I have read countless reviews about this property. My Father in Law owns Fairfield points, and we often travel with him to various Fairfield properties. When we arrived at the property, we could tell it was old and had some problems. The staff was very friendly, and welcomed us nicely. Check in was fast and painless. One feature we did like was the security gate, which requires a card key to operate. When we entered our unit, we noticed dirty, stained carpet and old, dirty furniture. The place was spacious, and had basic furnishings. There is a TV, VCR/DVD unit in the living area, as well as a stereo with a built in cd player. The kitchen is adequate, and has a refigerator with ice trays. I would have thought they would have provided a fridge with at least an icemaker. Air conditioning is a problem. It was 90 degrees outside when we arrived, and no air was on in our unit. There are 2 individual A/C units, one in the living area, and one in the master bedroom. The other two bedrooms are hot, and only one has a ceining fan, which does not adequately cool the space. Central air should be installed. The master beedroom has a queen bed, the second BR has a full size bed, and the third BR has two twin beds. The linens are old and very worn. They need to be replaced on a more frequent basis. The master bedroom tub was dirty when we arrived, and there was dirt other places in the unit. The grounds are very clean, and the pool and hot tub are nice. The location is quiet, and is very convenient to Disneyland, and Knottsberry Farm (which I reccommend). Overall, we were disappointed in the property, and will most likely not return.

First off my Mother in Law booked this place thru her time share program which is RCI I believe. We came to California from the Boston, Mass area. The first 3 nights of our week in Disney area we stayed at the 4 Points Sheraton in Fullerton and you can read my review over there. On Saturday April 14th we moved to Dolphins Cove for the last 4 days of our week. The place is close to Disney...you take a right out of DCove and a right on Harbor and then your 2nd left is Downtown Disney (best place to eat your meals and snacks with 3 hours free parking and 2 extra hours validated if you buy something) and the 3rd left is the Disney Parks. Upon entering Dolphins Cove property you are met by a huge metal gate that looks like the door to Shawshank Prison. You have to swipe a card to get it to roll to the side so you can pass. There are signs everywhere saying they are not responsible if your stuff gets stolen which is not pleasant but I didnt have a problem. I am a big runner but I did not venture out in this neighborhood on Orangewood and the Fitness Room at DCove smelled of natural gas from the pool heater so I bagged my workouts while I was there (you walk all day in the parks anyways). The room was OK and the bathroom was newly renovated. However on the Tuesday befor we left we took it easy since we had to get up at 3am to get to LAX the next day and they shut our water off without notice (no water 10a-5p). My inlaws were in the room all day and said they never got a call or saw the notice the water would go off. They did give my wife a key to another room to take a shower but she had to be out of there by 1pm so that was a hassle. Other reviews have mentioned the water being off during renovations. They do have activities for the kiddies (mine are 8 and 10) but most kids just use the pool which is OK and warm. They do have small towels available at the pool and the staff is friendly. One kid bought a toy that needed a screwdriver and they called housekeeping to the front desk and the guy opened it we could put batteries in. On Sunday we drove to Hollywood and Santa Monica Pier. Going toward LA it ook about 2 hours but late Sunday afternoon I made it from Santa Monica Pier to DCove in about 50 minutes. I-5 access is easy from Harbor Blvd. ANother thing about the prison gate entrance is that 2 times cars followed me in to the facility without swiping their cards. Watch your back is all I can say but I didnt feel perfectly safe. Do a Google Map on 465 W Orangewood in Anaheim and then take the satelite view which will give you and idea of how big the place is. My in laws thought they would have lots of paths and grounds to walk on but the place isnt more than 100 yards wide from fence to fence. Regarding the bedroom we had the "extra" bedroom as the in laws were paying and they go the master suite but our bedroom had no TV, a rickety bureau and just 1 pillow for each bed which wasnt good. The closet is in the bathroom and is spacious. So to finish up I would say that you are close to Disney, close to I-5 (Take Exit 110A for Dolphins Cove) and close to place like Target and Dennys for quick stuff. However dont go in thinking this is the Ritz Carlton....this might be Shangri La for someone who lives in the Bronx or South Central but for the average consumer it is very average. Adjust your expectations accordingly. We left Dolphins Cove at 4am on a Wed. and I got to Hertz @ LAX Airport in about 50 minutes and there was no traffic. Take 5 N to 91W to 605 N to 105 W. Very easy. I am going to give the Dolphins Cove 4 1/2 stars out of 10. Disney and the California Adventure are awesome and I enjoyed them just as much as the parks in Orlando. Have a great time!!!

This resort was an OK place to stay. The mattress on the hide-a-bed was the worst ever! The staff was very helpful.......until the day of our checkout. We weren't leaving California until the following day, however we had to give up the room because all rooms were going to be filling up. There were 4 of us, 2 adults and our 2 kids. We did the potty thing before we left and then went and checked out. About 1 1/2 hours later I realized that the ziploc bag I had been carrying was no longer in my pocket. I immediately called the resort and they transferred me to housekeeping. They got on the walkie-talkie and called the housekeeper who then brought the bag to the person I was talking to. My ID and Credit Card were in the bag, however the $50 that my 9-year old son was given to buy souvenirs wasn't. They stated that the room hadn't been checked yet, but the police told me that the room had been entered 7 times since we had checked out. The Policeman went in and asked if the manager was willing to compensate us in some way and was told that she wasn't. I have the Incident # available if you'd like to discuss. WATCH YOUR BELONGINGS!!

This is the first review I have ever written. I just got back from Dolphin's Cove yesterday and felt it was important to write one, since some of the reviews I read on this site scared the heck out of me. They all seemed to be written from people who stayed at the resort in the same time frame. I think they just hit an off week and got unlucky with the renovations. There were still some room renovations going on, but we were warned by Fairfield one month prior to the trip and they did not affect us at all. The resort is a two story complex with very nicely landscaped courtyards. It reminds me a lot of Beaches in Jamaica, which I stayed at last year. We had a one bedroom which was not fancy, but was a good size and was very clean. At first I was disappointed with the patio since it did not overlook the courtyard, but looked out the back of the resort over the wall into an empty lot. It actually turned out that I could clearly see the Disney fireworks show right from my patio every night, so that made up for the view quickly. The pool was a nice size and was never crowded. They still had the heater running so the water was comfortable. The staff planned activities each day, but there was very little participation. There were a lot of families so my kids did have other kids to play with in the pool.There is a game room upstairs and a gym. They also have gas grills if you choose to cook. They looked clean, but I did not use them.

All in all I was very please and would go back again.

One other note. I had many people tell me I was going to be disappointed with Disneyland since I have been to Disneyworld so many times. Although the actual park is smaller, it basically has all the same rides and California Adventure Park is comparable to MGM. So unless you are really a fan of Epcot, then don’t believe the hype because Disneyland is as good and the weather is much better than Florida.

Regards,
Randy N.Y.