d only recently moved to Orlando and worked 3 days a week at Discovery Cove and 4 days at Hollywood Studios, as the cost of living was so high, but was still glad she’d moved. (It did remind us what a privileged life we lead, and how lucky we are to holiday in Orlando).

Thinking of staff, the lifeguards all had quite baywatch-style uniforms!

By the time we eventually got out and to the front, there were no taxis anywhere so DH went in and asked one of the staff members if they could ring us one and just as they were doing so, one turned up – perfect timing!

My day plan had said to go to Disney Springs for the evening… but it’s always good to go off plan - particularly when you’re exhausted by a day not doing much! So back at Riverside, we showered, repaired nail polish (which had not coped too well in all that water) checked that the spare snacks and drinks that we’d brought back from the cabana still tasted OK and then fell asleep. DD was asleep when her head hit the pillow at 8.20pm. DH tried really hard to stay awake to help me write up notes on our day – and lasted until 8.50pm.

Day 5 is here

[Palm trees]

That sounds like a lovely relaxing day. The underwater adventure sounds great, I bet it was amazing to have all the fish around you.

[GezzasGem]

Fabulous day! Never visited Discovery Cove but certainly considering for the trip after this one now 👌

[clochette]

What a great relaxing day. Well done to your DD for coping with the fish! I'm not sure I could

[Custancia]

Originally Posted by Palm trees

That sounds like a lovely relaxing day. The underwater adventure sounds great, I bet it was amazing to have all the fish around you.

See more...

It was a fantastic day, and the SeaVenture was a real highlight - totally unlike anything I’ve done before.

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

Fabulous day! Never visited Discovery Cove but certainly considering for the trip after this one now 👌

See more...

We all really enjoyed it. And it looks like you’ll be fine in not getting your “OK” and “I need to go up to the surface now” signs muddled

Originally Posted by clochette

What a great relaxing day. Well done to your DD for coping with the fish! I'm not sure I could

See more...

I was very, very proud of her! I could tell she was pretty nervous during the fish feeding (probably not helped by the advice that we should not wave our hands in the water whilst they are feeding in case the fish mistake our fingers for food ). But she said afterwards that she was really glad she did it.

[Goldia]

It sounds like the perfect day. Good idea to check out the quality of the food you brought back before dozing off

We're going back to Discovery Cove this summer, I had really thought it would a be an actual once in a lifetime for us. But Oh well!

I'm curious about the taxi. Can you remember how much it cost? It was only a 20 minute drive in the morning and so it's not far...we've used uber before in Orlando when we stayed on I drive, but this summer we are a party of 6 so I'm thinking maybe a larger taxi will be better? No worries if you can't remember.

[Custancia]

It was genuinely intended as a one-off visit the first time we went to DC for us too! But it’s such a good experience.

I couldn’t remember the taxi cost confidently, but we paid by credit card in the taxi, so it was easy to check! The cost included tip as I remember DH commenting about being able to add it on. Riverside to Discovery Cove was $28.29.
Riverside to Seaworld was obviously similar at $31.05 and $28.98 for the journey back to Fort Wildness.
It was minivan taxi each time (even though we didn’t need the space!)

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Custancia

It was genuinely intended as a one-off visit the first time we went to DC for us too! But it’s such a good experience.

I couldn’t remember the taxi cost confidently, but we paid by credit card in the taxi, so it was easy to check! The cost included tip as I remember DH commenting about being able to add it on. Riverside to Discovery Cove was $28.29.
Riverside to Seaworld was obviously similar at $31.05 and $28.98 for the journey back to Fort Wildness.
It was minivan taxi each time (even though we didn’t need the space!)

See more...

Thanks that's helpful. It's good to know the taxi was pretty easy to find too.

[Leia77]

What a lovely day! We've been thinking about DC - now I will only consider it with a cabana ☺️

[Custancia]

It was an amazing day, and the cabana was fantastic... but I feel slightly guilty that I may be leading you financially astray