My take on 'deluxe' vs DVC...

[dianeschlicht]

Our trip last week included a few nights at the Dolphin. I'm not sure if that is considered a 'deluxe' or not, but here is my impression of that vs DVC/OKW.

First off, I HATED the location. I seemed to need to do WAY more walking than usual. It was either walk to Epcot or MGM or have it take too long to get there by boat. I usually got frustrated with the boat and just walked. I did decide it was actually a bit closer to walk via Yacht and Beach rather than the boardwalk when going to Epcot.

As for the amenities at the Dolphin... The rooms were very clean, but the decor left me cold. Absolutely no space in the bathroom and dressing areas. I really missed the fridge, but I loved the dressing mirror near the bar. It did seem strange to me that the dressing mirror and hair dryer were at the bar. I wasn't sure I wanted to use the bar for food when I had to prepare my hair there. I also hated housekeeping! I'm one who likes my DVC housekeeping schedule where I don't have to worry about walking in on a housekeeper or having them walk in on me. I nearly scared the housekeeper half to death one day at the Dolphin when I walked in and didn't know she was in there. Unlike lots of other places, they keep the doors closed when they are working. The thing I hated most about the place was their "aroma therapy" scents in the lobby area. It was so strong and made me feel nauseous. I just couldn't wait to get out of that lobby everytime I had to go through it.

Now the GOOD thing was that I never once smelled smoke there! No one cheating by smoking in the bathrooms etc. At least if they did, it didn't filter into mine.

My conclusion is that I'll hope I never have to stay anywhere but DVC in the future! Oh, and I'll probably avoid the boardwalk area....too much extra walking.

 

[Starr W.]

I hate that aromatherapy stuff, it gives me a headache!

 

[DVC Grammy]

I think the S/D works best for conventions; there's an "impersonal" business-like aura, especially in their lobbies. The decor in the public areas is what I call "metro-chic"............nice, upscale, but professional.
I do like their restaurants, especially Fresh (one of our favorite breakfast buffets), and the service has always pleased us.
For us, as DVCers, we tend to want a more "home-away-from-home" attitude, but if I were going on business, I think I'd want that less distracting, more work-conducive atmosphere.

(However, when they first opened, and the decor was a bit more "unusual" , we wondered what Michael Graves had been smoking! )

 

[GoofyDad869]

I hate that aromatherapy stuff, it gives me a headache!

I doubt it's the perfume that gives you the headache (unless you have perfume allergies), but the other stuff that perfume is sometimes masking...

In my experience, as an architect / designer who has been called in on mold-abatement projects as a consultant - one of the FIRST things management does in the case of "moldy smells" in the lobby / public areas is to install one of the aromatherapy scent systems, to mask the decomposition odors brought about by the molds, lichen and fungi. I'm not saying that IS what's happening at the Dolphin (OP's reference), but in my experience the existence of a scent machine within a building's public spaces is USUALLY a tell-tale sign of mold issues in the building. Hotels are very susceptible to mold issues by their very design (most rooms are closed up most of the time, "over-conditioned" by mechanical means, and building & finish materials not necessarily conducive to their environments). '70s & '80s-era buildings (and hotels in particular as a building type) were usually not designed back then to "breathe" very well with outside air - the Dolphin & Swan were designed in the early '80s and built in the mid '80s.

 

[BroganMc]

I just hear the Miami Vice theme when I go by them. The ferry captain even mentioned something about Miami Vice being an inspiration for the design.

One thing I noticed on my 4 Park In A Day marathon last week was my longest wait for transportation was the ferry from MGM to EPCOT. I wondered how folks at the Boardwalk stand it. My longest bus wait was 5 min, average was 2-3 min.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We also enjoy Fresh and the DVC discounts available to us there. Because I'm a teacher we qualify for the special rates, and we do stay there every once in awhile..No Magic Express, so that's something against the stay there.
The pool at the Dolphin is beautiful. I do like DVC rooms better, but we've had some good times at S/D, and they have those heavenly beds, wonderful.
Our last stay there was the night before the MC that we went on, (Sept. 2005) so it has been awhile for us.

Bobbi

 

[Anthony1971]

I have only been to the lobby of the S/D when I stayed at the BW. I did not like it..I felt it had a very cold feeling as well I never intend on staying there but peobably would if I did not have DVC and got a great deal better than a moderate.... so I will probaly not be staying there
I like the location of the BW area hotels for EPCOT and EPCOT only as I like Illuminations at night other than that it is a lot of walking to get anywhere other than the back of EPCOT.... but I do like the BW bakery

 

[JimC]

These resorts have been recently renovated. Both are at Westin standards. Never stayed there so can not comment other than I have stayed at Westins elsewhere and enjoyed those properties.

 

[dznymom1]

I find the Dolphin almost overwhelming as far as size and finding my way around, and it seems really impersonal to me. I do enjoy the rooms in the little wing near the pool, although I haven't stayed there since I retired and lost my government rate. My sister was there last month while I was at BWV, and I visited her room. It was spacious with a nice little balcony overlooking the pool area, and it was immaculate! I definitely prefer my DVC, but maybe they could borrow some housekeeping tips from the Dolphin!

