Discovery Cove is a 30-acre, all-inclusive day resort that offers fun and exciting encounters with animals in a spectacular tropical atmosphere in Orlando, Florida. Guests have the chance to snorkel through a saltwater reef, swim with bottlenose dolphins, play near a family of Asian river otters, and feed tropical birds among many other activities and signature experiences.
Things to See
In addition to the exhilarating adventures, guests are also able to enjoy unlimited access to food and drinks throughout the day. As an all-inclusive, reservations-only park, Discovery Cove is unique compared to other theme parks. Only around 1,300 visitors are permitted each day to offer a more intimate, resort-like experience for guests.
Discovery Cove is a tropical paradise with rocky lagoons surrounded by lush scenery, winding rivers, tropical reef, pristine white sand beaches, and a resort-style pool with waterfalls. Among Discovery Cove's many features are a coral reef and a free-flight aviary. It also contains the heated Tropical River, along which visitors can float by a variety of waterfalls, rainforest scenery, and beaches into a freshwater heated pool. The river flows through the aviary and circles the park.
Dolphin Lagoon
The Dolphin Lagoon's dolphin swim experience is one of Discovery Cove's signature experiences and the highlight of the day. Guests have the opportunity to "talk, touch, play and swim" in the lagoon with one of the friendly bottlenose dolphins. The entire experience lasts forty-five minutes and starts with a short orientation in a cabana.
After the orientation, groups of six to eight people begin the thrilling thirty minute water adventure led by a trainer acquaints guests with these intelligent creatures through rubdowns, kisses, and hugs as they learn about dolphin communication and behavior. The adventure ends out in deeper water with an exhilarating dorsal fin tow ride back to the shore. An informative trainer talk and video teach guests about the characteristics of dolphins and how trainers communicate with the spectacular animals by using hand signals and positive reinforcement.
Explorer's Aviary
Venturing past the waterfalls and beaches of Discovery Cove, guests will find the hidden treasure of birds in the 100 foot long Explorer's Aviary. This sprawling, breathtaking natural habitat is filled with the songs of hundreds of birds and the rhythmic sound of fluttering wings.
Visitors to the aviary can watch as the many colorful birds soar around and above them, as well as the opportunity to have one of these feathered friends eat fruit out of their hands. The free-flight aviary is home to more than 250 tropical birds, such as toucans and parrots, as well as more than thirty other exotic bird species. Explorer's Aviary travels through the cascading waterfalls of the Tropical River to the beach.
Freshwater Oasis
The Freshwater Oasis, one of Discovery Cove's newest signature experiences, offers face-to-face encounters with inquisitive marmoset and playful otters, as well as wading adventures. Curious marmosets can be found relaxing in the trees above, while frolicking otters swims around guests in pools. Featuring sparkling, clear springs below and a rainforest canopy above, the experience fit naturally within the tropical atmosphere of Discovery Cove. Guests can relax as they float, wander, and wade through the water-filled trails packed with endless discoveries. Visitors have the chance to explore every nook and cranny of the sunken rainforest trails of the Freshwater Oasis.
Serenity Bay
Visitors to Discovery Cove can take a dip in the refreshing waters of Serenity Bay. The expansive and immaculate pool features 85-degree water. Guests can also choose to just soak up the sun, or for younger guests, play on the fun freshwater playground.
The Grand Reef
Surprises are all around within The Grand Reef, one of the newer attractions at Discovery Cove. The reef features a palm-lined island and white-sand beaches. Guests can find discoveries along the edge of the water or walk across a bridge to find sharks swimming below. Swimmers put on masks and snorkels for a view of the underwater world within this coral reef at Discovery Cove. Opportunities for fun in the reef vary from crossing over a shark-filled lagoon along a rope bridge to snorkeling with eagle rays and thousands of tropical fish.
