Gabrielle Russon
More than a quarter century ago, the water hadn’t been poured into the beaches at Orlando’s Discovery Cove. The dolphins hadn’t arrived from the other SeaWorld parks. And the trees — now thick and lush — hadn’t matured yet.
But Buck Lyman knew the potential.
“Right away, you could see how special this place was,” said Lyman, who is now the park’s vice president of zoological operations.
On Tuesday, the Orlando water resort celebrated its 25th anniversary as executives looked back on the park’s history and achievements.
Today, Discovery Cove has hosted 8 million guests from across the United States and 164 countries around the world.
To break that down further, Discovery Cove President Brad Gilmore calculated that it amounts to 10 million snorkels given to visitors, 6.5 million pounds of restaurant-quality fish fed to the park’s dolphins, and more than 3,000 tons of white sand delivered to the beaches.
When Discovery Cove first opened on July 1, 2000, it was sold out for two months straight, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Owned by the same company as SeaWorld Orlando, Discovery Cove is unique. It’s a water park with no water slides where guests can eat and drink all-inclusively as they swim with dolphins, visit a coral reef and float down a lazy river in an oasis tucked away on Orlando’s International Drive tourism corridor. A line of visitors ahead of the July 4 holiday stood outside waiting for the experience before the park officially opens to the public Tuesday.
In honor of the 25th anniversary milestone, Discovery Cove is doing Instagram giveaways to celebrate.
Discovery Cove will continue to play a pivotal role for the Orlando-based United Parks and Resorts.
The park is being targeted for a major expansion. Last year, the company filed plans for a 15-story, 504-room hotel with amenities including a rooftop terrace, restaurants, meeting space and an elevated walkway connecting the hotel to the park, according to Spectrum News 13.
“We’re obviously excited about the hotel,” CEO Marc Swanson said during an earnings call in 2023. “We’re one of the few in the industry that doesn’t own our own hotels or have our own hotels, so we’re excited for those possibilities.”
The company has not announced an opening date for the hotel.
