AKL vs. WDW Swan

[DonaldsDaisy]

We have a decision to make and thought that the friendly folks at the Disboards could provide some guidance. Here's the situation: We already have reservations to AKL at a great AP rate of $125/night over Labor Day weekend. However, we just found out about a great rate for the Swan at $139/night. We've never stayed at either hotel and are weighing the pros and cons of each. Someone please tell us where to stay! Our room reservation for AKL is for a standard room, by the way. We were hoping they would upgrade us to a Savannah View, but we don't know if they will or not. We were going to take the Magical Express to the AKL, but found out it doesn't run to the Swan (is there an alternative shuttle service from the airport to the Swan?). This trip is intended to be very relaxing with a few visits to the parks. We expect to do a lot of lounging by the pool and eating in nice restaurants. We love the Boardwalk area, Epcot & MGM, but our main concern is that the Swan may not have the "magic" of AKL. We need the magic! We just moved from our old home to our new home and we could use some R&R. Thank you for your advice.

 

[grimley1968]

To me, part of the "magic" is being able to hop on a boat or walk to one of the parks. Swan/Dolphin provide that part of the magic with walking or boat to EPCOT and a boat ride to MGM. From AKL you must use a bus to everywhere. That alone is enough to make me favor S/D over AKL.

To get to S/D from the airport, find out what EPCOT area resorts ARE served by Magical Express, then you can walk over to S/D from that resort. If you have wheeled luggage, this should be quite easy for you. Just intercept your luggage when they offload it off the bus. Failing that, you could certainly pay for Mears service from the airport. I'd choose the free ME service, though, and hoof it to the S/D from the closest resort that has ME. If BC/YC are served by ME, those 2 resorts are not more than a 5-minute walk to S/D. I don't know if this is commonly done, but it sure sounds easy to me.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We have been to both and I might add we didnt like AKL and have never returned there, we have been to the swan twice and will go again in Dec. as the other poster said, since you arent having a car , just the bus rides alone will eat up huge chunks of your time from AKL commuting to where you want to go. If you love animals, then the AKL would be for you.

The only minus of the swan is not charging back to the room. Also we skipped the refill mugs, too much of a hassle. We just had our tiffany towncar guy stop at the hess mini mart so we could get soda.
You will love the swan if you choose it, lst bus stop, the selection of boardwalk restraunts, you will love the grotto pool and there is always a place to get a lounge chair and the pool bar is a plus too if you want to relax. The swan/dolphin itself has lots of great restraunt choices, blue zoo, palios, fresh, shulas etc. If the weather doesnt cooperate you can stay at the resort and check out all those choices, there is a spa there too, epcot is a walk or boat ride away etc. They even have beach volleyball and basketball courts etc. A great resort. Are you a starwoods member, if so, you might luck out with an upgrade. Oh how could I forget Kimonos, if you are into sushi and karaoke. Have a great trip and good luck deciding.

 

[Minnie]

To me, part of the "magic" is being able to hop on a boat or walk to one of the parks. Swan/Dolphin provide that part of the magic with walking or boat to EPCOT and a boat ride to MGM. From AKL you must use a bus to everywhere. That alone is enough to make me favor S/D over AKL.

To get to S/D from the airport, find out what EPCOT area resorts ARE served by Magical Express, then you can walk over to S/D from that resort. If you have wheeled luggage, this should be quite easy for you. Just intercept your luggage when they offload it off the bus. Failing that, you could certainly pay for Mears service from the airport. I'd choose the free ME service, though, and hoof it to the S/D from the closest resort that has ME. If BC/YC are served by ME, those 2 resorts are not more than a 5-minute walk to S/D. I don't know if this is commonly done, but it sure sounds easy to me.

This won't work as the luggage is not put on the same bus as you are. The luggage is sent separately and delivered to your hotel room several hours after you check in. The also send luggage tagsa and u have to check in with them so u can't just hop on the bus.

If u choose the Swan u would need to arrange your own transportation such as either Mears shuttle, town car, or car rental.

 

[candleonwater]

I'm faced with a similar dilemma for October. Where to stay? My coworkers are pushing me to try the Swan or Dolphin... but I'm hesitant. I like the idea that I can walk to EPCOT, but hate the idea that I might give up some of my magic. We tried AKL a year ago... and probably won't stay there again. The busses were WAY too much a hassle for a deluxe resort.

 

[DonaldsDaisy]

Thank you everyone who gave us all the great advice. We have canceled our AKL reservation and booked the Swan. We are really looking forward to a great trip. Thanks again for all your help!

 

[disgal1]

I have stayed in both.
I say Swan. The fun of just walking out the door and be at MGM or Epcot or boardwalk, plus all the restaraunts, is just a huge plus!!

 

[owtrbnks]

Well, that's why there are so many choices! We've stayed at both, and as previous posters have noted, there are advantages to each. I don't mind the bus rides and the AKL Pool wins. Swan/Dolphin have better resturant choices (unless you like 100 kinds of "flatbread") but are not as "magical."
I vote for AKL even though I'm on the loosing side!

 

[rjn1976]

When we used magical express last week our luggage (and everyone else's) was loaded onto the same bus that transported us. Our luggage was unloaded at the resort and we took it to the room ourselves.
I haven't been to the swan but we had a great stay at AKL.
The transport times are not that long 10-15mins to epcot/mgm a little longer to MK (the plus point is that the buses only serve AKL you do not stop at other resorts on route we got a bus from the boardwalk one night and found that with all the stops it wasn't that much quicker than from AKL)

 

[grimley1968]

When we used magical express last week our luggage (and everyone else's) was loaded onto the same bus that transported us. Our luggage was unloaded at the resort and we took it to the room ourselves.

