What do you have to forgo by staying at the Swan/Dolphin

[huntwoof]

I've stayed at the S/D for a couple of conferences in the past. Now considering it for a family trip. My wife is a 1st grade teacher. Someone mentioned above a teacher discount. How much of a savings is it? That is really cool they offer that ... it's a nice touch!

 

[Donald Duck888]

I've stayed at the S/D for a couple of conferences in the past. Now considering it for a family trip. My wife is a 1st grade teacher. Someone mentioned above a teacher discount. How much of a savings is it? That is really cool they offer that ... it's a nice touch!

From a quick calculation it seems to be about a 15% discount.

 

[Donald Duck888]

Does anyone know if you stay at swan/dolphin can you still partake in the marshmallow toasting over at the beach by BC/YC? I would be happy to pay for the marshmallows if that is how to do it but that is one of the things my daughter really wants to do and i don't think the swan/dolphin do one of those.

 

[Donald Duck888]

One other question if I may, can you still use magic bands if you stay at the swan dolphin? I think i read somewhere you can but you have to buy your own. I have seen them for sale at the disney store i think. If you buy them there how do you get them linked to your MDE account? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[raddisneyfan]

I believe that anyone can use magic bands now--on or off property. As for the Dolphin, I stayed there years and years ago--just after it was built. At that time, the theming was more whimsical than the Swan if you are worried about your 8 yo liking it--check out the websites for the room decors--they may have changed it since I was there. Also, I remember loving the pool and the grotto. Of course, you have the advantage of being fairly close to HS in order to walk and it is walking distance to EPCOT too, but a little further. I'm a government employee, but I never seem able to have the discount when I am vacationing, so I usually stay at a Disney property. I'm sure the deals that the teachers and government employees get is pretty good, so definitely worth checking out--which I do, but like I said, they never seem to be available when I'm heading to FL. Just my two cents--take them for what they're worth--and have a great time!

 

[luvallprincesses]

I've stayed at the S/D for a couple of conferences in the past. Now considering it for a family trip. My wife is a 1st grade teacher. Someone mentioned above a teacher discount. How much of a savings is it? That is really cool they offer that ... it's a nice touch!

I'm a teacher and the last person I spoke with when making a reservation actually stated that he teacher discount is 15% off the lowest available rate.

 

[jpeden]

If you college is a public college, you should also be eligible for the government rate, which sometimes is greater than 15%. I used to work for the feds and now I work for a major division one school (which is a public university) and I'm eligible for either. So, make sure to explore all of your options! If my wife and I weren't renting points, we'd be staying at the Swan because we LOVE Westin hotels.

 

[Babsy]

I've stayed at the S/D for a couple of conferences in the past. Now considering it for a family trip. My wife is a 1st grade teacher. Someone mentioned above a teacher discount. How much of a savings is it? That is really cool they offer that ... it's a nice touch!

It seems to vary. it is easy to check online. Just go to special offers and find the teacher discount link to see your rates for your dates. My DIL is a nurse (they get the same discount). She saves a lot of money staying here using the nurse discount.

I'm a teacher and the last person I spoke with when making a reservation actually stated that he teacher discount is 15% off the lowest available rate.

OK, so it is a discount on the discount offered to anyone else! that is why it varies - it varies with the lowest rate variation. Interesting! Also, why I can never get as a good a rate as my DIL!! LOL

 

[MAmomma]

We will be staying with our family at the Swan around Thanksgiving. Are there generally a lot of conferences that time of year? I was under the assumption that the Dolphin was more kid-friendly - is that true?

 

[luvallprincesses]

We will be staying with our family at the Swan around Thanksgiving. Are there generally a lot of conferences that time of year? I was under the assumption that the Dolphin was more kid-friendly - is that true?

We are also staying at the Swan for 10 days around Thanksgiving. I know that Nov 30- Dec 3 is sold out right now due to a conference because I was hoping for a lower rate than I originally booked but they won't apply discounts on a sold out room. I'm hoping at 60 or 30 days out some rooms being blocked/held will be released.

 

[pwrflpills]

I'm not sure if I missed whether you're trying not to spend/need to save $1000, or if you stay at S/D you'll have lots of extra money to spend?

