Discovery Cove

DONT BUY ANYTHING USING THE APP

My biggest disappointment was the photo system, which feels like a masterclass in how not to run modern technology. If you pay for photos through the app, retrieving them later becomes an adventure in frustration. They treat you like a criminal for trying to access your own pictures, while casually charging nearly 300 dollars for five different dolphin photos. Apparently that is the price of “memories.” The only professional photo opportunities are with the dolphins. That is it. If you were hoping for nice family photos around the park, good luck. You will leave with dozens of dolphin-only pictures and maybe one or two where your family accidentally appears in the background. If your phone dies, congratulations, your photos die with it. Staff will not release anything unless you can prove you prepaid. Even if they locate your pictures in their system, without proof, you are simply out of luck. So be sure to pack charging cables, a power bank, and maybe a backup phone, because this place clearly does not believe in redundancy. It is 2026, we have AI, cloud computing, facial recognition, and instant digital delivery, yet anything tied to their app is unreliable and frequently unlinked. Meanwhile, the check-in process feels proudly modeled after 1995. Clipboards would not have surprised me. Everything is designed around the assumption that guests are trying to steal their own memories. Ironically, the only real theft happening is at the register. They also claim animals are kept enclosed for “research purposes” and not just for photos, which is fascinating, since there is absolutely zero evidence anywhere of any research results. The park itself is tiny. The water is painfully cold everywhere except the lazy river, which moves at a thrilling pace of almost-not-moving. Photographers are well trained, customer service is decent, and dolphin trainers are excellent, which somehow makes the overall experience even more disappointing. Sure, kids will have fun. But between the outdated systems, absurd photo pricing, and frustrating policies, this place feels like a very expensive lesson in lowered expectations. All I can say is good luck!

Really helpful

I recently went on a trip the app really helped