What do you like and/or dislike about the Dolphin?

[Jodi1980]

?

[daannzzz]

I liked the look of the architecture. I liked the colors though not always the design. I liked that we got upgraded to a really interesting room. I like the look of the resort and its location. I liked that it was comfortable and clean.
I didn't like that the main pool was so far away. I didn't like trapesing through the public areas to get to the pool.

[Trekker]

Location -Location -Location -Location -Location -Location -Location -Location

Oh and I wanted to mention I think the location is excellent!

[las3888]

Location for sure, plus it is a really nice deluxe resort. I like all the dining choices also.

One of my favorites...

[pumba]

first for the location and not having to wait for so many busses.....but also I just love the pool and the reception area......what a nice area.....

[Blondie]

I can't really think of anything I dislike about either resorts.

They're both in an excellent location, great pool, deluxe resort...what's not to like?

Oh, and I also like the fact that they offer discounts to nurses/school teachers/govt. where the WDW resorts DO NOT.

[dreamflight99]

Originally posted by Trekker
Location -Location -Location -Location -Location -Location -Location -Location

Oh and I wanted to mention I think the location is excellent! Plus...THE LOCATION!:p

[Muffy]

I'm going to be staying at the dolphin for the first time in Dec! sounds pretty incredible!

[ChesireMeg]

Hello! The Dolphin was nice and i would defintely recommend it :) The architecture and decorations were really beautiful, but I did not like how far it took to get to the elevator (our room was like 3 miles away from the nearest elevator) and I did not like how you had to get to the pool. You have to maneuver yourself through the lobby and past Tubbi's and it took awhile to reach the pool. But other than those minute things, it really is a nice resort:earsboy:

[jgates]

They forgot to mention - LOCATION!!!!;)

I actually thought the Dolphin was overwhelming. I am glad we chose the Swan. It was so quick in and out. Easy to get to where we parked. Easy to elevators. Nice quick walk to Tubbi's at the Dolphin. (Sat there for awhile while doing laundry plus several meals).

Plus, did I mention location?

[Samsma]

JGates:

I've got ressies at the Dolphin in July of next year. Been trying to decide if Swan would be better for us. Would it be a lot more manageable for us with two kids, 10 & 4 at the Swan, or would they be disappointed they weren't staying in the more elaborate Dolphin? Do you think it took less time to get to the pool, Tubbies etc. from the Swan than some of the more distant rooms at the Dolphin ( say 9th floor) which is what I requested. How was your view at the Swan? Also, I guess they'll still be renovating the Dolphin at that time, and I don't want to get in the middle of all that. I'm just full of questions!

[gschmerl]

We really like the Dolphin.
Loved all the action in the lobby (we love to "People watch"). The Grotto Pool was wonderful. Just relaxing and listening to the water falls was great. LOVED the oatmeal soap. The elevators were always there so quickly.
Did I forget LOCATION!!

[llfowl]

DH and I stayed at the Dolphin on our Honeymoon in 92. We really didn't like it. In our opinion, there wasn't anything "Disney" about it. We just didn't care for it. We did have a good view of Illuminations every night. Transportation was ok. DH and I will stick to the WL.

I am glad to hear that other people really enjoy the Dolphin. Have fun!

Lori

[Tiffany]

Hi,

We stayed at the Dolphin for 5 days this past Aug.

Likes:
1. Location
2. Size of room and King Beds
3. View from Lake View room
4. Tubbi's 24hr Food Court

Dislikes:
1. View from a standard view room can overlook the service bay.

We enjoyed out stay very much and would go back again if we could get it cheaper then the YC again.

[TheLorax2000]

I agree with the rest of the posters about their likes, especially the location :D. The only dislike that comes immediate to mind is the inability to charge stuff at WDW back to the room. I have this feature extremely convenient with my teenage dd and I like having everything on one bill.

[The Pluto People]

We liked everything about the Dolphin - in fact we had our very best Disney vacation while staying there! We particularly liked the Grotto pool - it was huge, deep, and there were always lounges available!:cool:

[jgates]

Both will be totally manageable I'm sure. I just liked the smaller layout of the Swan. When we went to find an elevator in Dolphin it was like - this elevator is for these floors only...........

They are both SOOO close & it was SOOO ez to get over to Tubbis and the laundry. My dd said she would like to stay at Dolphin next time - she thought the lobby was cool but I said no-Swan and she said - OK!

I just took her over there when we were strolling at night and we walked around - no more difficult than coming down from your room to stroll around in my opinion.

I have never had the capability to charge from Disney to my room at all so I don't miss this. I was able to charge from the Disney shops in S & D to my room. My DS has had a credit card on my account since he was about 16 so he just used that.

And with all of the 'worry' about view - to be honest - next time I will take whatever view they give me. I either have a nice view of the ToT & Boardwalk/Epcot area from one side or a beautiful view of the Dolphin from the other!

[pooh2001]

My DH will stay no where else but....the DOLPHIN.

