CBR versus Dolphin/Swan

[ppaauull1]

My travel agent just called us and told us Disney has offered to upgrade us from Caribbean Beach Resort to Swan/DOlphin. It sounds like a deal, but I am leary. My family consists of 2 adults and 8&9 year old girls. There are actually a total of 21 of us in the party, all in similar situations and we have the opportunity to upgrade for free. Is one resort more enjoyable than the other for small kids? I would hate to make the wrong decision, and only have 12 more hours left before I have to tell the T/A. It seems to me that CBR probably has a more Disney feel to it, hence more fun for the kids. Swan/Dolphin seems to be much more convenient to the parks. We are spending 4 days in the park before going on a 4 dy cruise, so we plan to be on the go the full 4 days, basically using the hotel to sleep in only. Any input and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Also, we had planned on feeding the kids in a food court type setting, is this available at Swan/Dolphin?

Thanks

 

[Rhonda]

Definitely take the upgrade! The Dolphin/Swan resorts are fantastic! The pool area (The Grotto) is much, much nicer than the pool at CBR! The kids will love the waterslide and the waterfall in it!

They do have a food court-type restaurant, called Tubbi's Buffeteria, where you can get pizza, dinner specials, breakfast foods, sandwiches, etc. at a lower price than the sit-down restaurants. They also have a refillable mug program there.

You can't beat the location of the S/D! You can walk or take a boat to both Epcot and MGM. And, you can walk to the Boardwalk in the evenings, to play games and watch the street performers!

You won't be disappointed at all!

 

[froglady]

I would definitely go with the S/D. If you're only going to be sleeping in the room, the Swan has those wonderful Heavenly beds! The Swan has 2 Queen beds; the Dolphin has two doubles. We stayed in a King room at the Swan, but it had a double sleeper sofa. In either hotel, check-in was much more convenient than CBR. The CBR is very nice, but it's more (IMO) like a motel, albeit an extremely nice one. The S/D is an upper end hotel.

I also liked the pools better, and it was less crowded than the one at CBR. I was able to swim laps at one pool, while Dad was at the active pool next door with the kids; all within shouting distance. There were even nice hammocks for a little RnR, and a fitness center for more strenuous activity. The Dolphin also has a coin laundry. Add the proximity of Epcot, MGM, Y&BC, and the Boardwalk, and it can't be beat! (It was only a 5-10 min walk to get a shake at Beaches and Cream at the BC)

I only regret that we overlooked this wonderful resort for years, because we thought it wasn't really "Disney" enough.

 

[faithfull]

We have stayed at both. I agree that Carribbean Beach is more Disney-ish however, that is only true if you pay the upgrade to be near the main pool and the food court. The resort is VERY spread out and if you are not staying near the main pool you probably will not even see it to experience its theming. The outlying pools at the spread out Carribean Beach locations are just plain pools.

You do not get this feeling at the Swan and Dolphin. Since the resorts are somewhat high rises, everyone feels close to all the amenities like the pools, boat shuttles and Boardwalk. Nothing is too far away to enjoy. There is not a food court but you are close enough to walk over to Beaches and Cream Soda shop for sandwiches or any of the dining at the Boardwalk. Good luck.

 

[ofiesty4u]

Originally posted by ppaauull1
My travel agent just called us and told us Disney has offered to upgrade us from Caribbean Beach Resort to Swan/DOlphin. It sounds like a deal, but I am leary. My family consists of 2 adults and 8&9 year old girls. There are actually a total of 21 of us in the party, all in similar situations and we have the opportunity to upgrade for free. Is one resort more enjoyable than the other for small kids? I would hate to make the wrong decision, and only have 12 more hours left before I have to tell the T/A. It seems to me that CBR probably has a more Disney feel to it, hence more fun for the kids. Swan/Dolphin seems to be much more convenient to the parks. We are spending 4 days in the park before going on a 4 dy cruise, so we plan to be on the go the full 4 days, basically using the hotel to sleep in only. Any input and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Also, we had planned on feeding the kids in a food court type setting, is this available at Swan/Dolphin?

Thanks

I got this upgrade also, but now am re-thinking my decision... not having the "Disney feel" isn't THAT big of a deal for us, we like the thought of a more formal hotel, but we also are going on the 4 day cruise after and I'm hearing that we 1) won't get the refillable mugs (which is important for my husband) and 2) won't get a Key To The World (KTTW) card which means checking in AGAIN at the boat. This might be the reason I call to try to deny the upgrade, we want to get on the boat for reservations at Palo and not having to check in again was a big deal to us. We were also originally booked at CBR. I am going to call my TA this morning and talk to her, she neglected to mention these differences and I'm not to happy about that.

