The **New** Swan and Dolphin Resort thread ~ April 2012 ~ Please read post #1

[Music City Mama]

It's coming up $206 plus fees and taxes.

Anyone else get cheaper?

thanks

Nope. I've been scoping out rates a few times a week for both Swan and Dolphin since September and for my dates (checking in on June 6th), I've never seen it lower than $206 for Swan and $224 for Dolphin (this is for resort view at Dolphin -- standard not available).

It appears (at least at the Dolphin) that my dates fall between two sold out time frames which may be driving up the rates because if I look at dates a couple of weeks later, they're both under $200.

 

[PolyAddict]

Nope. I've been scoping out rates a few times a week for both Swan and Dolphin since September and for my dates (checking in on June 6th), I've never seen it lower than $206 for Swan and $224 for Dolphin (this is for resort view at Dolphin -- standard not available).

It appears (at least at the Dolphin) that my dates fall between two sold out time frames which may be driving up the rates because if I look at dates a couple of weeks later, they're both under $200.

Ok thanks. I went ahead and booked the $206 rate last night for June 2-8.

 

[dISNEYlOveer]

I am going to the Dolphin tomorrow for a school field trip! I have never stayed there and I have stayed at many Disney resorts. I was actaually hoping to stay at either the Dolphin or Swan in the next year of so, but now I got to go on a field trip here. We will be going Sun 12/2/12-Tues 12/4/12...

 

[Zooteach1@yahoo.com]

Had a very nice first stay at the Dolphin! We had booked a standard view and requested a quiet room and that's what we got. We were in central tower at the very end of the hall and had the fire exit stairs on one side, so we only had one adjoining wall and we barely heard a sound the whole six nights of our stay. The room was 15066. It seemed quite spacious to us, bigger than what I expected but I'm not sure if it was larger than the standard room since I've never stayed there before. We particularly liked having the sink outside the toilet/shower room. For not much more than what we would have paid for a king bed room at a moderate, we vastly preferred staying here. Yes, it is a bit less Disney but the amenities, lobby, larger room and fantastic, walk-able location more than make up for it!

The only negatives in my opinion were that, as many have reported, the mini-fridge kept things cool, not cold and the "high-speed" internet was barely functional. We heard others complaining about the slow internet when we checked in and they said they were having problems and were working on it. Well they credited our ENTIRE resort fee with only the nicest mention that we had experienced problems with it during our stay. Just something to keep in mind if you have the same issue in the coming days We appreciated their desire to "make it right". Oh, one last little gripe... what is up with the fake cookie smell in the lobby? Is this a holiday thing? I found it to be way, waaaay too strong, particularly right as you walk in through the front doors. DH didn't mind it so much, so maybe it's just me?

We didn't eat many meals at the hotel but enjoyed ice cream at the Fountain and a great breakfast buffet at Fresh. Had not so great build-your-own burritos at Picabu. It's right by the laundry room and we needed to run a load so it served the purpose, but we would only eat there again as a last resort. But I guess it's nice to at least have something available 24 hours a day.

The pool looked just fine to us, no algae or weird funk. I did think that the main pool felt colder than the lap pool and kid's pool... the two smaller pools were very warm, the main pool was colder than I would have liked but still swim-able. We liked the swanky pool bar!

 

[Marthasor]

Had a very nice first stay at the Dolphin! We had booked a standard view and requested a quiet room and that's what we got. We were in central tower at the very end of the hall and had the fire exit stairs on one side, so we only had one adjoining wall and we barely heard a sound the whole six nights of our stay. The room was 15066. It seemed quite spacious to us, bigger than what I expected but I'm not sure if it was larger than the standard room since I've never stayed there before. We particularly liked having the sink outside the toilet/shower room. For not much more than what we would have paid for a king bed room at a moderate, we vastly preferred staying here. Yes, it is a bit less Disney but the amenities, lobby, larger room and fantastic, walk-able location more than make up for it!

The only negatives in my opinion were that, as many have reported, the mini-fridge kept things cool, not cold and the "high-speed" internet was barely functional. We heard others complaining about the slow internet when we checked in and they said they were having problems and were working on it. Well they credited our ENTIRE resort fee with only the nicest mention that we had experienced problems with it during our stay. Just something to keep in mind if you have the same issue in the coming days We appreciated their desire to "make it right". Oh, one last little gripe... what is up with the fake cookie smell in the lobby? Is this a holiday thing? I found it to be way, waaaay too strong, particularly right as you walk in through the front doors. DH didn't mind it so much, so maybe it's just me?

We didn't eat many meals at the hotel but enjoyed ice cream at the Fountain and a great breakfast buffet at Fresh. Had not so great build-your-own burritos at Picabu. It's right by the laundry room and we needed to run a load so it served the purpose, but we would only eat there again as a last resort. But I guess it's nice to at least have something available 24 hours a day.

The pool looked just fine to us, no algae or weird funk. I did think that the main pool felt colder than the lap pool and kid's pool... the two smaller pools were very warm, the main pool was colder than I would have liked but still swim-able. We liked the swanky pool bar!

Wow! Thank you so much for the report! Question - what kind of view did you have from your room? I put in a request for an EP view on a high floor, but I may change that to "quiet room" after reading your review. I've had many a noisy room on Disney property and would love to get a good night's sleep at the Dolphin!

Thank you for the restaurant and internet tips as well - super helpful review!

