DISadvantages of staying at the Dolphin?

[SteveH]

Over the years we've stayed at S/D a number of times and really enjoy it. If the prices are close we much prefer the Swan. When booking I do not recommend going through Disney - book direct. Why? Because on the Marriott site you can choose your room view; from no view, resort view, park view, balcony etc. You get what you pay for, don't book with the dream of getting an upgrade. There are also a number of options from refunable, non-refundable, AAA, etc. Pay attention to what you are booking.

Transportation or walking to/from Epcot & DHS is one of the best things about S/D/R. The bus to AK is actually in a better spot now. The only downside is to MK and going through TTC - but options like going to BW or YC/BC solve that.

IMHO they have some of the best signature level restraunts on property. We really loved the breakfast options at Picabu in the Dolphin pre-covid.

Finally...

Any tips to cancel non refundable booking ?

I'll wish you all the best, but from all I have seen on various groups is its 100% non-refundable. I've seen people claim all sorts of reasons why they had to cancel, and they stood firm on the no refunds. Your CC company may say they will let you file charge dispute, but once they are done reviewing it you'll still be paying. I hope you are the unicorn, but I haven't seen anyone get out of the non-refundable aspect yet.

 

[carlyannek]

Last summer I did a 12 day stay at Dolphin so I can share some of my pros and cons - for context I am an annual visitor and usually stay at Pop or Coronado. This was my first time staying on a non-Disney resort but wanted the location more than anything. We got a wicked deal (around $160 usd per night) so it made this jump worth it for us.

Our entire party also got the dreaded Covid mid-way through the trip so had quite a few days where we were room-bound.

Pros:
- Location was good, had a standard room and could still see Epcot fireworks every night from the room when we were sick. We enjoyed the floor to ceililng windows, and felt the AC was good, not great.
- Fuel has a Freestyle machine that was super easy to stop at when coming and going to fill up our refillable water bottles with icy cold water
-Interior of the resort was very clean, we were amazed at how quickly they were able to set up for a massive convention and tear it down as if it never happened
- Housekeeping was efficient and consistent, especially at a time where Disney wasn't offering theirs
- Free water bottles helped when we were stuck in the room for an extended period of time
-The toilet seat was loose in our room and one quick text to the front desk had it promptly fixed (within the hour)

Cons:
- The balcony construction taking place closed the walkway that would have connected us closely to Yacht club which was our plan for taking disney buses and using a refillable mug, it more than doubled that walk for us
-We found the lobby smell overwhelming of a Patchouli fragrance (until we all lost our smell lol)
- The pools were filthy, we definitely noticed a difference here between disney owned and non-disney. We found the pools to be chaotic, loud, and under-supervised. Depending on who's in your party you may like this or dislike it. There was a lot of alcohol being consumed in the pool, vaping, cigarettes, and the music was too loud for us to hear each other. Disney lifeguards are on another level, and we didn't fully appreciate it until we were at this pool.
- The buses... oh the buses... We didn't mind where they dropped off and picked up, but there were multiple times where we felt the driving to be unsafe. Speeding, swerving, slamming on brakes. This was the deal breaker for us in re-booking this resort. We had one drive that was so dangerous we walked to Yacht for the remainder of the trip to use their buses exclusively.

With all of that being said, we are very much looking forward to our upcoming trip... at Coronado Springs.

 

[DLgal]

The bus situation is a major con. I've crossed S&D off my list because of that.

And we also found the Grotto Pool to be disgusting. And that was 10 years ago. These pools have never been as good as Disney pools.

 

[carlyannek]

The bus situation is a major con. I've crossed S&D off my list because of that.

And we also found the Grotto Pool to be disgusting. And that was 10 years ago. These pools have never been as good as Disney pools.

As much as I complain about Disney buses, I have never felt unsafe. This was just plain dangerous. The buses felt like they were a week away from a junkyard. Duck tape, broken speakers, gross seats. And the drivers were definitely not cast-member level in service or safety. Even if Dolphin offered me an incredible deal to revisit, I would not take it.

 

[DLgal]

As much as I complain about Disney buses, I have never felt unsafe. This was just plain dangerous. The buses felt like they were a week away from a junkyard. Duck tape, broken speakers, gross seats. And the drivers were definitely not cast-member level in service or safety. Even if Dolphin offered me an incredible deal to revisit, I would not take it.

It's such a shame they made this change. I wonder what led to it?

 

[Dave006]

I have heard 2 different answers concerning the bus change. 1) Disney did not renew the contract during Covid at contract renewal time (Oct. 15, 2020). 2) due to a shortage of Bus drivers that still exists even today. 2) Tish Group switched to Mears to save money during Covid.

I discount answer 2 since they still have access to the Friendship boats to Epcot and HS.

Dave

 

[Dave006]

I knew about the beds but I recently read that a queen is only 1 inch wider than a double? I travel with my daughter and we wont be sharing a bed so its irrelevant to us. 2 sinks will definitely be nice.

A Full-size mattress or Double mattress is smaller than a queen at 54 inches wide and 76 inches long. A queen-size mattress adds an extra 6 inches to the width making it 60 inches wide and 4 inches longer at 80 inches long.