 

[faithfull]

I can see staying at the CBR for your one time check in on the cruise but don't stay there for the refillable mug! Unless you are staying close to the food court the walk could be VERY long to get that soda. The CBR is VERY spread out! The Dophin does have its own refillable mug at Tubbi's.

 

[ofiesty4u]

Originally posted by faithfull
I can see staying at the CBR for your one time check in on the cruise but don't stay there for the refillable mug! Unless you are staying close to the food court the walk could be VERY long to get that soda. The CBR is VERY spread out! The Dophin does have its own refillable mug at Tubbi's.

No, the mug isn't THAT important... But If I'm not mistaken we would also be able to use them on our cruise portion of our trip. We aren't paying extra for the mugs, they came from AAA. With my hubby being a soda addict, not having one could get pretty expensive!

I think we've decided to use the upgrade, we'll decide after the trip whether or not it was a bad decision.

 

[kmc33]

I am not 100% sure on this, so maybe someone else who is, can confirm. But, it is my understanding that the mugs from AAA are for the cruise portion of the trip. I thought that the mugs at the resorts are just for that particular resort. We stayed at the CBR and the mugs said CBR on them. And then there were separate mugs to purchase on the Wonder.

We did a land/sea last April and stayed at CBR -- we were not offered to upgrade. We liked CBR, but when we saw the location of the Swan/Dolphin, we thought that would have been such a convenient location. And I also thought that CBR would be a great place to stay if you had a car, which we did not.

I am not familiar with the policy for cruise check-in at the S/D. It was nice to get to port and not have to check-in. Although, the 'one-time' check-in for resort and cruise is not entirely accurate. At the CBR we checked in for our land portion at the front desk in the Custom House. We were told that at the DCL desk, which was off to the side in the Custom House, that we had to check-in there, preferably Thurs or Friday, but no later than Saturday. Because of the limited hours of the DCL desk, this necessitated us making a special trip back to the resort mid-day (we were taking advantage of EE and thus left the resort before it opened). At any rate, I mentioned this in my comments after the trip, so I don't know if they extended the hours at all since then.

Hope this helps. I haven't stayed at S/D, so I can't make a comparison. You might want to confirm the mug details if that will help you to decide.

 

[Susiesnowflake]

I'm just curious as to why the up-grade. Did they mention anything? I'm wondering if the CBR is also overbooked, as another thread suggests the Polynesian is. I'm starting to get nervous.

 

[ofiesty4u]

Originally posted by kmc33
I am not 100% sure on this, so maybe someone else who is, can confirm. But, it is my understanding that the mugs from AAA are for the cruise portion of the trip. I thought that the mugs at the resorts are just for that particular resort. We stayed at the CBR and the mugs said CBR on them. And then there were separate mugs to purchase on the Wonder.

We did a land/sea last April and stayed at CBR -- we were not offered to upgrade. We liked CBR, but when we saw the location of the Swan/Dolphin, we thought that would have been such a convenient location. And I also thought that CBR would be a great place to stay if you had a car, which we did not.

I am not familiar with the policy for cruise check-in at the S/D. It was nice to get to port and not have to check-in. Although, the 'one-time' check-in for resort and cruise is not entirely accurate. At the CBR we checked in for our land portion at the front desk in the Custom House. We were told that at the DCL desk, which was off to the side in the Custom House, that we had to check-in there, preferably Thurs or Friday, but no later than Saturday. Because of the limited hours of the DCL desk, this necessitated us making a special trip back to the resort mid-day (we were taking advantage of EE and thus left the resort before it opened). At any rate, I mentioned this in my comments after the trip, so I don't know if they extended the hours at all since then.

Hope this helps. I haven't stayed at S/D, so I can't make a comparison. You might want to confirm the mug details if that will help you to decide.

This is our first time using a travel agent, our AAA agent wasn't the most friendly person I've met, so the only thing I remember was being told that the mugs would be there (CBR) when we arrived, didn't know enough to ask if that was for the entire trip. just assumed it would be. Resort use and DCL, I wasn't expecting to use it at the parks... I'm not a big soda drinker so I won't lose sleep over it that's for sure... although it would be nice for carrying around a large homemade "beverage".