Anaheim Faifield at Dolphin's Inn?

[mAlien13]

Hello, all! I am wondering if anyone has any experience with the Anaheim Fairfield at Dolphin's Inn? We will be staying there for our December trip this year.

We normally would want to stay within a reasonable walking distance, but we got a deal on this that we could not even consider passing up. This hotel is on Orangewood Ave. My husband is very athletic, he says he wants to just drop us all off in the mornings, go back and park at the hotel, and run up to the entrance to meet us??? How insane is he?

We are so hesitant to use ART, because we have heard such hit and miss things about it. Part of that is that we had a really bad experience with the shuttle at the Candy Cane Inn in April. Looking back, I think we are just not shuttle people. We like to come and go on our own schedule, and we kept getting wires crossed about when the shuttle would be there, and wasted a lot of time waiting for it.

We also have heard that parking at DL is a hassle, and that it takes a long time to get from the parking to the park.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[pxlbarrel]

Where on Orangewood is that? Orangewood and S. Harbor, the best case scenario, is still pretty far for a jog (it'll take a while for him to meet up with you guys...you might as well do a few rides first. LOL) To give you an idea...my brother and I walked from the DL exit to our hotel, the Anaheim Hilton, and it took us half an hour (we timed it so could figure out how long it would take us to walk there for early entry the next day). The Hilton is about 2/3 of the way to the corner of Orangewood and Harbor.

We used the ART in August and had nothing but good luck. We never waited for it very long at the hotel and it always seemed to be at the shuttle pickup whenever we were leaving. It's also very convenient to be able to buy the passes at the machines they have at the hotels and in the shuttle area of DL.

 

[mAlien13]

The address is 465 West Orangewood Ave. The info provided by the hotel says it is one mile from DLR. When I looked at the location on a map, it looked to me like it was twice as far from the entrance as the Candy Cane. I don't know if DH is crazy, but he wouldn't be walking, he'd be jogging. The rest of us would probably go in, get my mother's wheelchair, find a locker, ect. We are always there as early as possible.

Maybe someone can tell me about the parking? Is it not as bad as I've heard?

 

[disneegrl4eva]

are you talking about the Dolphin Cove Resort?? the timeshare??? if so I dont like it at all...we stayed there when it first opened and it was very nice but now its a total dump...its not very clean imo...motel 6 is cleaner than that place...if you have an option to stay somewhere else i would do it... and there is no way in the world I would try and walk to DL from that one...Id rather deal with parking at DL...

 

[mAlien13]

are you talking about the Dolphin Cove Resort?? the timeshare???

Yes, I think this is the place. I'm really disappointed to hear it is in such poor shape. We were given a weeks stay there for free. It's hard to turn down anything that is no cost. I was told it was a 4-Star condo, with fully appointed kithcens and really nice ammenaties. Is the pool and hot tub nasty as well?

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Yes, I think this is the place. I'm really disappointed to hear it is in such poor shape. We were given a weeks stay there for free. It's hard to turn down anything that is no cost. I was told it was a 4-Star condo, with fully appointed kithcens and really nice ammenaties. Is the pool and hot tub nasty as well?

are they going to give it to you as a timeshare promo?? if so you might get lucky and get a decent one because they are trying to get you to buy into it and once your in then your screwed...yes it is a condo style property...as far as the pool and hot tub go...the last time we didnt even stay long enough to find out....the staff was rude as all get out and I cant handle something like that...I will get smart right back...and once we saw the room we were in and out within a few minutes tops...it was my friends that were staying there and I was staying at the Sheraton ...they ended up coming and staying in my room the first night and getting their own room after that...thank god for the Sheraton

 

[gnbuggy]

I have stayed at the Dolphins Cove 3 times. The last was in January '06. I have never thought of it as dumpy or dirty. maybe a little dated in decor. I like the feel. like a home instead of a hotel. We have walked and used ART. I think it took 20 to 30 min. walking kinda quick. The ART is worth it. We might have waited a couple of times (we were there for 5 days). If it is on season. ( I didnt see when you were going) they seem to keep the shuttles going pretty often. Our thought was going in the morning we could walk if shuttle was late or full. When we did walk we had just missed ART, and were too hyper to wait. At the end of a long day, I will wait as long as I have to so I dont have to walk back to the hotel. The resort has a nice courtyard and pathways with lots of trees and such. If you stay there I hope you enjoy it.
ps. the pool appeared clean.

 

[pxlbarrel]

It gets mixed reviews but generally ok reviews at tripadvisor.com

 

[maberlyne]

Huh, we stayed at the Dolphin's Cove in June of '05 and enjoyed our stay. The place is a renovated apartment complex, if that makes any more sense. We had a three bedroom; living room, dining nook, kitchen, bathrooms, etc. We enjoyed the pool, the ping pong, all that. We really liked it. I would agree, maybe the decor is a little dated, but not bad. It was clean. Beds were comfy. We blew a fuse and the staff was up shortly to fix it. We also got a great rate, just over $100/night (we had like 9 people, lol, so it was worth it ).

 

[mAlien13]

Okay, I know this post has become very dated, but I have done a lot of research on the Dolphin's Cove now and wanted to update for anyone interested.
I think that part of the reason that they are such a mix of reviews is due largely to the fact that it has been owned by more than one time share company. The origional compnay is now out of business, I hear because they were not all on the level and had a very bad reputation. The company that owns it now has only owned it for a couple of years, and they are evidentaly working on updating all the rooms and ammenaties. I guess, if I am hearing correctly, that since they took over the customer service has improved greatly. We are going to give it a fair shake, and I will make sure to come back to this post and share our experience when we return.

 

[disneykreyzee]

malien13, I sure would like to hear your review when you get back. We will be staying there in July. It is through my father's timeshare so free to us so I'm willing to give it a shake to just to get to DL! I am abit worried about the ART we had great luck with it at the anaheim hilton our last visit but it was off season. Would we be better of to rent a car and park?

 

[rosiep]

I'm not certain but doesn't the CCI have it's own shuttle as opposed to ART? If so, it's my understanding that ART runs at regular intervals, unlike a shuttle that would have it's own schedule.

Anyone?

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I'm not certain but doesn't the CCI have it's own shuttle as opposed to ART? If so, it's my understanding that ART runs at regular intervals, unlike a shuttle that would have it's own schedule.

Anyone?

yeah rosie cci has its own shuttle

 

[disneykreyzee]

What is the CCI???

 

[mAlien13]

CCI is the Candy Cane Inn.

disneykreyzee, I will definately let you know all about the Dolphins Cove when we return. We are nervous about it because of some of the reviews, but we are in the same position, we are giving it a chance because you can't beat free!! We are not planning on using the ART, tho, so I can't help you there. We have decided to go ahead and park at DLR rather than deal with a shuttle. We had a very bad experience with the CCI shuttle in April, and have decided that we are not shuttle people. We like to decide when we arrive and when we leave.

 

[disneykreyzee]

I'd be curious to hear how the parking goes instead of the ART as well. I'm still keeping that option open as well. Just not crazy about driving from the airport as I am a country gal and hate driving the city traffic here in Seattle let alone CA!

 

[mAlien13]

Bump for mickey7!

 

[staley7580]

I drove every day and it was soo easy! We got to the parking garage about 1:30-1:45 before the park opened, waited 10-15 minutes for the parking to open and parked right up front. It was great, we only parked in the garage once, because it was Saturday, and we got their kinda late. We also parked in Timon, I liked it because there was 2 tram stops. Not as far for my tired behind to walk!