As I talk about Discovery Cove today, I have to admit it was probably one of the best (if not the best) family vacations we ever took.  I refer to it as the “animal vacation”.  Our family loves animals and our kids (now young adults) still enjoy going to zoos.  We booked a Discovery Cove Vacation Package that included hotel with admission to Discovery Cove, Sea World, Aquatica and Busch Gardens.  

         I can’t say enough good things about Discovery Cove.  That was an incredible day and was the high point of the entire vacation.  The dolphin swim was amazing.  It was relaxing and stress free with plenty of activities for the kids.  I would recommend it even without kids.  I get into more detail about what is available in the article below, but I highly recommend you going to this park at some point.

         We also went to Sea World a couple days and saw some enjoyable animal shows and rode great rides.  We were fortunate to go before they changed the Shamu show.  Trainers were still swimming with the whales at that time and the shows were amazing. Busch Gardens offered great animal encounters also along with some amazing rides.  The kids absolutely loved all the animal stuff in this vacation.

         The only non-animal park was Aquatica, but I have to say it is one of the best water parks I have ever seen.  The things I remember most about the park were the clear tube water slides racing past swimming dolphins and the “lazy river”.  It was the fasted lazy river I have ever done, and it was fun.  The strange thing about this favorite “animal vacation” is I planned a lot of animal encounters into the next Disney vacation we did after that.  The kids told me, “we don’t want to see a bunch of animals.  We can see them at the zoo.  We want to ride the rides.”  I guess I can never win.