NEW-EST...DOLPHIN/SWAN..."questions and answers"...tips and hints!

[Blondie]

Just got confirmation back from dreams...will comeback and pick your brains later...Great thread...

Chris

Welcome English Gent! Lots of great info within this thread. If you have any specific questions, just fire away!

 

[A fat english gent]

Abit of back ground about us..Me,DW,DD23,DD13 and last but not least DS13 we land on the 13th of October were having the first week here than doing a B&B cruise on the magic leaving for home on the 3rd of november If mickey's swat team can evict us from our suite that is...

Oh dear your going to regret saying that dear.....Here's a few from me

1/ Ive gone for a resort view so does this mean now we have no chance of an upgrade?
2/we love fireworks,your room choice would be???????????????????
3/anyone taken a cab to the GF from here or can you get a cab on reception?

Thanks

Chris

ps...WE HAVE MANY MORE...

 

[Mouseteacher]

Welcome English Gent!

If you booked a resort view, you could upgrade to a resort view with a balcony.

We had a dead-center view of Illuminations from our room in the far east wing (closest to YC/BC) at the Dolphin - 8th floor. We had a balcony and it was heavenly to sit out and watch Illuminations!

We have taken a cab from the Dolphin to the CR for our dinner ressie at CG. We went out the main entrance and the cabs were lined up waiting. The fare was about $16, IIRC.

PS~I love your country. DH and I visited a few years ago and stayed for 2 weeks. The highlight for me was a trip to Nottingham and Sherwood Forest -- since I was a kid I've loved the Robin Hood legend (love the new BBC Robin Hood seres!).

 

[A fat english gent]

Welcome English Gent!

If you booked a resort view, you could upgrade to a resort view with a balcony.

We had a dead-center view of Illuminations from our room in the far east wing (closest to YC/BC) at the Dolphin - 8th floor. We had a balcony and it was heavenly to sit out and watch Illuminations!

We have taken a cab from the Dolphin to the CR for our dinner ressie at CG. We went out the main entrance and the cabs were lined up waiting. The fare was about $16, IIRC.

PS~I love your country. DH and I visited a few years ago and stayed for 2 weeks. The highlight for me was a trip to Nottingham and Sherwood Forest -- since I was a kid I've loved the Robin Hood legend (love the new BBC Robin Hood seres!).

OOPS I've booked a "Resort View w/Balcony Room" so i need to be 7th/8th floor?,i am right in thinking you won't get an upgrade from this Kinda room?, thank you....

ps...I'll let into a secret about our Robin and Nottingham, historian's are 95% sure he lived some 50 miles further north and only traveled to Nottingham when on business than history tells it now but because of the tourism industry built in and around Nottingham about his legend this is kept a secret,i live 2 miles from a place where Robin is said to have fallen and been buried a place called "The babes in wood" in Mirfield......Hope i didn't spoil anything for you.. anyways you now have a dam good reason to come visit our once great nation again....

 

[Mouseteacher]

OOPS I've booked a "Resort View w/Balcony Room" so i need to be 7th/8th floor?,i am right in thinking you won't get an upgrade from this Kinda room?, thank you....

ps...I'll let into a secret about our Robin and Nottingham, historian's are 95% sure he lived some 50 miles further north and only traveled to Nottingham when on business than history tells it now but because of the tourism industry built in and around Nottingham about his legend this is kept a secret,i live 2 miles from a place where Robin is said to have fallen and been buried a place called "The babes in wood" in Mirfield......Hope i didn't spoil anything for you.. anyways you now have a dam good reason to come visit our once great nation again....

I suppose the next upgrade would be to a suite but I don't know how often that happens. We were lucky a few years ago at the Swan. We booked a standard room on the teacher rate and we were comp to a junior suite with balcony. It was a great surprise and I never expected to get that much of an upgrade.

The 8th floor in the far east wing has an unobstructed view of Epcot. Some of the lower floors may have trees or shrubs blocking the view. A caution: the walk to the elevator from this location is quite a hike - down the corridor that makes up the wing, take a left and the long corridor that is the main building leading to the elevators. As I said in my earlier posts, we didn't mind this because our view was wonderful and worth the walk. So when requesting a view ask for an unobstructed view of Epcot.

Re: Nottingham
You didn't spoil anything for me...we had a wonderful time in England. We based ourselves in London, rented a car (DH did all the driving - I couldn't handle driving on the "wrong" side of the road LOL) and took day trips out of the city. I didn't recognize the round abouts in London (here in Boston we call them rotarys). Yours looked like bumps in the road - I would have driven right over them!!! Thankfully, DH knew what they were and how to drive around them!

