Saturday, August 8, 2015

Discovery Cove, Orlando FL – Gluten-Free Safe

Discovery Cove, Orlando FL – Gluten-Free Safe

No crowds. No turnstiles. Imagine a place where you and your family can touch and swim with dolphins, wade with mysterious rays, snorkel among thousands of exotic fish, hand-feed tropical birds in a free-flight aviary and relax on pristine beaches. Discover an all-inclusive day resort experience that’s one of a kind. Because attendance is limited to about 1,300 guests a day, ensuring no overcrowding and extraordinary guest service. Discovery Cove is truly a one-of-a-kind experience.

Discovery Cove was incredible!  To my surprise, Discovery Cove in Orlando, Florida turned out to be an incredible place to visit and be Gluten-Free safe.  Who knew?  This Park is pretty pricey but it’s all-inclusive…which means that for your entry fee they provide everything you might need for your day.  And I mean everything!  Sun protection, all you can drink, all you can eat, snacks, towels, life vests, wet suits, and even snorkels and masks…everything.  And once inside the entire park is designed for you to spend the day in your bathing suit and water shoes.

You can tackle this park in two directions…relaxing or exciting. If you like things calm, relaxing, & tranquil start with the Wind Away River up front and work your way towards the back to finish off your day swimming with the sharks & stingrays.  If you like things active, exciting, and adventurous then head straight for the Grand Reef and work your way forward to finish off your day with a relaxing float.  Either way works out to be a wonderful day.

One of the rules that are strictly enforced, to protect the safety of the animals, is that you’re not allowed to bring anything but a change of clothing into the park. So that means you’re not allowed to bring in any kind of Gluten-Free foods or drinks. I have to admit I was extremely reluctant to spend an entire day trapped in an amusement park with nothing but my bathing suit, water shoes and snorkel.  Especially since I know they’re an affiliate park to Busch Gardens in Tampa where I’ve been terribly disappointed in their ability to keep me Gluten-Free safe.

Now I don’t know about you, but having the trots in a wet bathing suit is most definitely NOT something I was interested in experiencing.  So thinking I would be spending the entire day with nothing to eat or drink I made my girls join me in having a hearty, Gluten-Free safe, breakfast before we headed out for the day.

We arrived at the park early along with everyone else only to discover…they serve breakfast too!  Since we weren’t hungry we headed straight for the first pool and jumped right in.  It didn’t seem like too long before the girls decided it was snack time so we went in search of food & drink for them.  We discovered that aside from the main Food Pavilion that serves breakfast and lunch (no charge, remember) there were also many small snack stands tucked out of the way.  They had quite a selection of frozen drinks, icee’s, fresh fruit, soda, juice, chips, cookies…even alcohol!  Oh my!  So I bravely walked up and asked if they had anything Gluten-Free.  I wasn’t expecting much…but I was asked to wait a minute while they looked in the back and then came out with a small sealed snack bag full of Gluten-Free goodies!!  Double Oh My!! You couldn’t get the smile off my face I was so happy as I enjoyed my snack and frozen drink.

By lunch time we were all very hungry as we wandered over to the Food Pavilion.  Lunch is served buffet style there and knowing I would hold up the line I opted to sit and reserve our table while everyone else went to get their food first.  I figured that at the very least I could get another snack bag from one of the little stands nearby.  Was I surprised when my girls brought back a full lunch for me!  Have I told you how well my beautiful daughters take care of me?  They had spoken to the Chef, explained what was needed and he immediately returned with a plateful of chicken, rice and vegetables for me!  I was thrilled and was able to appreciate my meal with my daughters and grandchildren.  What a beautiful way to spend a day and we’re already planning on going back again.

They do recommend you contact them before your visit if you have any special dietary requests or questions
DCO-GuestRelations@discoverycove.com.  
Discovery Cove asks that you always ask for a supervisor and to visit meal facilities during non-peak hours or ahead of meal time so that you can be efficiently assisted and served.  And always ask about cross-contact potential. Not all of their meal facilities are free from cross contact. In order to ensure your meal is safe, please discuss the preparation process for your meal with the supervisor as you place your order to ensure no cross-contact takes place.


Carolanne LeBlanc

Meeting:  4th Saturday of every month except December
               Imperial Palms, East Clubhouse
               101 Imperial Palm Drive
               Largo, Florida  33771

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