Florida Trip-Day 2 Discovery Cove

Mali and the sloth

Ready for our day

Breakfast

Excited about the dolphins

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Eleri hanging out in her cool jogging stroller

picture with the dolphin

The warm pool

Swimming with the stingrays

A big stingray

Our lunch entertainment

Mali and her new dolphin

Our second day began nice and early. We were headed to Discovery Cove for the whole purpose of our trip. It was a cold, cold morning. We arrived at Discovery Cove which was also super close to our hotel. The service was great and we were greeted well. They signed us in and gave us our name badges for the day. While we signed in, the girls got to pet and see a sloth. We headed down a pretty, rainforest path to our all inclusive breakfast. We were still really really cold but tried warming up next to the outdoor heater and with hot chocolate. It didn't really work. But then we were on try on our wetsuits. The girls looked so cute in their wetsuits. It really reminded me of Wall-E. I ended up with a men's wetsuit to fit my pregnant belly. We were really hoping they would warm us up, but we were still a little chilly. I think it was about 50 degrees outside. We went down to the beach area and the girls got to dig their toes into the smooth sand. We also watched the dolphins in the dolphin pool. One of them kept swimming almost right up to the girls. It didn't take long for the girls to get wet or to throw wet sand in each other's hair. About that time, it was time for us to head to the Sea Horse cabana to prepare for Mali and Eric's dolphin swim. Thankfully there were more little heaters in there. Eleri got bundled up in about five towels and I put her right under the heater in her beach jogging stroller. Everyone was briefed on proper dolphin ettiquette and then it was time for the experience to begin. Mali and Eric got to pet the dolphin, kiss the dolphin and watch the dolphins do different tricks. Eleri was a little fussy so I soothed her with hot chocolate and warm, soft pretzels while we watched the rest of our family. Mali seemed to be enjoying herself. The first dolphin they interacted with was a small, younger female. When it came time fro the rides, they brought in the big guy. He was really and his name is Capricorn. He was even a movie star in the movie Jaws. Well, Mali was afraid of the bigger dolphin and wouldn't take her ride holding on to his dorsal fin. I ended up coming into the water to stand with Mali so that Eric could take his ride. Then we got to take a family picture with him. They even let Eleri and I come in the water and pet him. Eleri was so excited and will still tell you all about it and how she "swam" with the dolphin and touched him with his feet...which she did. When the dolphin interaction was over, we were all pretty cold. We decided it was time to hit the other "pools" that were 85 degrees. The girls LOVED splashing and swimming around in the much warmer water. After some playing around we went on the lazy river..which wasn't so lazy. We actually had to swim a good part of it and Eric started cramping up. Each of us took a girl and two noodles to float on. Mali and I and then Eric and Eleri. Along the lazy river, we crossed under waterfalls and through a bird aviary. It was really neat. The girls got to see a peacock and loved that. We were pretty tired after that so we let the girls swim a little more on their own. We knew we had to get out but did not want to. Finally we motivated ourselves to get out when Mali announced she had to use the bathroom. That was an experience in itself with all the wet suit and wet bathing suit gear to strip down first. Eric took Eleri and wrapped her in about 8 towels. Once Mali was re-dressed, we went to swim with the stingrays. It was really neat to feel them and interact with them too. After our little swim, it was time to get dressed eat our lunch. I think we shivered throughout our lunch. Mali was able to get a stuffed dolphin to commemorate her dolphin experience. We packed up into the car to take a break/nap/Time Share presentation. Eleri fell asleep on que almost immediately. Mali needed a nap but instead cried and whined for the next hour. The time share presentation was A LOT harder to say no to then we originally thought it would be. But we did say no and got back in the car to head to Discovery Cove to get our pictures and DVD of the experience. Then it was back in the car to head back down to Downtown Disney for Mali's appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We loved our day at Discovery Cove. We would have really liked it to be about 10 degrees warmer, but think it was well worth the money and the time. It was very relaxing and exciting. The girls LOVED interacting with the real animals and all the things to see and experience. I think they both preferred this over our day at Magic Kindgom.