For describing some nonlinear localized excitations, the (2+1)-dimensional dispersive long wave (DLW) system is investigated with symbolic computation in this paper. Based on two different dependent variable transformations obtained through the truncated Painlevé expansion, the (2+1)-dimensional DLW system can be bilinearized or linearized. Through the Hirota bilinear method, the analytic one-, two-, three-, and N-soliton solutions are derived. On the other hand, by means of the variable separation approach, localized excitations, such as the resonant dromion, resonant solitoff, lump and compacton excitations, are obtained. Figures are plotted to illustrate the structures of those solutions.