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

[bakerworld]

Wow! Just 2 weeks until we leave for the Dolphin! Can't wait! Anyone have any experience getting free upgrades to balcony with regular SPG? If not how much is it per night to upgrade?

This past October when I asked about the upgrade she said they'd already given it to us

 

[ImprovGal]

No - Dolphin (Sheraton-branded) has Shine products -- I was just there last week. Nothing special about those products - they're adequate.

I haven't stayed at Swan in over a year, so I can't say for sure what they have now, but they are Westin-branded and usually carry what other Westins have. They had Bath & Body Works products (coconut lime verbana). I also have a bottle of body lotion from Swan: Heavenly (white tea aloe).

Hopefully someone can update/confirm the current Swan products! I won't be there until November.

Swan finally has the Westin-branded products which have the White Tea fragrance (same one usually found in the lobby).

 

[RachelTori]

Swan finally has the Westin-branded products which have the White Tea fragrance (same one usually found in the lobby).

Thanks for the info!

 

[Mark P.]

First thing in this morning's in box is the Swan's "We’re ready for your arrival" email!
Makes it official...It's almost here.

Been almost 3 years since our vacation of any kind. Our son, Colin, 11, was diagnosed last year with autoimmune hepatitis, and the trade-off of his liver functioning properly with the meds. is intentionally suppressing his immune system, and he's now prone to getting infections and sick more often. And boy, does it...And it stinks!

The game has changed is all, DW and I have told him. He's been biopsied, poked and prodded for months now and has taken it all in stride. That's our Colin.
Have to give a shout out to DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington, DE. Amazing is the word that comes to mind. We're there every two weeks, sometimes more frequently, if needed.

And so Colin mentioned heading to SWW a while back, as he absolutely loves SW, his Dr. gave us the green light for Disney, where he's all set to be Carbon Froze and Cloned as a Trooper as well!

Colin likes camouflage items, so if you see a young man with a camo. Disney pin lanyard and camo. medic. alert bracelet, on the 17th., please stop and say hi...We'd love to meet fellow DISers!


Happy Mom's Day!,
-Mark

 

[LexiC123]

First thing in this morning's in box is the Swan's "We’re ready for your arrival" email!
Makes it official...It's almost here.

Been almost 3 years since our vacation of any kind. Our son, Colin, 11, was diagnosed last year with autoimmune hepatitis, and the trade-off of his liver functioning properly with the meds. is intentionally suppressing his immune system, and he's now prone to getting infections and sick more often. And boy, does it...And it stinks!

The game has changed is all, DW and I have told him. He's been biopsied, poked and prodded for months now and has taken it all in stride. That's our Colin.
Have to give a shout out to DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington, DE. Amazing is the word that comes to mind. We're there every two weeks, sometimes more frequently, if needed.

And so Colin mentioned heading to SWW a while back, as he absolutely loves SW, his Dr. gave us the green light for Disney, where he's all set to be Carbon Froze and Cloned as a Trooper as well!

Colin likes camouflage items, so if you see a young man with a camo. Disney pin lanyard and camo. medic. alert bracelet, on the 17th., please stop and say hi...We'd love to meet fellow DISers!


Happy Mom's Day!,
-Mark

I hope Colin has a wonderful time. May the Force be with all of you!

PS - might I suggest emailing the hotel and letting them know about how special this trip is for Colin. The staff is awesome, and they've gone above and beyond for us many times in acknowledging special occasions that we've been celebrating.

 

[RachelTori]

I hope Colin has a wonderful time. May the Force be with all of you!

PS - might I suggest emailing the hotel and letting them know about how special this trip is for Colin. The staff is awesome, and they've gone above and beyond for us many times in acknowledging special occasions that we've been celebrating.

I second that sentiment! And I think that's great advice to email the hotel.

 

[Mark P.]

Thanks for the kind words, I just might zip them an email.

Thanks again and take care,
-Mark

 

[Crazy Kanga]

First thing in this morning's in box is the Swan's "We’re ready for your arrival" email!
Makes it official...It's almost here.