This makes my idea of just picking up your luggage off the bus and hoofing it to the Swan from the nearest EPCOT resort with ME service do-able. The walk to the Swan from any of those other EPCOT resorts is very managable.

 

[swilphil]

This makes my idea of just picking up your luggage off the bus and hoofing it to the Swan from the nearest EPCOT resort with ME service do-able. The walk to the Swan from any of those other EPCOT resorts is very managable.

But DISNEY sends you special luggage tags and the bus personnel retrieves bags from the airport and puts them on the bus. The luggage doesn't go through baggage claim. You can't just walk up with your bags to an ME bus and say hear ya go. The walk from the Boardwalk Inn to the Swan isn't bad, but I wouldn't do it with all of my luggage.

But do stay at the Swan. Take a town car service (we like Tiffany) or Mears Shuttle. There's plenty of magic. You are right next to the Boardwalk and could have a room with a view of the Epcot Ball or MGM's Tower of Terror. Plus it's a deluxe hotel and the beds are great.

 

[rjn1976]

We did indeed walk up to the bus with our luggage, helped to load it and then boarded the bus. We collected our luggage ourselves (we had pre booked but the tags never arrived) and took it down to the DME check in desk and then waited for our bus. I see no reason why you couldn`t collect your luggage and load into the bus (thats what we did). Most of the other people on our bus had their luggage with them (i.e. they collected it themselves) and loaded it onto the same bus in the same way we did.
However the problem with walking over to another resort is that to get our DME reservation you have to provide a reservation no/code for the resort that you want them to transport you to, which obviously (if you're not staying at eg the boardwalk) you won't have.

 

[Leota]

IMHO The Swan/Dolphin beat the pants off AKL & I like AKL enough for a second trip there. However, the only benefit of the AKL is a Savannah View Room. All else at Swolphin is more Magical to us & of far better quality. WE love the Epcot location, the Grotto Pool, the Service, The Heavenly Beds.....
The Dolphin is my favorite WDW resort after a dozen stays. The only reason we aren't going to be there in a couple weeks was the free MYW dining.

 

[NancyIL]

This makes my idea of just picking up your luggage off the bus and hoofing it to the Swan from the nearest EPCOT resort with ME service do-able. The walk to the Swan from any of those other EPCOT resorts is very managable.

My understanding is that you CAN'T use Magical Express if you stay at the Swan. Depending on how many people you are transporting, you might consider picking up a rental car at the airport and dropping it off at the Dolphin (National and Alamo).

By the way, I love, LOVE, LOVE the Swan, so I think you made a great decision!

 

[DonaldsDaisy]

We ended up booking Mears because we honestly would not feel right about taking Magical Express even if it were possible. I am so glad to hear that so many people have had great experiences at the Swan. We are really looking forward to it. Thanks again for all your great help.

 

[grimley1968]

We did indeed walk up to the bus with our luggage, helped to load it and then boarded the bus. We collected our luggage ourselves (we had pre booked but the tags never arrived) and took it down to the DME check in desk and then waited for our bus. I see no reason why you couldn`t collect your luggage and load into the bus (thats what we did). Most of the other people on our bus had their luggage with them (i.e. they collected it themselves) and loaded it onto the same bus in the same way we did.
However the problem with walking over to another resort is that to get our DME reservation you have to provide a reservation no/code for the resort that you want them to transport you to, which obviously (if you're not staying at eg the boardwalk) you won't have.

I never really considered the second part of the issue, that is that you need to provide a ressie # to get a ME ressie. That would certainly put a kink in my idea. But I think you've shown that you can certainly stay with your luggage the whole way. It just wouldn't make logistical sense for Disney to separate people from their luggage in terms of separate actual buses. It'd be a waste of fuel and an increase in complexity.

It seems like Disney could cut people a break who aren't staying at ME-eligible resorts, and let them just provide whatever ressie number they have for whatever onsite resort they are staying at. Then Disney could let people find their own way to their non-ME resorts from the closest ME-resort they can get dropped off at. I just don't understand why Disney needs to play favorites this way. I understand that Starwood Resorts aren't exactly under the same control as Disney resorts, but there are still Disney resorts that are not eligible for ME. But I can't understand why it's so bad to allow a few S/D guests to ride the same bus as other EPCOT area guests, then let them walk on over to S/D once they collect their luggage. I just can't imagine the bus is so crowded they can't accommodate a few extra people.

 

[swilphil]

I would love if Disney gave ME to Swan/Dolphin guests, and I'm sure they would have the room. They want people to stay at the Disney resorts though and not the Swan/Dolphin, and for some people ME might make the difference.

Since the luggage goes directly from the plane to the bus, there may be cases where the luggage is sent on a later bus. It probably has more to do with how quickly the airline gets the luggage out to the ME people. Technically, it's possible that you could walk off the airplane and over to an ME bus before the airline has delivered the luggage to the bus.

 

[Blondie]

To get to S/D from the airport, find out what EPCOT area resorts ARE served by Magical Express, then you can walk over to S/D from that resort. If you have wheeled luggage, this should be quite easy for you. Just intercept your luggage when they offload it off the bus.

It never would've crossed my mind to try something like that, but where there's a will, there's a way, I guess.

I'm glad you are going with Mears.

Regarding missing the "magic," check out the view we've had in the past! Looking out at this says "Disney magic" a hundred times over!