Just Back From the Swan

[kmel]

Hi - I just got back from my first stary at the Swan. I loved it. Went with my husband and 7 year old twin boys. The beds were comfortable and the location was great. I think next time I might stay at the Dolphin because the laundry, and Tubbie's cafeteria were there. The boys loved the pool. The transportation to all the parks was great. We never had to wait long and always had a seat. I usually like staying at a Monorail hotel, but the prices were too high in March. I got the teacher rate of $149 at the Swan. I would highly recommend this hotel.

 

[sm4987]

Welcome back. I can't wait to stay at the Dolphin this summer.
Glad to hear about the transportation. It'll be great to be close to all the wonderful attractions.
Did you try out any of the restaurants while you were there?

 

[kmel]

While at the Swan we ate breakfast at the Garden Grove Cafe. They have a nice buffet there. Traveling with 2 young children we ate at Tubbi's and the Dolphin Fountain. Both were good. The giant chocolate chip cookied at the fountain were great! We didn't try the other restaurants at the hotel. We walked to ESPN one night for dinner and then had Dinner in Italy one night.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I'm glad you loved the swan. We will be there in 2 weeks from today. I also agree that the poly was just way out of our price range this time during peak season. We split our stay there in aug with the swan. We are also very happy with our great govt. rate at the swan. Thanks for sharing your comments.

 

[AimeeM]

kmel
Id love to hear more about your stay. We have stayed at value resorts the past 8 trips, now we are going to stay at Swan or Dolphin ( our travel agent just called, and now we are having trouble with the govt. rate thru our stay... boohoo.. hope we can still stay there) over Thanksgiving.

 

[DisneyMin]

could you describe the pool? Does it have a slide?(i have a 7yo,too). Do the rooms have balconies? How is it similar/different from the deluxe resorts? The swan/dolphin look so pretty! how do they differ from each other?

 

[kmel]

There are several pools shared by the Dolphin and Swan. My kids aged 7 liked the Grotto pool. There is a waterfall they can go under and a slide. Not too big of a slide which was perfect for my kids.

Some rooms at the Dolphin and Swan have balconies, but they are more money. We didn't get a balcony. It's not important to us and we didn't stay in the room too much.

Compared to other Deluxe hotels I would say that the Contemporary has the largest rooms.

I don't know if there are any major differences between the Swan and Dolphin. I think the Swan has two sinks and the Heavenly Beds. I chose the Swan because it is smaller and I thought would be quieter. We seemed to walk alot over to the Dolphin (Cafeteria, laundry), that next time I might stay there. We had several large conventions staying at the Swan during our trip. First it bothered me, but I think it was good. Since most of the people were involved with the conference, the pools, restaurants, grounds, and transportation (boat & bus) were empty. It was also very quiet at night. No kids running up and down the halls or screaming like I have experienced at other resorts (including the Contemporary).

 

[PamNC]

$149 is a great rate. I wonder - does anyone know if there are ever good discounts like that for us non-teachers and civilians?

I'd like to try the Swan or Dolphin but not at a full rate. I'm too hooked on real Disney owned resorts but for a good rate I would try it.

PamNC

 

[AimeeM]

Pam
I got an Annual Pass rate for the Dolphin for 147.50 for Nov. 24-28. We are going back in January, so the AP's are worth getting for us. I have gotten just one AP before, just to get the better room rate! That might be an option for you!

 

[jgates]

Pam - Yes - try Annual Pass, or if you want to check - an Entertainment Book rate. You don't have to have the book in hand to inquire on that rate. You can buy the book afterwards one you have it booked. You may be surprised at what you qualify for - teacher (no), nurse, government (local, firefighter, police officer, etc), AP, entertainment book. There are a ton of discounts out there. Hopefully one will work out for you!!!

 

[McCall]

Originally posted by PamNC
$149 is a great rate. I wonder - does anyone know if there are ever good discounts like that for us non-teachers and civilians?

I'd like to try the Swan or Dolphin but not at a full rate. I'm too hooked on real Disney owned resorts but for a good rate I would try it.

PamNC

I booked AP rate for May at 162.50 with upgrade to lake view and late 4pm check out. the AAA rates are also very good.

 

[log]

Thanks for your report....Will be at the Swan in a week (april 3rd)!!! Have a few questions.

1)Can you tell me how the Air Conditioning was? (by the way, what was the temperature down there?).

... We are thinking of bringing a fan because of the new A/C turning off if there is no movement (i guess an oscillating fan??).

2)What room did you have? (what location/room # and what size?)Did you like it?

...We're scheduled for a standard room...we're starwood preferred guests, so I think maybe we'll ask for an upgrade at check-in (but don't know what will happen)

3) ALSO, we'll have a crib in room, but were thinking of also bringing an inflatable mattress (cuz they won't allow both cot and crib in a room). Do you think there is enough room for an inflatable bed???


thx

 

[molliesmom]

We just returned after a great stay at the Swan (3/19 to 3/24). We booked two rooms for $149 under the Nurses rate. We celebrated my DD's 5th birthday on 3/22. We love Westin hotels and their beds! We had a standard room (no balcony) but we were only in our rooms from 11 pm - 7 am anyway. We overlooked the entrance and part of MGM to the right of us. At weird times during the night I saw fireworks and some sort of light show (at about 11 pm and again at 2:30 am). Not sure what that was about. We had two small problems with our room, though. One morning our blowdryer started sparking and burning. I quickly unplugged it and called down for a new one. Then on our last day, we went down for the awesome breakfast buffet only to return to find that our toilet had been "running" and the floor was completely flooded. I hope we didn't drown out anyone below us!

We loved the easy way of traveling by boat to Epcot and MGM. The busses were great too but were too crowded for Downtown Disney since you have to share your bus with a few other hotels.

We had dinner one night at Spoodles on the Boardwalk which was great.

Although the Swan was quiet, I think I would go to the Dolphin next time because as stated earlier, they have Tubbi's which is open 24 hours as well as laundry facilities.

The Swan/Dolphin pools and children's playground/beach area were great, too! We also walked through the pool area and across the street to Fantasia Mini Golf.

 

[Esmerelda]

Hey Kmel...
glad to hear you had a good time...we stayed there 3 years ago and loved it! We had this room that was big enough to have a party of 50 in!! LOL....(my boys said they didn't even know a hotel room could be so big!) I can't understand why some folks don't care for the Swan/Dolphin....I found a lot of Disney magic there....plus the beds are AWESOME!

Esmerelda

 

[Trekker]

Originally posted by molliesmom
At weird times during the night I saw fireworks and some sort of light show (at about 11 pm and again at 2:30 am). Not sure what that was about.

This could have been something to do with events at Downtown Disney (?)