Dave

 

[Nickylv]

The bus service is well not so great to some of the parks. You can always take the boat or walk to the Boardwalk, Yacht or beach club and get the bus there.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

The only real loss post covid imo is the bus to MK drops at the TTC and no longer at the main gate at MK. That was a much better deal pre-Covid. The MB issue has never been a S/D benefit so nothing to really lose there. And for me, even when you add in parking/resort fees, these hotels are usually/not always less money than some of the moderates and 100 times a better location so it's usually a no brainer that we land at S/D. And if you have marriott rewards, you can use those/earn them for stays.

Of the Swan/Dolphin, I prefer the Swan. Dolphin has full size, not queen beds and it's got halls that can feel like they're an eternity from the elevator. However, it's a hotel and you're not walking outside to your room so it's splitting hairs. I'd rather walk a long indoor/AC hallway than get rained on at many of the other disney resorts. There are just so many more benefits (food options, premium location, boat transportation, amenities) for S/D over some of the disney resorts that keeps us staying there but if I have to choose, I usually will go Swan over Dolphin, even if it's a bit more.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Over the years we've stayed at S/D a number of times and really enjoy it. If the prices are close we much prefer the Swan. When booking I do not recommend going through Disney - book direct. Why? Because on the Marriott site you can choose your room view; from no view, resort view, park view, balcony etc. You get what you pay for, don't book with the dream of getting an upgrade. There are also a number of options from refunable, non-refundable, AAA, etc. Pay attention to what you are booking.

100% agree with you on booking directly. There is usually no advantage to book S/D via disney other than it being a package with tix.

-------------

For all the PP comments on buses, being unsafe and/or unreliable, that's definitely a YMMV type of comment. For the OP, take bus advice (outside of the fact that Mears buses stop at the TTC and not at the main gate of MK) with a grain of salt. One can say something very similar of Disney run buses too. They have had accidents, caused by WDW bus drivers and bad bus experiences, which run rampant on these boards from disney resort guests. The one common thread on these boards is every disney resort at some point is "the worst bus service on property". I certainly don't doubt guests have crappy experiences on the buses, I've definitely experienced it, but a resort is not defined by that alone. I've had awful bus service at many disney resorts too and wouldn't let it change my overall opinion of a property. You can have a lot of bus stops at a resort, you can have varying bus routes depending on season/time of day but you can also have a bad experience at 9am one day and excellent experience at noon. It's not resort specific. We've stayed at S/D dozens of times and the majority of the time our bus service experiences have been very similar to Disney resort buses.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

we were looking at a quick last minute trip in August the Swan and Dolphin were almost double the price of the grand Floridian. So you do need to compare

 

[TheDailyMoo]

we were looking at a quick last minute trip in August the Swan and Dolphin were almost double the price of the grand Floridian. So you do need to compare

One thing I've found with S+D is the pricing is super dynamic. Last I booked Swan I cancelled and rebooked 5 times because the price kept going down. In the meantime the Dolphin rose to ridiculously high levels like you mentioned just to come back down to earth a few days later.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

I can't speak to the Dolphin busses but I just stayed at Swan again and have never had any troubles with the busses there. And they usually run Disney style busses. Seems the Dolphin differs a bit? I wouldn't love taking the charters just bc of the stroller situation. The TTC is a pain but not a dealbreaker. I fooled myself a few nights leaving MK that the Boardwalk busses would be quicker and I failed both times. I'll stick to going back to TTC for the Swan bus. AK is actually even closer to main entrance. And you absolutely can't beat the walk to EP and HS. FWIW the Swan quiet pool is always empty and very nicely kept.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I can't speak to the Dolphin busses but I just stayed at Swan again and have never had any troubles with the busses there. And they usually run Disney style busses. Seems the Dolphin differs a bit? I wouldn't love taking the charters just bc of the stroller situation. The TTC is a pain but not a dealbreaker. I fooled myself a few nights leaving MK that the Boardwalk busses would be quicker and I failed both times. I'll stick to going back to TTC for the Swan bus. AK is actually even closer to main entrance. And you absolutely can't beat the walk to EP and HS. FWIW the Swan quiet pool is always empty and very nicely kept.

We do both, Swan and Dolphin and the I think the bus type is just luck of the draw. I am not 100% on this but I think they bring out the charter style when demand is high, early AM/park close. Most of our midday bussing from Dolphin were traditional disney style buses with scooter space and plastic seats. We've had recent visits at S/D over spring break and summer.

 

[DPgrlz]

100% agree with you on booking directly. There is usually no advantage to book S/D via disney other than it being a package with tix.

I've been wondering about this. I have a package through Disney because of the flexibility it gave me for cancellation. I have no reason to believe that I would cancel, but we have all had a heck of a past few years with travel surprises.

As of today, I think I can save about $200 total trip by booking direct with Marriott (which I do for literally every other travel experience, I don't use 3rd party) but they will charge me over 1k as a deposit. Disney only charged me $200 in deposit. I booked 6 months out so I didn't want to lose the use of that $ for so long.

