Check out the beautiful water and animals at Discovery Cove Orlando.
What is Discovery Cove Florida?
Discovery Cove Florida is an all-inclusive day resort in Orlando, FL where you and your family will experience exciting animal encounters in a breathtaking tropical atmosphere. Swim with bottlenose dolphins, feed tropical birds, snorkel through a saltwater reef and play inches from a family of otters – all in one day.
Checking Into Discovery Cove Florida
The resort has the feel of an all-inclusive resort (which I have only stayed in one time but it felt just like this). When we walked in the door we were greeted immediately by a friendly employee who walked us over to her desk and handled all of our paperwork personally. You can see the beautiful dolphins hanging from the ceiling.
What’s Included With Admission to Discovery Cove Florida?
When you buy your admission to Discovery Cove Florida it covers everything you could need for the day. And I mean EVERYTHING.
As you can see from the picture above there is a giant buffet available for both breakfast and lunch. The food was very good (you can see pictures on my post Eating Vegan at Discovery Cove Orlando). You also get all the snacks you can eat and drink during the day. It’s also unlimited beer, wine and margaritas.
You get swim gear and snorkel gear. There are lockers to keep your stuff in and beautiful bathrooms with full shower amenities, towels, sunscreen and plastic bags to take home your wet things.
Parking is FREE but if you stay at a SeaWorld Partner Hotel like we did you can take the shuttle home. Since you will want to get to the park super early you will have to get some other ride to the park.
You get to swim in the Freshwater Oasis, Grand Reef, Explorer’s Aviary, Dolphin Lagoon (where you can swim with dolphins) and the Wind-Away River! All have some sort of wild-life to interact with!
Plus you get a 14 day tickets to SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica!
What Extra Perks Can You Get?
There are three additional packages you can purchase that are not included with admission. We did two of the three and I cannot recommend those two enough.
The Discovery Cove Coral Reef Walk (full post coming later) is WELL worth the money. They take these amazing helmets which serve two purposes- to weigh you down so you can easily walk on the bottom and they allow you to breathe. It is NOT scuba diving- the breathing is completely the same as being above the water. I am claustrophobic and had no problem whatsoever. And being underwater was incredible- it’s so peaceful. We got to hold a sea urchin and a horseshoe crab. We got to stand in a swam of fish while they ate. And I even was brave enough to touch two fish and a shark!
The Discovery Cove Dolphin Experience (post coming soon) is a 30-minute interactive adventure. Accompanied by a trainer, groups of seven to nine guests wade into shallow water and become acquainted with their dolphin through hugs, kisses and rubdowns. (People I KISSED a dolphin). Then, taking the adventure one step further, guests interact with their dolphin in deeper water. Guests must be at least 6 years old for the dolphin swim experience. We had a little girl in our group who was doing this for her birthday, she was completely excited.
We got to interact with two beautiful dolphins and the trainers answered all our questions. I was crazy impressed with the care the dolphins receive. They were just the sweetest animals and communicated so clearly. We weren’t allowed to take pictures on this but we could buy them. Mine were AWFUL so I didn’t buy them. It wasn’t their fault- I just looked awful. lol
For an additional $25 per person you can get an upgraded drink package. It includes a few other drinks (you can see the list in the video). However, just so you know, these drinks are only available at one location in the park and it’s not actually the most popular area. People online had complained that it was difficult to get to and feel that you really got your $25 worth. After seeing it I understand why. So just keep that in mind when you are deciding.
Ready to plan your own trip to Discovery Cove Orlando? Because you are frugal you need to use the right travel agent to find you all the best deals. Check out A Frugal Chick’s Favorite- Destinations in Florida.