This is a tough one because you're trying to put a monetary value on experiences, like the roasting marshmallows thing. To me, these types of things are more important than "stuff", so I value them highly. It sounds like you do too. $1000 is a lot, but if money is not the issue then no prob. What also makes it tough is you've stayed at YC/BC and don't have experience of how nice S/D could be.

Experience-wise, if money isn't an issue, a Deluxe resort is a pretty sweet thing to be able to add to your trip. As a kid, albeit 20-30 or so years ago, we would stay in Kissimmee at a Days Inn or what have you. I didn't know any better. If you've already set that standard I'm sure it's very tough to go back. But since we're not comparing Days Inn in Kissimmee to YC/BC, this comparison is actually much closer and favors S/D IMHO. It's still a pretty special hotel/environment.

Something to consider, while your daughter knows and loves YC/BC, is it she who has the lesser opinion of some of the aspects of S/D, like the pool, or is that your opinion?

Bottom line, ~$1000 is a lot of cash. So whether you need to not spend it or will have it as fun money, you're either saving yourself financially (good), or you can do a LOT of extra stuff with that cash. With S/D you're not sacrificing location and you can try to request a refurb'd room, great views, and it's a larger than life facility. The pool looks pretty good to me too (oh, BTW, I'm staying there this weekend for the first time! ) Good luck with your decision!

 

[rteetz]

One other question if I may, can you still use magic bands if you stay at the swan dolphin? I think i read somewhere you can but you have to buy your own. I have seen them for sale at the disney store i think. If you buy them there how do you get them linked to your MDE account? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks in advance for any info.

Yes you can still use magicbands but you won't get them from Disney you would have to buy them at the parks or online like you said. You can link your tickets to your bands on your MDE account or have guest services do it at the parks.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Do you still get to take advantage of EMH's?

 

[msb578]

Do you still get to take advantage of EMH's?

Yes. As well as FP+ at 60 days out.

 

[chartle]

On another note I work for a college and am assuming that qualifies me for the teacher/education discount? Has anyone used this discount that may know if I am correct in this assumption? Thanks

I would have never thought that the teacher discount would apply to anyone working at a school, college or university. My wife works in research for Univ. of Pittsburgh. I'll have to check it out.

 

[MermaidMommy]

OP, the campfires and movies are free to anyone at WDW, not just hotel guests. I believe that the Ft. Wilderness is the only place that charges for the marshmallows, so you should be fine going to the one at YC/BC.

Also, there's Seashore Sweets right next to the Boardwalk Inn that has ice cream -- I wouldn't be surprised if you could get a Mickey Ice Cream Bar there at the end of your day.

We stayed at Dolphin in 2014, and they had a lot of the same programming as the Disney hotels on TV. I know they had Stacy and the "Disney Must-Do's," because DD always had it on, and it's on at the bus stops there, too. If they have that, they might have the cartoon channels as well. I'd call and ask.

We've stayed at a number of the Disney deluxes, including YC and BC, and I wouldn't hesitate to stay at S/D, especially for that price difference. Agree with PP's about their beds, too. They're more comfortable than any of Disney's that I've slept on.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

One other question if I may, can you still use magic bands if you stay at the swan dolphin? I think i read somewhere you can but you have to buy your own. I have seen them for sale at the disney store i think. If you buy them there how do you get them linked to your MDE account? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks in advance for any info.

You can use Magic Bands for your park tickets and Fastpasses. You will not be able to use them to charge back to your hotel room, and they will not be included with the cost of your stay, you'll either need to have ones from a previous stay, or buy new ones.

 

[JACKNAG]

Dolphin is great

 

[Glenn]

A 1000 is alot of savings. Heres another way of looking at it. Instead of spending your savings on things how about putting it into your Disney savings account so you can get back to the world alot sooner?

 

[cgattis]

We've stayed at BC and Dolphin, and my kids really didn't mention missing anything. I think they actually enjoyed the Dolphin pool more because of the waterfall and the fact that it was MUCH less crowded. We enjoyed the food at the pool bar too. Plus we could easily pop over to BoRdwalk for a snack/treat.