So, since I'm in this thread answering questions, I think I will give a rundown of my recent Dolphin stay. If you don't want to read this entire post, here are my take-aways:
1. If you are waiting for a room ready notification, check the Bonvoy app and see if there is a room number showing. If there is, your room is ready. If you want to get into your room, go to the check in desk and get keys. My room was ready around 2PM, but didn't get the room ready text and mobile key until after 7PM.
2. Take the Swolphin bus to AK. Much less walking than going to Yacht or Boardwalk, and the buses are nice!
3. Utilize the Extra Evening Hours, it's a great perk!
4. Don't count on Picabu being open until midnight. I found out the hard way that it sometimes closes early.
For those willing to read on, here is all the info on my recent stay.
I was booked for 3 nights, arriving on Monday, Oct 25 and checking out Thursday, Oct 28. I did online check in on Sunday night and set my arrival time for 11:30AM in hopes of having a room ready when I got there. I actually got there around 11:15 so since I hadn't received notification that my room was ready, I went to the check in desk in hopes of getting into a room sooner rather than later.
The person checking me in was very nice and friendly and told me that there was a room available but it didn't have a great view. If I didn't mind waiting, she could put me in a room with a better view. I opted to wait, but ended up regretting that decision. Did all the check in stuff - showed my ID, credit card, and my annual pass (I had booked a passholder rate). Was told I would get a notification when my room was ready and access to digital key.
I decided to go to Epcot, so I handed my luggage off to Bell Services and went on my way. Stayed at Epcot until close to 5PM. Still had not gotten a room ready notification, but there was a room number showing in the Bonvoy app. I was not able to access digital key, so reluctantly went back to check in desk. Ended up waiting in line for about 30 minutes before being helped. Was told that my room was indeed ready. Had to do the whole check in process again. When I protested that I had already done all that, the person said he had to at least see my photo ID. That was understandable, so no issue with that.
Was given physical key cards for the room, which was 8202.
The room had a very nice view of the pool area, but it was alllllll the way at the end of a very long hallway. Ugh!! Thought about going to see if I could get a different room but didn't want to stand in line again.
The room had 2 double beds, was clean and in good condition. Decided to call Bell Services to get my luggage sent up, so picked up the phone, but there were no individual buttons for bell services, front desk, etc. Looked at my claim ticket to see if there was a number on it. Nope, no number. Looked around the room for information and found nothing. No way was I going to make that long walk to the lobby and back! Looked on the Swan/Dolphin app and the Bonvoy app and again, nothing. Swan/Dolphin app has a text us feature, so used that and they took care of notifying Bell Services to bring my luggage up. Are all the phones like that? How are people supposed to contact anyone for service? Why even have a phone in the room if you have to use the app on your own phone for everything? Maybe I just had an odd phone in my room?
Got my luggage in short order and decided to just stay in for the rest of the night rather than going back to Epcot. Had wanted to utilize the Extended Evening Hours for Deluxe/DVC guests, but was just too tired. Grabbed dinner from Picabu and a bottle of wine from Fuel.
Interestingly, I received a notification on my phone at 7:22PM that my room was ready and digital key was available!!
Another odd thing about my room had to do with the coffee maker. There was a counter in the entryway area that held the coffee maker and coffee supplies. There was a light above this area and a switch on the wall for the light and also an electrical outlet to plug in the coffee maker. After many, many tries to get the coffee maker to work, I finally figured out that the light switch had to be on in order for the coffee maker to work . I don't recall ever having that issue before, so not sure if it was just unique to this room or if they are all this way. Any one else have experience with this?
On Tuesday, I decided to go to Animal Kingdom. I'm not a morning person, so headed to Dolphin bus stop around noon. Y'all, there were 2 Animal Kingdom buses just sitting there. Jumped on the first bus and we were off to the Swan and then to AK. I believe buses used to go to Swan first and then Dolphin, so this seems to be a change. The bus was very nice, even had padded seats! This was a regular bus, much like the Disney buses and not a motorcoach. The Swolphin bus stop at AK is in the parking lot, right next to the handicapped parking. I really don't think it was any further away from the AK entrance than the Disney Yacht/Beach bus stop. If you walk to Yacht/Beach or Boardwalk to get a bus to AK, that is a lot more walking than just taking the bus from Swolphin.
On Wednesday, I did utilize the Extra Evening hours at MK and it was fantastic! I don't ride the mountains, so can't comment on the wait for those, but everything I did was a walk on other than Peter Pan and that was a 15 minute wait. This is a great perk and I highly recommend taking advantage of it! There were a lot of people still in the park, but very few in the ride lines. They do scan your magic band or ticket at the entrance to each ride to make sure you are eligible for the extra hours. I left early, around 10:30 and took the Yacht/Beach club bus because I wasn't sure if Swolphin had buses running for the extra hours. I would think they would, but didn't want to take the chance of going to the TTC and not having a bus.
My plan was to grab some food from Picabu since I didn't eat while at MK. By the time I got back to the Dolphin, it was around 11:25 and Picabu was already closed, despite having posted hours until midnight. Passed several other people also looking to get food here. Ended up doing a mobile order from my room. This option is available until 11:59PM. It only took about 15 minutes for my order to arrive. Everything is packaged as a to go order and brought to your room in a bag.
All-in-all it was a great trip despite a couple of missteps. Looking forward to the next trip!
