There is a 15.00 a day fee to park at the resorts.
The pools are better maintained at the Disney resorts. The Dolphin pool in June had a film all over it.
The hotels are better maintained too. ( the carpet on floor 10 was thread bare in certain places.) and many rooms have a musty smell.
I have to disagree with blanket statements like these. Of course, the S/D may have their share of issues from time to time, but so can other resorts. There's an on-going thread in this forum right now about how one guest found the guest rooms and public areas of the Beach Club to be run-down and dirty, but other guests have chimed in about being quite happy with the cleanliness and condition during their trips.
It's the same with the S/D. I've stayed at both properties over the past four years and have never had a problem with cleanliness or musty smells...as as someone who has asthma, believe me, I would have noticed that instantly! Have there been a few people over the years who were less than thrilled with the condition of the resort, as you were? Of course. But there are also dozens and dozens of people on the S/D Resort thread who have come back from there trips raving about the resort.
And as far as the pools at the S/D go, yes, it appears that there have been periodic maintenance issues with the pools over the past few months, but it's not as if it's a given that the pools are like that
all the time. Again, in my stays over the past several years, I have used both the main Grotto pool and the lap pools, and have never had a problem with them being unclean, or the water being anything other than crystal clear.
Different guests, different experiences.
You can be on the Disney dining plan and you get free transportation to the parks, downtown Disney district, and the water parks.
You can be on the dining plan? Really? I didn't think so....
Guests of the S/D cannot participate in the Disney Dining Plan.