NEW...DOLPHIN/SWAN..."questions and answers"...tips and hints!

[marymrg]

Hookedup:

1) Take a deep breath.......things always have a way of working out

2) Fly

3) Amtrak to New Orleans and then rent a car and drive yourself
(can the trip be extended by a day or two at either end?)

4) Call the hotels/travel agent to see if you can work something out

5) Don't cancel

Here's hoping lots of pixie dust starts floating your way!

 

[marymrg]

Mouseteacher: you lucky duck! Single digit dance - woohoo.

Hockeymom Debbie - I would like to stay at the Poly some time.
One of my sons wants to stay at the Contemporary and my daughter wants to get married at the Grand Floridian! My husband and oldest son love the Boardwalk/Epcot area and would stay at any of the resorts there. (they prefer Beach Club)

My thoughts are: try one out.........and then the next trip try another and so on and so on! (splitting your stay with the Swan/Dolphin of course!)

 

[Tinkbell]

Originally posted by EiLuvCinderella
Hi Tink!

I have reservations next July for 9 days @ Dolphin with the teacher rate. I had no trouble securing three rooms @ 129.00
Happy Planning!

Thanks EiLuvCinderella! What are your dates, if you don't mind me asking? We are debating between late June or mid July.

 

[Mouseteacher]

************************************

I like marymg suggestion of the train to NewO and then renting a car. I am assuming that flying is out of the question for you.

But as mary said - don't cancel yet - keep exploring options!

 

[MOM POPPINS]

We also enjoy the Contemporary Resort, the access to the monorail is a plus. My girls loved looking at the castle from the tower room. You can see the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the balcony...... We went to bed looking at the Magic Kingdom's beautiful castle and the "kiss goodnight". We also enjoyed the "Dixie Landing" Resort. We stayed here on our first visit to the WDW and has always remained a sentimental favorite.

I can still remember our first trip to WDW and riding on the WDW transportation back to the resort to catch our ride to the airport. We all agreed what a GREAT vacation it was and we hoped to return in 5 YEARS (LOL). It seemed to expensive to try to do it before then. Then we got back home and I discovered these boards and have been hooked every since on finding discounts to be able to travel more often. It has not even been 5 years since our first trip in September 2000, but we have been able to return 3 times since that first MAGICAL trip. Like the rest of you here, I am forever hooked on DISNEY!

Dreamflight:I appreciate the happy thoughts from Spaceship Earth! There is just something about the feeling and sounds of the ride that lets us know we are at WDW! We always go to Epcot on our first day and its our first ride!

Baby Kirk turned 1 month old over the weekend I cannot believe how quickly time flies. He weighs in at 5 and 1/2 pounds! We are atttending a baby shower this next weekend, given to me by my family and friends from college.

Have a good Monday everyone and I hope your travels to WDW workout problem free....Planning and anticipation is half the adventure

 

[Tinkbell]

Mouseteacher, I just noticed your countdown clock. I'm so JEALOUS ! LOL

 

[Mouseteacher]

Tinkbell

 

[#1hockeymom]

Breathe! You can do this! I think I remember on another thread you mentioning that flying wasn't going to ever be an option. I agree with Mouseteacher; rent a car for that last leg of your journey. Since amtrak is the problem, are they willing to maybe bump up your rail time to an earlier day? I don't know if this works with your vacation time but if you could add on days you could also spend some time in La. Wishing you the best, I know you'll get through this!

I love everyone's suggestions for a deluxe! I have read and reread all of them. Keep them coming!

Happy Monday!
Debbie

 

[*Belle*]

Hello everyone

I have been reading through all the post I can on the Swan/Dolphin, and as it stands now, I just can't focus any longer. I do have a question and I'm sure the answer is some where in this post. Has anyone come across any photo's of the newly renovated rooms at the dolphin? Also do the renovations expect to be complete this year? Anyone who may have seen the Dolphin renovated rooms could you please describe the room decore, is it a different color sceme that the Swan? Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks

 

[Bell Family]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to thank everyone for their hints on making the most of your stay at the Swan. Although we stayed offsite, for the majority of the trip, we stayed our last night at the Swan. We had booked two rooms at the Teacher Rate (limited view) with my mom (the educator) as the reserving party. Although they had a Starwood membership, all the points had expired. I wrote a nice email (signing it as my mother) respectfully asking for the nicest room possible as this was a first trip to WDW and a birthday trip for our two children. I was hopeful, but not optomistic that we would reap any benefit from the email. However, we were given two rooms with balconies overlooking the lagoon, facing the pool area. It was beauitiful. We had hoped to sit out there and enjoy a glass of wine, but mother nature decided that this was a good day for a thundershower.

Thanks for all the hints

 

[Mouseteacher]

Hi,*Belle*

I believe swilphil just got back from the Dolphin and she saw a renovated room. Perhaps you could PM her for more details.

I have only seen pictures of the Swan renovated rooms on wdwig.com. I'll be sleeping in a heaveny bed soon!

 

[EiLuvCinderella]

Hi there Tink!

We will be arriving @ Dolphin on 7.17.04 and departing 7.25.04

Can't wait!

