Walt Disney World Dolphin in Orlando, FL

We stayed in the Dolphin hotel this summer. I love the facilities the hotel can offer. All the pools are great. The pedal boat is free this round, we enjoyed sailed around the lake. Only the little ants in the room bothered me. I hope the hotel can find a way to resolve the little ant issue. The boat service to the theme parks is very convenience.

The main feature of this resort is, without a doubt, its location. It is located within walking distance from both, EPCOT and Hollywood studios. But if you’re not willing to do the walking you can make use of the Disney boats serving the property. WDW Dolphin resort also gives convenient access to Disney’s boardwalk, which broadens the available eating and drinking options. Whereas I would not say Disney’s boardwalk is a must visit spot by itself or the dining/drinking hotspot, parlors here are certainly more appealing than those at the WDW Dolphin. Finally, in regards to the convenient location, EPCOT fireworks are observable within the property. If possible, book a room facing EPCOT; though not be surprised if room price goes up considerably. And even if you didn’t book such a room, take the time to stroll the gardens and enjoy the show. Besides that, there are pros and cons that turn this property into a very average one. On the PROS side, I would highlight the partnership –or whatever the relationship is– between Sheraton (Marriott) and Disney. You could even say you have the best of both worlds. On the one hand, you have all the perks a Bonvoy valued guest has (points earning and redemption, early check-in, late check-out, booking preferences, and so on), and on the other hand, you receive –almost– the same treatment other Disney resorts guests get (transportation to/from parks, purchase delivery to the resort, extra park hours, Disney app syncing, etc.) On the CONS side, I’ll go back to saying you ALMOST get the same treatment other Disney resorts guests get. As an instance, magic band is not usable within WDW Dolphin resort: not for purchases, not as room key, and not in any other way. Also, although the property is served by Disney transportation system, it is noticeable that buses do not run as often as they do in other resorts. My party and I had to wait up to 45 minutes for the Disney Springs bus to arrive, and almost 30 minutes for the bus headed to Magic Kingdom. Finally, it is quite striking the difference between Disney’s resorts' quality and the WDW Dolphin’s. Let’s not forget we’re taking about a 300 USD/night (or higher) resort here: 1) Lobby apart, other common areas, and even the rooms, look not very well taken care of, some areas are even smelly, look outdated and unappealing (gardens however, are beautifully preserved); 2) although we just had breakfast here, food was of very poor quality, and the location of the restaurants makes you feel more in the basement rather than next to those beautiful gardens (better go to the café at the lobby); 3) as far as we knew, if you book through Marriott’s app, it is near to impossible to get the Disney Magical Express taking you to/from the airport, though we could have missed something; and finally, 4) handicapped parking spots are impractically narrow! We did struggle when trying to depart early in the morning because of the neighboring car being so close to ours, and not because it was wrongfully parked but because of the narrowness of the spot. Overall, staying at the Walt Disney World Dolphin resort was not a bad choice. As a Bonvoy user I would certainly go back, though not sure if I weren’t. My takeaways: hardly have breakfast here (except for the coffee shop at the lobby), consider longer transit times between this hotel and parks (those served by bus), and make the best out of Disney’s boardwalk. Just as a remark: AVERAGE rating is in no way intended as something negative!

This hotel was very nice. Clean, updated, and cost efficient. If you want to stay on the Disney property and have access to transportation this is a great option. It does not have everything like meal plans and magic bands (you can add this though). Otherwise you wouldn’t have know you weren’t at a Disney hotel.

Wow! I was expecting little but it’s great! I couldn’t believe it! The rooms are so nice and the beds are so much better than the Disney beds. The feel isn’t the same but the hotel I would say is easily as nice if not nicer than all of the Disney resorts. It’s still right there next to Epcot!

After you have found the best deal you can online add $30.00 a day for resort fee. $25.00 a day to park your car, $5.79 room charge-associate leisure, $5.34 room tax, Resort service service package $1.95, Resort Tax- Resort service pkg $1.80, Sales tax $1.63 and a charge card fee of $1.63, per day. This is not a Disney hotel so no Disney stuff anywhere. This is a conference hotel and in my opinion not best for a family.