Discovery Cove

[keatingschick]

We are going WDW in March and yesterday my hubby mentioned that we might go to Discovery Cove. It was briefly mentioned last time by my daughter but never came to anything because we had so much we wanted to do, but obviously this time we are considering different things.
Just wondering what it actually involves.
I am not the worlds best swimmer, and I certainly can't get under water I just float right up to the top - have never really tried with a snorkel.
But also is there lots of fish in the water? I find that a bit scary - have you got something on your ankles?
It does seem like an amazing thing to do, but I want to know what happens so I can decide what I want to do.
Last question - if I decide I cant face going in the water what will I do or is it pointless for me to be there if I don't plan on swimming with anything?

[Slowhand]

That`s a good question, and I`m very much looking forward to the replies you get.
I too am not a swimmer but I love dolphins and wildlife in general, and I always wondered what there was to do there for us "land lubbers!"

[plutomad]

DC is a lot of money for the day, but is well worth it. I have been twice, once swimming with dolphins and once as a watcher (my son is under 6). My father who cannot swim at all told the trainer and he and some younger people (over 6) went in the shallow water to swim with the dolphin (ie you hold onto the dolphin and he pulls you to shore) we still got some great photos of him:D the rest of the people who could swim go to the deep bit in the middle for their swim. There is a lot of tropical fish in the pool but they are so graceful and great to watch if you dont want to swim with them. My kids did not like the ray pool but i did and felt very relaxed just watching them. Also if you use the lazy river you do get a long sausage like float if you want.

In with the price (whether swimming with dolphins or not) you get towels, snorkel, suntan lotion, googles in a net bag when you arrive. You get taken to your locker and shown how to use them and then taken to get your wetsuit or swim vest (these are very boyant in the water- even my dad liked them and floated around in the water:rotfl: ) You get a 2 course meal and drinks a lunch. also if you show your pass that you get you can go to the small shacks and get free drinks and food all day.
Also if you want more towels there are loads in the changing room for you to take and use throughout the day.

the photos and some gifts are expensive but are good for the memories.

I hope this helps you in deciding what todo, i am sure some other people from the boards will add their thoughts to.

[Isafari]

We've seen plenty of non swimmers at DC......and they did the dolphin encounter too. The staff are really good at not pushing you where you don't want to go. There is plenty of shallow water that you can interact with the dolphin in :thumbs: You would love it.
Here is a link to a trip report I wrote from our day at DC last year.....

http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36559

[Vikki]

I am not the worlds best swimmer, and I certainly can't get under water I just float right up to the top - have never really tried with a snorkel.
I am a useless swimmer, seriously useless. I told the trainer this as soon as we got in the water and it was not a problem. The vests you are given support you totally. She also told me the dolphins know and are gentle with those who can't swim too well. She was right! As for the snorkeling, again, due to the vest, you just kinda float there. I didn't think I'd be able to do it, and it's odd at first, but after a few minutes you're away!

But also is there lots of fish in the water? I find that a bit scary - have you got something on your ankles??
You have nothing on your ankles no. I also hate fish, so I stay out of the pool with the fish in :yes:

[keatingschick]

Thanks for the replies - and loved the trip report.
I really think we will probably do it - last year at Seaworld, we all dangled our arms over into the water to stroke the dolphins and my daughter was not impressed that she couldn't reach and everytime my hubby held her over she was convinced he was going to drop her in - so it will be nice for her to be able to touch the dolphin.
As for me - not sure I will actually go in, I hate anything touching my ankles anyway and I have to say it really bothers me the idea of all the fish swimming around me unless I can have one of those old diving suits you see, you know the ones with the sort of heavy metal shoes and heavy goldfish bowl kind of head gear:rotfl: .
But I really think that I have to go along if only to have a good laugh at my hubby in a wetsuit.:wink: .
Shame about the Cirque trip (unless you have been back since) cos thats another thing that we are planning to do this time that we didn't last time.

[traceyjhope]

We experienced DC last year and boy what an experience:thumbs:
We had a non swimmer in our group and so's not to spoil the fun for everybody we went into deeper water right by an underwater rock handily placed:wink: .
How old is your daughter, when we swam DD was not old enough, but we spoke to the trainer who let us all have our photo taken with a dolphin after our swim, plus it also allowed DD plenty of time to stroke and touch him.
DD loved the ray pool and the official photojock took lots of pics of her touching the rays and squirming, laughing . She also loved the lagoon. As she had a swimvest and float on DH snorkelled with her in his arms for hours, even taking her to see the sharks and barracudas did not faze her at all:shrug: .
We won't go to DC again until DD is old enough to do the dolphin swim herself, but would highly reccomend it to anybody considering it even though it was an expensive day all told it was great value for money:thumbs:

[keatingschick]

My daughter is 8 (she was 7 when we went) and she is quite small. She didn't half stress as we were leaning over stroking the dolphin - mind you we were all really excited by it:oops: . Then hubby picked her up to lean her over, but she stressed even more then because she said she thought her was going to drop her in.
I can swim but I wouldn't win any medals for it and I just can't go under water, if anyone is there when I go I will be the rubber blob floating on the top!!!
Also I am right there with the worry of the snorkel letting water in!

[Vikki]

Another option is to do the dolphin nursery tour at Sea World, you get a ton of interaction, even though you dn't actually go in the water. We loved it!

[Froglovestoad]

We just got back from Orlando and on our first day we went to Discovery Cove, it was such a beautiful place, to be honest you wouldn't have to go in with the fish at all and would still have a wonderful day there. For a start you can walk into the aviary which is like a walk through a forest with so many different kinds of tropical birds flying around, I was about an hour in there and had to be removed by my DH in the end, there were little tiny deer to stroke in there too! (aaah). Also, if you go in the lazy river it's shallow most of the way round, and you can get floating things to lie on and just float along in the warm water. You can stand outside the ray pool and look at the rays going around. The only bit you wouldn't like is the deep pool which is full of fish and big manta rays, I swam around in there for hours but the big rays did come very close and skimmed me with their wings which I loved, but you wouldn't by the sounds of it! None of the other fish came near to be honest, I only think the rays touched me because I was trying to be on top of them. :whistle: There are also loads of sun loungers around to lie down and relax in the lovely atmosphere. The food and drinks there are wonderful. For lunch (listening to a live band play) we had lobster salad, fish, chicken, you name it! I think you would find so much to do there that like us you would not want to leave. We also had a non-swimmer in our dolphin group. The trainer offered to swim out with him so he could lean on her then have the dolphin bring him back, but in the end he chose to be towed along in the shallow water. The look on his face was priceless. It really is a very special place, I have had a very traumatic year and felt so so much better spending a day at this wonderful place. :)

[keatingschick]

One thing I am curious about after reading these replies. A few mention the rays and I was discussing it with my hubby this morning. Just wondering after the incident with Steve Irwin, do they let you swim with rays? Or is it a completely different thing that killed him? Just wondered if it was safe thats all.

[Isafari]

One thing I am curious about after reading these replies. A few mention the rays and I was discussing it with my hubby this morning. Just wondering after the incident with Steve Irwin, do they let you swim with rays? Or is it a completely different thing that killed him? Just wondered if it was safe thats all.

Don't worry, the rays at DC have all had their stingers removed :thumbs:

[traceyjhope]

When we swam with the rays last year we were told they very placid creatures but there barbs had been removed as a precaution:thumbs: