HELP! SWAN or CARIBBEAN

[gregt18]

WE are trying to decide between staying at the swan or caribbean. We have a 3 and 1 year old. This is our first trip to disney. Any suggestions?

 

[Kaycee]

Welcome to the DIS Boards!

I'm a big fan of the Swan, as you can see from my signature. I've never stayed at Caribbean Beach, but I would choose the Swan for several reasons.

First, there's the location. Being able to walk or take the boat to Epcot and MGM is wonderful. Plus, there are lots of fun activities on the Boardwalk.

Second, there are the great restaurants in the Swan and Dolphin, at the Yacht and Beach Club, and on the Boardwalk.

Third, there's the convenience of being in a small resort that is contained in one building as opposed to a resort made up of several buildings spread out over a large area.

Finally, there's the wonderful Heavenly beds.

 

[scanmom]

The Swan is a beautiful resort, and they have a great pool. The ease of getting into the parks is unsurpassed, and the rates are usually equal to or less than a moderate! And the Swan is definatly a deluxe!!!

 

[safetymom]

If you want a quick walk into Epcot then I would suggest the Swan. If you want to feel like you have escaped from the world then stay at CBR.

CBR is a beautiful resort and most people don't find the walk bad to the food court area.

If you would like to know more about CBR I suggest reading the FAQ's listed below.

 

[Blondie]

Definitely the Swan!

 

[DisneyFans4]

As you can see from my signature, THE SWAN!!!!


I just loved being able to walk to Epcot (my favorite park) and watching Illuminations from my balcony every night, except those days that I wasn't in Epcot.

The heavenly beds are great and the only beds I was able to have a good night's sleep in.

The pool is so large that you always have room and never have that crowded feeling.

There is just so much to tell......you won't go wrong with the Swan.

 

[disneydom]

SWAN hands down winner , the first family vacation was at CBR hated it small rooms had to walk everywhere not impressed with the food court , with the swan you have the entire boardwalk entertainment area great food lots of variaty and a quick walk or boat ride to epcot or disney studios it's a no brainer

 

[DisneyKidds]

I'd say the Swan, as you can't beat the location. Being able to walk or boat to two theme parks, have the Boardwalk at your doorstep, the YC/BC and it's restaurants right next door........not to mention a nicer pool and better amenities.......the Swan has a lot to offer.

The one thing it doesn't offer is Disney theming. My wife doesn't like the Swan/Dolphin because they feel too much like real world hotels. I say that is counteracted by being in the middle of soooo much other Disney stuff.

The Swan is a deluxe hotel with great location, you gotta go with that.

Of course the first night of our honeymmon was spent at the CBR and that is part of what made us fall in love with WDW in an instant......so you can't go wrong staying there either.

 

[ADisneygirl]

Swan, no comparison. Better hotel, better location, bigger room, bigger beds, room service, many restaurants within a short walk on the Boardwalk, big pool, and just more luxury.

 

[JimVL]

The Swan. There is only one reason to pick the Caribbean, which is very nice, over the Swan; price. And that might not be an issue, depending on your dates at Disney, the Swan and Dolphin are offering deeply discounted rates for early December. I'm guessing, but I don't know, that their January and early February rates will be discounted also.

Jim

 

[DisneyFans4]

The one thing it doesn't offer is Disney theming. My wife doesn't like the Swan/Dolphin because they feel too much like real world hotels. I say that is counteracted by being in the middle of soooo much other Disney stuff.
.

My thoughts exactly!! You are surrounded by Disney that you can always feel the magic!!! I too loved walking the Boardwalk at night and enjoying all the nightly activity. Where else can you go and enjoy the amenities of both the Boardwalk and the YC or BC? They are just a walk away.

 

[TDC Nala]

Do you have a car? There is an $8 per day parking fee at the Swan (plus tax). Anybody know if you get free parking at the theme parks for staying at the Swan? If you don't that is another $9 per day.

 

[mom22boys]

One thing that stopped us from staying at the Swan was transportation to and from the airport. Right now, the Magical Express is free and I really wanted to try the service while it was free. By the way, we were thrilled with the Magical Express! I am so curious to see if it will stay free (probably not) and if it doesn't how much it will cost.

