Originally Posted by
Flews
Thanks all for responding to my post. (Which is more than I can say for AKL management - I can only deduce they REALLY don't care). And for some helpful tips.
We've just booked our next stay, for the kids third birthday in April (ahead of Easter). This time we are staying at the Dolphin. We've already received a complimentary upgrade to a large suite (we are top tier SPG loyalty members), and have had no problems booking restaurant reservations, including the charactor dinner.
While this property isn't themed in the same way the WD properties are, it's handy to Epcot and Disney Studios, as well as some nice neighbouring resorts. We plan to spend more time by the pool, and less at the parks. We've pretty well had our fill of AK, and we'll take the Epcot monorail, or even a town car, to MK. So this one fits our bill nicely.
Cheers,
Sorry I missed this, because I have a slightly different opinion
You've done well with the Dolphin & the suite however, I just want to give you a different perspective.
I've stayed at the Dolphin a few times while on a convention - it is HUGE, and you're correct, there's not much theming there - including the pool area, which is fairly generic. If there's a convention in-house, you'll have it all to yourself during the day
I'm not a great fan of this hotel, but as you said, it is well located near Epcot.
That said... IIRC, you have 2 very young children, and I would imagine you will want to spend most your park time at the Magic Kingdom. For people with children as young as yours, I usually recommend staying at the Contemporary Resort, which is a short walk right up to the turnstiles of the MK.
If you stay in the Epcot area, yes, you can take a cab to the MK, but it will start to get expensive
I wouldn't recommend walking through Epcot to get to the monorail - it will take you about 10-15 minutes to get to the Epcot turnstiles for the International Gateway and then it's another 10-15 minute walk to the monorail. After you're on the monorail, you'll have to change at the transportation and ticket center for the monorail to the MK. And this will only work if you have park hopper tickets - as you will be entering and exiting 2 parks using this method.
The contemporary, while also a large hotel, has a great pool area which was recently redone. It's right on Bay Lake and in the middle of everything. I've started staying there more for the sole reason that I can walk right into the MK (the walkway was completed about 5 years ago). As well, the monorail stops at this hotel making it easy to get to Epcot and the other hotels on the monorail loop, a few which have outstanding restaurants.
But, this is FT, and using points or earning them, plus getting upgrades is a big incentive for some people, myself included
I just wanted to give you the other side of this, since you had such a poor experience trying to get around during your last trip.
If you have any questions, just ask, either here or via PM. I'm more than happy to help.