 

[duffy]

Excuse my ignorance as I had never considered the Swan or Dolphin prior to all the positive threads on DIS. So If we book a stay here we cannot book the DDP at all?? Is that right? We were thinking of doing a split stay with the WL. Would I have to make two seperate bookings with Swan and then include the DDP with the WL booking?? We are looking at 10 -12 night all up for May next year.

I was interested in your post because I'm thinking of a split stay with the other half of our trip being at the Wilderness Lodge too.

We definitely want to stay on site, and originally thought we'd like the Yacht Club or the Beach Club, since our favorite parks are the MGM studios and Epcot. But the prices!

We also love the theming of the Wilderness Lodge, plus being able to get the dining plan would be a plus...so we thought, let's split our stay, and stay at the Swan or Dolphin for half the trip. I can't wait to be able to just walk over to Epcot, and the prices at the Swan and Dolphin are great compared to the Disney-owned hotels.

We are planning a trip for early Feb. 2008.

 

[A fat english gent]

I suppose the next upgrade would be to a suite but I don't know how often that happens. We were lucky a few years ago at the Swan. We booked a standard room on the teacher rate and we were comp to a junior suite with balcony. It was a great surprise and I never expected to get that much of an upgrade.

The 8th floor in the far east wing has an unobstructed view of Epcot. Some of the lower floors may have trees or shrubs blocking the view. A caution: the walk to the elevator from this location is quite a hike - down the corridor that makes up the wing, take a left and the long corridor that is the main building leading to the elevators. As I said in my earlier posts, we didn't mind this because our view was wonderful and worth the walk. So when requesting a view ask for an unobstructed view of Epcot.

Re: Nottingham
You didn't spoil anything for me...we had a wonderful time in England. We based ourselves in London, rented a car (DH did all the driving - I couldn't handle driving on the "wrong" side of the road LOL) and took day trips out of the city. I didn't recognize the round abouts in London (here in Boston we call them rotarys). Yours looked like bumps in the road - I would have driven right over them!!! Thankfully, DH knew what they were and how to drive around them!

Thanks for that,i'll be back soon with a list of other questions for you from the clan...

 

[MSC]

The only requests I make is for an upgrade ~ with that, I'll be happy with what I get. Last time, without any requests, we had a view of the Cinderella's castle. I was thrilled to see the fireworks (when we got back to our room in time one evening).

I think this should be clarified, lest people not familiar with the geography and location of S/D stumble on here thinking that they should request a view of Cinderella's castle. S/D is nowhere near the MK. From the S/D, the MK is almost literally seen on the horizon several miles away. And it is in the opposite direction from Epcot/Boardwalk, so the rooms on that side are definitely not preferred. They are actually the parking lot view rooms, and the MK just happens to be seen in the distance.

 

[Mouseteacher]

Hmmmm...Thanks for posting on that, MSC. I was thinking the same thing when I read the post - a view of the castle? But I didn't want to contradict the poster.

 

[Boatingmom]

I am planning a split stay (4+3) between WL so I can get to the HDDR and MK easily, and then Dolphin to access the restaurants, Boardwalk (and save some jingles). Can I still buy a seven day hopper? Which resort would you stay at first? I'm going Friday to Friday and not arriving until the evening on the first night. I'm currently leaning towards Friday, Sat, Sun and Mon at Dolphin then Tues, Wed Thurs at WL. Opinions or suggestions?

 

[MOM POPPINS]

You can use your 7 day hopper no matter where you stay. I would definately stay at the Dolphin and then WL. Tuesday and Wednesday are the slowest days of the week for Magic Kingdom.

What time of the evening are you arriving. It does not cost much to add an 8th day and Epcot is right at your back door from the Dolphin for a great dinner and Illuminations for your first night!

 

[MOM POPPINS]

By the way the Dolphin will transfer your luggage to Wilderness Lodge so it makes it easier to switch resorts!