Visitors can play hide-and-seek with thousands of fish, from small and colorful tropical fish to velvety sting rays stretching up to four feet across. Out further within the reef are spectacular habitats give the feeling of swimming alongside reef sharks, barracudas, and tigerfish that are actually safely behind a protective glass. Underwater grottos complete with many tropical fish, reef sharks, and moray eels can be found throughout The Grand Reef. Paths and bridges lead visitors to the reef's islands and hidden grottos as they explore The Grand Reef from below, above, and around. Guests can also explore an underwater shipwreck while snorkeling.
Discovery Cove's Wind-Away River provides a relaxing ride along the Tropical River's soothing currents. The river winds its way through an underwater cave, beneath the rocky terrain of cascading waterfalls and past sandy beaches. The Tropical River also passes through a dazzling aviary, a dense tropical rainforest landscape, and an underwater cave. Guests can look down as they float down the river and watch as they pass wonders beneath the surface of the crystal clear water.
SeaVenture at Discovery Cove is an innovative, unique experience in The Grand Reef. The SeaVenture experience is an underwater walking tour during which participants wear a dive helmet and walk through the reef. Guests will find new discoveries around every corner as they feel at home walking underwater.
The adventure starts with a climb down a ladder to the reef floor. Visitors have the chance to come eye-to-eye with sharks through 21-foot long, 8-foot tall panoramic windows. Participants of SeaVenture also have the opportunity to experience one-on-one touches with schools of fish, velvety rays, and other unique animals throughout their journey. The experience ends with schools of fish feeding around divers with the huge open reef in the background. This hour long, once-in-a-lifetime experience is available to guests of Discovery Cove for an additional fee. The underwater walking tour lasts around twenty minutes.
SeaWorld and Aquatica
A visit to Discovery Cove also includes admission to SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica. SeaWorld Orlando offers a unique journey to the ocean's wonders. The parks provides visitors with up-close encounters with gentle beluga whales, mysterious sharks, and playful penguins. There also several rides for guests looking for something a little more thrilling or pulse-pounding. Guests can watch the mighty Shamu as their hearts are swept away by the majestic animals' awe and power.
SeaWorld's One Ocean features the park's ambassadors of the sea, its killer whales. The show showcases the ocean as the center of the natural world, as well as the idea that humans and animals are part of the same world and the future of it is the hands of humans to protect. The three-story set of Shamu Stadium contains hundreds of surround-sound speakers and panoramic LED screens to envelop visitors in the experience of the show. The spectacular underwater imagery, soaring fountains, and dazzling colored lights are coordinated with a contemporary, original musical score the features global rhythms. Guests of the One Ocean show will never look at the ocean and its amazing inhabitants the same way again.
SeaWorld's water park, Aquatica, is a unique and whimsical waterpark unlike any other waterpark. Visitors can thunder through rolling rapids and float through an undersea world of exotic fish, or relax on a stretch of a white sand beach. Guests can also slide down a tube slide through an underwater world as black and white Commerson's Dolphins race and play alongside them.
Trainer for a Day
Discovery Cove offers guests a chance to spend their day with a pod of playful dolphins among other animals during its Trainer for a Day program. The program features a variety of spectacular activities, including shadowing a trainer for the day and a behind-the-scenes tour of the support areas in Discovery Cove. Participants also get the opportunity to take part in special meet-and-greets with small mammals and tropical birds, as well as feed tropical fish in The Grand Reef.
An enhanced deep-water encounter with dolphins is another component of the Trainer for a Day program at Discovery Cove. Included in this encounter is a private photo session with two dolphins, and professional photographers are present during all dolphin interactions. Each group as part of the Trainer for a Day is given a digital camera to use for the entirety of the program. Unlimited admission for fourteen consecutive days to SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica surrounding the day of visitors' reservation to Discovery Cove is also included in the Trainer for a Day program. Beverages and food, including breakfast and lunch, as well as rental gear for the program are included in the cost.
6000 Discovery Cove Way, Orlando, FL 32821, Phone: 877-557-7404, Map
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