Been almost 3 years since our vacation of any kind. Our son, Colin, 11, was diagnosed last year with autoimmune hepatitis, and the trade-off of his liver functioning properly with the meds. is intentionally suppressing his immune system, and he's now prone to getting infections and sick more often. And boy, does it...And it stinks!

The game has changed is all, DW and I have told him. He's been biopsied, poked and prodded for months now and has taken it all in stride. That's our Colin.
Have to give a shout out to DuPont Children's Hospital in Wilmington, DE. Amazing is the word that comes to mind. We're there every two weeks, sometimes more frequently, if needed.

And so Colin mentioned heading to SWW a while back, as he absolutely loves SW, his Dr. gave us the green light for Disney, where he's all set to be Carbon Froze and Cloned as a Trooper as well!

Colin likes camouflage items, so if you see a young man with a camo. Disney pin lanyard and camo. medic. alert bracelet, on the 17th., please stop and say hi...We'd love to meet fellow DISers!


Happy Mom's Day!,
-Mark

Have an awesome trip and God bless your family!

 

[bluejasmine]

Anyone have a link to a 2013 Picabu menu?

ASMU/POR Dec 16-22, 2012 & POFQ Sept 8-15, 2013

 

[Dan Murphy]

http://allears.net/menu/menu_tub.htm



And good wishes for Colin, Mark. Wish I was there to meet camo man. Have a great trip, Mark.

 

[bluejasmine]

http://allears.net/menu/menu_tub.htm

And good wishes for Colin, Mark. Wish I was there to meet camo man. Have a great trip, Mark.

That's a tally a 2011 menu was hoping for a 2013 staying at BWI & wanted to grab breakfast here a few times but need to budget it in, if anyone knows of a 2013 Picabu menu can you let me know?? I appreciate it!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[Dan Murphy]

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/diningdetail.cfm?restaurant.id=465#menu

 

[patty57]

Wow! Just 2 weeks until we leave for the Dolphin! Can't wait! Anyone have any experience getting free upgrades to balcony with regular SPG? If not how much is it per night to upgrade?

I'm Starwood Preferred Plus (at least I think that is the name) and just stayed at the Dolphin May 1-8. We had a standard view booked, and were upgraded to a balcony room. I didn't ask about an upgrade...it was offered. Very nice to have the balcony, but it ended up being a pretty long walk from the elevators on the west side. It kind of felt like one of those BWV walks from the elevators . In any case, it was unexpected and very much appreciated.

 

[vicb224]

Just a question... Booked the Dolphin last night for long weekend Labor Day.. Put my credit card info in for deposit but it never charged it. I got a confirmation # and everything but I'm nervous about it!
Happen to anyone else?

 

[RachelTori]

Just a question... Booked the Dolphin last night for long weekend Labor Day.. Put my credit card info in for deposit but it never charged it. I got a confirmation # and everything but I'm nervous about it!
Happen to anyone else?

Yes, a couple of us had that problem several months back. What I did was go into the reservation and clicked the icon to "modify" it. I didn't make any changes to the reservation, but clicked "save changes" and that apparently did the trick! The deposit showed up as "pending" in my Amex account by the end of that day!

I don't know if or when the reservation would be canceled for non-payment of deposit, but I sure didn't want to take any chances!!

 

[vicb224]

thanks!! I will try that.
Do we pay the balance upon check in?
I am so used the the 45 day Disney mark..I'm lost at this hotel!

 

[Shula]

Newbie to this thread and posting all together!
We are planning our first stay at Dolphin next May/June. Our last trip was at Beach Club by renting points. It was an easy experience and a great trip. We fell in love with the Boardwalk area and do not want to stay anywhere else! This next trip my immediate family is also going so we need 4 rooms. I don't want to try to rent points with that many people and take a chance something goes wrong. I have read this enire thread and after all your info I am sold on staying at Dolphin as long as the rates come down! I think we will book them next month at the current rate of $279 because there aren't any discounts yet. We can't afford that rate per room so if discounts are never released we will have to look offsite at the last minute. My questions I hope someone can answer are:

If we book a 1 or 2 bedroom suite do we still have to pay $25/night per extra adult?

