A relaxed military style trip. May 2022. Day 6, Discovery Cove

[roxie2001]

Monday 16th May

Index

After reading about being able to get to discovery cove early, I really wanted to arrive around 8.30. (7.30 was a little too early as we had non swim tickets)
Didn’t want to faff about with trolleys and shuttle buses from seaworld, so at around 8, I ordered an Uber.
I made the mistake of booking from the room, so our location was slightly different to the entrance.
Thought it would be ok as the driver would track where we were. The WiFi was excellent at the hotel apart from this morning, maybe because of the storm but it kept disconnecting. I tried to send a message to the driver but it failed.
Matts was also having issues even without WiFi.
The driver called but was cutting off so we just headed to the trolley stop.
I told Matt to try and reorder but a trolley came along so we jumped on.
Arrived at seaworld, no traffic queuing today as it was early.
Couldn’t see a shuttle or anyone to ask, gave up and got the directions on matts phone which was now connecting.
We made another mistake of not cutting through to the car park exit on the road that discovery cove is on so ended up going a very long way round. It took about 20 minutes and even though it was an easy walk along the pavement, it’s not an ideal option.
We arrived later than planned, hot, sweaty and barely talking, not the relaxed start I imagined. 🤣
Check in was super quick and we headed straight to the restaurant.

The breakfast was good, French toast and pastries delicious.
Loaded up on sugar, next stop lockers, towels and wetsuit jackets.
We found a sun bed, obviously the ones with umbrellas were gone so we had the burning hot sun ones. Got our first drink.

I had a good system of ordering wine then transferring it into the bigger soda cup to top up with lemonade. I also tried a pina colada slush. Matt had a beer, choice was good, he swapped between miller and bud light plus bud light lime.

We chose to sit near the dolphin swims, close to the lockers and bar. I spent my day popping back there to get my phone.
We had a couple of drinks here but it became too hot so went into the lazy river with a float.
This was nice until the second waterfall. Matt swallowed something and couldn’t get his breath so we managed to swim to the side.
We chatted to the life guard, he said there was a lot of debris from the storm even though the pool had been cleaned. He also said the aviary had just been repaired and it was a worry the storm would cause it to close again.
We decided to exit and get a drink, it was into the aviary so was nice to see the birds.
Just one exit out without having to get back in the river and we had to dunk ourselves back in the water. You couldn’t enter or exit without doing this so you would need a waterproof camera if you want photos.
A bar was just along the path and had a little pool with seats in next to it, we loved this and had a couple of drinks here.
One couple used the float as a foot rest, genius. 🤣
We went to lunch via the lockers so I could get my phone.

The salmon was good, coleslaw was great, pasta too spicy for me so I passed it to Matt.
We went to the little bar nearest us.

This was a cherry slush that I preferred to the pina colada.

We moved to the seats in the shade and had a few drinks here.

Before having seconds at the restaurant.

This may not surprise you 🤣 but I don’t like going underwater. This trip I didn’t want to go back and regret anything though so I really wanted to try the grand reef.
I brought prescription goggles before I came. I had used them before the holiday, they are a great buy and would really recommend if you are short sighted like myself.
Matt had his mask and snorkel so off we went.
I was really pleased with myself, we didn’t go very deep but I did see a lot of fish. I only got a little freaked out when the rays came toward me.
It wasn’t cold but really salty.
We managed about 30/45 minutes in here.
Back to the beach and instead of sun beds we found chairs in the shade.
I loved this snapchat filter

The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking and snacking.

It was so peaceful and lovely to see the dolphins swim about. Couldn’t manage get a photo of them.

Discovered ice cream was on the snack list.

We stayed until the very end and picked up some cookies to take away.
Tried and failed 🤣 to take a couple of nice photos on the way out.

I loved this day, for us it was a perfect mix of doing bits and relaxing. I would absolutely get non swim tickets again if we planned to visit seaworld.
With the increase in food and drink prices, this is well worth the extra money.
Outside a seaworld shuttle was waiting but we ordered an Uber.
No issues this time.
We finished off the left over pizza from last night.
It was always going to be an early night as an early start for New York in the morning.

[ClaireNJ]

What a fab day well apart from Matt choking on something 😳😫
Food looked good too 😋
Looking forward to NY 🍎🇺🇸

[roxie2001]

Originally Posted by ClaireNJ

What a fab day well apart from Matt choking on something 😳😫
Food looked good too 😋
Looking forward to NY 🍎🇺🇸

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Food was really good. Matt was ok, just didn't fancy the waterfall while he was coughing.

[Melbatb]

Another fabulous and relaxing day! You certainly did well on the food and drinks!

Get pictures of moving animals is always a challenge

[roxie2001]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

Another fabulous and relaxing day! You certainly did well on the food and drinks!

Get pictures of moving animals is always a challenge

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My photo taking skills aren't the best anyway
Enjoyed watching from the side.
Loved the unlimited drinks, its well worth the extra.

[Goldia]

It really sounds like you enjoyed your Discovery Cove day and had a great time in the water, snacking, relaxing and then repeating! A lovely day.

[roxie2001]

Originally Posted by Goldia

It really sounds like you enjoyed your Discovery Cove day and had a great time in the water, snacking, relaxing and then repeating! A lovely day.

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It was well needed and perfect just before 2 busy days coming up.

[mick]

Another nice relaxing day

Joan

[roxie2001]

Originally Posted by mick

Another nice relaxing day

Joan

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Thank you, we both loved it.

[Palm trees]

Sounds great, very tempted by Discovery Cove