WALT DISNEY WORLD DOLPHIN

The 'Walt Disney World Dolphin' is a resort hotel designed by architect Michael Graves located between Epcot and Disney-MGM Studios next to Disney's BoardWalk Resort area. The Dolphin, which opened in June, 1990, is joined to its sister hotel, the Walt Disney World Swan (also designed by Graves) by a palm-tree lined promenade splitting a lagoon. While located on Disney property, the resort is officialy a Disney Hotel but is operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide under the Sheraton Hotels brand.
The Dolphin and Swan share similar whimsical elements, but each has a distinctive appearance. The Dolphin is composed of a 257 foot tall triangular tower bisecting a 12-story rectangular mass with four 9-story wings on the Swan-side of the structure. The roof of each half of the main mass is adorned with a 56-foot tall Dolphin statue. On the main colored facade there is a turquoise banana-leaf pattern echoed by a similar wave pattern on the Swan.
A strange aspect of the Dolphin hotel is that the statues on the roof are clearly not (mammal) dolphins but a stylized version of a species of fish actually named "Dolphin". The design of the creatures is based on Triton Fountain in Rome, which was designed by Gianlorenzo Bernini around 1643
Restaurants at the Dolphin include: ''Shula's Steak House'' and ''Shula's Lounge'', the ''Fresh Mediterranean Market'', and ''Todd English's BlueZoo''. There is over 329,000 square feet of meeting space for conferences between the two resorts.
In 2006, the Dolphin and Swan underwent an over $135 million dollar renovation to their lobbies and 2265 guestrooms. In addition, the renovation added more shopping as well as the Mandara Spa.

Contents

Resources

External links

Resources

★ Home Page for Swan & Dolphin

★ Walt Disney World Dolphin page at Walt Disney World website

★ Dolphin resort page at Sheraton website

External links

★ Dolphin Resort Official Site