How Does the Dolphin Compare to Disney Deluxe Resorts?

[QJ411]

Hi everyone!!!

I hope I don't get yelled at for saying this!!!

But we stayed at the Dolphin and WL during our honeymoon in Dec. and we don't think we'd opt to stay at the Dolphin anymore, we'd stay at a moderate resort instead. We originally booked 3 nights at the WL and then 3 post nights at POR for after our cruise...but DCL called and gave us a free upgrade to the Dolphin for our post nights and of course we took the upgrade!

The Dolphin was without a doubt a beautiful resort w/ a GREAT grato pool!!! But we just didn't get the DISNEY MAGIC of it. It was a world of difference for us after staying at the WL. The CMs had totally different "magictudes" as we called it, at WL I guess we were spoiled with the Disney CM's.

But I don't want to bad mouth Dolphin at all, it was a beautiful resort, but our opinion is any other DISNEY resort is much more worth it.

(Don't blast me for this!!!)

 

[QJ411]

Hi again,

Sorry, I forgot to add that they were pretty good w/ our requests though. We requested a high floor w/ a corner room (So we had tons of views) and they honored it. We got a room on the 9th floor w/ 2 balconies and a huge window in front of our bed. We couldn't see the Illuminations though, from our room, we saw the TOT and Broadway, which was really cool at night.

And our Key to the world card didn't work at the Dolphin, we received Dolphin's own key card which works the same way (Just w/out the Mickey). And we took the boat to Epcot and MGM and took alternate transportations from the parks instead of waiting for the bus outside of Dolphin (Which took some time).

Hope this helps...thanks.

 

[gary403]

We stayed there last year and won't be back! On property Deluxe wins without a second thought.

gary403

 

[pigtail]

we stayed at the Dolphin in Dec 2002 for New Years. we did not care for it at all. we hated the smoking all over the lobby. our room was a great room but at the end of a very long hall. we did have the refillable mugs but our room was not easy access to the elevators. we just did not find the hotel or its employees to be warm or disney friendly.

 

[cadpigmn]

My family of 5 stayed at the Dolphin a year and a half ago after learning about the teacher special on this web site. We LOVED the Dolphin. My kids thought they were royalty. We had driven 36 hours to get to Disney and were pretty worn out when we arrived. The receptionist checking us in pulled up our reservation, looked at it and said she would be back in a minute. We were worried for a second but when she returned she told us we would be in a room with a balcony overlooking the fireworks. Our view was awesome! This set the tone for our entire stay. The kids loved the grotto pool - it was so clean and relaxing. A couple of times when we were there the lifegaurds set up some games with the kids. We also enjoyed being able to walk to the Boardwalk, MGM and Epcot.

I know some people have not enjoyed it because it wasn't as "kid friendly" but we had the opposite reaction. We spent the second half of our trip at POR and though we enjoyed several things about the POR it was a let down after the Dolphin. The pool area was not nearly as clean and getting a lounge chair was difficult. There were so many kids that weren't being properly watched that it wasn't nearly as relaxing. I felt that the employees at the Dolphin had gone out of their way to be friendly to the kids whereas they were just one more of a thousand kids at POR. This not to say we didn't enjoy our stay - we did but we vowed we would return to the Dolphin next time.

Well - our next trip is finally comning up in May. We had thought about trying for the YC but the kids wanted the Dolphin and with the great teacher rate and our positive experience that sounds good to us, too. My only fear is that we won't be able to get a balcony room again. Wish us luck!!!!!

 

[dreamflight99]

cadpigmn...Happy to read your FIRST Post on the DIS! So glad you enjoyed the Dolphin (Teacher rate can't be beat), and the kids too. For some friendly Dolphin-banter, and an extra bit of inside tips/info and advice....visit us on this thread: NEW...DOLPHIN/SWAN..."questions and answers"...tips and hints!. I look forward to seeing you there!

