Walt Disney World Dolphin

Walt Disney World Dolphin
Location	Epcot Resort Area
Resort type	Deluxe Resort
Opened	June 1, 1990
Theme	Entertainment Architecture
Areas	Main Building
Rooms	1509
Suites	Standard Suites
Green lodge	yes

The Walt Disney World Dolphin is a resort hotel designed by architect Michael Graves located between Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, next to Disney's BoardWalk Resort area. It opened on June 1, 1990 and is joined to its sister hotel, the Walt Disney World Swan (also designed by Graves) by a palm-tree lined covered walkway crossing a lagoon. The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company, Tishman Hotel Corporation, MetLife and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. The land the resort occupies is owned by the Walt Disney Company, while the buildings themselves are leased by Disney to the Tishman Hotel Corporation and MetLife but operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide under the Sheraton Hotels brand. The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin are a part of the Walt Disney Collection of resorts; because of this they are Disney branded and guests of the resort have access to special Disney benefits available to Disney Resort Hotel guests only.

The Dolphin and Swan share similar elements, but each has a distinctive appearance. The Dolphin is composed of a 257-foot (78 m) 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 (17 m) tall Dolphin statue. On the main colored facade there is a turquoise banana-leaf pattern echoed by a similar wave pattern on the Swan.

The statues on top of the Dolphin hotel are not mammalian dolphins, but a stylized version of a nautical dolphin, a common symbol used on old world nautical maps. The design of the creatures is based on Triton Fountain in Rome.

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