Sorry this is so long!!
We kept an eye out for lime-green ribbons, but didn't see a single one all week! (We hoped to run into Troyfus or Muffy perhaps...)
We just returned from seven nights at the Dolphin. The holiday decorations were beautiful -- my DS loved the train! The staff in the club lounge were very accomodating. Unfortunately, the rest of our hotel experience wasn't as good as many we have read about on these boards.
Prior to our trip, we followed the advice on the boards & got SPG Gold & racked up points. We requested adjoining deluxe balcony/resort view rooms, hoping for an upgrade to CL, then were ecstatic when SPG called (twice!) the week before we left, and told us we had been upgraded to CL. When we checked in (after midnight) however, the front desk said we would not be CL, and furthermore SPG has no authority to upgrade. (We even provided the name, phone number & extension of the person who had called us. She said they would "look into it" the next day.) I asked to waive the $8 resort fees but was told it is no longer optional. On top of that, we were told we couldn't get adjoining rooms with balconies, but the rooms would be near each other. We thought that would be okay, but discovered that only one room had a balcony facing Epcot; the other not only didn't have a balcony, but the view was of the loading dock & the garbage dumpsters!
The next morning I went back to the front desk. The night person had not forwarded our concerns, so we explained again. With much apparent sacrifice, we were given CL. As for the view, we were told that because the hotel was full, our second room couldn't be changed. The agreed to adjust the rate to standard and to waive the resort fee (on one room only).
When we checked out we found that they had neither waived the resort fee, nor adjusted the room rate. The clerk insisted that because of the mix-up with the view, we were comp'd with CL. I felt like this was a bait-and-switch game! We were told we could be CL before we even arrived, and now they were pretending like it was their idea to make up for the view! Besides the dispute over the rate, we also had several "recreation" charges for boat rentals, etc at the pool. With temps in the 60s most days, we never went to the pool. The clerk acted like we were criminals because I denied that the charges were ours! I asked for a manager, and after 90 minutes (!) of standing at the desk (while they "checked into things" in the back office), they reduced both rooms to the standard rate, waived both resort fees, and discovered that in fact, the recreation fees were from the guest in our room the week before.
Beyond the charges, our mousekeeping was marginal at best. I asked for extra oatmeal soap and got TWO bars instead of one. (Whoopee!) It took two days for them to replace the shampoo we had used, and three days to replace the coffee. (Remember until check-out we were still paying the resort fee!) The hairdryer in the room was too weak to use, and not replaced during our stay. The lighting in the vanity area was poor, and I didn't like that there was no door at the vanity, because it made it hard to get ready early without waking everyone with the light. Lastly, the internet connection in the room didn't work; they didn't get to it in the week we were there.
Our stay wasn't all bad though. Mostly we found the staff friendly and accomodating, and the view of Epcot was great (though I would recommend 8th floor or higher to avoid views obstructed by trees)... but the hassles left kind of a bad taste in our mouths.... I hope our experience was unusual -- despite the setbacks, we still had a fabulous week! Anyway, I hope everybody else who went had a great time too! Like DF99 always says, it helped to have names & to stick to our guns, but I felt like we lost a lot of time fighting to get only what was promised in the first place
). My DH loves Disney, and I would be hard-pressed to visit any Locations sans my other half! He enjoys every moment, and is so young at heart (and open-minded). Life is always NEW, ever-changing and always FRESH as I journey beside him. Living near DL offers us the opportunity to indulge our "Disney-itis" whenever the urge hits! My DS was there for NYE...brave soul! It was packed with folks, but she loved it! She went last year as well, and vows to make this an annual trek. 
