Walt Disney World SWAN, DOLPHIN & SWAN RESERVE RESORTS Information & Questions

[hsmamato2]

Happy day! Booked our trip for December. No problems linking reservation to MDE. So excited to be coming back again. I am curious to see how the Swan renovations are coming along.

You can link it so soon? But making fp is 60 days prior,right?

 

[Dan Murphy]

You can link it so soon? But making fp is 60 days prior,right?

Yes and yes.

 

[RachelTori]

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet:

Swan & Dolphin are now charging the $23 resort fee+tax for the first night when they take the initial 1-night deposit. This is a recent change (deposits had been room rate plus tax and the resort fee was charged after check-in). I have confirmed this via the 888#.

I guess this wouldn't apply to Platinum, but I'm only Gold so I have to pay the resort fee!

The $23.00 resort fee with tax is $25.88.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks, LOR-uh.

 

[libbylovespluto]

Is the Swan refurbishment underway yet?

 

[Disney Ron]

Question for the Dolphin experts. I just became a SPG member. If we were to get a free upgrade on check-in do we ask if we can be upgraded, or do they just tell you you're getting upgraded if available?

TIA!

 

[klepton]

Question for the Dolphin experts. I just became a SPG member. If we were to get a free upgrade on check-in do we ask if we can be upgraded, or do they just tell you you're getting upgraded if available?

TIA!

I'm not a Dolphin expert, but have been SPG gold for years. Typically you'll get an "upgrade" assigned to you before you checkin. I have that in quotes because it's usually nothing special, maybe just a higher floor . Occasionally you'll get an upgrade to a better room. At the Swan last month I was upgraded from a standard room to a balcony before I showed up to check in, and I didn't have to ask for it.

That said, it's always worth asking if they don't mention it. They'll usually say something along the lines of: "We've got you in a standard King" and then you can ask if there are any upgrades available. I've gotten free upgrades this way. If they say no, you could even ask if there are any paid upgrades available. If the hotel isn't at capacity you can sometimes get a premium room or suite for a very reasonable upgrade fee.

 

[Disney Ron]

I'm not a Dolphin expert, but have been SPG gold for years. Typically you'll get an "upgrade" assigned to you before you checkin. I have that in quotes because it's usually nothing special, maybe just a higher floor . Occasionally you'll get an upgrade to a better room. At the Swan last month I was upgraded from a standard room to a balcony before I showed up to check in, and I didn't have to ask for it.

That said, it's always worth asking if they don't mention it. They'll usually say something along the lines of: "We've got you in a standard King" and then you can ask if there are any upgrades available. I've gotten free upgrades this way. If they say no, you could even ask if there are any paid upgrades available. If the hotel isn't at capacity you can sometimes get a premium room or suite for a very reasonable upgrade fee.

Thanks for that info it's appreciated.

 

[NBCGal]

I am looking at buying an Annual Pass to WDW as we are coming back in 2015 in addition to 2014. Have any of you Swan & Dolphin regulars had experience with getting a magic band as an AP holder? Do you just request it & Disney sends it? The WDW web site makes it sound like that's how it works...

 

[Dan Murphy]

My recollection on my band and AP was that when the bands became available to AP holders, Disney sent me an email with link to customize (name and color) a band and then they sent it to me. Not sure if that would be different now, on an ongoing basis, I had my AP before the bands were available.

 

[DisneydoneWright]

I don't know if anyone has posted this yet:

Swan & Dolphin are now charging the $23 resort fee+tax for the first night when they take the initial 1-night deposit. This is a recent change (deposits had been room rate plus tax and the resort fee was charged after check-in). I have confirmed this via the 888#.

I guess this wouldn't apply to Platinum, but I'm only Gold so I have to pay the resort fee!

The $23.00 resort fee with tax is $25.88.

We are gold spg members and last time we were at the Swan (2012) they waived the resort fee. I think you get to chose between extra points or that and we chose to have the resort fee waived. Hoping to do the same on our next visit!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Swan/Dolphin eliminated the waiving of the resort/Internet fee for other than platinum level I August of 2013.

 

[NancyIL]

Swan/Dolphin eliminated the waiving of the resort/Internet fee for other than platinum level I August of 2013.

I made it to Lifetime Gold last fall - just in time to not get the fee waived! I still love the Swan (especially) and Dolphin, and I'm looking forward to staying there again in December.

I am leaning towards not getting another AP, as I've been cutting back on the WDW trips. I am not looking forward to the FP+ debacle.

