Wednesday was our actual five year anniversary. Since we were switching hotels anyway, and had nowhere to be mid-day, we thought it'd be an excellent time to book Discovery Cove. For those of you not familiar, Discovery Cove is a Seaworld owned park (right across the street actually) that is all inclusive in which you get to swim with dolphins (and so much more!). It's been one of those bucket list items for YEARS, but it is very expensive. This year we finally decided to splurge and I'm SO glad we did, because it's honestly one of the funnest/coolest things I've ever gotten to do. (And I've gotten to do some cool stuff.)
We got there a little after 8 for check-in. There was a small line, but no worries, it moved quickly AND you get to pet a sloth while waiting!
She was awesome. I wanted to take her home.
She really does just hang there ever so calmly.
We were quickly checked in and printed ID's for the day. These ID's will get us into Seaworld or Aquatica as much as we want during the two weeks surrounding our visit. I'm not sure if we will use that perk, because I think to do it, it would have to be this coming week, but we might. It also helps offset the cost if it's something you want to do.
The park is all inclusive, so your meals and drinks and snacks are all included. The food isn't amazing, but it's not bad. Lunch was better than breakfast, but having that all included and not having to worry about it is nice.
You have to wear some sort of 'wet' suit so the lifeguards can see you. There are shirts, full on suits, or vests. Your id card hangs around your neck inside your vest, and it is your id so if you want any alcohol or anything they just look at that. It's nice because you really don't have to carry anything around with you. You don't need your ID, your wallet, or anything really. They provide you with lockers, snorkel gear, and even the sunscreen (that's safe for the animals) for the day. You also get a complimentary picture when you enter the park (sadly, you have to buy the ones with the dolphins- and those are not cheap!) We did carry around my bad to have my camera though. I really considered getting a waterproof/underwater camera for this trip. But, I couldn't find any for a price I was willing to pay that had decent reviews. I just made do.
Check in starts at 8, I think, but the park doesn't really 'open' until 9. Of course, you should get there before because the earlier you do the earlier you get to have your dolphin swim, plus you can get your breakfast, your locker and your suit and everything before it 'opens'. We read it was best to go to the aviary right at 9 when they were still hungry, so we were off to feed the birds.
They give you cups of feed (as many as you want), and off you go. The area has three different "rooms" you can go through.
The birds LOVED Asa. I couldn't get a lot of them to come to me, but he went through ELEVEN cups of feed.
I, on the other hand, went through four, and one of those cups went exclusively to this guy.
They peacocks in the trees were some of my favorite birds.
What's nice about the park is they only let in a certain number of people per day, and it never ever feels crowded.
We went swimming in the 'lazy river', which is actually way cooler than your average lazy river. First of all, it's a sandy and rocky bottom depending on where you are. Sometimes it's very deep, sometimes it's pretty shallow. It all feels very natural like. Also, they make it feel like you're swimming with otters! They are behind glass, which is angled into the water (so it can even feel like you are swimming over them) as opposed to straight up and down. They also have a little marmoset island you get to swim past and some macaws. It's like going to a mini zoo, but instead of walking, you're swimming. The river also goes through the aviary, the only thing keeping the birds in is a waterfall on either end you have to go under. It's all SUPER cool.
We had a couple of snacks, and even some wine.
And relaxed on some benches (in the water naturally) for awhile.
Then it was time for the dolphin swim. Here's the deal. Our dolphin swim was scheduled for 11:10, that's when you get to go in the water with them, but you can always watch everyone else doing their swim. If someone doesn't want to do the swim first off, it's a little cheaper, but they can stand on the shore or even the rocks and take pictures. You just can't take your own camera IN the water, because the dolphins might mistake them for toys.
I took a few pictures of the dolphins before our swim. You go out about waist deep, in a small group (there were 8 of us in ours) with two trainers. One dolphin comes up to you and they teach you a bit about them, their anatomy, how they eat (without swallowing salt water), and you get to feed them some fish and give them some pets.
The trainers talk to them and the dolphins shake their heads in response, it's pretty cool.
They also do tricks for you. They wave to you, and splash you, and even do big jump.
They also let each group come up and give the dolphin a nice hug for a picture. Oh, and you get to kiss the dolphin if you want! We kissed Kendall. She was pretty awesome, but we only spent half our time with her. After Kendall, they brought out Akai for us to play with. He is one of their bigger and older dolphins (he was 40 years old!), and everyone called him Fluffy because he's so big and lovable.
And Akai was the dolphin we got to swim with. If you're comfortable in the water, you get to swim out past the drop off, where the water is about 15 feet deep. Then the trainers show you how to hold on to the dolphin and they take you back to the waist deep water (I even got to give Akai a treat as a reward!). It's as awesome as it sounds. You don't really swim, they really just pull you.
When we were done we got to see our pictures. If you wanted any you could order them right there. You didn't have to pay for them until you were on your way out, and the picture would be waiting for you (keeping with the theme of not having to carry anything around with you). We bought one picture, and it was ridiculously expensive. But, how could we not? It's us, with a dolphin, on our anniversary! I did take a picture of our picture later. I'm on a mission to get a frame for it ASAP, as it's the most expensive picture I've ever purchased.
We went back out to the beach to get our stuff when we were done to move on to the next activity, and a couple of dolphins were swimming up really close to the shore. They missed having people to play with!
He really was a lot closer than it looks here.
After the dolphins we had lunch and then we headed over to the Great Reef. The Great Reef is full or all kinds of fish and sting rays. It's varying depths, probably parts of it at least ten feet deep, and it is quite chilly (but totally worth it). We put on our snorkel gear and headed out.
