Just Back from the Swan

[PamNC]

Hi everyone!

My husband and I just returned from the Swan - our first time staying there. After a rocky start, we were pleasantly surprised. We arrived Thanksgiving day and came back yesterday. This was an extra, quick trip for us, not our major trip.

We arrived around 2:45 and the room wasn't ready, which is fine because check-in is between 3 and 5. So, they got our cell phone number and told us they would call us when the room was ready. We strolled the boardwalk and enjoyed the nice FL weather. We had ressies at Yacht Club Galley for Thanksgiving dinner. We were starving and the Swan hadn't called about our room - it was 4:00. So, we went to the Yacht Club Galley to see if we could eat early, and luckily we were able to get in. Well, it was about 5:15 and no call from the Swan...so we called them from the Yacht Club. They said the room had been ready. Which, was a little disappointing because they didn't call us to let us know. No big deal as we were eating and enjoying just being there. However, not a good first impression.

Well, we got to our room and it was SOOOOO moldy and musty. Unbelievable. You could see the mold spores on the wallpaper behind the beds. They were very nice and helpful when we called them about this. They gave us another room. Again, VERY MOLDY. Third time was a charm - we finally got a room with absolutely no mold smell. we paid for a standard view, and I'm not sure how views work at the S/D, but the view was fantastic...looking straight on at the Dolphin. We could see the friendships launch and the outside Christmas tree between the two resorts.

Even after all of this, we really liked the Swan. The rooms are great - love the bed!!! I hate to say this because we're die-hard Disney fans, but the rooms seem more "modern" than the disney-owned resorts. Love the TV - very clear and full cable. NICE. Didn't miss the mickey soaps like I thought I would because I loved the oatmeal soap. Decorations were beautiful but I'll have to say the Dolphin beats out the Swan for decorations by far. The tree in the Dolphin was gorgeous! We loved the food offerings at these resorts...Kimonos has great sushi. We had delightful breakfasts at the resorts - Garden Grove and Fresh. All in all, we were very happy and would stay there again if a good rate is offered.

Any questions???? I'd be happy to answer. I'll do a full trip report soon.

PamNC

 

[jeancbpugh]

Yikes, I'm sorry to hear about the mold! I thought all the Swan rooms had been refurbished recently. We're checking into the Swan in a couple of weeks and DH & sons have mold allergies. Thank you for the heads up.

Any ideas how to get a mold-free room first time around?

 

[PamNC]

Hi Jean. I know - we were under the same impression about the rooms being recently redone. We were told it could me hurricane damage - but I don't know if they were just trying to reason it out. I swear to you - when we stepped in the room it smelled like a basement and you could see the spores in the cracks of the wallpaper. Very strange. We've never encountered anything like this before at Disney. I know some people say the Poly has a mold smell but we've stayed there twice and didn't smell anything.
My husband is an opera singer who also has asthma so we were real sensitive to it. They were very very helpful and understanding about it so I suggest if you get a moldy room just call them and they will make it right. They did tell us we weren't the first people to complain about it. That's when the went into the hurricane explanation.

Other than that - we loved the Swan. You'll have a great time. They have great restaurants, the location is fabulous. We didn't miss the Disney-owned experience at all.

Have fun.

PamNC

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

Sorry to hear of your Rocky start and the Mold.

However, I'm glad you made "lemonade" out of lemons and enjoyed your stay.

Thanks for the report!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Glad you had a nice stay. We'd prefer the Swan over the Dolphin for two reasons = (1) Smaller resort compared to Dolphin; (2) and KIMONOS! DH loves the sushi....it's a MUST DO every trip!

 

[Tikiman]

Thanks for the report Pam. If we go back and use our Starwood points we wanted to try the Swan because we were not very happy with the Dolphin.

Aloha

Steve

 

[sugermouse]

Thanks for the review. The Swan is one of our favorite hotels. We are having xmas dinner there this year.

 

[PamNC]

Hey there! I wanted to ask you what you didn't like about the Dolphin. We liked the Swan a lot, but we were thinking if we stayed there again we would try the Dolphin.

It isn't the Polynesian, but we enjoyed it!

PamNC

 

[Tikiman]

At the time we were there the hallways had not been redone and the carpet was as dirty as I have ever seen in a hotel and it was so stretched out that you could practically trip over the rolls. I almost took a photo. The rooms were redone but very small and the bathrooms were not very clean. They had the hairdryer set up over the area where the food was kept which I thought was a bad idea and the balcony was so small the chair and table took up the whole thing. I never set foot out on it because it was too small to even try. The place was much too big and just to get over to the bridge to the Boardwalk seemed like a maze. We were also there during a convention and the lobby was like a big party bar. It was packed with everyone drinking and they had small bars set up every few yards. I would not have wanted to have kids with me. We also were never able to self park because of the convention so we had to pay for valet every time we took the car out. They closed off the lots with signs across them even though you could see spots open. The pool was nice but we sat down at one of the pools and asked where we could get something to drink and they pointed about 200 yards away. The walkway was much too hot to walk on so I had to go get my shoes back on and hike over to get a drink. I would not rate it as the worst hotel and I am sure if we went a few times we would find that we have different experiences but I was not happy while we were there. I am much too spoiled by the Polynesian and not ever walking far to get to things. The Dolphin does offer just about everything you need. I did not like that we could not use our room key to charge things like we do at a Disney resort.

