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These tours make great fodder for school projects, especially if you’re feeling guilty about having your kids miss school to visit Orlando. You can reserve the tours in advance at www.seaworldorlando.com. If you haven’t made reservations, it’s often possible to book a tour on the same day you’re visiting. The tour booth, on the left as you enter the park, is easy to spot.

Discovery Cove

Discovery Cove offers you a chance to actually have up-close encounters with dolphins and other sea life. You get to swim and play with bottlenose dolphins and snorkel through clouds of fish in a coral-reef lagoon. Or you can just enjoy the tropical island ambience of beach chairs, hammocks, swaying palm trees, cooing birds—and hardly any people.

That’s right. The most unique thing about Discovery Cove is what it doesn’t have. Crowds. This is a reservations-only park that admits a mere 1,000 people per day. With such a low number of guests, you truly have the personal attention of the staff, which includes expert trainers (many of them drafted from SeaWorld, Discovery Cove’s sister park).

You check in at a concierge desk (!) and from there a guide takes you on a walking tour of the park, explaining all the activities. A swim in the dolphin lagoon is the undeniable highlight of the day, but reserved for guests 6 or older. The trainers teach you about dolphin behaviors and then lead you out into the water where you play with the dolphin and learn how to communicate basic commands. Once you and the animal get used to each other, you can end the session by grasping onto his dorsal fin and going on a wild ride across the bay.

The saltwater coral lagoon offers a variety of experiences, including the chance to snorkel among tropical fish. Since the water is calm, clear, and warm, and there are thousands of fish, this is a great first snorkeling experience for young kids. In the ray lagoon, you can play with gentle stingrays, some as big as four feet in diameter, whose barbs have been removed, or you can swim alongside barracuda and sharks kept behind Plexiglas.

Helpful Hint

Bring beach shoes. Discovery Cove’s pools are quite rocky.

Discovery Cove has added The Grand Reef, which offers multiple areas for exploration. You can swim or wade among exotic fish and rays or cross a bridge to walk over a shark lagoon.

A freshwater tropical river meanders its way through the park. As you float along you pass through several different settings, including a tropical fishing village, an underwater cave, and an immense aviary that houses 300 birds from all over the world.

When you’ve explored to your heart’s content, there’s no better way to end the day than by snoozing in your hammock on a white-sand beach. Discovery Cove is all-inclusive, meaning breakfast and lunch are provided, as well as wine and beer for the adults throughout the day. Swim vests, wet suits, snorkels, sunscreen, beach umbrellas, lounge chairs, lockers, and beach towels are also included in the price.

So what do you pay for this bliss? Depending upon the season, prices range from $286–$307 per person if you opt for the dolphin swim. (Special rates for Florida and Georgia residents drop the price to $199.) If you’re willing to forego the swim with the dolphins, price run $99–$199. (Since kids under 6 aren’t allowed to participate in the dolphin program, the price is automatically $99–$199 for children 3 to 5.) For details and reservations (remember, they’re a must), call 877/434–7268 (877/4–DISCOVERY) or visit www.discoverycove.com.

Aquatica

Aquatica, SeaWorld’s 60-acre water park, is positioned as a competitor to Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. It’s outfitted with all the slides and wave pools you’d expect from an Orlando water park and plenty of special SeaWorld touches as well.

Aquatica draws large crowds, and after a certain capacity is reached, the park closes to ensure the safety of its guests. To avoid being shut out, come first thing in the morning or—if you’re visiting in