I did discovery cove. You only have approx. 30 minutes with a dolphin and you are in a group of approx. 8 people. After your experience with the dolphin you then can spend the remainder of the day at the other parts of dc. Lunch is included as well as free admission to SW. If you are planning on spending at least two days at SW then it is well worth the money. My son enjoyed his interaction with the dolphin and wants to go again but I will only go if I will be spending some time at SW as well. One thing that a lot of people say, the water is very cold but you do get used to it once you get in.
You really do get to swim with a dolphin. Each family is brought out to deeper water and you interact with the dolphin and then the dolphin will go to shore and interact with the remainder of the group that is onshore. Then the dolphin goes back out and brings each person back in while you are holding onto the dolphin. I got to kiss the dolphin.