The first bit is pretty shallow- waist deep or so, but some of the fish and sting rays had come up that shallow including this HUGE sting ray. I think if I outstretched my arms, I still wouldn't be able to touch the tip of both of his wings.
After the shallow water it drops off significantly, and there are HUNDREDS of brightly colored, varying sizes of fish. At one point it even looks like you are swimming with sharks (though you are separated by glass just like with the otters).
It was SUPER cool and we swam for quite awhile looking at all of the fish, sharks, and stingrays. We also decided then that Peyton HAS to do Discovery Cove. His brothers wouldn't want to do all it has to offer, and wouldn't be worth the price, but Peyton would LOVE this place. It's making the list of things to do before we grow up: Peyton edition for sure. Maybe it would make a good Christmas present. Plus, then I'd get to go again too.
And hey, how about Asa swimming with those sting rays? Good job facing your fears, babe!
We could have EASILY stayed all day, but we did want to get to our next hotel to check in, so we went to our locker and got our dry clothes and headed off to the bathrooms to change. When I say you need to hardly bring anything with you, I'm totally serious. The bathrooms are stocked with towels, and even plastic bags for your wet swim suits. The showers are stocked with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.
We got our pictures, rinsed our feet and headed out.
If I could go to Discovery Cove every day of my life, I would. It was AMAZING. And totally worth the price.
Our second Disney resort reservation was for the Yacht Club. The Yacht Club and Beach Club are connected to each other and share the best pool on Disney property- Stormalong Bay. (Really, it's common knowledge it's the best pool). I really wanted to stay here for the proximity to Epcot and Hollywood Studios (you can either walk or hop on a boat), and for the pool. Of course we got a good passholder rate, and the room was lovely and huge.
We even had a phone in our bathroom.
The Mickey's here are less all over the place, and more subdued.
Our balcony view wasn't nearly as nice as the Wilderness Lodge, but it was still pretty.
So, here's the deal on the Yacht Club. It's a nice hotel. It's a VERY nice hotel. But, we've decided it's a little too formal for the Waterstrauts. It was lovely to stay there, but I'm not sure I would again (I'd give the Beach Club a try to see if it's any different though). It wasn't nearly as warm- or as fun- as the Wilderness Lodge. The clientele is totally different, and just not us at all. Very business like.
But the pool, the pool is awesome. There's all these different sections of it, with seats and waterfalls and varying depths. Plus it has a sand bottom, which is lovely on your feet. It also comes with a fun slide and a lazy river, and it is HUGE.
For dinner we had reservations at the Beach Club restaurant: Cape May!
Everyone loves Cape May, oh the crab legs... so many crab legs.
And the deserts are so cute and bite sized.
You probably know every year on our anniversary we take a picture holding the picture of the anniversary before. This has gone on for years now, and the first picture is hardly visible.
So here was us on our second anniversary holding a picture of our first anniversary (Katie took this one!)
On our third anniversary Peyton took this one (which we ended up cropping a bit).
And last year Gwendolyn at the Polynesian took this picture (although we ended up using one with less glare when we printed it).
We decided before the sun went down we should see if we could get the timer on my camera to work, so we did a test picture for our picture in picture.
With success we took it out to the beach and propped it up on the lounge chair.
It works for dip kiss pictures too!
We made a stop by the campfire while we were out on the beach.
And then we decided it was time for our anniversary tradition- jumping in some sort of body of water in our clothes.
If you were at our wedding you might know where this started. First, most of the way through the reception, my brothers decided it would be fun to throw Calib and Peyton into the pool at the hotel.
So they carried them down the hall...
...and tossed them in the pool...
...Which for the most part everyone found amusing.
But at the end of the night, Asa and I decided to jump in the pool too..
We even got some guests to join us..
FYI, jumping in a pool in your wedding dress makes it VERY heavy..
I had to wring it out.
But, we decided on our first anniversary to continue the tradition. We were over in Clearwater, so we jumped in the ocean in our clothes (totally unprepared, it was a very cold ride home).
Last year we went to Fort Wilderness, and to Ohana for dinner again. That time the weather cooperated and we got to jump in the pool. Don't you love all my anniversary links?!?
This year we set up my camera with the timer and after dinner decided we should jump in the quiet pool outside our room. It seemed a little early, but we had plans to swim next and I told Asa it was much less spontaneous to go up to our room after swimming to change back into our clothes just to jump in the pool. So we jumped, and the timer sort of caught it.
Five years in, our tradition is still alive!
And we were only steps from our room!
We hit the pool (in our swimsuits this time) for a little while.
And you could even see a bit of the Epcot fireworks from there!
Then we went over to the Boardwalk, which is always a fun atmosphere in the evenings.
Plus we got to go to one of our favorite places in all of Disney: Jellyrolls. It's a dueling piano bar, and everytime we've gone we've had tons of fun. Where else can you see some guys show off their mad piano skills while singing Johnny Cash followed by N'Sync. They even played Barbie Girl. AND it's all request. We got them to play 'If I had a million dollars.'
I got a fuzzy navel and asked for an extra cherry, and the waitress brought me a whole cup. How fun!
It was really late by the time we walked back to the hotel, but it was warm and lovely outside, and there was nobody around. I took off my shoes and we had a lovely midnight stroll back to the hotel.
It was the best anniversary yet. But, be warned, Asa Waterstraut, I'm not really sure how we top this one for next year.
Next Up: Behind the Seeds & Breakfast with Minnie!!
No comments:
Post a Comment