;) excellent location

;) loved the Dolphin Fountain 'soda shop' for lunch

;) loved the transportation options

;) laundry was never totally crowded (and it was summer)

;) the grotto pool, slide and water fall was my DS & DD dream place to swim

;) great view of EPCOT, MGM, fireworks and Boardwalk

;) room size was fine for our family of 4

;) clean/extra towels from room service - prompt service

;) front desk and conceige desk were extreamly helpful and friendly


I guess I do not have anything bad to say about the place.
enjoy :)

[erikthewise]

The Dolphin is actually a pretty nice hotel. If you don't mind staying at a "normal" (non-Disney) hotel on site I don't think you'll be disappointed. It has an impressive lobby, enormous convention facilities, several eateries, and nice pools. And where else on site can you stay on the 15th floor?

[dahess]

We loved the LOCATION! We loved the HOTEL, BEAUTIFUL, we disliked the front desk employees & some other employees we talked with.

[jgates]

??Front desk employees - rude, indifferent?

We only had one employee issue- they wouldn't let my son pick up the stuff he had sent back to the room from one of the parks. I will know next time to make sure every one's name is somehow listed on our room instead of just mine. It wouldn't have frustrated him so much if he hadn't been picking it up on other days and then all of a sudden was denied.

Otherwise, we were treated wonderfully at both the Swan and the places we stopped in the Dolphin (gift shop, Tubbi's, fountain).

[madcoco]

Things we liked about the Dolphin(7 stays 92-00)
1.Concierge Rooms nice size.Suites which compared to some at Vegas resorts.
2.Quirky different decorating.(controversial to some).Grotto Pool still one of the nicest on property reguardless what is said of SAB at BC/YC.
3.Location to Epcot,MGM.
4.Dolphin Fountain
5.Tubbi's open all night.
6.can book when others are full.
7.Camp Dolphin kid's club lots of great memories.:)
Things we don't like:
1.Being double charged on credit card on 2 occasions, when we had paid for room in full ahead of time.Took days to straighten out even after it had happened before.
2. Some Conventioneers that acted like idiots in the hallways and at times in the concierge lounge.Won't go further.
3.Closing of their restaurants constantly over the years.Shula's steakhouse has some of the finest steaks on property but Harry's was a lot more relaxed and fun.:(
4.Concierge services that seem erroded over the years.
5.No Disney charging priviledges.

[dreamflight99]

LOCATION?! And...of course...the STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST PROGRAM (Where else on Disney Property can you earn POINTS to return to Disney Property?!)

[adisneyfan2]

We just returned from 5 days at the Poly last week:smooth: , and just booked the Dolphin for the first time this NY. The Gov't/Nurse/Teacher discount is SOOOO awesome, we couldn't pass it up! :p (About 1/3 the best code rate I could get anywhere else!) We usually stay on the monorail at MK because our DS & DD were too young to enjoy much at Epcot or MGM:rolleyes: , but this time they "discovered" Epcot, so we were looking forward to being closer to it. Still, we were a little nervous about the "non-Disney hotel", but after all I've read, now I'm really excited about going! Thanks for all the great comments!:cool:

:Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce:

[Pig Pen]

We stayed 6 nights at the Dolphin. You would never know it's not a Disney hotel except for the conventioneers hovering in the lobby area.

Loved the location - one night we managed to watch Fantasmic at MGM, literally ran back to our 19th floor room, then watched Illuminations from our window.

Loved the views

Loved the soap

Loved the "bigness"

Loved the boats to MGM/EPCOT even though we walked the majority of the time

Loved the Boardwalk

Loved the pool, except for the 9:00 pm closing - c'mon! We're on vacation! I want to soak in the jacuzzi at midnight!

We even loved the resort fee! DH read the paper every morning and we made alot of phone calls, so it was worth it.

Dislikes? None really, except for the location of the bar.

[Demosthenes]

Originally posted by madcoco
Grotto Pool still one of the nicest on property reguardless what is said of SAB at BC/YC.


I believe that the grotto is the best pool on property for adults. As a kid I loved SAB, and think I still would prefer it if I was younger; however, the Grotto is less crowded, more spread out, secluded, not over-run with guests from other resorts, and has a lot more chairs around it.

[Luvdisney]

The biggest thing I hate is I'm here at work and not there at the Dolphin

[LoriZH]

My Favorite things about the Dolphin were definitely the location along with the transportation. The boats and busses were EXCELLENT! The hotel is beautiful and the pool is awesome and the views were unbelievable. The rooms were very pretty and good size (we were down the other end of the hallway and didn't find it to be that bad of a walk at all). The staff is soooo nice and they went above and beyond for us.

Here is the things that I didn't like. The housekeeping was mediocore at best (just for us, not many others had this problem) and the conceirge was not that great, to me it wasn't worth the extra money.

So clearly the good outweighs the not so good! I believe you will love it, have fun!

[anitad]

Just back from a 4 night stay at the Swan. We have stayed at both the Swan and Dolphin over the last four years. I like the Swan better because it is smaller and the desk staff seem more efficient. The renovations to the guest rooms have begun in the Swan (we were in a 4th floor renovated room). I think the Dolphin may be slated for renovations after the Swan is completed (can anyone verify this?). The renovated rooms have the Westin Heavenly Beds(and they are wonderful), and new furniture (that makes the rooms as spacious as the Dolphin(double beds vs. queens for the Swan). The club service was great at the Swan. Location and discounts are the reasons we stay. We used to be Yacht Club people (and we do miss it), but for the money, the Swan is wonderful. We love the EPCOT location. We also stayed at the GF one time and didn't enjoy the location.