Walt Disney World Dolphin in Orlando, FL

I say that not because it will be a surprise to anyone but because it makes for a slightly surreal conference venue. Stayed here for 5 nights attending a conference onsite and one off site. So very odd to be in the lobby in a suit with entire families dressed as Disney characters! Hotel is well maintained if a little dated - given how busy it was, this is to be expected. Room servicing was a little random as to when it would turn up - expect knocks from 5am and 10pm (had both, and Do Not Disturb is ignored!). Signage in the hotel is a little poor and it's something of a maze - I didn't take the same route twice all week! Food in the bar was surprisingly good, and the servers prompt and friendly.

This resort hotel is quite expansive that can cater to large conferences. The entrance to the hotel and the lobby are very impressive and elegant. The service is top notch and the amenities are in abundance. Close to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

We got a 12th floor, corner, King, balcony, fireworks view. Room 6117. Thought it would be facing Epcot, which is what I wanted, but it looked out onto the lake and beach area and you could see the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. Nice, modern room. First thing we did was raise the large shades so we could look at the view of the Swan out of our other window. 2 large shades, one for light filtering and one blackout. Each shade had a really tiny chain pull to lower and raise each individual shade. They were both really hard to work and one of them got stuck. My husband called maintenance and they sent 2 men (very nice guys) up within 10 minutes. The younger man said these pulls were a pain and they constantly get stuck and break. It was a really hot, humid day and the room did not feel very cool despite the thermostat being set to 68. I asked about it and the older man said it did not feel right so he got his tools and took off the large air conditioning/heating unit panel. He said something was missing and it was not working correctly and wondered just how long it had been like that. We were in the room not even 30 minutes now and two things are not working correctly. He came back with something and apparently fixed the issue as it got cold immediately. They left and we went out to check the place out and to grab a meal at The Fountain restaurant onsite. It was really good btw. Came back 2 hours later to find some sort of thick beige substance all over the table, chair, my husband's hat, personal items on the table and all over the floor under the vent. Our room smelled like something was burning and stunk and burned our eyes and hurt our throats. We immediately opened the door to our balcony for ventilation. My husband said to get out of the room and he called the front desk. He said they seemed unfazed (???) and said they would send housekeeping up to clean it!! Something was burning for God's sake, never mind the crap all over the place! I stayed in the hall crying (it was a long awaited 1st anniversary trip) while he went down to the front desk. He talked to another person at the desk that was equally unfazed and asked what we wanted to do?? Good grief! Does the safety or well being of your guests mean nothing? They said they would send maintenance up. My husband came back up and we were met by the original 2 maintenance men and a very sweet woman from housekeeping. My husband did not want the crap all over the place to be touched until a manager saw it. I took several photos. They opened the unit up again and looked into it with a flashlight. He said everything was covered with a thick buildup of what looked like years of dust (and dirt and skin cells and who knows what else from years of guests in the room). He was shocked and said this should not have happened and he did not know why this had NEVER been cleaned. Apparently the system kicks the heat on if you raise the temp on thermostat and the air conditioning if you lower it. Weird to say the least. Both maintenance men complained about it. So the heat switched on when the first guy was messing with it earlier and started burning all the crud in the unit after he fixed it then spewed it out all over the place. I was concerned it was asbestos and took a sample home with us that I am having analyzed. I know asbestos was banned in the 70s but I have no idea what this stuff actually is. A few minutes later, a female manager and 2 security guards came up. So now we have the 2 maintenance guys, the woman from housekeeping, the manager and 2 security guys all in our gross, stinky room. I lost it. I just cried. I told them it was our anniversary and why was this happening to us?? The housekeeper hugged me and said it would be ok. The manager said we could change rooms. I did not want to do that because we had actually just switched resorts (read my Best Western Lake Buena Vista review!) because of major room problems and I was just done. We did not want to pack up and move yet again! This trip was turning into a nightmare already. The maintenance men vacuumed out the unit as best they could, but it was getting late. He said they would come back the next day and really get in there and get down to the coils which were caked with crap. The manager, who was not very sympathetic, said they would reimburse us (we assumed for the 1st day which they should have at least done that) and because it was our anniversary, send up a bottle of wine for all of this trouble. The maintenance guys said there would be no more burning smell. We decided to stay because we were both just exhausted as this had already taken a huge chunk out of our first night there. Well, we never did get that bottle of wine (so why even offer it?) and they reimbursed us only $50 for this fiasco. Unbelievable. On the surface, this resort is gorgeous and has a lot going for it. We will never stay there again though. I really hope they are looking into cleaning and maintenance of all the air conditioning units. I'm glad the burning debris on our room unit did not turn into a major fire. I have been going to Disney World since I was a kid in the 70s and had always stayed at an official Disney hotel. While the Dolphin is on Disney property, it is not a Disney hotel. We will never again stay at anything but a Disney resort ever again. We NEVER had a problem with Disney. Pretty resort to look at, but what else are they leaving unattended?

Decent Marriott hotel that has easy access to Disney. We are at Il Mullino and it was really good. Pool scene was OK but one pool was totally closed and another was closed early one night for a corporate event. The resort fee should have been waived. We also didn’t get housecleaning until after 4 every day, even though we left for Disney at 6:30a one day. The restaurant in the basement, the Fountain, was awful. We had a good meal at Shula’s, as well. A fine Disney hotel but nothing to gush about.

This was our first stay at the Swan and Dolphin and will probably be our last, mold in the bathroom on the wall, glad we only spent one night there. The hotel otherwise was convenient to Hollywood Studios and Epcot.