 

[Ashley's mom]

I followed advice and joined Starwood...got the Starwood Am Express card and then called in to be upgraded to Gold Status with Starwood so I'd get an upgrade. Anyway, I arrived March 15 and returned today....I had been VERY anxious about this hotel since so many people complained about the decor....and it is always hard to make reservations somewhere you've never been - but I COULDN'T HAVE BEEN HAPPIER WITH MY ROOM'S VIEW. Okay, the decor is a bit weird -not the conservative style you'd expect at a classy hotel - but it was . We arrived and I had booked a balcony room. I got my club level privileges since I was gold status with starwood. I could have been upgraded to club level room but I wanted that balcony and I am so glad I got it. My room FACED Epcot straight ahead and I could see the Boardwalk shopping area to the right and Yacht/beach Hotels to the left. It was an absolutely PERFECT view. I sat out on the balcony every morning and had a PERFECT view of Illuminations fireworks each evening at 9 p.m. We went up each morning to club level to eat breakfast - huge spread of cereals, muffins, pastries, bagels, english muffins, huge tray of fruit, juices and milk and more - which in Disney country would have cost us a bundle every day - then we ate out our big meal for lunch and ate in the club lounge every evening - different cheeses and crackers, fruit tray again, a hot hordevour and these really big cookies, oh, and drinks...this saved us a dinner tab too. I will say that if you want to give your kids milk instead of pop you have to ask for it in the evenings - and the food it put away promptly at 7 p.m. so don't be late -

I was VERY happy with the Dolphin pools and especially the slide at the pool. My daughter LOVED the slide and I finally broke down and went down it myself. Now let me tell you I am not a giggly person - in fact, prior to this trip I can't recall the last time I actually GIGGLED, but I went down that slide and I just couldn't help but squeal and giggle a little bit. I had an absolute blast on it with my 5 year old....(I'm 35 and haven't had fun for years I think). Anyway the pools were clean - not busy - I think 3 different hot tubs, a kid's wading pool, a lap pool, a pool with a waterfall, etc. My husband and I spent most of a day going around to several Disney properties (Poly, Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge, Yacht/beach) and we decided that we were happiest with our pool area at the Dolphin. For clean, not crowded, great slide, lots of options I give the Dolphin a big thumbs up....and I am a pretty picky ***** (hey, I know it).

I will say that we did not eat at the Dolphin restaurants (GO TO BOMA's at the ANimal Kingdom Lodge for dinner!!!!! It was our fav restaurant down in Orlando)

Housekeeping is not a terrible problem at the Dolphin. My husband and I had a bottle of wine and our wine glasses sat out in the hall for 2 days - and it was apparent that whomever was supposed to be picking up those dishes was failing to do so in a timely manner for other people as well - but other than that, we were fine with everything. As I said, I am a big pain in the butt and expect things to be "right" when I am paying to stay or eat somewhere - and I really was quite happy at the DOlphin. Perhaps it was the great view? Perhaps it was the free food on the club level floor? Great pool? Hey, what more is there?

OH OH OH!!!! If you go, take the time to go swing on the hammocks over on the sandy area - there's a playground there for the kids and there's this seal that sprays water out of it for the kids to run in and then the kiddies love to go ankle deep in the lake on the edge of the sandy area and you can just sit there and relax and swing in the hammock. It was so breezy and relaxing.

ASK for Room 8029....that's 8th floor - room 29...or any of the rooms in that area. Of course only every other room has the balcony - we got our balcony room for $204/night. I did just get an email that was offering rooms at the DOlphin May through Sept for $139 with no qualifications like teacher or govt' employee - but you have to reserve by April 15th....so go get them quick!!!!

Remember to sign up for Starwood status and all that other stuff so that you can get your club level privs.....I had a great time and I LOVED this hotel.

