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

[patty57]

My question is that also offered for the RN discount as I'm a hospital social worker as support staff?

I stayed at the Swan this past June on a nurse's discount. I can't say for sure that social workers or other support staff are not included, but I had to show my RN license, which makes me think it may just be for nurses. You should probably call the hotel to ask that question to be sure.

 

[hoglund]

I never hear anything in the hotel room at all. I do hear (and enjoy) hearing the toots from the Friendships outside on the waterway. Not too loud though, just right. If in your room when Illuminations goes off, you can hear (and feel) the louder, more powerful blasts. Again, not terribly loud though. I think you can hear both the boats and Illuminations throughout the Epcot resort area.

Here now and we're having a great time on our F & W trip. Although you can see some wear and tear, I still think it's a beautiful hotel with comfortable rooms. We have had no complaints.

It is pretty quiet, especially compared to some Disney resorts and hotels we've stayed at in the past. I can hear the horns of the friendship boats, but as another poster said it's kind of nice and not at all loud.

It pays to be a Starwood Preferred Plus and doesn't take much extra effort (AAA attached to Starwood Preferred membership). We got an upgrade to resort view and it's very pretty to look out the windows.

The pool looks beautiful- no algae problems anymore. We haven't had time to swim, though for us Floridians, the water feels a bit cold anyway.

F & W was great. There were some people that looked like they had been drinking, but no "frat party" feel that I noticed. We didn't stay long in the evening only because it was so crowded and our kids were very tired.

It depends on who is staying around you. We stayed during a huge dance competition, and it was so loud! Stomping and running down the hallways at all hours, banging doors, screaming, etc...

We've found the Swan to be much quieter than the Dolphin. There's something about those loooong hallways at the Dolphin that seems to inspire children to run down them, screaming, at all hours of the day and night!

As far as the rooms themselves go, we've never had an issue with loud neighbors, but have heard their showers running, on occasion.

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

 

[Angeejoe]

Thanks Dan & Patty57 for your quick response!

FYI- I called the Dolphin & they stated that while the teacher rate applies for support staff of schools also, the RN rate is only for RN's & not support staff of hospitals ie Social Workers like me. The operator stated the RN's must show RN ID's. The operator stated they get this call a lot about hospital staff. A little disappointed that this is how it works, but I do have AAA.

 

[franc]

I'm so glad that I found the thread, there is some fantastic info on here. I'm going to book to stay here for the first two nights of our holiday, but am having trouble deciding between the two hotels.

The Swan looks great because it has the bigger beds, which would be great as we are two adults and two teenagers in the room.

The Dolphin looks great as there seems to be more restaurant choice and it looks nearer to the pools on the map.

Do you think that one would be more suitable for us than the other, or are they so close that it will make no difference?

 

[GC&S]

I'm so glad that I found the thread, there is some fantastic info on here. I'm going to book to stay here for the first two nights of our holiday, but am having trouble deciding between the two hotels.

The Swan looks great because it has the bigger beds, which would be great as we are two adults and two teenagers in the room.

The Dolphin looks great as there seems to be more restaurant choice and it looks nearer to the pools on the map.

Do you think that one would be more suitable for us than the other, or are they so close that it will make no difference?

We stayed at the Swan for the first time a few weeks ago. We went to the Dolphin several times to eat and get milk. I don't think there's that much difference between the walk to the pool. Depends on what end of the pool or which lap pool you want to be in. It's not a long walk between the Swan and Dolphin so you would probably be happy with either. Since I dont know what the beds are like at the D - I can't compare those or room size. We had a standard size room and for the 3 of us it worked well.

 

[franc]

We stayed at the Swan for the first time a few weeks ago. We went to the Dolphin several times to eat and get milk. I don't think there's that much difference between the walk to the pool. Depends on what end of the pool or which lap pool you want to be in. It's not a long walk between the Swan and Dolphin so you would probably be happy with either. Since I dont know what the beds are like at the D - I can't compare those or room size. We had a standard size room and for the 3 of us it worked well.

Thank you for the reply. If it's not a long walk then I'll probably book the Swan for the bigger beds.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I'm so glad that I found the thread, there is some fantastic info on here. I'm going to book to stay here for the first two nights of our holiday, but am having trouble deciding between the two hotels.

The Swan looks great because it has the bigger beds, which would be great as we are two adults and two teenagers in the room.

