Trip Report Discovery Cove, SeaWorld and other stuff.

So we went to Orlando in September and while there we purchased SeaWorld annual passes. It was one of our mostly relaxation type trips. My wife had some vacation time left she needed to use or lose so we went back in October.
SeaWorld annual pass holders get a significant discount to Discovery Cove and since it is something we have talked about doing for a long time we decided to go ahead and spend a day there.
It was fantastic...better than we imagined. I hope this mostly non-Disney trip report is OK here and trust the mods will remove it if not.
So we went the week of Oct. 15-22 and the weather was fantastic. We stayed at a place called Marriott Grande Vista off of International Drive near SeaWorld. It is a beautiful property and we enjoyed it a lot. We went to SeaWorld several times, went to Discovery Cove and went over to WDW and went resort hopping too.
I will start out with Discovery Cove, the highlight of the trip. Here is the lobby:

 

[epcotisbest]

Back at the room, we checked out the bounty. If you look closely you will notice some joker gave me a pack of ketchup. Funny.
We brought this back with us and since we don't have trick-or-treaters, my wife gave it out to her Wednesday evening youth group at church. Let's just say they enjoyed it. I did keep a couple of gummy bears and Cow Tales.

 

[epcotisbest]

So tonight I thought I would post a few pics of the Marriott's Grande Vista pool pics at night. It is a lovely place and we like night time pool time.

 

[epcotisbest]

 

[epcotisbest]

 

[epcotisbest]

 

[epcotisbest]

I also like fountain pics:

 

[epcotisbest]

OK, so since we have annual passes and can come and go, let's go back over to SeaWorld.

 

[epcotisbest]

 

[epcotisbest]

While out strolling along early one morning, we came across this group, also out for a morning stroll.

 

[epcotisbest]

Shamu:

 

[epcotisbest]

 

[epcotisbest]

This is the Atlantis ride. It is sorta a log flume, roller coaster combination indoor/outdoor ride.

 

[epcotisbest]

This is one side of the pass member lounge, a nice place to sit for a bit, grab a drink and recharge.

 

[SSH]

Great pics - and lovely resort. Halloween at Sea World was great. Like you said earlier, the bubbles everywhere were a great touch, employees seemed into the fun and it was great to see so many costumed characters running around (kids and SW employees!) Bonus: we didn't have to buy much halloween candy this year for the trick or treaters.

I may have - ahem - ended up in the gummy bear station a 2nd time - totally by accident of course. But the guys handing out the bags actually made a point of saying people could go through the lines as often as they wanted.

Was trying to see if I could spot us in one of your pics - we were there the same time - but no luck.

 

[Figgy1]

Yeah, you would fall out if I told you what we paid for this two-bedroom condo for an entire week. Let's just say it was less than we have paid for one night at some places.

Do tell. Seriously how much if you don't mind.

 

[Nemo14]

I'm enjoying all your Sea World pictures, especially all the Halloween ones, and the Marriot Grande Vista. We stayed there with friends a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. My husband and I are also SW passholders, and we love the freedom of just stopping in for an hour or 2, riding Manta, catching a show, and then heading out before it gets too crowded. We've never been there for Halloween, but we've done their Christmas festivities a couple of times, and I highly recommend it. Sea world is such a beautifully landscaped park!

 

[93boomer]

Finally caught up. Sorry I filled up your like box!
Definitely want to check Discovery Cove and Seaworld out sometime. It looks really nice!
The Marriott Grand Vista looks nice. Really want to stay there.
Thanks for the wonderful pictures!

 

[epcotisbest]

Great pics - and lovely resort. Halloween at Sea World was great. Like you said earlier, the bubbles everywhere were a great touch, employees seemed into the fun and it was great to see so many costumed characters running around (kids and SW employees!) Bonus: we didn't have to buy much halloween candy this year for the trick or treaters.

I may have - ahem - ended up in the gummy bear station a 2nd time - totally by accident of course. But the guys handing out the bags actually made a point of saying people could go through the lines as often as they wanted.

Was trying to see if I could spot us in one of your pics - we were there the same time - but no luck.

It would be cool if you wound up in one of my pics.
Oh, I might have "accidentally" went through the gummy bear line a couple of times as well.

 

[epcotisbest]

I'm enjoying all your Sea World pictures, especially all the Halloween ones, and the Marriot Grande Vista. We stayed there with friends a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. My husband and I are also SW passholders, and we love the freedom of just stopping in for an hour or 2, riding Manta, catching a show, and then heading out before it gets too crowded. We've never been there for Halloween, but we've done their Christmas festivities a couple of times, and I highly recommend it. Sea world is such a beautifully landscaped park!

Yes, the landscaping there is exquisite.
Grande Vista was nice. Our favorite Marriott down there is Lakeshore Reserve. It is very nice, but nothing wrong with Grande Vista.

 

[epcotisbest]

Finally caught up. Sorry I filled up your like box!
Definitely want to check Discovery Cove and Seaworld out sometime. It looks really nice!
The Marriott Grand Vista looks nice. Really want to stay there.
Thanks for the wonderful pictures!

Thanks for reading. And, I like likes.