 

[klepton]

I am looking at buying an Annual Pass to WDW as we are coming back in 2015 in addition to 2014. Have any of you Swan & Dolphin regulars had experience with getting a magic band as an AP holder? Do you just request it & Disney sends it? The WDW web site makes it sound like that's how it works...

We bought our annual passes in early March online, and activated them at the park in early April. For that first trip we didn't have magic bands for the AP, but did because we were staying at Wilderness Lodge.

I believe in late April or early May Disney sent us an email saying all AP holders got magic bands. So I went online to customize them and mark them for shipment. We received them a week or so later. I don't remember the exact dates, but it all happened fairly quickly because we had them well before our early June trip to the Swan.

Remember to carry around your AP card (not the MB, the actual card) and ask for discounts everywhere you spend money. Most gift shops, activities, etc have discounts for passholders, but I always had to show the card as they couldn't seem to tell from my MB.

 

[DisneydoneWright]

Swan/Dolphin eliminated the waiving of the resort/Internet fee for other than platinum level I August of 2013.

Sad! Still love the Swan and looking foward to our next visit!

 

[klepton]

I made it to Lifetime Gold last fall - just in time to not get the fee waived! I still love the Swan (especially) and Dolphin, and I'm looking forward to staying there again in December.

I am leaning towards not getting another AP, as I've been cutting back on the WDW trips. I am not looking forward to the FP+ debacle.

Not trying to steer you towards an AP, but after a few trips this year I would say that FP+ really isn't that bad. Or at least it wasn't for us. There are aspects about it I would change, but overall we had a great system utilizing rope drop, last 90 minutes before park closing, and FP+ to fill out the days. We always went back to the resort in the afternoons for some naps/down time, which allowed us to both open and close the parks. We rode everything we wanted to as many times as we wanted to, and never waited more than 15 minutes except for the time space mountain went down for maintenance. Just make good use of your fastpasses, only use them for rides with long waits and don't use them before 10am or after 8pm for the most part.

Have the AP made this easy for us, as we often did one park in the morning and another at night. Park hopper option would get you this as well.

Best of luck!

 

[klepton]

We are gold spg members and last time we were at the Swan (2012) they waived the resort fee. I think you get to chose between extra points or that and we chose to have the resort fee waived. Hoping to do the same on our next visit!

Yeah, that wasn't an option for us or I would have jumped on it! I got the choose between the points or a drink certificate. I chose the drink certificate, but never ended up using it, so at checkout I asked to have it converted to the points option.

I think the resort fee and charge for parking are the most legitimate gripes for the Swan/Dolphin. If you have a car the parking and resort fees really add up. I guess they can get away with it though... without those two things I'd feel like I was stealing something based on the price/location...

 

[lilasmom]

Hi, we're going to be staying at the Swan this September for the first time. Is it under refurbishment? Also, has anyone tried the seafood buffet at the Garden Grove on Friday nights? Do you recommend it? Thanks!!

 

[jamesyoung26]

I very much appreciate this board's existence and the great information from other contributors. I have found some great posts regarding views. However, I am hoping to book a suite at the swan. The ability to close off an area will work great for our family. However, is there any chance that there will be a view of epcot fireworks from a suite? Thanks in advance for any information or insight.

 

[NancyIL]

Not trying to steer you towards an AP, but after a few trips this year I would say that FP+ really isn't that bad. Or at least it wasn't for us. There are aspects about it I would change, but overall we had a great system utilizing rope drop, last 90 minutes before park closing, and FP+ to fill out the days. We always went back to the resort in the afternoons for some naps/down time, which allowed us to both open and close the parks. We rode everything we wanted to as many times as we wanted to, and never waited more than 15 minutes except for the time space mountain went down for maintenance. Just make good use of your fastpasses, only use them for rides with long waits and don't use them before 10am or after 8pm for the most part.

Have the AP made this easy for us, as we often did one park in the morning and another at night. Park hopper option would get you this as well.

Best of luck!

Thanks! While the AP is tempting, I don't want to spend any more money on WDW tickets for awhile. I have gone to WDW a lot since 2001, and I've just about reached the saturation point.

I'm going to spend the first 3 days/nights of my trip at Universal before I move to the Swan for 7 nights. I have a 7-day Universal park hopper that I bought in 2010 @ ~ $100 before the WWoHP opened. I also have a 5-day MYW ticket. I plan to use the 5-day ticket as is in December, but add one more day @ $10.