Here is my trip report if you ever want to read more.

http://new.disneyecho.emuck.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=33;t=4791

I would like to try the Swan next time but I am still not thrilled with the location. The Yacht Club was a much better location. Much less of a walk to Epcot. I really got tired of waiting for that boat over at the S/D but I am sure the location is much better than some of the Value and Moderate resorts.

 

[Tigger Woods]

The worst smelling Disney hotel BY FAR is the Poly. Checked in to our room. It smelled so musty and moldy, we asked for another room. Checked in to the second room. Same problem. We ended up transfering to the GF. Perfect!

 

[Tikiman]

DELETED BY POSTER

 

[PamNC]

I've read several posts about moldy smells at the Poly - but we've never experienced a problem at the Poly, or any other Disney resort for that matter. It's interesting how the experiences vary so much, isn't it? I guess it's sometimes the "luck of the draw." Even with the modly smell in the first room, we were happy with the Swan. After reading Tikiman's comments about the Dolphin...oh my...that sounded horrible. I would have been very disappointed too. And he's right, the YC/BC are closer to Epcot. I would definitely choose Yacht or Beach over the S/D UNLESS there was a huge difference in the rate. I think there are pluses and minuses no matter where you stay. Except the Poly - I can't think of a single minus. Well, maybe the cost...

PamNC

 

[swilphil]

We did not have any problem with mold in July at the Swan, and our family is very sensitive to that. I do like the Swan a little better than the Dolphin because of the smaller size and it's easier to get around.

I LOVE the Dolphin lobby. It is much more magical. The Swan lobby is very run of the mill--though nice. If I could have a room a the Dolphin that was close to the pool, Tubbi's and the elevator, I would probably prefer that.

I loved the location of both the Swan and Dolphin and thought the boat service was excellent, but we walked to Epcot and occassionally to MGM. The walk to Epcot across the Boardwalk is so much fun. I would like to stay at Boardwalk or Yacht Club, but the teacher discount of $129-$169 at S/D is too good to pass up.

 

[Tikiman]

Remember that was just my impression and experience. I have read many great reports on the Dolphin so I would not want to scare you away from trying it yourself. You may have a completely different experience than we did. I just had to be honest about what my stay was like. I am sure if I had never stayed onsite before and tried the Dolphin I would be thrilled with it but to me it does not compair to the Disney resorts we have stayed at.

 

[erikthewise]

PamNC,

We stayed at the Swan for one night last year (because I didn't feel like using 60 points at BCV for the day after Thanksgiving). I thought the room was great! Even though it was supposedly the same size as those at AKL, it seemed much more spacious. Ironically I was disappointed with our view because we were also looking directly at the Dolphin! I was hoping for view of the Boardwalk or MGM or something. But the Heavenly Bed made up for the view. We ate at Garden Grove and Palio and bought breakfast at Tubbis to take back to our room. Good service, good food, and 20% DVC discount at each!

 

[PamNC]

You know why I think I liked the view looking straight on at the Dolphin? Because of the X-mas decorations. They have a tree outside right between the resorts and the large walkway between the two that is lined with palm trees is so pretty. They've decorated the trees with red and white lights. You're right, an MGM or boardwalk view would be great. But, we only payed for standard, so I was afraid we would end up with a dumpster or a parking lot. Yuk! You're right about the food - they have great offerings. We also thought the rooms were bigger than WL, which I believe is suppose to be the same size as AKL. I thought they were quite spacious.

And the bed....WOW! Now my DH wants to buy one. Oh no!

PamNC

 

[Tigger Woods]

I am sure if I had never stayed onsite before and tried the Dolphin I would be thrilled with it but to me it does not compair to the Disney resorts we have stayed at.

Everybody has a different opinion. I stayed at most of the other deluxes before I tried the Dolphin, and absolutely loved it. My family prefers the Dolphin over the Poly, WL, AKL and the Contemporary. The GF is still our favorite. I believe you'll find as many opinions as there are hotels.

 

[swilphil]

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but the Swan/Dolphin is currently renovating the hallways. I know they have some of them done, but it will probably be a while before it is complete. Personally, I would be much more concerned with having a renovated room, and I kind of liked the whimsical decor in the old hallways though the carpet was pretty bad.