I'm thinking of waiting until 30 days out when I would have to pay the entire package price and checking prices again. OR, if S&D release discounted rates that I qualify for, that are better than the rate I have with a Disney package, I would cancel my package and rebook via Marriott.

I can book at Coronado or CBR for cheaper right now. I'm at $400 a night all taxes and fees Christas season. But my traveling partner and I like the location of S&D

For the record since I have sen this mentioned, : last holiday season when I used a bus it was always the MEARS charter bus. I didn't have a stroller or ECV to account for.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I've been wondering about this. I have a package through Disney because of the flexibility it gave me for cancellation. I have no reason to believe that I would cancel, but we have all had a heck of a past few years with travel surprises.

As of today, I think I can save about $200 total trip by booking direct with Marriott (which I do for literally every other travel experience, I don't use 3rd party) but they will charge me over 1k as a deposit. Disney only charged me $200 in deposit. I booked 6 months out so I didn't want to lose the use of that $ for so long.

I am with you, I like flexibility too and the rooms I always book via S/D are 100% refundable usually if cancelled within a few days of the trip, I think 3 or 5. When you search direct for S/D rooms, their site defaults to the non refundable/non changeable rates.

The S/D usually will always charge a one night's deposit up front so that's something to take into consideration however, in some ways I'd rather pay that now and even if you cancel, so long as you have a refundable rate and cancel within the allowed window, you'll get the deposit back. To me, the amount will be spent anyway so it's just spent sooner I suppose. The S&D rates will yoyo up until your actual stay so if you don't mind perpetually checking/rebooking, go for it. Many people do that to ensure they're getting the best deal but you'll have to do additional deposits of one night's stay each time you cancel and rebook.

 

[BCarruthers]

My family and I often do a split vacation while doing our DW trip. 4 or 5 days at a Disney property and 4 or 5 at Swan/Dolphin. We enjoy walking and so the bus situation was never an issue. It has always been walking to EPCOT and HS. I will try to book MK and AK park days when we are at the DW hotel. However, you can always catch a bus from MK to Beach Club, Boardwalk... and then immediately jump on a ferry. The walk isn't bad but the ferry at night is a nice relaxing ride to get off your feet and enjoy the breeze. It drops you off right between Swan and Dolphin.

Something else to keep in mind is to open a Marriott Bonvoy account. I have an annually charged card since I use mine so often but they have free credit cards as well. You can even just have the account without a credit card and earn points on hotel stays. Swan and Dolphin are not great bang for your buck when using your points (compared to non Disney hotels) but when you book 4 nights you get the 5th night free. On average I book 5 nights at 50k a night. That's (200K + free night) for a 5 night stay. I end up paying $200 in resorts fee for a great location, 5 night stay and access to extended hours.

If you stay at either Swan or Dolphin make sure you check the schedule and book a park pass for either MK or EPCOT the night of extended hours.

Hope this helps

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I've been wondering about this. I have a package through Disney because of the flexibility it gave me for cancellation. I have no reason to believe that I would cancel, but we have all had a heck of a past few years with travel surprises.

As of today, I think I can save about $200 total trip by booking direct with Marriott (which I do for literally every other travel experience, I don't use 3rd party) but they will charge me over 1k as a deposit. Disney only charged me $200 in deposit. I booked 6 months out so I didn't want to lose the use of that $ for so long.

I'm thinking of waiting until 30 days out when I would have to pay the entire package price and checking prices again. OR, if S&D release discounted rates that I qualify for, that are better than the rate I have with a Disney package, I would cancel my package and rebook via Marriott.

I can book at Coronado or CBR for cheaper right now. I'm at $400 a night all taxes and fees Christas season. But my traveling partner and I like the location of S&D

For the record since I have sen this mentioned, : last holiday season when I used a bus it was always the MEARS charter bus. I didn't have a stroller or ECV to account for.

I’m titanium at Marriott, the swan and dolphin were both over 1100 a night, the reserve was 500. Grand Florian was 600…..

Just saying

 

[maleficent55]

Yes you get extended hours.

You can walk to Boardwalk or YC and catch a bus to MK if you don’t want to deal with TTC. Normally they don’t allow rideshare into the monorail resorts, especially in the morning.

This really upsets me and scares me

We haven’t booked yet for our 2024 trip and have had a hard time deciding between a moderate and a deluxe but we would absolutely want a rideshare in the am from our resort.
What is the reasoning for not allowing this?

 

[musicguy856]

This really upsets me and scares me

We haven’t booked yet for our 2024 trip and have had a hard time deciding between a moderate and a deluxe but we would absolutely want a rideshare in the am from our resort.
What is the reasoning for not allowing this?

They don’t want extra traffic from drop offs at the resorts. One thing I haven’t tried but might be possible at CR: There is a second lesser known driveway past the traffic light at the CR entrance. Have your driver go straight through the light and it’s the next turn on the right. After you are let off before the gate at that entrance you should be able to walk through the lot to the MK walkway.

I wouldn’t do this if you have strollers or wheelchairs but if you’re a group of able bodied people it should work.