Our views from balcony room #4019 at The Dolphin

[Blondie]

We had another fantastic stay at the Dolphin! Everything was perfect, the Grotto Pool was open every day that we were there (closed once briefly for lightening, but that is the norm for any pool) and the CM's were wonderful!

We had a semi-obstructed view (palm trees blocking) of Spaceship Earth, we could see it better at night when the lights were on. We could also see the fireworks from Illuminations and here some of the music, if you listened closely!

Here are just a few photos from our balcony room, #4019, East Wing. I highly recommend this wing of the Dolphin. I could sit on the balcony forever, just taking in the sights and sounds coming from the Boardwalk and surrounding resort area!

Sunrise at the "world", it was a scorcher that day!

Our view of the entrance to The Boardwalk:

 

[ead79]

What a nice view! How neat that you could see Illuminations!

 

[glo]

Man, I miss home.... Beautiful view Blondie...have a great time!

 

[madge]

beautiful!!

did y'all have a good time?

 

[epcotfan]

Great pics! Keep em coming!

 

[Blondie]

We always manage to have a good time, but I gotta tell ya...no more August trips for us! It's just way too hot! Almost too hot to go to the parks!

We expected it to be hot, but holy cow, not THAT hot!

The great thing about going at this time of year is the parks aren't crowded at all! All the rides were walk ons, and we had great castmember interaction at the Haunted Mansion!

Now we are thinking maybe next Christmas (2005) for our next adventure? Time will tell!

 

[Timmbco]

We had that same view but a few floors up. We thought it was so exciting to stay right in the middle of everything. We also loved the Grotto pool; however it was such an ordeal to make it out to the pool! I felt uncomfortable trapesing through the hotel with our pool gear in our swimsuits. Next time I think I will have to ask for a room by the pool. Did you guys find this a problem?

 

[Mouseteacher]

We had the same view from our balcony this past July - room 8021 East Wing.

Timmco~The walk to the pool was a bit of a hike but I didn't mind it. I wouldn't give up that view for anything!

Our view taken from the balcony:

 

[Blondie]

Timmbco, I've never been intimidated by the "suits" at any resort! I just strut on through the lobby on my way to the pool, with a big smile on my face!

Mouseteacher, great view! Next time, I'd like to be a little higher up, but I can't complain! I was so appreciative of the room we did have! There was a convention of some kind going on, a company called OnBase, and another called Sound Sensations (or something like that.) The hotel appeared to be booked solid!

 

[#1hockeymom]

Beautiful! I miss our sorority house! Wish you could have made it for the party! Thank you for sharing your pictures with us! Great family photo, too!

 

[GoofyJoofy]

Originally posted by Blondie
We always manage to have a good time, but I gotta tell ya...no more August trips for us! It's just way too hot! Almost too hot to go to the parks!

We expected it to be hot, but holy cow, not THAT hot!

The great thing about going at this time of year is the parks aren't crowded at all! All the rides were walk ons, and we had great castmember interaction at the Haunted Mansion!

Now we are thinking maybe next Christmas (2005) for our next adventure? Time will tell!

Blondie - When were you there? We were just at BC 8/22 - 8/29. I agree the crowds are low. We were able to just walk on 3 or 4 attractions in a row beginning around 9:15 in MK.

We just kept ducking into shows or attractions with airconditioning. We also used mister fans and coolgardie (body cooling neck wraps) around our necks http://www.coolgardie.tv
so we almost did not notice the heat.....

.... OK I lied, but hey we were in Disney and we would do it again in late August!!!

 

[Blondie]

Originally posted by GoofyJoofy
Blondie - When were you there? We were just at BC 8/22 - 8/29.

We were there from 8/24-8/30 we could've passed each other!

Saw Mickey's Philharmagic for the first time, loved it!

We did a few other "firsts" for us, I'll post it all on the Trip Reports board when I can sit down and put my thoughts and experiences into words!

