We arrived at the Dolphin on Saturday, and all I can say is, "Oh my!"
Saturday:
arrived at MCO on time, all our luggage arrived, and figured out how find Mears transportation. There were so many of us heading to Swan/Dolphin that we had to wait 20 minutes for a tour bus, as we all could not fit into 3 vans, plus all of our luggage.
I must say that I was not impressed with Swan's drop off/pick up area from the bus, and was a bit concerned about what I'd find around the corner at the Dolphin. Needless today, my fears were not warranted. Upon coming up the drive way, the Dolphin screamed, " I'm gorgeous," and it is.
I'm a "Preferred" SPG member--meaning we don't have any points--lol. Well, the guest host checking us in gave us the HOOK UP,though! We're in the West wing in room 10149--OUR VIEW, OUR VIEW--is of the Lake area between the Dolphin & Swan, and when we look out the window we're staring right in the middle of the flower cups of the Dolphin & the Swans of the Swan-- with DHS to our right--more coming on DHS. Oh, the room decor--it has sand colored walls, and multi-colored earth toned carpet with leave swirls throughout, slate colored stone at the entrance and we also have a refrigerator vs. a wine cooler. Our drapes are a brown & teal wide stripe. The furniture & bedding looks the same as from photos from Swan/Dolphin threads, and we have a LG flat screen TV which dd controls with a wireless computer keyboard--rolling of eyes. Did I mention the hallways smell brand new with calming paint & cool looking carpet that kind of matches the Picabu color scheme?.
We relaxed, went to Picabu for dinner where we now only order ONE of everything & split the entree because Picabu gives so much food. Went back to our rooms, changed & headed straight downstairs to the Grotto Pool area, and then to the Boardwalk to catch the fireworks after hearing another guest telling her husband to hurry up so they did not miss them. After the fireworks, daughter & I refilled our refillable cups & headed to our room for the evening, but was quite disappointed when for some strange reason, the hotels turned off the lights right before the fireworks and still had not turned them back on. Oh well. We went to sleep happy as clams.
Sunday--
We headed to Picabu for breakfast--shared of course--lol. Then waited for Enterprise Car rental to pick us up so I could get out car from over at the Marriott--$227 for 8 days & 7 nights. We're driving a Pontiac GTS--I think.
Made a
Walmart run & shopped at an outlet on the way back to the Dolphin. Dd swam while I had a couple of adult type refills from the Cabana--grin--liquid lunch. We ate stuff from Walmart & headed to Epcot via ferry. We returned & caught the fireworks again. We cozied up in our beds, watched a few movies on my lap book & fell asleep.
Monday--
We headed to Downtown Disney & literally spend the whole day there--I could not believe it was almost 3:30 when we arrived home, and we left the hotel at 10something. All we did was walk around & look in all the shops--oh, we did take in a show at the open theatre by the lake. Although tired, we headed out to an Indian restaurant for an early dinner & to scope out 192 for the rest of the week's dinner meals. After returning to the hotel, and entering our room, we discovered that we can SEE FIREWORKS OUT OUR WINDOW--yep, did I mention we have a great view of DHS's Tower of Doom with all its lit-up purpleness? What a shock to stand in our room and watch the fireworks that seemed to go on forever. We attempted to take photos, but I bought the wrong type of memory card for my camera.
Tuesday--We just getting up & have not decided what to get into yet. dd's friends arrive this evening & we plan to hit DHS, Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom before we leave next Monday, but am not sure if we will get to them all with the dance competition beginning tomorrow.
I'll update again in a few days.
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Missed your send-off! Hope your family has a wonderful vacation at our beloved S&D! Enjoy the Grotto/Drinks 
Pls do start a trippie on your return! 
I have looked at the photos thread from start to finish and would love to see some new pictures...
The Swan's entrance and lobby are less impressive, but then I don't sleep in hotel lobbies! 
. I'm going back to S & D to stay at the Swan in October. On our last visit the kids did get tennis racquets in the health club and walked to the tennis courts, and my daughter did the hair bead thingy(rip off) How exactaly do I find out about the activities or is it hit or miss?
I took some photos and will try to upload when we return home. We leave tomorrow - 
. We're saving about $1,100 off the room price of the Poly. I'm hoping I've done the right thing. I know the Poly is awesome, but I think the Dolphin will be equally as awesome. I think my girls are going to love WALKING to Epcot!
