We had a wonderful stay at the Dolphin Nov. 8-14. We stayed on SPG points and were graciously upgraded to a resort view King room with two balconies. Loved our room, loved our view, loved the location, REALLY LOVED the pools. We feel so blessed we were able to try the Dolphin and would return without question. I am excited all the Swan and Dolphin rooms will be renovated soon. Our room was lovely enough and we enjoyed everything about it, but it will be even nicer with new decor.
There are so many amazing restaurants at these hotels.
Have I mentioned how much I LOOOOOVED the pools?
I would have loved to go lay in the hammock or take the swan boats out on the lake, but there was no time this trip. Our girls play volleyball, they have an outdoor net and one in the pool also, they will really enjoy it when we return with them.
I was not at all impressed with the housekeeping staff. I did not find them to be friendly. We normally don't even have housekeeping come into our room, I typically just do a towel exchange out in the hallway with a housekeeper when I see them at their cart. We chose the Green Program or whatever it is called at SPG where you choose not to have housekeeping but get a $5 voucher each day instead, it worked for us. Except, they were suppose to come in after the fourth night. We spoke to someone in the hallway saying, yes, we would like them to come in. When we got back, there were new waters and coffee and our trash was emptied, but our bed was not made! How someone could come into our room and not make the bed is beyond me. Especially after I talked to her. I think there was some sort of mix up or something, but, anyway, not impressed with those staff members. Overall, not a big deal.
One thing to keep in mind when staying here is that you cannot charge to your MB. Even though our park tickets and FP+ were on our bands, you cannot charge back to the room. Not a huge deal, but this meant I needed to take out my credit card each and every time we made a purchase.
Guests should also keep in mind these are large convention hotels. There was a huge convention on-site the days we were there and that lobby and lobby bar area were packed to the gills at night and LOUD. Just a different type of feel from the other on-site hotels with lots of people dressed in their Disney attire and such, this was not that. Our actual room was very quiet, we didn't hear much at all.
Boat and bus service was pretty good except for one long boat wait and one bus incident. Loved the boat rides and talking to the different captains, etc. There is a sign at the Dolphin bus stop that states if a bus arrives full, that guests may need to wait for another bus. DH and I were first to the bus stop, then a family of four shows up, then another couple. The bus arrived, the family of four jumped in the side door and when DH and I tried to enter at the front, the bus driver apologized saying his bus was full and that we'd have to wait for the next one. I explained that we were there first and should be allowed on, not the other party. He said he was sorry. I asked if he could ask the other party to get off and let us on, and he said he couldn't ask anyone to get off the bus. I was not happy because I was sure we would miss our FP window. When the next bus arrived, I let everyone know we had been waiting the longest and that we WOULD be getting on that bus!!
Another not so funny bus experience. Our last night at MK, after
MVMCP, we get on the bus, nowhere to sit, not a problem. DH and I were alllll the way to the back of the bus standing up and holding on. I was sure my backpack was super close to the person sitting in that back row bench of the bus. The entire aisle was full of people standing. It was 1:00am by this time. We arrive at the Boardwalk and the bus is about to stop. The lady behind me says....wait for it: "Excuse me, if you'll just move aside, we'll get past you, this is our stop". What???? I'm not exactly sure where she thought I was going to go and I'm not sure why she didn't think *I*, too, could be getting off at the Boardwalk. She had no idea where we were staying. It's one of those instances where you are like "did I just hear correctly?" I said to her, "yes....when everyone gets off, we will move forward, too, and let you off the bus". I am still shaking my head on that lady wondering where she thought we were going to go for her to "pass by us". Sheesh.
Anyway! I can highly recommend the Dolphin and we look forward to returning. It might be next October which would be nice so that we can once again use those pools we loved so much.
We just don't have a car rental at Dolphin...buses and boats are fine with us.....
