Swan and Dolphin or Disney Resort?

[MsMagical]

We are trying to schedule what is the second of at least 3, probably 4, trips to Disney before Feb next year. We are looking at mid-June for our upcoming trip. We have DVC so some of our trips will be on points and but least one will be paid out of pocket. For the out of pocket, we are thinking of trying the Swan and Dolphin. We have annual passes so we are not worried about scheduling fastpasses or anything. And, we plan to go to all the parks but at a pretty leisurely pace.

My question is: If you have stayed at the Swan and/or Dolphin, what are your thoughts on it? What are the pros and cons of staying there vs. a Disney resort? Any thoughts you might have on this would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[minidis]

We enjoyed SD in the past when the prices were more comparable to moderate resorts. However the resort and parking fees are aprox $50 per day in additional to room fees. I find DVC is a better deal. It depends if the boardwalk area is where you want to stay.

 

[Babsy]

I love the Dolphin! We stay there frequently partly because the price is often less than what you will pay at WDW Epcot area resorts. The other reason to stay there are the comfortable beds and the fact that you can book the view that you want and a guaranteed balcony. With WDW resorts so many things that are important such as full balconies are by request and not guaranteed. It is so nice to know that the only request I need to worry about is which floor I will be on. I know that I will have a balcony and a view of Epcot fireworks.

The 'heavenly beds' are aptly named and the rooms overall are quite comfortable. DME is useless for me returning to MCO (4 hours before the flight is SO unnecessary!) so I always book a town car for the return. We usually stay at a MK resort first then stay at the Dolphin or Swan for the second leg of the trip.

There is a resort fee added that you need to factor into the cost of the room. That is annoying, but really when you know about it you just add it to the per night cost to get the real price per night. It is still usually less than the WDW Epcot area resorts, but not as significantly lower priced these days as it once was. There are two bottles of water (included in the resort fee) left for you daily in your room, which is very nice.

You do earn Starwood points for your stay or can use points for your stay or for upgrades.

The pool is lovely, the dining is great, the service is good, the location is awesome! Oh, and you can book dining without worrying about being dinged $10 a head if you don't cancel 24 hours in advance. I LOVE Fresh for breakfast. Having breakfast at Fresh alone makes me want to stay at the Dolphin. LOVE the fresh smoothies.

 

[roydavid7771]

1. Here's a vote for the Swan! Stayed there twice, once on our honeymoon and loved it. True, all of the nickel and diming usually adds up to minimal savings compared to a Disney deluxe, but he beds are super comfortable, and for others, being able to escape the Mickey Kool-Aid, even if it's only for a short while, would be a welcome respite!

 

[BellsFam]

We stayed at the Swan... we enjoyed it and disliked it for the same reason. It's not very "Disney". I'm one who LOVES to be immersed in the Disney of it all, the only sign we were even in Disney was the gift shop So while we loved it, the Garden Grove was always empty, walk in, sit down, great character interaction, great food, beautiful restaurant to be in! The Java Bar we ate breakfast at each morning, and the atrium area we were in to eat that was beautiful!

We never hit the pool so I can't speak to that...and we hardly ever saw another person! I don't know if that's because it was early September or not...

Another downside is the QS is in the Dolphin, and I personally didn't like it. The servers or the food... so it's not like you can grab some food and take it back to your room, unless you're at the Dolphin... you have to walk back to the Swan with the food, etc.

And don't forget, (we DIDN'T know this), there is NO airport transportation!!!

 

[FFMatt12]

1. Here's a vote for the Swan! Stayed there twice, once on our honeymoon and loved it. True, all of the nickel and diming usually adds up to minimal savings compared to a Disney deluxe, but he beds are super comfortable, and for others, being able to escape the Mickey Kool-Aid, even if it's only for a short while, would be a welcome respite!

I choked and laughed at the same time when you alluded to "Mickey Kool-Aid"

 

[jperrot1]

We loved the Swan. But my wife felt it wasn't "Disney." I disagree with her. You step out of the resort and look where you are... in Disney. My wife says, "Yah, when you step out of the resort." Then I mentioned their great character dinner in their hotel. Well, you get the idea.

I believe the Swan is in the middle of room refurbishments, so you just might get a newly refurbished room, maybe.

