Hi everyone
We are just back from our trip, staying at the Dolphin
We were on the 14th floor,, on the far end. I could see a little bit of fireworks from epcot. Could see the TOT from the room. No balcony. I do wish they had the sofa bed/couch somewhere other than directly in front of the windows,,, had to kneel on the couch to look out.
It was my first trip to Dolphin- first time not staying in a "Disney" resort.
I was a little worried about the lack of theming, but it really wasnt too much of an impact.
Could sometimes hear the people in the room next to us. Luckily, just heard laughing talking.....
We joined SPG/
AAA before making the reservations. Room wasnt ready when we were checking in (got there before 1:00) She told us she could get us into a room right away,,, I said sure, if that would be a better view. It was not,, it would have been a lesser room,,, so we decided to wait.
Was great having the 2 bottles of water each day in the room, and I did make use of the internet. I also made good use of the gym- almost every morning I would go down and sit in the heat sauna. I love the heat saunas! The sauna is what made the mandatory resort fee worthwhile for me.
We rented a car- if we went again, I would just get a service like Happy Limo to get from the airport. Only used the car to go to AK once,, and stopped at the outlet on the way to and from the airport. I dont think the parking fee was worth the few times we needed the car. (we are 2 adults, no kids- kids may make the car more worthwhile)
We choose to have maid service each day- for clean towels, and refreshed toiletries. The room was always cleaned nicely, however, about half the time we did not get new soaps. Not a bg enough deal to complain about though.
The one thing I was a little disappointed in was the Heavenly beds. We had 1 king bed. Maybe we had an older one- seemed like a regular bed with a regular top on it. I did like that the sheets/covers were white. The Disney resort ones are all very Busy- to hide a multitude of sins, I am sure.
Dont forget the AAA discount when eating. We had 2 breaksfasts at Fresh. Forgot the first time- saved us $8 the second time when we remembered. Loved the fresh juices.
There were conventiosn there, but they made no difference in the stay- woudl see them crowded around the bar sometimes, but if you didnt want to sit at the bar, no worries!
Guest Services and the Disney type store are both sort of hidden from the main lobby. The couple times we went to guest services, there was never a line.
Biggest plus about the Dolphin is location. When the room wasnt ready, we walked to Epcot, sat and had a drink in the UK, and they called us when the room was ready. We started walking a couple times right as the boat was leaving, and each time we beat the boat to international gateway.
But the walk was getting long by the end of the week, and we started to use the boat more.
The walk to Studios was nice, a little longer. Did take the boat back.
All in all,, the Dolphin was very nice. Would stay again, if we got a really good rate like we did this time (AP rate). Just wouldnt rent a car again.
And read up on the Dolphin! We're very excited about this. 
So any help would be very much appreciated! 
