TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I was wowed by my recent stay at The Dolphin. I appreciated all the conveniences and we could have easily stayed on the property for all four nights if you never wanted to leave; incredible dining options, phenomenal pool for both adults and children and close to both the boardwalk, Epcot and Hollywood Studios by either walking or water taxi. The beds were comfortable and roomy and I enjoyed the views of the property from my room. Literally the only complaint I have is they need to have some more budget friendly wine options for purchase in Fuel, their convenience store. The cheapest I could find at the time was $40 but when I walked over to the Swan at the end of my trip, they had options for $29, still pricey, but definitely better.

I'm going to preface this by saying I haven't stayed here since pre-covid because on all my previous trips, I always had problems. However, I had a super last minute trip to Disney and found a reasonable rate here so I figured I would give it another chance. Big mistake. Huge. (Okay maybe a slight exaggeration). I arrived around 10:30pm and literally got the last spot in the parking lot. When I got to the desk, I asked what the other options were for parking should that happen again and I was told my key would let me in to the parking lots at Swan or Swan Reserve and I could park there. I was asked if I wanted housekeeping daily and I said yes. Got my key and went to my room. Room smelled kind of musty or like there was a pet in there previously. I opened the sliding door to get some fresh air but the room never smelled better throughout the weekend. Room could definitely use a renovation as everything seemed a little older but the bed was very comfortable. I didn't love how the shampoo, lotion, shower gel etc all had such a masculine smell. I didn't want to smell like a dude all weekend but I understand that's the brand's decision so nothing they can do. Day 2 I drive back to the hotel to find they had completely closed the Dolphin parking lot. I drove over to Swan and surprise surprise, my key didn't work to let me in. Luckily there was a woman in the booth who said "oh, no your key won't let you in here. Just let the attendant know when you're leaving that you're staying at Dolphin." She told me they had closed the parking lot for an upcoming event that night. Cool. Again, super packed parking lot but I was able to find a spot. Fun fact it was a solid 15 minute walk from the parking lot to my room where at about 4pm, my room wasn't cleaned. I left again around 5:30pm and Housekeeping was still in the hallway. I was hopeful maybe they hadn't gotten to my room yet but when I returned that night, my room wasn't touched. They did clean it the day after though. Discovered the pools aren't heated which was a shock to many people who were lounging around and loudly complaining about it. Maybe it was just me, but I had a difficult time figuring out on their website and app what restaurants had lunch and it didn't seem there were any with any sort of mobile ordering option which I would have expected at a resort this size. Room service isn't available for lunch and no mimosas for breakfast? Outrageous! Best part was the fireworks view from the room which was an unexpected surprise. Bottom line: They don't have enough parking for their rooms/conference space and you can really tell the service difference between here and a Disney resort.

Pros: Beautiful resort. The location is perfect. Daily housekeeping. Got upgraded from a King Larger Premium Room to a larger suite. Front desk was quick to send up anything we needed. Free water bottles. Our room was lovely and quiet. Mobile order worked great for the coffee shop. Food at the Cabana was good. Love watching the Epcot fireworks from the bridge. The roll away was a nice twin bed. Cons: our room was not ready at 4:00, but management gave us a double room to store our groceries and luggage in while we went to the pool. That room smelled like a teen’s cleats. I would have been very sad if that was our room for the week.

This is a really strong option for families visiting disney, especially if you are using points. Price is very competitive compared to disney resorts with the perk of much greater array of dining options (quick, casual, fine dining). We quickly realized even the nicer restaurants were very kid friendly. Really liked Kimonos. You get 7 day window for booking lightning lanes and early entry. Resort is huge with beautiful pools with slide. We were always able to find pool chairs despite it being a spring break week. The nightly smores and beach movie, arcade, laundry and bowling were nice amenities as well. Location is fantastic! You can walk or take boats to Hollywood Studios and Epcot. You can easily walk to skyliner outside of epcot entrance and that makes for a fun day to visit other resorts to eat etc. At night the resort and walkways are lit up woth changing lights and quite impressive. You can easily walk to the disney boardwalk for more dining options as well as to see the boardwalk performers. Areas to improve is there was lots of confusion at bellhop on if we could check our stroller daily and room cleaning was sometimes late or inconsistent. The AI for calling front desk or chats I didnt love felt impersonal. 35$/night charge plus tax for rollaway even though rooms are listed as fitting 5 and 50$ for resort fee adds up so keep an eye on those when price comparing. Besides these things I think this resort is still a great option for families coming to Disney!

Accommodations below par. Service awful!! Despite repeated contacts in person and on phone I wasn’t able to get my room cleaned, even ran out of toilet paper. Even a crummy motel has better service. Also they were rude.