 

[warriorboy648]

Can anyone who came back from the Swan/Dolpohin recently tell me how late the pool is open? Also, how is the air conditioning working? We leave on Sat. I've been planning for so long that I can't believe we are finally going

 

[Boatingmom]

Thanks! That's what I was thinking. I figure if Dolphin is near "stuff", we can do dinner at the Dolphin the night we arrive around 6:00pm and then walk to the Boardwalk. I didn't know Tues and Thurs are slow at MK, however, I figured we'd see Epcot and MG first. Save the "Best" (according to the kiddies)for last. Which water park is easirest to get to andb from which resort?? Kids want to goat least once so I'll try to squish it in. Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[SingingMom]

Can anyone who came back from the Swan/Dolpohin recently tell me how late the pool is open? Also, how is the air conditioning working? We leave on Sat. I've been planning for so long that I can't believe we are finally going

The pool technically is opened "24 hours" but the lifeguards are on duty until 5 or 7, depending on the time of year. The pool bar is opened until 5 ish...

Thanks! That's what I was thinking. I figure if Dolphin is near "stuff", we can do dinner at the Dolphin the night we arrive around 6:00pm and then walk to the Boardwalk. I didn't know Tues and Thurs are slow at MK, however, I figured we'd see Epcot and MG first. Save the "Best" (according to the kiddies)for last. Which water park is easirest to get to andb from which resort?? Kids want to goat least once so I'll try to squish it in. Thanks in advance for all your help.

Blizzard Beach is closer than Typhoon Lagoon.. This year was the first time we went to Blizzard Beach and the "wave pool" was much calmer - it is called a "bob pool" with gentle waves. Typhoon Lagoon has the big 6ft wave crashing pool. The rest is pretty similar from one park to another.

Another nice thing about being so close to the Boardwalk is walking home from Epcot and stopping at the Bakery for late dessert and watching the activity...
I just LOVE the Dolphin's central location!!

 

[MOM POPPINS]

Your best days at Magic Kingdom are usually Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday is usually EMH morning so it gets pretty busy after lunchtime. We never have a problem any given morning at MK as long as we are there for rope drop! Blizzard Beach is closest to the Dolphin. Happy Planning!

 

[duffy]

You can use your 7 day hopper no matter where you stay. I would definately stay at the Dolphin and then WL. Tuesday and Wednesday are the slowest days of the week for Magic Kingdom.

I think we'll do the opposite and stay at the Wilderness Lodge first, then the Dolphin and here's why:

My husband and I like Epcot the best, second-best park is the MGM studios. So we want to save them for last.

We're thinking of purchasing the dining plan. Now, I know we can't get it while at the Dolphin, but I've read a lot of threads about people having unused snack credits. I know when we were last in Disney World we split meals a lot because we got so much food, so, it seems to me that if we get the plan while at the Wilderness Lodge, we'll end up with at least a few unused snack credits.

I think it will work out so that I will use any leftover snack credits to stock up on, well, snacks! And then we can just take them with us to enjoy while at the Dolphin.

Does that make sense?

 

[madge]

I think we'll do the opposite and stay at the Wilderness Lodge first, then the Dolphin and here's why:

My husband and I like Epcot the best, second-best park is the MGM studios. So we want to save them for last.

We're thinking of purchasing the dining plan. Now, I know we can't get it while at the Dolphin, but I've read a lot of threads about people having unused snack credits. I know when we were last in Disney World we split meals a lot because we got so much food, so, it seems to me that if we get the plan while at the Wilderness Lodge, we'll end up with at least a few unused snack credits.

I think it will work out so that I will use any leftover snack credits to stock up on, well, snacks! And then we can just take them with us to enjoy while at the Dolphin.

Does that make sense?

it does - and we'd probably do the same thing, for the same reasons

 

[anbouk]

Has anyone received any animal towels while staying at this hotel? I always read threads about them if you stay on an onsite hotel. I've never seen/gotten one here, though. We have stayed here twice, before.

 

[A fat english gent]

Welcome English Gent!

If you booked a resort view, you could upgrade to a resort view with a balcony.

We had a dead-center view of Illuminations from our room in the far east wing (closest to YC/BC) at the Dolphin - 8th floor. We had a balcony and it was heavenly to sit out and watch Illuminations!

We have taken a cab from the Dolphin to the CR for our dinner ressie at CG. We went out the main entrance and the cabs were lined up waiting. The fare was about $16, IIRC.

PS~I love your country. DH and I visited a few years ago and stayed for 2 weeks. The highlight for me was a trip to Nottingham and Sherwood Forest -- since I was a kid I've loved the Robin Hood legend (love the new BBC Robin Hood seres!).

Just Had an e-mail back from Bob stating theirs a $100 a night surcharge for requesting rooms on the 7/8th floors and in his view it simply ain't worth paying that...