How many rooms can 1 AAA discount and 1 teacher discount book? As of right now we are the only AAA members and 1 of my sister's is a teacher. I usually do all the arrangements when my whole family goes and they pay me back.

The current rate is $279 for our dates 5/31-6/7 next year. What kind of discount could we hope to get w/AAA or teacher discount? (Our arrival day is the weekend after Memorial Day so won't be there during the holiday)

We usually stay at Moderates, mostly Riverside. The stay at Beach Club was only my husband and I for our anniversary. We can not wait to show them how cool it is to walk to Epcot and HS!!! Thanks for the help!
Michelle

 

[mikegood2]

If we book a 1 or 2 bedroom suite do we still have to pay $25/night per extra adult?

You shouldn't have to. I can't remember the exact cut off number, but 7 people were no problem for the one room executive we have booked for June, we ended up with 5 people. I believe that it was over 10 people if you got a 2 bedroom executive suite.

The current rate is $279 for our dates 5/31-6/7 next year. What kind of discount could we hope to get w/AAA or teacher discount? (Our arrival day is the weekend after Memorial Day so won't be there during the holiday)

It's really hard too say what kind of rates you could end up with, so your best bet is to check regularly, because prices can very from day to day, hour to hour or person to person. On our first visit to the Dolphin, June 2011, we ended up getting an a 1 BR executive suite for an incredible price of $309 a night, but it took about 6-8 calls over a few week period to get that price. We initially booked our executive suite for June of this year for $399, but after a few call we got it for just under $370, can't remember the exact price. I was quoted $359 on one call, but when my brother tried to book it a few hours later that price wasn't available.

 

[bakerworld]

Newbie to this thread and posting all together!
We are planning our first stay at Dolphin next May/June. Our last trip was at Beach Club by renting points. It was an easy experience and a great trip. We fell in love with the Boardwalk area and do not want to stay anywhere else! This next trip my immediate family is also going so we need 4 rooms. I don't want to try to rent points with that many people and take a chance something goes wrong. I have read this enire thread and after all your info I am sold on staying at Dolphin as long as the rates come down! I think we will book them next month at the current rate of $279 because there aren't any discounts yet. We can't afford that rate per room so if discounts are never released we will have to look offsite at the last minute. My questions I hope someone can answer are:

If we book a 1 or 2 bedroom suite do we still have to pay $25/night per extra adult?

How many rooms can 1 AAA discount and 1 teacher discount book? As of right now we are the only AAA members and 1 of my sister's is a teacher. I usually do all the arrangements when my whole family goes and they pay me back.

The current rate is $279 for our dates 5/31-6/7 next year. What kind of discount could we hope to get w/AAA or teacher discount? (Our arrival day is the weekend after Memorial Day so won't be there during the holiday)

We usually stay at Moderates, mostly Riverside. The stay at Beach Club was only my husband and I for our anniversary. We can not wait to show them how cool it is to walk to Epcot and HS!!! Thanks for the help!
Michelle

We booked October 2012 thru SW Vacations - a 7N stay = 4N @ Yacht Club. Booking this way included the air, gave us $100 credit on the room plus an upgrade and eliminated the parking and daily rm chg for internet, etc. You might want to price it out.

 

[RachelTori]

thanks!! I will try that.
Do we pay the balance upon check in?
I am so used the the 45 day Disney mark..I'm lost at this hotel!

A one-night deposit (rate & taxes) is charged (or should be! ) when you make your reservation. Swan and Dolphin do not charge the balance due until your check-out day. You can prepay any portion of the bill you want, either before you arrive or during your stay. If not, your credit or debit card will be charged at the end of your stay.

Each day, the rate plus taxes -- plus resort fee & parking, if applicable, are added. I usually get a print-out of my folio the day before I check-out to make sure everything looks good!

Now that's for a regular room. I have not had the pleasure of staying in a suite. The rules for that may be different.

Can any of you with Suite experience let us know?