 

[opal]

We have stayed at both CBR and Swan many times and we love them both!We stayed at CBR when dd was younger and now that she is older we usually pick the Swan, especially when a good rate is available.

These are our observations

Disney theming - you feel like you are on a tropical island at CBR and the little one love the disney touches i.e. disney toiletries, Mickey calling to wake them and start their day. The Swan is a beautiful hotel. But it is a convention hotel and all those poor "suits" are wandering around looking envious.

food court - CBR has a better selection of reasonably priced (by disney standards) dining options geared to kids. At the Swan you need to go to Tubbis, which is a great place, but you must walk over to the Dolphin. This is not a big deal for us, but we no longer have small children

pool theming - The Swan and Dolphin share the Grotto Pool which is very nice. We have found that the water temp is usually a little cooler at the Grotto pool than at the Disney pool.

Room comfort - The rooms are smaller at CBR than Swan. And the beds.....well there is just no comparison, The Swan wins hands down on the bed issue. CBR has regular hotel double beds. Swan has queen size heavenly beds which are pillowtopped and have down bedding.

Unless it has changed since our last stay at CBR, they have the window unit style air conditioners which tend to be kind of noisy (probably the only thing that I can honestly said I disliked about CBR.

CBR is outside entry style rooms (think motel) and Swan is corrider style entry (think hotel). I don't think the difference is that big a deal but I know some people prefer one over the other.

Location - The Swan location is convenient if you are spending a lot of time at Epcot and MGM. Both are within walking distance - about 5 -10 to Epcot and 15-20 to MGM. It is also within walking distance to the Boardwalk if that is of interest to your family.

Driving or taking WDW transportation is the only option to anywhere from CBR. However, we always found the transportation to be very efficient. We have only had a car on site once, so the parking charge at Swan wasn't that big a deal. At least they finally got rid of the "resort fee".

I have always felt that CBR was a more calming atmosphere than the Swan/Dolphin. When weather permits, we like to take a break and head back to the resort for some pool time. It just seems to me that CBR is more removed from the Park frenzy than the Swan.

Price - Using rack rate, there is no question that CBR is the better deal. But if you are eligible for any of the many discounts offered from the Swan/Dolphin (i.e. govt/military/teacher/nurse/aaa/aarp/dis/ etc) sometimes you can come pretty close to the CBR and it is not unheard of to even do a little better than CBR in price.

No matter which one you pick I am sure you will have a wonderful experience. Enjoy!!!

 

[paults]

the SWAN no other choice if only for the heavenly beds

 

[gregt18]

We decided to go with CBR for the fact of the swan did not offer the meal plan and we felt as if the kids 3 and 1 would enjoy the disney theming and atmosphere of CBR. This is our first time and i'm sure they will be lots of others. For as the meal plan goes we calculated eating cost for us and the DMP seams to be a really good deal. Thanks for all the input.
GT

 

[LoveWDW]

Have a wonderful time! I was going to recommend Swan also, but it sounds as though you picked out what is best for you.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

We decided to go with CBR for the fact of the swan did not offer the meal plan and we felt as if the kids 3 and 1 would enjoy the disney theming and atmosphere of CBR. This is our first time and i'm sure they will be lots of others. For as the meal plan goes we calculated eating cost for us and the DMP seams to be a really good deal. Thanks for all the input.
GT

Have a great trip! I appreciate you posting the original question. My DW and I have a trip to the Swan scheduled for 12/2006, and I found the info in this thread very helpful. My choice was between the Swan and the Dolphin, as I am using Starwood points for our 5 nights , and I'm still doing my best at the moment to forget what I went through on my last job to accumulate all those points...

 

[LOLA2]

I was not thrilled with Carribean when we stayed, takes a while to get from one point to another and I thought the food was horrible. I'm not oicky either, I stayed at Nick suites and loved it for the same price.

 

[zalansky]

I was going to vote for the Swan too, we just got back from Dolphin last weekend and I have to say I am sold on these properties. You cannot beat the location and heavenly beds. There is no shortage of Disney Magic when you get to watch Illuminations from your heavenly bed!!!
I saw you decided to go with CBR - Enjoy your stay at Carribean....you'll have a great time! After all, it is Disney!