 

[*Belle*]

Just made reservations for the Dolphin in May. The reservationist (not sure whether they are considered cm's) was wonderful. I recieved more Disney magic with that phone call, that all my concerns of staying at a non-Disney owned resort were put to rest. Mouseteacher, thanks for your respond. Have a wonderful stay.

 

[ozziewags]

Hi everyone.......so sorry we couldn't post from the Swan. We tried....the connector plug is huge and we had an adapter, but it wasn't big enough. My dd's pc must be older. We tried everything and even called the info # for help and all we could have done was use the data port on the phone, but we would have had to reconfigure the pc and all, and didn't want to mess with it any more! Sorry. Just make sure you have a space or an adapter with a large hole for the plug.
Actually, our first day in CL, Mama T, Thabo and I got on the boards, on their pc, but couldn't post because I FORGOT MY PASSWORD!!! Can you believe that? Sorry again! We did read the posts about the water. It is true....half pint bottles and you get two when you ask. The afternoon gentleman always had them out though(and soda).

Mama T ended up in the hospital for most of the week, but was back yesterday in CL. Not sure what was up, and didn't want to ask, she just said she had some tests. She and Thabo had milk and cookies sent to our room the first night, from room service....what a nice surprise that was.

We went on the recipe club plan and had $150 to spend on food for the six days. Had trouble getting it posted so that I knew it would be taken care of and the desk had almost no idea about it. But they didn't know who they were dealing with......we got our credit and used it at Palio's and Shula's! I had originally asked for a balcony room with an unobstructed view of Epcot and got one in the trees, so I told them I would prefer CL to that and so that is where they put us. No jr. suite, nor did they offer it(I am platinum and they usually put Plat. in jr. s). But we were fine and really liked our room and view. I took pics all over the place, so get ready....just not today!

The beds are heavenly....but I thought they were a bit warm. They are triple sheeted with a heavy blanket between. Also, the temperature sensor only clicked on when we walked in the room or turned over in bed and waved our arms..LOL! Had an oscillating fan facing the sensor, but it didn't keep the air conditioner on....... it did help keep the room cooler(by dispensing the air all over) and we were glad we had it. It was unbearably HOT and HUMID. So, we really didn't miss the balcony....didn't see anyone on the balcony.

Monsanto had a convention while we were there....but no problem. Most of them were from St. Louis, so we had some conversations with them about our Cardinals! This week Fed Ex is there and put up signs all over the place.

Mickey and Minnie are fine and send all of you their love. I will post more later, as I recover from the long drive......but it was beautiful. I had forgotten how beautiful the mountains of Tennessee are.

 

[thessaly]

Also, the temperature sensor only clicked on when we walked in the room or turned over in bed and waved our arms.

I am seeing more and more references to this issue and it's making me rethink my decision to stay at the Swan in September. I don't want to have to wake up in the middle of the night too hot and have to wave my arms around. This sounds really absurd.

 

[Mouseteacher]

Welcome home, ozzie! So glad to read that all went well... can't wait for more details and, of course, pix! How were the crowds in your estimation? I am hoping for a balcony room but not in the trees! I don't believe I will be lucky enough to get CL again as a comp. I plan on calling this weekend to put in a specific request as a follow-up to my earlier e mail.

Once again, so glad to hear from you - we missed you here.

 

[#1hockeymom]

Glad to hear you had a great trip! Sorry you weren't able to post online, but I am glad to know that Atlanta waffle houses didn't attack you! The school laptop I brought is only a year old, perhaps that is why it was so easy for me to hook-up.

I am sorry to hear that MommaT was sick. I do hope she is doing better now. Isn't Thabo just the greatest? I finally remembered today to write my swan/dolphin email to thank them for their great service.

My heavenly bed trick was that every night we'd fold down the top duvet and comforter to the end of the bed *usually kicked it right off*, and sleep with the sheets and the light down blanket. I just finished ordering my version of the heavenly bed and am waiting for my down blanket to arrive!

What did you think of Palio? I am still dreaming of the veal. Next time we will have to try Shula's.

I am really looking forward to your pics! Welcome back home!

Debbie

 

[Alice in Cleveland]

Great thread!

 

[Muffy]

Welcom back! It sounds like you had a great time at the Swan! I'm glad you spoke up and moved to CL. I'm surprised you didn't get a Jr. suite too! As a Plat. SPG member you were intitled. Interesting that your DD laptop did not hook up. Darn. I have a Dell laptop coming for my birthday and hope to use it at the Dolphin in Dec/Jan! Hope i have better luck?!

I'm glad to see you made it home safely. That was some car trip! Now rest up and enjoy the rest of the summer!

Muffy

 

[hookedup]

Ozzie -
Welcome back. Glad you had a good, safe trip!

That's a bummer about your PC not being able to connect. Did you have a regular ethernet port in it? I notice at some Starwood properties I have a hard time getting my to unhook due to the tight space around my port.

We too booked the recipe club and I was wondering if they allowed you to use your credit for room service? No one there was able to answer that for me - they just said I could not use it a Shula's (which it sounds like you did!) I hate having to argue about these sorts of details. I did notice in my reservation confirmation it does not the f/b credit of $50 for each 2 nights we are there.

I am looking forward to the Swan - if we get there. Anyway glad your back!