Discovery Cove is a one of kind day resort exclusive to Orlando. It is owned by SeaWorld, but it is not a theme park. Its swimming based, but it’s not a water park either. In fact, it’s about the most relaxing thing you can do in a city that is all hustle and bustle. I feel like people come to Orlando for vacation and then they leave more tired than when they got here, after days in the theme parks. Discovery Cove is the alternative solution to that.
I’ve talked about Discovery Cove day resort packages before, when we went there for our Bachelor/Bachelorette Day last year, but the park has changed a few things due to Covid-19.
Discovery Cove generally has two package options. One is the day resort package and one is the dolphin swim package. I’m going to talk about the dolphin swim in a future article. (I wound up at Discovery Cove twice at the end of December for reasons I can’t really go into.) The beauty of Discovery Cove is everything you need for your day is included: lockers, sunscreen, towels, wetsuits, food, drinks, and even alcohol. The only thing you need to bring is a photo ID and a bathing suit.
Once you park, as you walk up towards the building, you come to a tent where they are doing temperature checks. They scanned our foreheads and we kept going up to bag check. We didn’t have bags so we went straight to check in.
It was freezing the day we were scheduled to do our day resort package. It was 43 degrees when we got there. They told us we could reschedule for the next day since we were locals, but Jay and I both had to work, so we just stuck it out. The good news is the water at Discovery Cove is heated, since the park is open year-round. The freshwater areas are kept around 80 degrees and the saltwater areas are kept in the 70s for the comfort of the animals.
That’s steam coming off the Freshwater Oasis water.
I don’t remember the name of the girl who checked us in, but she was super friendly and we talked about Mandalorian. I upgraded to Premium Drink Package for $42, which gives you unlimited cocktails on top of the normally included beer and wine. Jay stuck with the regular package since he had to drive.
Normally they just tell you the hours for lunch at check in, but now because they are trying to space people out, you have to choose a time for lunch. They give you an hour time slot. We chose 1:00 pm, since it was already after 9:00 am and we still had to eat breakfast.
Also provided at check in was a cute little Discovery Cove pouch with a complimentary mask and a bottle of hand sanitizer. They have cycled through a couple different mask designs. This one was a standard face mask with ear loops. When Robby and I went back in September they gave us gaiters instead.
The meals are served in one main building as a buffet. Where they used to serve you the hot items and all the cold items were self-service, now the cold items were set in individual cups and bowls, set up in rows. You ask for what you want and an attendant pushes one forward for you to take. It is a much slower process than before, so the line backs up a bit. Thankfully not too many people were crazy enough to be at Discovery Cove in such cold weather, so it didn’t take very long. We did end up moving seats because there were tons of empty tables and yet a big family sat down right next to us.
Once we finished breakfast, we went down to get our lockers and wet suits. For someone who owns a lot of spirit jerseys, I do my best to avoid sleeves. However, it was cold enough I asked for the short sleeve wetsuit instead of the vest. As hard as that thing is to get in and out of, I will never understand people who wear rompers. It’s just so much effort.
Previously, snorkels, noodles, and life jackets were self-serve. Just a big rack and you could take what you needed. Now you had to ask for them and there was a place to return the used ones so they could be sanitized. Snorkels were found with the wetsuits, where life jackets and noodles were out on the beach.
Masks cannot be worn in the water and the life guards will yell at you if you forget to take them off before you enter. However, you have to have a mask on to access the bar for drinks or snacks. Our solution was to swim with the free mask looped around our wrist and then put it on to go up to the bar, because going back to the locker every time we wanted a drink was just a waste of time. Plus, the water was warm, the air was not. I will say the gaiter I had been given in September worked great for this, because I could just hang it around my neck while I was in the water.
Jay and I spent the majority of our day bouncing between the Freshwater Oasis and the Wind Away River. Both are fresh water and kept at 80 degrees. The big difference is the river goes through the aviary and you can’t have drinks in there. You can in the oasis. The oasis is also where you find the otters and the marmosets. The big change I found there is now you can only swim one way through the otter area, where before you could enter from either side.
We probably spent more of the day in the Freshwater Oasis since you can take your drinks in there. I was taking full advantage of the upgraded drink package and Danielle the bartender and I became fast friends. She took really good care of us.
We didn’t go over to the Grand Reef, which is the snorkeling area with fish included with the day resort package. If you’d like to see pictures of that, please see the Bachelor/Bachelorette Day at Discovery Cove article. Not only was it too cold to trek across the park, I didn’t have a water proof camera with us on this particular day.
Not only can you swim through the aviary in the Wind Away River, you can also go in there to feed the birds. Before you enter, you must sanitize or wash your hands, and keep your mask on the whole time. There was no one manning the feeding station when I walked in, so I wasn’t able to see how that has changed.
Discovery Cove does put up outdoor heaters on colder days. It was hard to find a table for our 1:00 pm lunch near a heater and not near other people, so we ate pretty quickly in order to get back to the warm water faster.
It was the same as it was at breakfast, all the self-service items had been made into individual servings that you had to ask for.
The water ways at Discovery Cove are open until 5:00 pm and the park officially starts kicking people out around 5:30 pm. However, since it was cold and I knew we were coming back soon, we left around 4:00 pm.
I honestly cannot say enough good things about Discovery Cove. You don’t feel like you’re in Orlando while you’re there. It’s so secluded from the outside world it feels like you’re on a faraway tropical island. If you want to relax on your vacation, there’s nowhere better.
You can purchase Discovery Cove on its own, or you can bundle it with SeaWorld’s other parks. You can get cashback on purchases on Discovery Cove’s website through Rakuten/Ebates, so you should definitely sign up before purchasing!
Cost: Discovery Cove Day Resorts Packages start at $149.99. They frequently have sales and SeaWorld annual passholders get discounts. The Premium Drink Package is $42.
Value: 10/10
Duration: It’s a full day.
Add Ons: You can upgrade to the Dolphin Swim Package, add SeaVenture, add the premium drink package, and more.