 

[Starr W.]

I doubt it's the perfume that gives you the headache (unless you have perfume allergies), but the other stuff that perfume is sometimes masking...

In my experience, as an architect / designer who has been called in on mold-abatement projects as a consultant - one of the FIRST things management does in the case of "moldy smells" in the lobby / public areas is to install one of the aromatherapy scent systems, to mask the decomposition odors brought about by the molds, lichen and fungi. I'm not saying that IS what's happening at the Dolphin (OP's reference), but in my experience the existence of a scent machine within a building's public spaces is USUALLY a tell-tale sign of mold issues in the building. Hotels are very susceptible to mold issues by their very design (most rooms are closed up most of the time, "over-conditioned" by mechanical means, and building & finish materials not necessarily conducive to their environments). '70s & '80s-era buildings (and hotels in particular as a building type) were usually not designed back then to "breathe" very well with outside air - the Dolphin & Swan were designed in the early '80s and built in the mid '80s.

I have sinus problems and alot of things set off my sinus headaches(grass, tree pollen, wood dust, maybe mold?)


Good analysis of the possible reasons for it.


Or listen to my DH talk about how ugly those two buildings are while waiting for Fantasmic to start!

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yes, it was indeed immaculate! Our little balcony overlooked the waterway and bridge to the boardwalk and the Yacht and Beach. We were indeed there for business, and it still felt impersonal and cold. LOL, lots of us got lost in the hallways the first day!

Heavenly beds....LOVED THEM! I wish we had those at DVC!

 

[GoofyDad869]

I have sinus problems and alot of things set off my sinus headaches(grass, tree pollen, wood dust, maybe mold?)


Good analysis of the possible reasons for it.


Or listen to my DH talk about how ugly those two buildings are while waiting for Fantasmic to start!

I personally wouldn't argue too much with your husband in his opinion on the Dolphin & the Swan. My problem with these buildings is there's very little sense of scale that is recognizable to the human figure. Think about it - everything on these buildings is MASSIVE, and even the ground-level details don't really relate very well to your average person. But that stylistic gesture ("I don't care about scale, just make it GINORMOUS") was very much "The In Thing" in those days.

When Graves' office designed these in the early '80s, they were state-of-the-art buildings. I was an architectural student at UT back in those days (right after they were built) - I remember architectural magazines going ga-ga about the designs. Also, back in the day almost anything Michael Graves did was well-regarded in the architectural press - much like Frank Gehry's work today. I wonder what the back-lash will be with Gehry's current designs, 20 years into the future...

We call these buildings the Tuna and the Duck in my family.

 

[crisi]

Disney does architecture best when they look back and create an idealized look at something - a version of the New Jersey shore that never was, or a version of the Polyneisian Islands that exists in collective myth and fantasy, a trip to an imaginary Yellowstone lodge or one in Africa. They don't look forward well (i.e. the former Tomorrowland) - it dates quickly. And the problem with building "the present" (which they did with the Swan and Dolphin - and I'd argue the Contemporary is not a "future" building but the "peak of the present" in 1970whatever when it was built) is its hard to judge what will be nostalgic about this moment - and for the first twenty years after the fad passes, nothing is nostalgic. The Swolphin is "peak of the present" architecture.

In some ways the Swolphin are better hotels than the WDW Deluxes (the beds) and in some ways they are really not Disney Deluxes at all (more conference guests).

 

[GoofyDad869]

Disney does architecture best when they look back and create an idealized look at something - a version of the New Jersey shore that never was, or a version of the Polyneisian Islands that exists in collective myth and fantasy, a trip to an imaginary Yellowstone lodge or one in Africa. They don't look forward well (i.e. the former Tomorrowland) - it dates quickly. And the problem with building "the present" (which they did with the Swan and Dolphin - and I'd argue the Contemporary is not a "future" building but the "peak of the present" in 1970whatever when it was built) is its hard to judge what will be nostalgic about this moment - and for the first twenty years after the fad passes, nothing is nostalgic. The Swolphin is "peak of the present" architecture.

In some ways the Swolphin are better hotels than the WDW Deluxes (the beds) and in some ways they are really not Disney Deluxes at all (more conference guests).

I agree with that. But technically, the Swan & Dolphin have never really been "Disney" properties (unlike the Contemporary). In the early '80s a developer group worked out the deal with Eisner for what became the Swan & Dolphin. That seed money went a long way to smooth out operational costs at the time (Disney was hemorrhaging money) and part was used as collatoral funding to build Studios.

* Info was simplified from "Disney War" *

 

[bobbiwoz]

In '01 we had a family gathering and a Disney photographer and we were staying at the S/D. The pictures taken by the waterfalls, fountains are just beautiful. The whole family picture that we chose, everyone had their favorite to pick, is with us standing on the green with the Swan/clamshell high up in the background. I think it's visually pleasing.

Really crisi, the New Jersey shore that never was, boy, that's very good!...I feel like I'm in Asbury Park, AC, wherever, when I'm on the Boardwalk, I have to look twice,because sometimes I see double, what I remember and what's there. And there are pictures in the BCV studios that are just like present day Cape May imo!

Bobbi