Disney World Dophin Review

This trip we were planning a shorter vacation so my family and I thought it would a good opportunity to try out a new hotel. Now we usually choose to stay at a moderate resort (mostly because of the price decrease.) however, since we got a great deal (more on that later) at The Walt Disney World Dolphin we choose to stay there. Even though we did not pay any more than we would have paid at a moderate resort my expectations were much greater.

We stayed a total of four nights and my total was a little over $1000, which I didn’t think was too bad for a Disney hotel.

Upon check in I was very pleased with the hotels exterior. The property was clean and seemed to be well taken care of. One of the things I was worried about when booking this hotel was that it was not going to have the Disney vibe but after talking to some of the cast members I was quickly convinced otherwise. Check in when very smoothly and I was into my room in under a half hour. Now take into consideration that we didn’t get to the resort until after 9pm so it could be a much different story during peak check in times. We checked out at 7am which also went very smoothly, but again it was before the checkout rush. Staff was all very friendly and willing to answer any questions that I had.

Upon arrival into the room was as a little disappointed in the décor, it seemed very outdated. The room we stayed in was very basic, two queen sized beds, a little table, and basic bathroom. Our mini fridge was also not working but after a day of traveling we were too tired to care. I have read reviews saying that the room have strange odor to them. I didn’t notice that so much in my own room, however, I would recommend that the cleaning crew go a little easier on the Windex. Everyday our room was supplied with new towels as well as shampoo and soap. The second night we called housekeeping to get some extra shampoo in conditioner. After an hour we still had not received it, so I called down again and it came right up. This was the only time we had to ask for extra so I cannot say if this usual for the hotel.


The dolphin is defiantly geared towards adults more so than the Disney Value Resort which you see mainly families with young children. If you are looking for a quiet hotel that is still on Disney property I would recommend the Dolphin, however if you have small children who are more interested in the parks I would say save your money and stay at a value resort. They are not as nice but the décor is very character themed and exciting for children.

I also just got back from nine nights at the Dolphin with my wife, DD 13, DS 6, and DD 4. We were impressed with all aspects of the hotel.

I like to judge the true strength of an establishment based upon how they deal with problems or requests. We had to call on two days, the fourth and eigth because they failed to clean our room. Upon calling it was immediately taken care of with a follow up call to ensure it was up to our standards. I learned later that the room not being cleaned was my own fault. Upon check in I had inadvertently agreed to no room cleaning every fourth day to conserve resources.

Every time we called the front desk for towels, cleaning, etcetera they would quickly follow up to ensure it was done. One evening my son spilled chocolate milk all over the cot and housekeeping immediately came to clean it up.

The hotel also did not charge us for the cot we used for our entire visit.

The restaurants were good for the most part and the prices was fair (minus coffee); I would avoid Picabu after 2200 hours as the quality seemed to diminish.

Transportation was awesome to and from all the different parks. The longest wait we had was twenty minutes for a bus to Downtown Disney. The boats to and from Epcot and Hollywood Studios were also great.

All in all, I gave the resort a strong 8.75 out of ten and would easily recommend it to others. We rather appreciated the lack of "Disney" when we returned to the hotel as it allowed my children to have rest from the over-stimulation of the parks.

Service=10
Food= 7
Location= 10
Room Comfort= 8 (would have been ten if beds were Queen size)

Average= 8.75

:welcome:

kkelseyss, thanks for the Dolphin review and welcome to INTERCOT!

Good reviews. My family will be making another trip to the Dolphin in June. We've stayed there too many times to count now and have never had a bad experience. The staff has always been eager to make sure our stay was perfect. It feels like our home away from home now. You can't beat getting a couple of free nights at the Dolphin each year on starwood points either. I wish Disney would lower their rates more in line with the Swan/Dolphin.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the reviews. :) I have not stayed at either the Swan or Dolphin myself, but would not hesitate to do so. Frankly, I don't mind it being geared more toward adults; I get my fill of the kid stuff in the parks.