Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort

Xander

I stayed at the Walt Disney Dolphin hotel for 2 weeks, and it was great. Upon entering the hotel for the first time, I was stunned by the huge water fountain in the decorated, large lobby. Our rooms were ready as soon as we arrived and before we knew it, we were kick back and relaxed. The room had a large TV, with apps like Prime Video. It had 2 double beds and a bathroom with a bath that was also a shower. Basic amenities, like soap, body wash and shampoo were provided. Room service was provided everyday, where we were given 2-4 water bottles for a room designed for 4 people. It had a smallish fridge and no microwave or toaster. It was basically an all inclusive style room. Along our floor was an ice machine that did ice and water, which came in pretty handy. The hotel had many restaurants on site, all off them rather expensive. It also had a small cafe, which was, once again, expensive, charging $20 for a non-fresh pizza that didn’t taste too good. However, it was open from early to late, and also has a tray with pepper, salt and various jams and napkins, once again useful. Outside the hotel were several pools, one with a waterfall and a small waterslide. Towels were lent out for free and paddle boats could be rented for free and could be paddled around a small lake. The hotel had an arcade,a laundry room, child care for children aged 12 and under and had meeting rooms for corporations. Complimentary transportation to various Disney parks were offered, with bus transport to Disneys Magic Kingdom, Disneys Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs. There was boat transportation to Disneys Epcot and Disneys Hollywood Studios. If you wanted to travel to, say Blizzard Beach water park, you would have to get a bus to (Animal Kingdom) and then get a bus to the water park as the hotel does not offer a direct bus to it. Tia also goes for Disneys Typhoon Lagoon water park. That’s all I have to say. Hope this review helps.

Chloe Rideout

We had an awesome midweek stay with family at the Dolphin! We booked two nights so we could take our little one to Epcot and meet all the Disney Princesses. We wanted to be close to the theme park so we could get early entry and come back to the room for naptime, and wanted to take advantage of Bonvoy status. The location is perfect. I love the post-modern architecture of the hotels- so fun and kitschy with classy interiors. We visited three different restaurants there and had yummy meals, all with fast service (ideal for toddlers). The king room we booked is your standard 4 star hotel chain room that had a little bit of wear and tear if you looked closely, but had nice toiletries provided and a comfy bed and I appreciated that the bathroom had a real door (with a lock on it!) We could see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our bed at night which was a nice touch. Housekeeping service was great. The resort pools were beautiful. The temperature only got up to the 60s during our stay but the hot sun meant we could still splash around for a bit the last morning, and had the baby pool area to ourselves. We would absolutely stay here again the next time we come to Disney with our kid.

Heather McCain

I have regularly visited Disney World since I was a child, but this is my first stay at the Dolphin Resort. I was in town for a conference, but came in a few days early with my son so we could hit the parks ahead of time. Overall, I was very happy with our stay. The Dolphin Resort is deceptively large, but it was easy to navigate. The room was very clean and beds were comfortable. I would agree that the bathroom door was a tad awkward and didn't leave much room in the shower/toilet area. Our room overlooked the water and we could see the Tower of Terror and the top of Batuu, which we loved. We came back from the parks one night to find a little Pixie Dust and birthday note from Mousekeeping, which was so much fun. The Boats to Hollywood Studios and Epcot were so convenient. We walked over to the buses at Boardwalk to get to Magic Kingdom, since those buses can skip the TTC. Our first stop after checking in was to grab Mickey Waffles at Fuel. My son ate those every morning. The coffee was delicious and pretty quick, given how busy it stayed. Dolphin may not be our "home resort," but I would absolutely stay here again in the future.

Melanie Coppola

I have stayed at the Walt Disney World Dolphin for over 10 years, and this was easily the worst experience I have ever had at this hotel. What was supposed to be a special birthday trip turned into one problem after another, with very little meaningful help from management. It started before we even got into the room. We were notified that our room was ready when it actually wasn’t. I had also tried to arrange something special for a birthday, only to find that the birthday packages and amenities were sold out. When I asked the hotel for alternatives, I was initially told there was essentially nothing they could do besides suggest buying alcohol from Fuel or using a third party. After continuing to ask questions, I was then told that room service actually DID offer red, white, and sparkling wine. The amount of back-and-forth just to get basic information about the hotel’s own services was ridiculous. The worst part came when we opened the pull-out sofa bed and found what appeared to be blood on the sheets. I have photos. Finding a bloodstain on bedding in a hotel room is completely unacceptable, regardless of the price point—but especially at a property where we were spending hundreds of dollars per night. Getting in touch with management throughout the stay was unnecessarily difficult. I repeatedly asked for issues to be escalated, and the response seemed to continually be offering room credits rather than actually addressing how many things had gone wrong. After finding blood on the bedding, I expected far more urgency and accountability than simply throwing additional credits at the room. To top it off, we also had an unpleasant interaction at valet. The valet attendants themselves were kind, but when we tried to get change to tip them, the employee behind the counter ignored us for several minutes. When we finally got his attention, he simply pointed without explaining anything, and when we asked what he meant, he again said nothing and turned away. Any one of these issues would have been frustrating. Together—the room not actually being ready when we were told it was, unavailable celebration amenities, conflicting information from staff, difficulty reaching management, poor service, and blood on the pull-out bed—they made this stay completely unacceptable. What disappoints me most is that I have been coming here for more than a decade and expected much better from the Dolphin. I understand that problems happen at hotels. What matters is how they are handled, and in this case I did not feel that the response matched the seriousness or sheer number of issues we experienced. Unfortunately, after this stay, I would have a very difficult time recommending the Walt Disney World Dolphin or choosing to stay here again.

David Sammons

Not worth money to stay here. They made me use valet because they ran out of self parking. The whole Valet team is lazy, unprofessional, and tip hungry group. We caught one attendant named Sebastian talking in our car for 10 minutes. Then they didn't know where the key was for the 5 minutes. Then 3 workers stuck there hands out once they found the key like they did a great job. Trying to shower was terrible unless you take ice baths. This was not the intended engagement vacation I had planned. Then the ring box we left out was thrown across the room. I had already proposed that day so that's why it was left out. The only upside to this place is you can walk to Epcot.