The Dolphin looks great as there seems to be more restaurant choice and it looks nearer to the pools on the map.

Do you think that one would be more suitable for us than the other, or are they so close that it will make no difference?

The walk to the pools are roughly the same from either resort. Sometimes the pool area may appear to closer to the Dolphin because you can walk for a greater distance toward the pool area while still inside the building. But in reality, about the same. If measuring, maybe 100 feet closer for the Dolphin, not much when you are on a Disney vacation, LOL.

 

[franc]

The walk to the pools are roughly the same from either resort. Sometimes the pool area may appear to closer to the Dolphin because you can walk for a greater distance toward the pool area while still inside the building. But in reality, about the same. If measuring, maybe 100 feet closer for the Dolphin, not much when you are on a Disney vacation, LOL.

Thanks, 100 feet is nothing. It's sometimes hard to judge distances when looking at Google maps.

 

[onelilspark]

Just got back from a 3 night stay at the Swan. It was a wonderful trip and we would totally stay at the Swan again

 

[Debrn]

Wow both resorts sold out 1st week of March is there some big conference?

 

[EPCOT is a verb]

Checking out today. We had a wonderful stay at the Dolphin. We would definitely stay here again. It was clean, with great service. The pool was clean, though we just sat by it and didn't go in the water. We loved walking to Epcot and DHS.

We stayed an extra day due to the storm at home. Now we head back to no electricity. Bummer.

 

[Angeejoe]

Does anyone have the dining passport for the swan/dolphins restaurants? Do points accrue quickly? Anyone redeem the points?

-Angie

 

[Dan Murphy]

Just got back from a 3 night stay at the Swan. It was a wonderful trip and we would totally stay at the Swan again

Checking out today. We had a wonderful stay at the Dolphin. We would definitely stay here again. It was clean, with great service. The pool was clean, though we just sat by it and didn't go in the water. We loved walking to Epcot and DHS.

We stayed an extra day due to the storm at home. Now we head back to no electricity. Bummer.

Welcome home.

 

[cvirtue1]

I arrived last night at the Swan! So far great! Trying to get a feel for transportation as today is our resort day!

 

[auprincess]

I read the first post but still have a couple questions ~
The Dolphin has 2 queen beds and the Swan has 2 double beds? But my family of 5 can't stay in a standard room at The Swan, but can stay in a standard room at The Swan?

Also, can anyone tell me the size of the rooms? Maybe compared to some on-site properties ~ are they as big as the rooms at The Poly? My husband is big on having his space, lol. Thanks!

 

[NancyIL]

I read the first post but still have a couple questions ~
The Dolphin has 2 queen beds and the Swan has 2 double beds? But my family of 5 can't stay in a standard room at The Swan, but can stay in a standard room at The Swan?

Also, can anyone tell me the size of the rooms? Maybe compared to some on-site properties ~ are they as big as the rooms at The Poly? My husband is big on having his space, lol. Thanks!

The Swan has queen beds and the Dolphin has double beds. I believe the standard rooms at the Dolphin are slightly larger than at the Swan, and can accommodate a rollaway bed.

 

[cgattis]

Dolphin has fulls, Swan has queens. There are different sized standard rooms, because the one we just stayed in was a good bit bigger than the one we had in December. I'm not sure what the square footage is, but I can tell you from experience they are definitely bigger than Beach Club or Poly standard rooms.

 

[auprincess]

The Swan has queen beds and the Dolphin has double beds. I believe the standard rooms at the Dolphin are slightly larger than at the Swan, and can accommodate a rollaway bed.

Oops, I wrote it down right, but typed it out wrong! So the Dolphin has double/double ~ shoot, I was really hoping for queens.

Am I correct in that The Dolphin only accomodates 4 guests in a room? We'll have 5 ~ myself, DH, and our 3 DDs (who at the time will be 9, 5 and 3).

 

[cgattis]

I think you'd have plenty of room for one of those little inflatable toddler beds for the 3YO. We had an unreal amount of luggage on our last trip and still had plenty of room.

 

[NancyIL]

Oops, I wrote it down right, but typed it out wrong! So the Dolphin has double/double ~ shoot, I was really hoping for queens.

Am I correct in that The Dolphin only accomodates 4 guests in a room? We'll have 5 ~ myself, DH, and our 3 DDs (who at the time will be 9, 5 and 3).

The Dolphin can accommodate 5 with a rollaway. Only 4 can stay in a standard room at the Swan.