 

[dreamflight99]

I missed you?

 

[dreamflight99]

Hanging on, apparently through our SECOND Hurricane! ~We are leaving this weekend (if the weather approves) as DD has to be in school (shhh...she missed a little bit this week). It's her Senior year, and she's only missing orientation, etc. She'll be back in time for her tests on her AP summer reading!! Yippee!! I have some packages to ship out of Celebration, and some other shipping to be done via DisneyWorld (I ALWAYS BUY LOTS, and LOTS of THINGS!!)
Our Luggage always weighs MORE than the permitted 50#...BUT, PLATINUM AMEX is permitted 70# at no extra charge. So, we always "stretch" it with the card & some extra tip $$$! (LOL).

Enough of that...YOU WERE HERE while I WAS HERE??!!! I WISH I would have known you were here...I would have said "hello" (if you wished...as we are both in the same area of the resort!). I too...look out over the Epcot area. I have CL access (Plat SPG is a wonderful thing), but prefer this area over the CL floors/view. Did you take a ride UP to the ninth floor and look at the new carpeting/wallpaper? It looks very nice, but lacks the "whimsey" of the beach scene!

I can't believe I MISSED the opportunity to say "HELLO" to you, Blondie. Perhaps you just wanted to be alone with family...and I respect/understand that completely. If you are planning another "summer" trip to the Dolphin, please let me know. I would LOVE to meet you. My vacation pretty much BLANKETS the entire summer...so anytime you plan to come, I'll probably be here~!

After all...I was in Disney's VERO BEACH resort when the sisters arrived at the Swan/Dolphin, and I STILL managed to drive over and enjoy HIGH TEA at the Grand Floridian!! What a GREAT time we shared!!

Here's a couple pics of the view from our suite!

I truly have no qualms about leaving each summer, mostly due to the fact I take-up residency...and the added comfort of knowing in 10 months time, I'll be back here again! I've stopped looking at my Folio on the TV, as after more than a month...it's Gigantic!!

Summer 2005...PLANS are already in the WORKS!! We begin with the DISNEY MAGIC 7~NIGHT CRUISE in JUNE out of our own home port...LOS ANGELES!!!! HOORAY!!!

TTFN...DF99

 

[Blondie]

Dreamflight, I had no idea you were still there! I would've loved to have met you!

I finally made it up to the 20th floor to look out over "the world!" What a view! I got the tip from you! As you probably know, the carpet is new up there as well, and I actually liked it! It looks like cobblestones with some throw rugs! Not as "beachy" as the original carpeting, but nice just the same!

Back to the view from up there, WOW! I could see Coronado Springs, Animal Kingdom, & Animal Kingdom Lodge, just to name a few!

You took some great shots, thanks for posting them!

I'm saying my prayers for all those in the path of the hurricane!

Have a safe trip home!

 

[Blondie]

Here's another photo I just scanned in, you can make out the letters E and P of "Epcot" from Spaceship Earth, if you look in the center of the palm trees:

 

[gina2000]

Sounds like you had a lovely trip and a great view, Blondie!

 

[Prince Eric1]

How much of a walk is it from the Swan and Dolphin into Epcot. We stayed at the values on our previous trip but I would like to stay right near a park next time, probably Epcot. Are these about the two closest hotels or are others as close or closer?

 

[Mouseteacher]

The BC is probably the closest to the International Gateway. the walk from the Swan is a tad closer than the Dolphin. The walk is about 15 minutes depending on your strides and speed!

 

[Blondie]

It's a very pleasant walk from any of the Epcot Resorts (Beach & Yacht Club, Boardwalk, S&D) except when it's 90 plus degrees out! Then we take the boat over!

The boats are slow however, we would normally get off at the Boardwalk and walk over to the Dolphin. We always beat the boat back! But the boats are a nice way to take in the scenery, they are air conditioned in the summer and heated in the winter.

We really enjoy the Epcot resort area!