Discovery Cove: All-Inclusive Family Resort in Florida
Discovery Cove is one of Floridas best-hidden treasures. It's tucked between all the huge theme parks, and many people who live in Florida don't know about it. If you're local, or visiting add this to your list of things to do! It's a MUST!
Discovery Cove is one of our absolute favorite place to visit. It's the perfect place to explore, relax, and enjoy as a family. So after visiting most of the parks here in Florida, we can now say that Discovery Park is in the #1 spot of places to visit in Florida!
As a mom myself I'm constantly trying to find fun things to do for my family, and I had remembered Discovery Cove. After living in Florida, we have done it all. The theme parks, the beach, the springs, all of it. We wanted something new to do so we decided let's book a last minute trip to this magical place.
The entire place is all inclusive, so you literally have nothing else to worry about once you're checked in. We showed up early and got some yummy breakfast, and then continued onto getting our wetsuits. We happened to go on one of the coldest days, so we opted for the long sleeve ones ;)
TIP: If you're like us and wake up that morning to 30-degree Florida weather, DO NOT WORRY. The water in most pools (I think everything except the dolphin pool) is heated. We hopped into the lazy river first which felt like a hot tub to us. The long wetsuits helped keep us warm as we went to the other parts of the park.
Here's a quick list of all our favorite things;
THE PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE ARE AMAZING
From the second we showed up, we were greeted with friendly smiles. They helped us sign in and get our badges made. They showed us the way to breakfast and explained where everything was. They have people everywhere ready to help. They make sure to take care of you when your there and were so incredibly friendly.
IT'S ALL INCLUSIVE
Unlike other theme parks, this place is all inclusive. That means everything there is included. Breakfast, lunch, all the snack bars, the drinks. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. You can put your stuff in the lockers and not worry about it because everything you in the park is for you to enjoy. (Sidenote: The only thing that's not for you to enjoy are the private reserved areas...which if you're like us you'll be way too busy enjoying the entire park so you'll really just noticed them as you walk by)
DELICIOUS FOOD
The meals are delicious for adults and kiddos. They make sure to give you plenty to pick from and even had some cake for dessert!
IT'S NOT CROWDED
This gave it super bonus points for us! After spending plenty of time at other parks, we love finding places that aren't incredibly crowded with long lines. This place was perfect. No lines. Ever.
WE LOVED THE LAZY RIVER
We spent a ton of time int he lazy river, which weaves around the park, through the bird aviary. The kids had a blast, and so did my husband and I.
SERENITY BAY
There's a little shallow area that kids can play. My husband and I laid out on the chairs and enjoyed watching them play while sipping on our drinks. We spend a ton of time here. The kids loved being able to explore, and we enjoyed watching them from close by and getting to put our feet up.
THE DOLPHIN SWIM
My daughter and I got to do the dolphin swim. She loves dolphins and we really enjoyed getting to know some of the dolphins at the park. The trainers are there to answer all questions, so my daughter really enjoyed this part of the day.
We had a lot of laughs here. Since we were some of the first people there, and it was a cold day the birds were a little more hungry than usual and were very comfortable landing on us to get some treats.
THE GRAND REEF
This part of the park is simply amazing. You get to swim with all sorts of beautiful fish, sting rays and sharks. (they made sure to put the sharks behind glass) but it's still amazing to see them up close.
They have beautiful bathrooms with showers available. Not only that, they even have little shampoo and conditioner dispensers there. So if you're tired of salt water hair, or are there on a cold day and just want to take a nice hot shower to warm back up, you can quickly do that.
WET SUITS, LIFE PRESERVES, AND SNORKEL GEAR
Wet suits swim vests, life preservers and snorkel equipment is all included. There's a wet suit stand that also has snorkel gear available. You can simply get what you need there and return it when you're done. By the lockers, they even have Animal-friendly sunscreen.
IT'S AMAZING FOR ADULTS
Sometimes it's hard to find a park that adults enjoy just as much as kids. Discovery Park perfected this. Between lounge chairs, adult drinks, beautiful scenery and all the things to do there wasn't a moment where my husband and I weren't enjoying ourselves as much as the kids.
KIDS ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
My daughter who's 8 and overly in love with dolphins really loved this place. My son who's 4 loved adventuring down the lazy river had a blast. I know they'll remember this place forever.
My family truly loved visiting and will surely plan a trip back to this beautiful oasis!
Special thank you to Discovery Cove for making this so enjoyable for us!