My family (me, spouse, 10-year-old and 7-year-old boys) stayed a week at the Dolphin's Cove resort in Anaheim July 21-28, 2007.
I can see, after staying there, how it wouldn't suit everyone's needs. But it hit ours pretty much spot on. The resort is a Wyndham (formerly Fairfield) time share. We do not own a timeshare, but purchased a 6-night stay from a member on Craigslist for $700. At $116 a night, we definitely got our money's worth.
The facility is located about 12 blocks south of the Disney main gate. An Anaheim resort shuttle stop is about 100 yards from Dolphin's Cove, and will take you to and from the park for $3 for an all-day pass for adults, kids under 10 free; they run every 20 minutes. I recommend this, as parking at Disney is just as far.
There is more than enough parking at Dolphin's Cove, and it's all behind a security gate.
The Dolphin's Cove facility seems to be a converted apartment complex. The grounds are very well groomed, though they do look a bit old. The rooms are REALLY spacious -- ours was essentially a 2-bedroom apartment along with a living room, dining area, kitchen and two full bathrooms. The bedrooms included one with king-size bed and one with two twins -- perfect for us, since we didn't have to referee the boys fighting over the covers.
There also was a sofabed in the living room, which we used when a local relative came and stayed with us one night.
The furnishings and the decor of the apartment are new, functional and pretty basic, not fancy. There is a window-unit air conditioner that looks old and small, but does a surprisingly good job of cooling the place down. There are also ceiling fans in the bedrooms and the dining room and big standup oscillating fans in the closets you can use.
The kitchen was pretty small, but it had full-size appliances including fridge, stove/oven, microwave and dishwasher (do your dishes while you're out -- these babies are loud), and a full supply of pots/pans/dishes/cups/glasses. New TVs in the living room and master bedroom; a stereo w/CD and cassette and a VCR/DVD combo in the living room for entertainment. They also have DVDs to check out in the office.
The place was very clean, though the carpets were a bit dingy -- like they were due for a shampoo. Vacuumed well, though.
The facility has an OK-sized pool (maybe 25 by 40?) along with a hot tub and kiddie pool. Patio furniture surrounding it is a bit tired. There are a couple gas barbecues you can use in the area. Also a snack bar, but its offerings are limited to soda, candy, ice cream, hotdogs and nachos. The pool is 4 1/2 feet at the deepest, so we were able to let our kids play without our being in the pool with them (you DO need to be there, though -- there's no lifeguard). We made margaritas in our room and drank them poolside using plastic pitcher and cups that came with the room and nobody bugged us.
There's a clubhouse next to the pool that has a TV and some books, and a game room with a pool table, air hockey and a handful of videogames upstairs. There are some girls who act as social directors, but they're young (18-ish) and didn't seem to do too much. My kids liked the free-video-game night on Wednesday.
Overall, the staff was very friendly, but you need to be able to take care of yourself, they don't pamper you. The maids cleaned the place twice out of our week there, though they happily brought us fresh towels whenever we requested them.
As I said, Dolphin's Cove suited our needs well -- it was clean and well-kept, but not so nice that we'd live in fear of our kids wrecking it. The pool was a nice place to hang out, and it was very convenient to Disney. There are also several eating options within walking distance and a liquor store/minimart across the street.
We stopped at a grocery store on our way in from the airport and saved a ton of money by eating breakfast at home and bringing sandwiches to Disneyland. Of course, we also left behind about $30 worth of leftover beer, wine, soda and canned soup. I hope the cleaning staff enjoys it. :-)
Everybody there seemed to be families with kids. And that's about right -- it's not fancy enough for honeymooners, or plush enough for retirees, and much too tame for young partiers.
Would I visit again? Absolutely, if I were taking my whole family. Wouldn't stay there on a business trip or on a romantic getaway with the spouse. Of course, I wouldn't go to Disneyland on a romantic getaway anyway.











