We did the Twilight Discovery and we were pretty unhappy with our experience, even though I had done tons of research before going. First of all, we were told (and we read) that there would be only 150 people in the park from 3 pm to 9 pm. This was not true. All the day people were still there after 5 pm (about a 1000 extra people). They then said all snacks and beverages were included, but several day people were hanging around until 5:30 and they were gobbling up the snacks. When one of the people in our party asked for a pretzel, they were told they were gone and would not be available until after 6:00, even though snacks were supposed to be available at all times. My husband and I then tried to find a chair on the beach, but none were initially available, as they were all taken by the day people. When we finally found one available about an hour later, we left our stuff only to come back and find that someone had taken it (day people were sitting in the chair we claimed). We confronted them and they could have cared less. There were no life vests or noodles left for us to use. We briefly tried the aviary where they told us we could feed and interact with the birds. They completely ran out of cups to use before we arrived, so the birds wanted nothing to do with us. Not only that, the park staff brought in loads of food trays for the birds to eat out of around 4:00. To add insult to injury, it started lightning within 5 miles of the park around 4:00 pm so everything was immediately shut down. We had to huddle around a cabana until 5:30 when the storm ended. By that time, the last of the day people were leaving. Unfortunately, though, the river and the aviary closed at 5:30 without us even having the chance to experience them. We were told by a lifeguard that when these storms come through, they usually let the nightime visitors go into the river and aviary. He told us to check with a supervisor for approval. The supervisor said no to our and other visitor's requests. We ended up having an hour to swim in two pools - the resort pool with nothing in it and it was dirty, or the pool with the fish and rays. We were told that the pools closed at sundown (9:00ish at this time of year), but the employees closed these pools at 7:30. I had my dolphin encounter, which was originally advertised as a swim, at 5:25. It got turned into a wade. I was hoping for more than touching a dolphin about five times. At 7:30, I then waited with the other women for about 30 minutes before one of the six showers was open. Most of the husbands/significant others were sick of waiting by this point. After that, it was time for dinner, which was very good. That was the end of our day and I thought the nighttime experience was a ripoff. I've heard great things about the day program, but the night program was the same price as the day, but I felt we got screwed.

First of all, I want to tell you that I learned so very much on my visit. All of the animal handlers are very knowledgeable and if they don't offer the information during their talks, go ahead and ask your questions. They love to answer them. When you look at the prices it seems expensive, but it is all inclusive. They serve a continental breakfast on your arrival, a large buffet style lunch, snacks all day, then an elegant twilight dinner (There were people at dinner dressed up and there were those of us in our swimwear because we spent as much time in the water as we could.) and complimentary Annheiser-Busch products all day. You can book one session that ends around 5pm or two sessions that ends about 9pm. I have only one warning: After dinner you are not allowed back into the water so make sure you have finished all of your swimming before you stop to eat. Only the day session has the dolphin swim (either in deep water which we chose or shallow water if you are a little timid about being in water over your head), the evening session only has shallow water interactions. Or you can book a visit without the dolphin interactions but I can't imagine why you would want to forego the experience. The whole experience is handicap accessible and they supply the special balloon tire wheelchairs that are easily used on the sand. I guess I do have one more warning, it's hard to swim with the dolphins without smiling and if you smile you can bet you'll get a mouthfull of saltwater! The aviary is full of exotic birds and they supply a flipbook so you can identify them. If you have food in your hand the birds do come and sit on your hand to eat. The stingray pool is a wading experience and you can feed them also. The snorkeling swim takes you under a waterfall and you are literally swimming with the schools of fishes! If you dive in the snorkeling pool there are sharks which are behind plexiglass underneath the "shipwreck." We will definitely go back! You can see by our pictures that we loved it, it was the highlight of our trip and we will definitely go back! You can go to Webshots.com (User name is Tammi_RN) and see more of my photos.

We stayed in a villa in Kissimmee which was lovely, had loads of parks booked before we arrived so after doing all the disney parks every day it was so luxurious having a day at Discovery Cove.We arrived and were made to feel so welcome, the whole day was just heavenly bliss, swimming, sunbathing and just wandering in the cove. The restaurant was first clas and the sevice was excellent. Swimming with the adorable dolphins at the end of the day was just the best finale, total paradise. We will definately recommend this to anybody, what a different world!!!!

We had a wonderful day at DC (June 30, 2007)! Staff members and trainers were kind, friendly, and accommodating. We were fortunate to have beautiful (but hot!) weather.

Ask lots of questions when booking your visit. Read your information packet carefully and arrive at the site early (8am or earlier). The only complaints we heard while at DC were from individuals and groups who had not prepared well for their visit and those who had arrived at the site late in the morning.

The photos shown here were not taken by DC photographers. Those taken by the DC photographers are much better and show the actual dolphin swim! (E-mail me if you would like to see them.)