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

[OKW Lover]

Resort fee increase today up to $17 plus tax per day.

Was anything added to what is covered?

 

[patty57]

Was anything added to what is covered?

If long distance calls were unlimited before, then no change. Unlimited local and long distance calls, unlimited gym, high speed internet, two bottles of water.

 

[Dan Murphy]

New....

7. How much does the Resort Service Package cost and what does it include?

Resort Service Package is $17 + tax per day and includes:


Unlimited domestic long distance and local calls
Unlimited access to the resorts health club facilities
In room high-speed Internet access
2 bottles of water daily

http://www.swandolphin.com/feedback/reserve.html


Old...

7. How much does the Resort Service Package cost and what does it include?

The Resort Service Package is $14 + tax per day and includes all of the following:


Up to 60 minutes free local telephone calls, toll free and credit card access calls
(.10 cents per minute after 60 minutes)
20 minutes of domestic long distance per day
Unlimited access to the resorts health club facilities
In room high-speed Internet access
2 bottles of water daily

 

[RachelTori]

........which is largely useless for most of us who have cell phones!

Glad I made my reservations last week!

 

[patty57]

I wasn't too sure about the phones in the new rate, but have to agree with RachelTori. Who uses hotel phones anymore?

 

[Mark P.]

We plan on paying the resort stay in full prior to our arrival....Zero balance, clean slate. We've stayed at the S/D many times and from my memory, the incidental charges varied, if charged at all.
One trip, I recall the charge/hold was going be $100 per day! Didn't happen, thankfully. Just a gray area, I guess.
If the resort wants some money for incidentals, I'd be happy to lay a $100 bill down, and will be equally happy to retrieve it upon checking out.
Not a huge deal, just like to know what others experience and do.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Dan Murphy]

Hey Mark!!! Good to see you.

As to your question, I do not know what the hold amount would be. Never really paid attention. I just even up at departure with the quick method, not going to the desk to check out.

Have a great trip.

 

[Mark P.]

And good to see you too, Dan! Been a while, but we're still here!
Have a great trip, and thanks for the reply!

 

[SingingMom]

I wasn't too sure about the phones in the new rate, but have to agree with RachelTori. Who uses hotel phones anymore?

This brought back memories, circa 1970's.... LOLOLOL

Dad worked very hard and Mom budgeted very carefully to make sure our family of 6 were able to vacation at the Jersey Shore every summer. Brought food with us, only went on the Boardwalk a few evenings, went to a nice dinner once during the vacation.

Six of us smooshed in a single motel room. The big rule of the week was "DON'T TOUCH THE TELEPHONE!!!!" LOLOLOL. Those telephone rates were huge! To this day, I never touch the room phone. ;-)

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[glo]

Nice to see this post still here and thriving! The original is now over 10 years old! Still one of the best buys on property! My home away from home at Disney! Hi Dan!

 

[SRUAlmn]

We plan on paying the resort stay in full prior to our arrival....Zero balance, clean slate. We've stayed at the S/D many times and from my memory, the incidental charges varied, if charged at all.
One trip, I recall the charge/hold was going be $100 per day! Didn't happen, thankfully. Just a gray area, I guess.
If the resort wants some money for incidentals, I'd be happy to lay a $100 bill down, and will be equally happy to retrieve it upon checking out.
Not a huge deal, just like to know what others experience and do.

Thanks,
Mark

We were really worried about this too. I read that they multiply your first room charge by a certain amount (maybe someone can help me here with the specifics) and that's the amount they hold. It wasn't really an 'issue' per say, however, there were issues with the transaction of the balance payment.

My mom paid our balance at check in. It wasn't charged to her card until 3 days after we checked out ($500 less than it should've been.) Then the next day it was all credited back. Then the next day it was taken off again ($300 less than it should've been.) Then the next day it was credited back and later that same day the full balance was taken off. It was really frustrating! We went to Cocoa Beach for a week after Disney and spent so much of our trip that week trying to figure this out

 

[lovingthemouse]

Glo - how nice to see your post - it has been quite a while! Used to be that we were in neighboring towns, in eastern MA - I am back to western MA, retired from teaching, but missed it so much, that I am back on a p/t basis.

Hey Dan - just a little over a week now til we connect. I am very much looking forward to this vacation...

 

[glo]

Glo - how nice to see your post - it has been quite a while! Used to be that we were in neighboring towns, in eastern MA - I am back to western MA, retired from teaching, but missed it so much, that I am back on a p/t basis.

Hey Dan - just a little over a week now til we connect. I am very much looking forward to this vacation...

Will be retiring from teaching in a mere 6.5 years! Still a little ways to go! I still go to Disney often and the Swan Dolphin is my Disney home almost every time! I'll be there in a little over a week too!

