Orange County Commuter

After all with Starwood NONE of this would have happened right? (After all they only introduced a parking fee and resort fee LOL!)

lbbzman

999 devices. But there's room for a thousand. Any volunteers?

uppereastsider

The location and pool at this hotel are great.

As a titanium, I was given a no view room for 2 nights on the 1st floor in a corner room and it was awful. The AC turns off when not in the room - leading to a very stuffy room as the windows didn’t open in the corner. Me and my GF couldn’t wait to get out of that awful room. We actually found the room (and upgrade) at the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista better and couldn’t believe we spent hundreds more at the dolphin for a better location and slightly better pool. Will most likely never stay there again unless it’s for a work conference.

Astrophsx

Just as a note, it usually takes two weeks for the stay to post to your account when staying here. My stay just hit my account and no "bonus" points were provided even though at check-in they mentioned the extra 125 points per night.

gooselee

Has anyone been here since COVID?

Trying to do a one-way car rental from MCO>Dolphin but the hours for both Alamo and National are blocked out. Have they recently shut down the rental car counters at the Dolphin?

Any other general notes/updates on the property are welcome, as well!

cawhite

I was there about a month ago. For National, you'll need to use the location at the Disney Car Care Center (I took an Uber from the hotel to get my car).

PLT "upgrade" from a "resort view 1K" to "resort view 1K with balcony" which ended up as one of the corner balcony rooms, so it had a balcony plus windows along two walls. Housekeeping is after every 3rd night, with clean towels provided more frequently upon request.

I took points instead of breakfast - when I asked about the current breakfast offering for PLTs, I was told it's a continental breakfast. When I pushed for further details, the response was "it's up to the dining venue's discretion."

As with the rest of WDW, masks required anywhere on the property outside of your own guest room, including outdoors. The exception to this is while seated in restaurants/bars (or seated & eating/drinking outdoors).

JNelson113

Wondering what kind of luck anyone has had using SNAs at this property lately.

I've stayed at least ten times as a platinum and I've only received an upgrade (other than a better view room) once. Any experiences? Thanks!

chrisny2

Has anyone used the American Express "The Hotel Collection" rate when staying here? I'm assuming the $100 credit is valid in any of the restaurants and bars at Swan and Dolphin?

jimrpa

on VERY rare occasions, I’ve gotten a Governor’s Suite over at the Swan. One drawback (at least on the ones I’ve gotten) is that the master bathroom is accessible which means a roll-in shower, which I don’t like.

chrisny2

Just wanted to report out - had a nice stay at the Dolphin. I was given a letter with the benefits of The Hotel Collection. I was provided a nice view upgrade and the $100 hotel credit worked with no problem. I was given my requested late checkout time. (I'm a Gold bonvoy member.)

SkyTeam777

Are there still free Disney shuttles from here and the Swan to the parks?

twa777

There are free shuttles to the parks, but they're run by Mears rather than Disney and thus a bit different.

1. They do run frequently, with schedule that seems similar to Disney shuttles, though the "time to next bus" doesn't show up on the schedule boards at the hotel.
2. At least when we used the service a few weeks ago, they used traditional coaches (like Magical Express used to be). In some ways that's great, as there are more seats and the seats are more comfortable; however, strollers and mobility vehicles may get stowed in the luggage area and that can be an inconvenience for some people.
3. The other difference is these shuttles drop off with other non-Disney buses. For some parks, those stops are about as convenient as the Disney shuttle stops. However, at Magic Kingdom, the shuttles from the Swan and Dolphin drop off at the Transportation and Ticket Center, so you still have to take the ferry or monorail to get to the park. And for Disney Springs, the non-Disney stop is at the far, far end past the Cirque du Soleil theater -- a decent amount of extra walking. Coming back from both of those places (such as when the monorail is mobbed after the fireworks), we'd sometimes get the Disney shuttle to the Boardwalk or to the Yacht Club and then make the short walk from there.

BTW, the boat service to Epcot and Hollywood Studios still runs as it always has, and it's bit less busy now that the Skyliner is an option for people going between parks.

TheTravelPlaybook

Wanted to update the thread after a recent stay. Mobile check-in worked great, suite nights didn't get used due to busy Spring Break season. Haven't been to the property in about 10 years, so was pleased with some of the renovations since my last visit. Continental breakfast at Fuel was pretty sub-par, I wish Marriott would have a better breakfast benefit for Titaniums. Did a full property rundown which you can see below.

Bus transport was slow and not as convenient as Disney's. Keep that in mind if the parks are super essential during your visit.

lbbzman

Thanks for posting! I haven't watched the video yet, but does the Dolphin still allow you to use your breakfast credit at Fresh Market? Or is it required to be at Fuel? Also, can the breakfast at Fresh Market be upgraded to the full buffet for a surcharge? That's been the policy for years (even back to SPG days), so I'm hoping it hasn't changed.

TheTravelPlaybook

You can use at Fresh Market- can't confirm the upgrade but Fuel would allow me to convert the certificate to a $20 credit.