Florida Ridge Villa
The very best Orlando Villa minutes from the magic of Disney
Discovery Cove
 Up close and personalDiscovery Cove, Florida |  Dolphin encounterDiscovery Cove, Florida |
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 Discovery WildlifeDiscovery Cove, Orlando |  Discovery cove wildlifeDiscovery Cove, Orlando |
 Entrance at Discovery coveDiscovery Cove, Seaworld |  Crystal watersDiscovery Cove, Seaworld |
 Dolphin EncounterDiscovery Cove, Seaworld |  DISCO.5.jpg |
 Dolphin encounterDiscovery Cove, Orlando |  Dolphin lessonDiscovery Cove, Florida |
Discovery Cove is run and owned by Answer Busch, the same people that own Busch Gardens and Seaworld, so you know you are in good hands visiting the park. The park is a very intimate place to come and see the dolphins up close and personal, having a limit how many the park can accept really makes it feel very exclusive. This does make booking early essential if you are going to go in the summer months.
All of your day is photographed by the professional photographers within the park and captured for your family albums. You can purchase photographs at the end of the day if you wish. You can also take your own camera if you like, which is advisable. The Discovery cove photos are very good and most people opt for these, however be warned this service does not come cheap at $125 for either a USB stick or DVD with all your pictures. You can also purchase individual photos if required.
The park is designed around a beach and oasis feel with lots of golden sand to walk on and many areas to relax and just chill out. The main areas are the large lakes where you get up close and personal with the dolphins. Due to the nature of the park and the sea life you are not allowed to take your own food like other parks, however the ticket covers all your food and drinks this is good value for money. You can also have many snacks throughout the day including Chips, Pretzels & ice cream.
Located around the park is a large lazy river, which has many things to watch under the water (fish and other sea life lives in there. It does tend to get busy first thing in the day, so this is always best visited in the afternoon, when the sun is higher in the sky.
If you can’t see any fish in the lazy river there are plenty of pools to have a snorkel and enjoy the many fish and sea creatures. I really liked this and thought it was one of the best bits of the day being able to swim around with fish darting in and out of your legs! Around these two pools you will see many birds, watch out for the seagulls as these can be a pain after a while and will always go for your food if you leave it lying around.
One of the main reasons most people come to Discovery cove is to swim with the Dolphins. This does not disappoint and to be honest is one of the best experiences in orlando. You are given a lesson on how they are bought up in the wild and also looked after at Seaworld. Everyone is made to feel part of the lesson and during this period you are allowed to touch the dolphins and get them to do different things by using whistles and comands. This I found to be a great experience and you can see just how intelligent Dolphins are. We had most of our photos taken with the Dolphins as this is the main part of the day.
Overall I would really rate Discovery Cove and if you get the chance to visit I would definitely put it on your to do list. Yes it is expensive, however with free food and getting up close and personal with the Dolphins really does make this a great day out. Not to mention it is nice to be able to get into a cool pool when the temperature is hot. .Add to this the fact you also get free days admissions to either Busch Gardens or Seaworld and this does make it very good value for money.