Thanks, this makes a lot of sense. The reasons you list here are pretty much the ones that led me to the Swan, in addition to the fact that the room is paid for in points plus a little cash. I just wasn't sure about the location since we will still spend half of our touring days at the MK. And I forgot to mention that my then 3.5 year old's favorite "ride" was the monorail ;-) Hopefully that will have changed in almost 2 years!! I definitely don't want it to be the same trip and my attitude towards planning it has been different for sure - I'm taking a more relaxed approach and hoping that translates into a more relaxed trip. Last time there were 10 of us, we had lots of ADRs and other scheduled things and that made for some stress that I would rather avoid this time around.
Are there some casual places on the Boardwalk that we can eat at without an ADR? I'm fine with going to WS, but definitely want to avoid it on Friday and Saturday nights because of F/W crowds, but I think we will do Il Mulino and Garden Grove those evenings.
Also, can you tell me what the easiest breakfast options are at the Swan? I haven't been able to find that information yet. Thank you!
Il mulino and the garden grove are good choices for those days. There are a few places at the BWI, but we usually eat at Pica ou if we aren't eating in a theme park or TS. My fav breakfast location is fresh at the Dolphin. They have great fresh juices. I particularly like to get the continental buffet which includes all the cold offerings along with hot oatmeal for 15.99 per adult. Lots of fruit, muffins and pastries. Yum!
The Garden Grove serves breakfast at the Swan, but we haven't eaten there for breakfast. We often have breakfast foods in the room to eat while getting ready in the mornings. Foods that are easy like muffins and fruit or bread with pb and jam. Small boxes of cold cereal. We keep juice and milk in the fridge. Then we have a more substantial lunch around noon.
Quick service locations include Picabou next door, the bakery at the BW and the Marketplace at the BC. The QS dining is limited in the Epcot area resorts, IMO. Sorry, if there are others, I'm not aware of them. As I said, breakfast is where we often cheat and eat in the room. saves some $$$. You can look at resort restaurants and menus at
www.allears.net which should help you with planning your dining.
BtW, the fees at the Swan/Dolphin are resort fees of $23.00 per night per room and $18.00 parking fee for the car per day. Lots of people are upset by these. I know about them and add it into the cost of staying here. So, if you have a car, it is about $40 per day plus tax to stay here with points, I believe. We haven't been able to use points here so we usually pay for the rooms at a discounted rate. We add the $23 dollars to the rate to get our total. It still beats the prices at the BC and BWI for us. We don't have a car when at WDW. We booked the Dolphin for nov for $180 per night with nurses discount, which really means $203 per night. That is a great rate for an Epcot resort, IMO, but it is still quite a bit more than your $40 per night. I am not sure where you can stay in WDW for $40 per night anymore? Especially in the Epcot resort area?
BTW, credit card holds for incidentals refers to a hotel putting a hold on your credit card tfor a limited amount to cover resort purchases during your stay, I think. That means that you cannot spend that money elsewhere. If you don't have any incidental charges, then the cc hold is released at check out. It is a way for the hotel to ensure that they won't get stuck without payment for charges to the room. This is something that many hotels do, but not other 'real' WDW resorts, as far as I know.
If you are eating in the Swan or Dolphin, ask if they give discounts for anything that you have such as
AAA. They may do so. Also, on my last visit to the Dolphin I mentioned the $10 per person charge for no shows that Disney charges. Their reply was that Disney doesn't know if you eat there or not and that they do not have that policy. Just one little benefit if you find yourself unable to make it to a dining reservation for some reason. Ask when you arrive, to be sure of that, though. Policies change and misinformation is sometimes given. Also I am not advocating bookings without planning to show up or not calling to let them know of changes in plans, but, with Disney, you have to cancel a full 24 hours or pay $10 per person if you miss the resservation. That $10 includes $10 for children under 2 that you wouldn't even need to pay for a meal for! Sometimes WDW transportation can leave you waiting or stuck on a monorail for hours. It is nice to know that you won't be charged $10 per person in that sort of situation.
Riding the monorail is still possible, even if you aren't staying in a monorail resort. Visit the resorts anyway for a meal or a break. It is a fun way to get a quick break from the MK and relax mid day if you want a change but don't want to return to the Swan.
