We are going next week! Yay! Just a few questions about the Dolphin in particular.
In the interest of time and budget, we are going to cheap out on breakfast most of the time we are staying, so it’s instant oatmeal for us. (Which I don’t mind, I LIKE instant oatmeal. )
My question is about the coffee makers in the rooms, I almost never use them when on a trip. What kind will they be, and in particular, can I use one to heat up the water for oatmeal? I have one of those travel electric kettles, but it’s kinda big and would rather not pack it if I don’t have to! I should be able to just run clear hot water into a cup right?
First off -
If you like instant oatmeal, it’s not “cheaping out.” Saving time in the am is an AWESOME strategy. You get that time back in boatloads later in the day.
If they are same as Swan, you can run water through the coffee makers, yes. They are the filter discs. I don’t know the brand name.
If you are a “pool” person, you are going to LOVE your stay. If you are a sushi eater, please go to Kimonos. The Fountain is pretty decent, bordering on but not quite disney-priced, but good diner sandwiches. If you are an ice cream eater, Ample Hills on the Boardwalk is just outside the back door.
Thanks Seebee! I appreciate all the advice you’ve given me over the past couple of months!
I do enjoy a breakfast out now and then, but if I’m on a schedule where I have to be somewhere, then it’s just an inconvenience to me and I won’t enjoy it as much. Oatmeal is probably better for me anyway. When we went to DL last year, we stayed at a Best Western with a free breakfast buffet that opened super early, so that worked fine for me! It’s always funny to me that the more expensive the hotel room, they fewer freebies they give you. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
We had Kimonos and The Fountain on the the schedule already too, so we must think alike! Definitely planning some pool time too.
Agree with the coffee. We stayed at Swan but assume the same is true of Dolphin. There is a GREAT little shop tucked away on the bottom floor of the Dolphin where you can get milk, boxed cereal etc (they also have beer / wine which is nice).
The fridges in Swan were COOLERS not fridges - but just ask for an ICE Bucket and pop that in the fridge for milk etc - it works perfectly.
If you can - we LOVED having a balcony. Loved just sitting out there and watching the friendship boats coming in and out - certainly not a must - but we just enjoyed hanging out and watching the world go by.
No problem!
Enjoy your stay. I’ve read some not so great reviews, but we didn’t encounter any bad issues at all. Room was spotless, room service was perfect, mini fridge was cold, restaurants were essentially as described.
The shop that Tigger613 is describing sounds like Picabu, which is half “pantry staples” and half CS/QS style restaurant.
RE: kimonos - IMO, it’s not fantastic or anything, but for the price, and being at WDW, I’d say it’s a great value. It’s GOOD, and it’s not outrageously priced. Some of the stuff seems overpriced, and some does not. If you order the stuff that does not seem overpriced, I’d assume you’d be very happy with your meal, because it was pretty decent quality stuff for the price. I’m not saying anything bad about the place at all, I’m just saying that it’s not the best sushi you’ll ever have. I really liked the place, and I’ll definitely go back a few times for our next trip.
All the rooms have fridges but they arent cold - cool at best that is why i suggest the ice bucket. From a transportation perspective - don’t be afraid to grab a bus to Yacht / Boardwalk instead of Swan / Dolphin. We did that a few times and just walked back from those resorts. Nice walk and it saved us time.
Fantastic idea about the busses. Didn’t even think of that. If you check the other bus queues for those other resorts, it totally makes sense to just hop on one if they come first instead of waiting for Swolphin.
Speaking of busses, I’m still trying to figure out how to get to MK for Morning Extra Magic Hour by 7:30. The person at the Dolphin customer service told me the bus won’t even get to the Dolphin until 7:30, and that it would take 20 minutes to get to the MK. I don’t like the sound of that! Is there a hotel bus within walking distance that would get us there earlier?
Yeah, that could work, looks like it’s only a 6 minute walk to either of those, but what time do the buses start pickup up at those and would it get us to MK by 7:30?
Hello everyone! Our trip was a success in no small part to everyone’s help! I’m going to go through my old threads and report my findings on some of the questions I asked in case anyone else is searching for similar answers. Hopefully you can learn from us!
First, the little coffee makers were adequate for the job of making oatmeal, but they were VERY slow as you might imagine. In retrospect, I should have brought the electric kettle. Making two cups of coffee and then making two bowls of instant oatmeal actually took more time than you would think. Plus, the oatmeal was just barely hot enough. Still, it worked, just not ideal. And they are filter disks, not K-cups.
The fridge in our room was a typical mini-fridge and got plenty cold for water and such, but be advised it did NOT have a freezer compartment.
We did not get a balcony room, but in retrospect, I KINDA wish we had. Would have been nice to relax in the fresh air.
The pools were wonderful as reported. We especially loved the water slide, except on our last day, the pumping system was down so the slide was closed, and eventually as we were ready to go back to the room, they announced they had to close the “Grotto” pool early.
Kimonos was very good. Good service, good atmosphere, good food and not ridiculous pricing. It was a very nice place for a couple alone on a romantic dinner.
The bus from the Dolphin does indeed show up early for Magic Mornings, we managed to get there in plenty of time to get there for 7:30.
We stayed at the SWAN - used Destination MCO. www.destinationmco.com Worked out great. Used them as they are the preferred vendor for the Portafino as we were hopping from Portafino to Swan. Used them MCO → Portafino, Portafino → Swan, Swan → MCO
Great service. I think it was $60 for a black SUV, very comfortable. 2 adult / 2 kids etc. Guy was very prompt. Was actually early - but noted that “I am here - but your pickup isn’t until X. Do not rush down or anything - wanted to ensure I was here on time”
We used Mears as I think that was what my wife’s work recommended. It was fine, no complaints. On the way there we were the last stop of I think five stops (it was a full van!) but on the way back we had the van to ourselves and a very friendly driver.
He even was nice about having to wait a few minutes while she was ironing out some check out issues.
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