 

[RachelTori]

Ok thanks. I went ahead and booked the $206 rate last night for June 2-8.

Congrats on making the reservation! Now keep checking periodically. Should you ever find a lower rate for your dates, all you need to do is call the 888# and they will first confirm that rate exists (could be on their website, SPG website, AAA website, or one of the discounters like travelocity), then they will adjust your reservation to the lower rate!

 

[bas71873]

Will the Dolphin (and/or Swan), ship a box home like the WDW resorts do? I plan to do a little holiday shopping when we are down over Thanksgiving next year and we fly, so I just want to ship a box home to myself once I've finished all that shopping.

 

[Dan Murphy]

The business center in either resort should be able to take care of that, for a fee.

 

[PolyAddict]

Congrats on making the reservation! Now keep checking periodically. Should you ever find a lower rate for your dates, all you need to do is call the 888# and they will first confirm that rate exists (could be on their website, SPG website, AAA website, or one of the discounters like travelocity), then they will adjust your reservation to the lower rate!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[2disneycruzrs]

If a restaurant has a children's menu, then it intends to welcome children. AllEars.net doesn't list a children's menu for Shula's, so perhaps that is less child-friendly.

Shula's is an excellent, high-end restaurant. I couldn't imagine taking my DD there. Bluezoo seemed frou frou to me but that was about five years ago though it was good. Can't really see taking a child to a Todd English restaurant.

 

[Zooteach1@yahoo.com]

Wow! Thank you so much for the report! Question - what kind of view did you have from your room? I put in a request for an EP view on a high floor, but I may change that to "quiet room" after reading your review. I've had many a noisy room on Disney property and would love to get a good night's sleep at the Dolphin!

Thank you for the restaurant and internet tips as well - super helpful review!

We didn't have much view to speak of, we had only reserved the cheapest room category. We looked down on the convention center roof and could just barely see MK way off in the distance. I think the key for a quiet room is to avoid being on the big long main hallways. Our room was in this little alcove that was a left turn off the end of the main hall and there were only three rooms total in that section. And as I said, only one wall adjoined another room. Now if we had noisy neighbors in that one room next door, I guess we still could have had problems. But since it was only a very short hall off by itself, there was no space for kids to be inspired to run the distance of the hall (as I have seen mention of by previous posters) and no real reason for anyone to come down that far.

I'm sure if you tell them that quiet is more important to you than nearness of the elevators or ice machines they will find you a nice isolated nook like they did for us. The hotel is so huge I'm sure there are plenty of arrangements on each floor like what we had.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Leaving soon for an overnight in Milwaukee and a morning flight out to Orlando, and the Swan, and WDW too. Looking forward to it. It was 70º here in Chicago today, so a bit of a prelude to the Florida weather.

 

[ahutton]

Hooray Dan! Your trip being here means ours is right behind you!

 

[peepsmama]

We will be arriving at the Swan Sunday for our first stay there and we will be celebrating our 20th anniversary (with the kids though). Is it too late to do a room request and how would you go about doing that...through the VIP Conceirge page?

We are booked for a standard room, so I figure a nice view is probably out, but wondered if we should request shorter walk (as we usually have done at other resorts) or maybe a quiet room. Any advice for this S/D newbie as to what request would make the week's stay more special? TIA!

 

[bas71873]

The business center in either resort should be able to take care of that, for a fee.

Thank you.

 

[Marthasor]

We will be arriving at the Swan Sunday for our first stay there and we will be celebrating our 20th anniversary (with the kids though). Is it too late to do a room request and how would you go about doing that...through the VIP Conceirge page?

We are booked for a standard room, so I figure a nice view is probably out, but wondered if we should request shorter walk (as we usually have done at other resorts) or maybe a quiet room. Any advice for this S/D newbie as to what request would make the week's stay more special? TIA!

If you haven't done so already, you may want to consider becoming a Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). It's Starwood's frequent stay program. It's free and, I believe, just by being a member they will offer you a free upgrade if available (Swan/Dolphin vets, please correct me if I'm wrong). All you would need to do is join, get your SPG number and then have it added to your reservation. Here is a link to join:

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/enroll/index.html

As far as requests, I would request what you would like in order of importance and then hope for the best! If you want a nice view, it doesn't hurt to ask!

 

[peepsmama]

Thanks, Marthasor! Can I do that through the concierge link or do I need to call?

 

[Marthasor]

Thanks, Marthasor! Can I do that through the concierge link or do I need to call?

After you join SPG and get your membership number, I would call the reservations line and ask them to add your SPG number to the reservation. Maybe bring your membership number and mention your membership when you check in as well. Hope it helps!

 

[Mrs.Milo]

Hello all! I just found this thread thanks to my daughter ahutton. She is there at the Dolphin now with her hubby, while Mr.Milo is home babysitting our adorable grandkids. This is my favorite time of year to visit, and we were there last year, so really miss it. So nice to "see" all the familiar names here.

 

[cindym]

I'm sure the answers to my questions are somewhere in this long thread but I can't read it all now. I need to know if I can make ADRS for Epcot restaurants if I stay at the Swan/Dolphin? Also we have a king room booked with a rollaway bed at the Dolphin. Will this be really crowded? I can book 2 queens at the Swan. Which would give us the most room? We are two adults and a 5 year old. There are no sofa beds. I've stayed at all of the Epcot hotels except the Swan/Dolphin. The rates for our trip are just too good to pass up! 11/30/13 -12/07/13