Photo TR: A Relaxing Day at Discovery Cove

[jedimaster1227]

A few weeks ago I had the chance to experience Discovery Cove for the first time as a full-day guest. I had visited Discovery Cove previous for the media previews of The Grand Reef and Freshwater Oasis but both of those times were only a few hours, not the full experience. My wife decided that for her birthday Discovery Cove is what she wanted to do to celebrate so we booked our experience, Dolphin Swim included!

Discovery Cove is designed like a day-resort or cruise on land, with the majority of the offerings included in your admission, though upcharge/upgrade options are available. Food is available throughout the park with two fast-casual meals (breakfast and lunch) available along with snacks at kiosks and bars. Beverages including basic beer and wine are included, though there is a premium drink package available for purchase. Daybeds and cabanas can be reserved for an extra cost. The Dolphin Swim is the park's main attraction and is factored into the price of most base admission offers, but if that doesn't appeal, you can purchase Day Resort admission to enjoy the rest of the park's amenities without participating in that experience. Additional experiences can be added to your package as an upgrade including the Seaventure underwater walking tour, a private Animal Trek guided tour, swimming with sharks, stingray feedings and more. 

You enter the park through a gorgeous air conditioned that sets the tone for your experience... 

You queue up to get to a check-in station to confirm your itinerary for the day including your Dolphin Swim time. This is also your opportunity to add any additional experiences to your day if you didn't prebook. I strongly recommend getting to the park before opening to avoid having the wait taking time away from your day in the park.

You get a lanyard and ID card which you keep with you at all times. This will also feature the times of any of your reserved experiences and the location you go to check in for them.

Upon exiting the park entrance building, you're greeted with this beautiful sight.

The layered beauty of the park is something to admire.

It isn't a SeaWorld park without animal encounters... And these two parrots are among the first we had during our day at Discovery Cove.

First stop: breakfast at Laguna Grill!

Here are your options to choose from...

Pretty standard breakfast fare but a good way to load up before an active day outside.

Bars throughout the park are where you can pick up drinks and snacks. The bottled beers and several wines are included in park admission. The beers on tap, liquors in the back and mixed and frozen drinks are available to purchase a la carte or to get as a part of the premium drink package.

A look at the Premium Drink Package and a la carte premium drink options.

I will say, this was something I was most eager to revisit from my prior trips to Discovery Cove... Unlimited Lemon Slushies! They've since added new flavor options but lemonade was the only way to go for me.

Explorer's Aviary is one of the included areas/experiences of the park...

Inside you can find these Bird Identification Cards if you'd like to know what you're seeing...

I've since identified that this is a bird... 100% can confirm.

Bird feed is included at no extra cost during your visit to Explorer's Aviary. I made some friends as a result. 

That's one big bird! 

You can enter Wind-Away River, the park's unique take on a lazy river from within Explorer's Aviary. 

Wind-Away River is all kinds of picturesque. 

There are no tubes to float on in here, so you can enjoy a complementary life vest and a pool noodle while you're inside. Life vests are required while in the Wind-Away River.

There's even a cave you float through.

Very beautifully designed. 

This is not a traditional lazy river in that the depth of the path changes significantly and suddenly along its course. At times you'll be wading through the water and at others you'll be up to your neck floating with the trough beneath bottoming out 8 feet below. 

There are several entrances/exits to the Wind-Away River.

Wind-Away River runs through Explorer's Aviary, so you get some interesting vantage points of the park's flying residents.

Quite pretty.

Wind-Away River gets two thumbs up from me!

Back at Laguna Grill it was time for lunch...

We sampled a few of the options they had to offer.

After lunch it was time for some snorkeling in The Grand Reef, the park's saltwater reef. 

You get to swim up close to a number of rays, fish and even (behind well-designed barriers) sharks.

The Seaventure experience in The Grand Reef is an upgrade option that allows you to walk underwater, almost like a helmet/snuba dive combo. The helmets give you full head mobility and no regulator is needed. The helmets are weighed down to help you stay on the floor and are tethered to a floating source of oxygen above.

Up close and personal...

Some giant rays swim past you and you're totally ok to touch them as they glide past.

Baby shark...

Daddy shark...

The barrier between the sharks and guests in The Grand Reef is pretty subtle.

You get very close...

They have skates here too!

So cool!

I really do love The Grand Reef!

The Freshwater Oasis is where you can see marmosets and otters in neat wading environment.

We didn't see any animals in The Freshwater Oasis during our visit but the environment is still fun to explore.

And of course, the Dolphin Swim was an amazing experience. It lasted about an hour and we had the chance to learn about these amazing creatures, observe their behaviors and take some photos with them.

Plus you get the chance to glide along with them in the water.

We had a great time during our visit to Discovery Cove and I definitely think we'll go back for the Day Resort experience in the near future!

[SharkTums]

This really is an amazing park. KT has been asking to go back and we're looking at booking with the FL Resident deals they have. For all of you out of state peeps, they have deals where you can get admission here and to Sea World and Busch for a great price so think about it!

[boldikus]

Nice report. Love this park and we are planning a trip back very soon in fact.