 

[MOM POPPINS]

Special WDWMAGIC reader rates for the 4th Annual Food and Wine Classic at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin

The Swan and Dolphin Resort at Walt Disney World is hosting its Fourth Annual Food & Wine Classic on Friday October 18 and Saturday October 19 2013.
Sample wines from around the world and savor culinary artistry from pastries to pasta from 5:30pm - 9:00pm. The Food & Wine Classic also offers eight educational seminars if you would like to impress friends with your knowledge of wines, cocktails and beer. All seminars begin at 4:30pm and last approximately one hour. Packages are available for overnight guests (see rate codes below), and tickets are available for purchase for individual events and seminars. There will be live entertainment on both nights...so eat, drink, mingle, learn, and cap off your evening watching the fireworks under the stars!

Packages can only be reserved by phone this year, so call 888-828-8850 and ask for the special WDWMAGIC rate code shown below.

One night causeway with room - Code: WDWFWCL1
Two nights causeway with room - Code: WDWFWCL2
One night causeway and seminar with room - Code: WDWFWSM1
Two nights causeway and seminars with room - Code: WDWFWSM2

 

[ScotScroogeMcDuck]

Out of curiosity does anyone know what speed internet you get in the room? We're going in October and our little girl would love to Skype her grandparents in Disney.

Thanks

 

[SRUAlmn]

Out of curiosity does anyone know what speed internet you get in the room? We're going in October and our little girl would love to Skype her grandparents in Disney.

Thanks

While I can't speak to the specific speed, we had 2 tablets, an iphone, and a laptop and all worked beautifully for email, Skype, and internet surfing (translation - looking at menus on AllEars.net ) There were a few times we had difficulty getting a connection, but I would say 90% of the time was smooth sailing and very decent speed.

 

[OKW Lover]

Out of curiosity does anyone know what speed internet you get in the room? We're going in October and our little girl would love to Skype her grandparents in Disney.

Thanks

Speed (and reliability) varies considerably. You may have no trouble at all. You may not even be able to get a reliable connection. I've stayed at the Swolphin about 10 times, in different room locations and types. Never been able to discern a reason for the variance.

 

[ScotScroogeMcDuck]

Fantastic, thanks SRUAlmn and OKW Lover, if I remember right all the rooms are wifi now too?

 

[lizabu]

We were really worried about this too. I read that they multiply your first room charge by a certain amount (maybe someone can help me here with the specifics) and that's the amount they hold. It wasn't really an 'issue' per say, however, there were issues with the transaction of the balance payment.

My mom paid our balance at check in. It wasn't charged to her card until 3 days after we checked out ($500 less than it should've been.) Then the next day it was all credited back. Then the next day it was taken off again ($300 less than it should've been.) Then the next day it was credited back and later that same day the full balance was taken off. It was really frustrating! We went to Cocoa Beach for a week after Disney and spent so much of our trip that week trying to figure this out

This was my experience and how it was explained to me is they take whatever amount you charge back to your room on your first night and times it by however many nights you are staying and that's the amount they hold. So say you buy a pizza from Picabu for $25 on your first night and you're staying 5 nights the amount they would hold is $125 plus the amount for your room. YMMV.

 

[afcgirl]

Hi we spent 8 great days at the Swan, from March 22-April 1. It was our first time there, we paid with starwood points for 3 days and cash the rest.

We loved it and would definitely go back!

We loved the pool, we went to the pool on three separate days (parks at night) but would have gone more if it was a bit warmer outside. The pool was kept super warm and my kids had a blast! Us adults loved the drinks (Hula Mula was my fave) and the food was good too. They also had music and games on occasion. We were at the pool for the huge storm that hit Disney and boy was it scary! The staff ushered us into the cabana kitchen, as bottles and other debris was flying around like projectiles. Florida storms are not to be messed with! One negative: jets in hot tubs never seemed to work right.

We also loved the location, we walked to Epcot a few times and took the boat to Epcot and Disney Studios. The bus to DTD was a nightmare though! It took forever!

The rooms were nice, a bit smaller than I thought but nicely decorated. View was fine, nothing special. Biggest complaint: lack of fans in bathroom. By the last shower, the room was pretty stuffy. Thankfully the Swan had a separate sink outside the bathroom, I don't know how we would have managed otherwise. Wish there was more room for luggage. But overall, fine. Bathrooms could definitely use some sprucing up.

We really like the restaurant choices, we ate at Picabu a few times and the coffee shop at the Swan.

So, to sum up:

Positives:Lobby
Restaurants
Pool
Location
Atmosphere
Service

Negatives:Bathroom
Room size

We will definitely be back! We also liked the Yacht Club, we went to Beaches and Cream and loved the pool area. So we are thinking of either Swan or Yacht Club for next trip.

Any questions, feel free to ask!