Dolphin hotel to avoid buses to trans

[csaag]

Planning a Disneyworld vacation late August.
Looks like either the Port Orleans Riverside or spend a little extra on the Dolphin (family of 5)

The desk person at the Swan told me the Dolphins standard rooms were a little bigger which would help squeezing in the 5th person (a small girl)

I'm trying to gauge how much time can be spent taking the Disney shuttles to the main transportation center vs the luxury of simply walking out of the Dolphin to there. And is that worth the extra $$$. The only other factor I can think of is that the Port Orl includes airport transportation, and the Dolphin site would charge and additional $120. I'm assuming (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that staying at the Dolphin allows the free use of the monorail system to get among all the theme/water parks. Thanks for any info.

 

[Ilovestitch]

IMHO walking to MGM and Epcot is a pretty long walk, especially if its hot outside. Anyone can use the monorail for free, but walking through Epcot to the monorail wouldn't seem like a benefit to me.

 

[CarolA]

Planning a Disneyworld vacation late August.
Looks like either the Port Orleans Riverside or spend a little extra on the Dolphin (family of 5)

The desk person at the Swan told me the Dolphins standard rooms were a little bigger which would help squeezing in the 5th person (a small girl)

I'm trying to gauge how much time can be spent taking the Disney shuttles to the main transportation center vs the luxury of simply walking out of the Dolphin to there. And is that worth the extra $$$. The only other factor I can think of is that the Port Orl includes airport transportation, and the Dolphin site would charge and additional $120. I'm assuming (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that staying at the Dolphin allows the free use of the monorail system to get among all the theme/water parks. Thanks for any info.

I am confused.... Disney buses from the Dolphin don't take you the main transporation center, they take you to the parks or DTD (including the water parks)

Also, the monorial only goes to Epcot and MK. So you have to take a bus everyplace else.

 

[csaag]

I guess I was given some bad info. Someone had told me that you can walk out of the Dolphin to get to the transportation center. He made it seem like it was a very short walk.

 

[mmb]

We have stayed at the Dolphin and the extra $$$ is so worth it. Being within walking distance to Epcot (and MGM) was awesome as well as being so close to the fun on the Boardwalk. There are also ferry boats that take you to Epcot and MGM right outside the Dolphin/Swan hotels in addition to the Disney buses. The transportation can't be beat!

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

You can walk from the Dolphin to the bus stop, or to the boat dock, or even to MGM or Epcot or the Epcot resorts - thats all.

 

[DisneyFans4]

The Swan/Dolphin are considered Epcot resorts which means that park is within walking distance. You can also walk to MGM but it takes a bit so you can either take a bus or the boat. Monorail and buses are available to everyone. As far as getting to MK, the monorail makes two stops, either the TTC or directly to MK, just depends on where you want to get off.
Either way, both hotels are very much worth the extra $$$ and it's why I'm going back.

 

[Keokagal]

From the Dolphin: bus to MK, AK. boat to MGM as is direct and first stop back, walk to Epcot, as waiting for 3 boat stops is longer than the walk. Or go thru Epcot to monorail. The Epcot resort transportation is GREAT. Going again in July, just back from April trip. Have fun!

 

[geetey]

I'm trying to gauge how much time can be spent taking the Disney shuttles to the main transportation center vs the luxury of simply walking out of the Dolphin to there. And is that worth the extra $$$. The only other factor I can think of is that the Port Orl includes airport transportation, and the Dolphin site would charge and additional $120. I'm assuming (and please correct me if I'm wrong) that staying at the Dolphin allows the free use of the monorail system to get among all the theme/water parks. Thanks for any info.

Transportation has a time factor regardless of which resort you choose...

Dolphin
* take a bus to Magic Kingdom (bus also stops at BW, YC, BC, Swan)
* take a bus to Animal Kingdom (bus also stops at BW, YC, BC, Swan)
* take a boat or walk to MGM
* take a boat or walk to Epcot
(the boat makes a continuous route stopping at MGM, BW, Swan/Dolphin, YC/BC, Epcot - but I am not sure of the order)

Port Orleans - Riverside
* take a bus to ALL of the parks (bus is not shared with another resort but there are several stops within the Port Orleans resort)

That being said.... we love the Epcot area resorts! Good luck with your choice!

 

[csaag]

Thanks for all the info & clearing up my misconceptions.. Don't plan on spending much time at the hotel (I'm sure everone says that though...) so I'm not really looking at how much better a hotel the Dolphin may be over Port Orleans - just an extra cost vs convenience comparison.

 

[geetey]

Good luck with your decision, csaag. I know I was VERY surprised the first time we stayed at the Yacht Club and had to make multiple stops. Just didn't want you to be surprised that you were sharing your bus with other resorts, which definitely affects how long it takes to get to the parks and back to the resort.

 

[Poohlovr]

Bus transportation at the Swan/Dolphin is not always shared with YC/BC and BW. I've been there when the buses went only to the Swan/Dolphin and many times when it shared only with YC.
I'm not sure of the criteria behind these decisions, because I've had it happen at both peak (June) and non-peak (early December) times.

 

[jwfla422]

To add to what Poohlovr said...we are still here in WDW. The other morning the AK bus went straight from the Dolphin to AK....same with MK the day prior however both buses were full so there was no stopping elsewhere anyway.

I believe this is done during "peak" times of the day (where they don't share buses) otherwise the S/D shares buses with YC/BC and BW. I was a bit disappointed to see they changed the first stop to the BW now (used to be the Swan). I'm sure this was due to the BW always being the last stop and either being skipped over or standing room only.

I can tell you from my experience that there is no comparison between the S/D and the POR IMHO...in any which way. S/D is a deluxe all the way and POR is definitely a moderate. We stayed at POR once and while we did find it pretty and woodsy I was actually disappointed with the lack of amenities and having to bus everywhere, and let me tell you if you have to transfer buses during the off peak times it can take a good hour (and that can be a lot of time during your Disney day).

We're just spoiled deluxers, what can I say!! To answer your question about is it worth it to stay at the Dolphin..YOU BET!!

 

[zurgswife]

Thanks for all the info & clearing up my misconceptions.. Don't plan on spending much time at the hotel (I'm sure everone says that though...) so I'm not really looking at how much better a hotel the Dolphin may be over Port Orleans - just an extra cost vs convenience comparison.

You definately will get to Epcot and MGM alot faster when staying at the Dolphin..If you can afford the extra money the Epcot resorts (Boardwalk, YC/BC, Swan/Dolphin) are really a great place to stay....We almost always stay at one of these hotels..and the time we didn't I was very irritated with the bus service (it wasn't bad...I just wasn't used to waiting on a bus and then riding it to get to MGM or Epcot.)

 

[ValerieK]

Thanks for all the info & clearing up my misconceptions.. Don't plan on spending much time at the hotel (I'm sure everone says that though...) so I'm not really looking at how much better a hotel the Dolphin may be over Port Orleans - just an extra cost vs convenience comparison.

We stayed at the Dolphin last September and we just got back from staying at POR Tuesday. I would pick the Dolphin over POR, no doubts. With Epcot and MGM close, it can't be beat. It seemed to take forever to get anywhere from POR. Plus the Dolphin has the Heavenly Beds.