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Old 22 Nov 16, 12:20 PM  
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Minnie4Mickey
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Our Orlando Vacation - Day 3, Discovery Cove

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Day 3 – Sunday 30th October

Today was another early start as we were off to Discovery Cove. This was my 3rd time visiting here and Kevin’s 1st. My family love it here, it has such a chilled vibe about the whole day and it’s even better considering you can choose to do the non-dolphin swim. We booked our day at Discovery Cove quite early on in to the trip because the tickets we had included Sea World, Busch Gardens and Aquatica, so we wanted to pick up our tickets earlier on in the holiday rather than carrying around the paperwork.

Originally me and Kevin also had an ADR booked at the Yachtsman for tonight, we decided to cancel the day before though as we figured we would be rushed for time trying to leave the park and get ready on time.

We left the villa at around 7:30am and made our way straight to Discovery Cove.





We made it there by 8:15 and started the check in process. Half of the group decided to do the dolphin swim and the other half did the non-swim, we managed to get our slot booked for 11:40am, which is perfect meaning we would have the whole afternoon to relax and stroll round the park without clock watching.

Discovery Cove is such a beautiful park, I really love it here and I always get the urge to want to book a holiday to the Caribbean or Hawaii after spending some time here, as I waited for the rest of the group to check in I made a coffee and took some photos out by the reception area.







Check in was stress-free and straight forward and we then made our way through to the park, a member of staff pointed us in the right direction and told us where the lockers were located and also where you pick up snorkels and wetsuits/jackets.







By this point everyone was beginning to get a bit hungry, so we decided to grab some breakfast from Laguna Grill. This is the main restaurant where you go to get your breakfast and lunch from through-out the day, all food and drink is included for your stay and you can eat as much or as little as you like. In addition to Laguna Grill there are also numerous bars dotted round the park, where you can get alcoholic beverages and snacks from.

So we grabbed our food and went and sat in patio area to eat, I really enjoy the food at DC. It is buffet style in the sense you go up and help yourself, but there is someone there to serve the hot food to you.



After breakfast we headed towards the lockers to get rid of our bags and clothes for the day, I also decided to leave my phone in my locker. I didn’t want the stress of finding somewhere to leave it as I was in water, so I thought I would snap a few pictures first…









Once we had been to the lockers we made base for the day at some sun loungers and agreed to meet back it here in time for the dolphin swim, from here me and Kevin headed straight for The Grand Reef…

Getting in to the water was a challenge in itself, it was SO cold. I took the plunge and went straight under to get it over and done with, but Kevin went for the slower more painful option and gently eased himself in (I could never do this, it’s self-torture).

We spent some time exploring and snorkelling our way around the grand reef the sun was really making an appearance, so we decided to do some sun-bathing and also found a nice rock to perch ourselves on as we watched the Dolphins. I also made my way to one of the snack bars to pick up some drinks, I grabbed some bottled water and also my first alcoholic beverage of the day, I chose a mango frozen cocktail it was so yum!

After a lovely relaxed morning it was now time to meet the group and head off for our Dolphin swim, we had our pre-swim briefing in the Starfish Cabana. In here you speak with your instructor, watch a little video and sign any necessary forms before you begin your interaction. As we were a large group, it ended up being a private swim for us as everyone in our group was from the same family.







The interaction lasts for about half an hour, once it has finished you get taken back to the cabanas where you can look over the professional photos and decided on a package. The rest of the group were able to get some pictures for us when they stood by the edge, IMO the picture packages are ridiculously over-priced so we chose the $99 package, which included 4 pictures of your choice and any additional pictures are $10 each. As we each only wanted one photo, by doing it this way we saved ourselves some money. There were 7 people in our group and we wanted 7 pictures printed, so we just split the cost 7 ways.

It was now getting close to 1pm, so we made our back to Laguna Grill for lunch. There were plenty of options to choose from including Hawaiian chicken, fresh tilapia, burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches.

I went for the tilapia, Caesar salad, potato salad, coleslaw and chocolate cake for dessert. I really wanted to taste everything, but my eyes were definitely bigger than my tummy as I couldn't finish it all...



