Here's a variation on what I did with some first-timers a few years back. (It sounds like you don't have a car. If you do, I can give you a slightly more efficent version of the trip.) This might take you a couple hours, but it'll be really fun.
1 - Take the bus from the Dolphin to the Magic Kingdom. When you get off the bus, walk right to the monorail station.
2 - Get on the *resort* monorail, not the express monorail, and ride one loop around the lagoon. Get off and visit the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian, if they look interesting. (Try finding the five-legged goat in the big mosaic near the monorail station at the CR.)
3 - Get off the monorail at the Magic Kingdom, and you'll see the boat dock for the Wilderness Lodge right in front of you. Take the boat to WL - about a 7 or 8 minute ride. Get off the boat, and check out the Lodge - it's stunning, especially the lobby.
4 - Go back to the boat dock, and get on the *smaller* boat that will take you back to the Contemporary. (It may stop at Ft. Wilderness first.)
5 - Get back on the monorail here, and ride one stop to the Transportation and Ticket Center. Switch here to the Epcot monorail. (*This* is the one that I would recommend asking to ride up front, since it's a longer ride. Just ask the attendants, and they'll direct you to a little bench where up-front riders get to wait.)
6 - Ride to Epcot - and don't tell the kids, but the monorail actually goes through the park on the way, so you'll get a free sneak preview. It's a great view from the front cab.
7 - Now you're not far from your hotel, but there's no way to get there from the front entrance of Epcot without going through the park. So I can think of two choices:
- first, stay on the monorail and go back to the Magic Kingdom, where you can catch a bus back to the Dolphin. If you rode up front of the monorail, you'll have to move back into one of the regular cars for the ride back. (This might require sneaking into the exit doors as everyone else is coming out.)
- second, exit the monorail and walk over to the bus area. Catch a bus to the Studios (I think there is still one from EC to the Studios), where you can switch to a bus to take you back to the Dolphin. If it's uncrowded, the driver from Epcot may even be willing to drop you off right at the Dolphin, since it's "kinda" on the way.
This will be a really fun adventure - you'll have a pretty good trip all around Walt Disney World, and you'll get to see a ton of stuff. Admittedly, it may be a little ambitious.