One last thing (I'm windy) there is a mall nearby Premium Outlet mall that has a Character store at it.....go and get Disney pins THERE to trade. We went and bought a whole basket of pins of whatever was cheapest (they were selling some for $2.99 each instead of the $6.50 they sell them at the parks) You buy the cheap ones and trade them with the cast members. My husband is a stuffy lawyer and he LOVED trading pins like a little kid. We came home with a ton of adorable pins (18 cast member lanyard pins!) and had the greatest time trading - it is too expensive a "hobby" if you buy the pins at the parks at $6.50 each so buy the pins discounted in advance.

OH- they ARE beginning renovations at the Dolphin. They came into our room on the morning of checkout to measure the room....with the renovations, I will like this hotel as well as ANY we've stayed in anywhere.

It is INCREDIBLY convenient to get to the parks and I loved the boat you take over to Epcot - relaxing and we never had to wait more than 5 minutes for the boats....

Go to the DOLPHIN! And most of all, don't be afraid to ASK for WHAT YOU WANT.

 

[jgates]

I'm stunned. I must have slept through this whole thread to not reply to it. Or did I just miss it in cruising the pages here?

We are all entitled to our own opinions of course. If we all loved the same thing, there would be cracker box hotels on property at every location - no value, mod or deluxe - just a xerox box at each location.

However, I will say I don't want you ALL to like the S & D. I want to make sure there are rooms available for me when I go!!!!! So please, feel free to dislike it!

I found it a charm. We had stayed at the Courtyard DTD on our last trip. That was fine (except for a 3 day a/c incident and 2 full room changes to get cool air). Motel was ok- employees friendly-at that time bus service SLOW - I understand it is better now.

Now the Swan, that was another matter........
We loved it!

Club level is great! My kids were fascinated that our 'continental breakfast' was on real plates - real silverware - no styrofoam! Bottled water to take with us to parks, snacks in the evening - we paired that with a pizza from Tubbi's a couple of eves and had a nice supper.

Pool is wonderful - I loved the shady air under the waterfall (in front of the bathrooms) to sit at so I didn't burn to a crisp.

Tubbi's food was GOOD!

Plenty of towels, good cleaning service. Turndown service at club level was nice too. All in-between garbage disappeared then too most nights.

Quick walk to the boat dock, or to the Boardwalk. 5 minutes to the car in the parking lot - easily accessible. 5 minutes to mini-golf at Fantasmic. Quick and reliable bus service. (I even did the dummy thing one night- walked to the front of Epcot, expecting a bus to take us back to the Swan - Oops! Only walk or boat service! I could never have made it back to the World Showcase back entry so we hopped the monorail to TTC then to MK and bus back to Swan. I believe we were back in a little over 25 min - I never could have walked back to WS gate in that time frame!).

DS left dd & I locked out of the room one night. We flagged down the turn-down lady and she could not let us in, but had a security man there in a few minutes. He kept apologizing for the delay because he was over at the Dolphin, for something that was our stupid fault to begin with. (The Super 8 my son got locked out of our room at one night wouldn't even let him back in. He was forced to sit in the hall for 2 hours until we came back!)

I liked the Disney merchandise store at the Dolphin better - larger selection than at the Swan. I picked up a large heavy book i wanted there, rather than risking damage being sent back to room from parks.

We had only one 'unfriendly' employee. My son couldn't pick up his package from the front desk because the room was only in my name. I went back and picked it up. It ended up being rather funny in the long run because I had sent him down every morning to pick up both his and MY packages - yet this one wouldn't let him pick up his! It was nothing severe enough to register a complaint at all about.

 

[dreamflight99]

Originally posted by jgates
However, I will say I don't want you ALL to like the S & D. I want to make sure there are rooms available for me when I go!!!!! So please, feel free to dislike it!

"DITTO" Jay! So many things to LOVE about these two resorts...I just have to mention "LATE CHECK-OUT!" No Disney-owned resort permits you to stay past NOON. We stay past 4 pm each summer, w/o any problem! Our flight leaves MCO late, so it's nice to have the time to sleep-in, pack and leave w/o RUSHING! Especially on our "last" Day in the MAGIC. It is absolutely one of my FAVORITE thing about these resorts.