Feeling rather full me and Kevin decided to have a relax in the sun and managed to find ourselves a hammock…

The word “relax” should never be used in the same sentence as hammock, because the first 10 minutes were spent trying to get in and after this anytime either of us moved we fell out LOL, we must have been such a pair to watch. We gave up after a little while and opted for the safer non-moving option of a regular sun bed.

Once lunch had digested we decided to make our way back to the water and went towards the wind away river but first stopping in the bird Avery.

As we left the wind away river we bumped in to my nephew and his girlfriend, she was in tears holding her arm as something had bitten her whilst she was in the water. She said a bug fell on her from one of the trees and then the next thing she knew her arm was stinging, she was quite upset and there was a little lump appearing (she has very sensitive skin) so we thought we would take her to the first aid room to be safe which is situated round the corner from the gift shop. When we arrived the guy in there asked us a few questions, he then wiped her arm over with an anti-septic wipe and rubbed in some gel for her to help with the pain, he also re-assured her and told her it wasn't anything dangerous/ poisonous.

We spent 5 or so minutes in the first aid room and we were back on our way to explore the park, we decided to stop off by one of the snack bars, I tried the frozen pina colada this time and also some of the rice crispy squares.



My notes for the rest of the afternoon are quite limited as I put my phone back in the locker, we decided to make the most of our last couple of hours exploring the rest of the park.

Discovery Cove closes at 5:30pm, so around this time we decided to get our belongings from the lockers and start making our way back to the entrance of the park.



By the time everyone had gotten changed and we made it to the car it was close to 6pm, we made our way back to the villa so everyone could get showered and decide what the plan was for the evening. Both me and Kevin were feeling really tired I think the late night from HHN and two early mornings had finally caught up with us, so we were both grateful we cancelled our ADR at the Yachtsman.

The rest of the group decided they were going out for a meal at Outback Steakhouse, as we ate here a couple of nights ago we decided to make the most of a quiet villa and stay in for the evening.







We had some food by the villa pool and decided to watch the Walking Dead, we are both (me more so) huge fans and it was the next episode of the newest season. I say "we" watched it, Kevin had already fallen asleep by this point, so I watched it by myself and made my way to bed once it had finished at 10pm.

Next Day: Animal Kingdom, Tusker House, Boathouse
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Edited at 03:01 PM.
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Old 22 Nov 16, 06:31 PM  
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Lisa_Lollipop
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What a lovely day, I just adore Discovery Cove... always one of my most favourite days of the holiday! I love how chilled out it is and the freedom to eat and drink as much you please is a massive win for me (such a little piggy me!)

Glad your Nephew's girlfriend was ok after her bite! You can never be too careful with these things so definitely good to have it checked out!

Loved your stash of goodies in the evening, perfect dinner! And that sunset... amazing!
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Old 22 Nov 16, 11:37 PM  
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What a lovely day, the free cocktails don't sound too bad either

What a beautiful sunset!
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Old 23 Nov 16, 10:27 AM  
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Minnie4Mickey
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Originally Posted by Lisa_Lollipop View Post
What a lovely day, I just adore Discovery Cove... always one of my most favourite days of the holiday! I love how chilled out it is and the freedom to eat and drink as much you please is a massive win for me (such a little piggy me!)

Glad your Nephew's girlfriend was ok after her bite! You can never be too careful with these things so definitely good to have it checked out!

Loved your stash of goodies in the evening, perfect dinner! And that sunset... amazing!
Me too, it is definitely one of my favourite days in Orlando. Such a nice atmosphere! Same as me haha, I love the food and drink and probably consumed a bit too much!

Yeah we were worried at first, but once she spoke to first aid she was ok!

It was a lovely end to the day

Originally Posted by sheluk View Post
What a lovely day, the free cocktails don't sound too bad either

What a beautiful sunset!
Free cocktails definitely went down a treat

I loved some of our morning/ evening views by the pool!
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Old 23 Nov 16, 01:44 PM  
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Redrach1903
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Lovely chilled day! DC is so pretty! We had a great day there a few years back!

Totally love a quiet villa night! Bliss! Xxx
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Old 23 Nov 16, 05:55 PM  
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Minnie4Mickey
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Originally Posted by Redrach1903 View Post
Lovely chilled day! DC is so pretty! We had a great day there a few years back!

Totally love a quiet villa night! Bliss! Xxx
it is so pretty there, really love a DC day!

It was such a nice change from the usually chaotic villa! xxx
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