 

[rcraw45425]

We stayed at the Swan in November for the first time in 16 years and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was a super last minute(as in throw the suitcase in the car) trip. Cost of the room was super when compared to the comparable EPCOT resorts. We were also give a refurbished room with a king and balcony (starwood upgrade). The rates can often be surprisingly lower than the EPCOT resorts, I had a room booked for early May and it was <$200 per night when the YC/BC was over $300. Sometimes it's nice to take a break from total immersion

 

[MrInfinity]

What's the best way to get from the airport to the Dolphin? No MDE since this is room-only... Is there a Sheraton shuttle?

 

[FFMatt12]

Sometimes it's nice to take a break from total immersion

I like that example made. It is true and you can remove yourself momentarily WHILE at the same time being a literal stones throw away. (i.e. better than staying off-prop and having to take outside transportation onto property)

 

[teacher31]

Fwiw, I booked the Yacht Club for this upcoming May into June trip for 50 more per night than the Dolphin. We love the dolphin and have stayed there many times! If price is a consideration, you might want to check out their spring specials at WDW.

 

[rcraw45425]

^^^^ This! I had Swan booked for Memorial Day but with the parking fee and resort fee started rethinking myself. Once I began crunching numbers I had my TA move me to the BC (on the last day that the spring discount was 30%) and the difference was minimal. With two older teens (18 & almost 20) the BC, IMO is a better fit to allow them complete freedom. With Swolphin yo cannot charge back to the room on your room key/Magic Band) (In fact you have to purchase your MagicBands if you wish to use them for your ticket media). SO factor in that cost as well. Plus, no Magical Express if you fly.

 

[My_3_Mi_Princesses]

Count us as Swan/Dolphin converts as well. We book the room/tickets via Costco. Which includes the resort fee, and roll-away bed fee (5 of us) and our two little ones eat for free (certain places). However the parking fee is not included. I will admit as others the hotel theme is not quite Disney but being so close to the Boardwalk, Epcot and HS while paying slightly more than a Moderate resort more than makes up for that for our family.

 

[partigus]

For someone with as many trips to the world as you, I say go for it for the experience...If I was talking to a friend for a once in a lifetime trip, you'd get another answer. We've stayed at both the swan and dolphin. Love them both, just in a different way.

If the Epcot resorts are the "girl next door" you grew up with and are totally comfortable around...The Dolphn and Swan are more like your first "adult" relationship...Still exciting, but there is something missing, plus more that you'd like to know, but don't. Shula's and BlueZoo are not just different versions of Yachtmans and Flying Fish.

 

[ohMom]

We love the S/D for the heavenly beds, spacious rooms and location. The pool is nice but not a selling point for me, other deludes have neater pools. Try it once !

 

[tzolkin]

If you qualify for one of their discounts (nurse/teacher/military) the price difference between S&D and the Epcot area resorts would be more substantial.

We have a trip booked for this June at the Dolphin for $185/night ($226 including resort fee and parking).

A room at Boardwalk for the same time would be $486/night ($341 if a 30% discount becomes available)

 

[richmo]

They are both very nice hotels and others are correct that there isn't much Disney theming. The only other drawback, if you want to call it that, is they often host corporate/convention events. There may or may not be a lot of folks wearing badges running around the hotel(s). I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, but just be aware of it.

Not sure of the MCO transportation issue. A couple possibilities:
- Rent a car at MCO. If you don't want to keep it, drop it at the Dolphin (Alamo/National counter there)
- Look into Mears shuttle.

 

[moran66]

The swan and dolphin are nice but def not disney hotels not even close.. I would for sure pick a moderate hotel over the swan or dolphin and all DVC hotels blow them out of the water. I think the way the swan and dolphin nickel and dime you is the worst part of it they charge you to park there and I went down to the quick service rest picked up some 12 dollar chicken wraps so I knew what I was getting there but at checkout there was a 4 dollar service charge I didnt question it just was a little shocked also my daughter forgot to buy a mickey bar while I was down there and they charged a .50 cent service charge for that too on top of the 4$ bar. Again they are nice hotels and if they were not walking distance to epcot I think I would prefer a value resort then stay there. If u are expecting DVC dont stay here.

 

[MsMagical]

Thank you all! Our AAA discount gets us a room at a significant discount over any of the other Epcot resorts and we are driving down for this trip so transportation isn't an issue but the resort charges might be. We are annual passholders so our AP magic bands will be our tickets. But....I like the convenience of charging to my room. And we got some pretty amazing Disney service this last trip (like so significantly more than the last three trips - very close to the Disney customer service of the old days) and a bunch of it was at our resort.