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

[Blondie]

Great photos Crazy Kanga!

You're room at the Swan looked different than the one we had in May, maybe you had a recently renovated room? I know the S/D went through an extensive renovation a few years back, but I read they've started renovating again; paint, new carpeting, etc.

For comparison purposes, here's what our room (#530) looked like:

The carpeting in your room was different as well, you can kind of see what the carpet looked like in our room here:

 

[ozziewags]

An additional item to add to the address label is your date of arrival. I have shipped a few times, from online site, to there, again, making sure to have my arrival date as part of the shipping address.

Yes, Dan, absolutely! I forgot the resort told me to be sure and include my arrival date. I also think the time limit (as to when you want it to arrive) was important too. They are willing to hold it for a certain length of time, which I forget (1 week?). It might be a good idea to give them a call and let them know and ask any questions you may have.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Hey Blondie. I do think we had a recently renovated room. It smelled like fresh paint and I noticed all of the rooms on the floor below us were being renovated. I did hear a little noise from below one day when we were in the room mid day, but nothing at night. It didn't bother me any. We really enjoyed our stay there and would not hesitate to return. We may try Dolphin next time, because we went over there to check it out and really liked all of the food options and thought the lobby was nicer.

 

[April*fools]

We had a great time at WDW with the exception of the hotel, WDW Swan. I won't recommend it b/c of our experiences. Check-in time was supposedly 3PM but our room wasn't ready until 6PM and our 3 kids fell asleep in the lobby; we couldn't use the pool until we had a room key so we carried our swimsuits onto the plane for no reason! We had to hunt down the rollaway bed, refrigerator etc. and then wait in the room for delivery b/c they were "busy".

Kids eat free only UNDER 9 at only 2 of their 17 restaurants...very misleading IMO! The pool is only open from 9AM until 9PM and unlike the site that states there was a lifeguard, there was NONE; what kind of resort only has their pool open during the park hours and no lifeguard at the pool?

The parking was $9 per day and the parks shuttle service was over 20 minutes wait each time to MK; the boat to MGM and Epcot was also longer than a 20 minute wait. We should have simply driven and parked!!

The entire experience was a nickel-and-dime one: every single thing at the hotel cost extra. We've travelled around the world with our 3 kids in tow and stayed at many resorts and had better service and nicer accommodations than at this pink and green nightmare!

The Swan had several conferences going while we were there and it seemed they cater to those customers over their visitors. We were really put out by the treatment of the staff compared to the conference attendees.

The karakoe bar crowd was out in the courtyard every night past midnight and the noise carried to our 4th floor balcony and into the room. Forget about sleeping with the door open!

Overall, we will NOT be returning to this hotel. If we ever return to WDW, we will stay at a WDW resort or SOG.

 

[Blondie]

The karakoe bar crowd was out in the courtyard every night past midnight and the noise carried to our 4th floor balcony and into the room. Forget about sleeping with the door open!

I'm assuming you mean sliding glass doors when you say door? Was it cool enough to sleep with the sliders open? I would think it would be too hot & humid this time of year, not to mention the mosquito factor.

The S/D is still our favorite and we LOVE the location! Sorry you had an unpleasant stay.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Kids eat free only UNDER 9 at only 2 of their 17 restaurants...very misleading IMO! The pool is only open from 9AM until 9PM and unlike the site that states there was a lifeguard, there was NONE; what kind of resort only has their pool open during the park hours and no lifeguard at the pool?

The parking was $9 per day and the parks shuttle service was over 20 minutes wait each time to MK; the boat to MGM and Epcot was also longer than a 20 minute wait. We should have simply driven and parked!!

.

Well, I don't know when you were there, but last week there were lifeguards there everytime we went to the pool.
And as far as boat waits, Our room overlooked the boat launch and there was never a time that I saw the boat launch without a boat there for more than 5-10 minutes. And all Disney resorts and Swan/Dolphin will tell you busses and boats run about every 20 minutes, so a 20 minute wait could happen at any resort on property. We had this happen to us at AKL and CBR, so it is not just at this resort.
We were right above one of the courtyards on the 4th floor and did hear noise from there on our last night with the doors open, but heard nothing once we closed them.

 

[SingingMom]

The S/D is still our favorite and we LOVE the location! Sorry you had an unpleasant stay.

Sorry about your experience... our's was totally the opposite..

We just returned last night from 8 nights at the Dolphin - this was our second stay - last year we were there the exact same week...

We had a HUGE pharmacutical convention check in on Monday and leave on Friday... aside from a VERY LOUD "happy hour" in the lobby, we were not inconvenienced in the least. And, we were more amused by the noise than bothered - we were discussing how the architects might not have realized the acoustical value of the lobby - I wanted to belt into song when I heard that echo!

We never waited longer than 15 minutes for a water launch and probably our longest bus wait was about 15 minutes, too.

The pool is open 24 hours a day - the lifeguards are there until 9pm, I believe. After that, you are permitted to "swim at your own risk".

The staff couldn't have been more accomodating - I called for extra pillows - extra towels - the conceirge checked in and printed out my boarding passes for us on our way to the airport... EVERYONE greets you, and if you are using the phone or have seen your credit card/room key, they greet you by NAME.

My only "little disappointment" is that we didn't enjoy our meal at Shula's as much as we did last year. I felt the waiter was rushing me to make my wine decision and our food selection... But, other than that, we had a MAGICAL VISIT!

We are thinking about returning for a "3-peat" next June! We LOVE the DOLPHIN!!

 

[Blondie]

Welcome back Singing Mom, glad you had a good stay!

I'm already counting down until our next Dolphin stay in November! It can't get here soon enough! I find myself planning our next trip while we are STILL there, LOL!

 

[SingingMom]

Welcome back Singing Mom, glad you had a good stay!

I'm already counting down until our next Dolphin stay in November! It can't get here soon enough! I find myself planning our next trip while we are STILL there, LOL!

Thanks, Blondie! We had a lovely time! And, we got to meet Crazy Kanga and her family, so that was a lot of fun, too!

I think I need to check the calendar and see about next June/July for a return to the Dolphin. One night home and already I miss my "heavenly bed"!!!

 

[paras4ri]

While everyone's hotel experience is different, and not all are perfect, I just wanted to share that in our many stays at the Swan or Dolphin we've always been encouraged to use all facilities even if our room wasn't ready.

We're leaving for another magical stay at the Dolphin a month from today and we can't wait!

 

[Colleen27]

Kids eat free only UNDER 9 at only 2 of their 17 restaurants...very misleading IMO! The pool is only open from 9AM until 9PM and unlike the site that states there was a lifeguard, there was NONE; what kind of resort only has their pool open during the park hours and no lifeguard at the pool?

I just to have to mention here that you won't find any different at the Disney resorts - the lifeguards leave fairly early, and it is swim at your own risk after those hours. I haven't been during peak season, but during our Sept stay at POR the lifeguards were only on duty from 10 to 7 or 8, and the pool slides only operate when there is a lifeguard. We only managed to try out the slide on one day, because we were usually in the parks during the limited hours that the slide was open, but we did enjoy the pool after hours. And the very limited hours of Stormalong Bay are a big reason we're not interested in the Beach Club for our Dec stay - the idea of a main pool that closes completely (not just swim at your own risk) as early as 6 during our travel time makes an otherwise attractive resort completely uninteresting.

 

[April*fools]

Well, I don't know when you were there, but last week there were lifeguards there everytime we went to the pool.
And as far as boat waits, Our room overlooked the boat launch and there was never a time that I saw the boat launch without a boat there for more than 5-10 minutes. And all Disney resorts and Swan/Dolphin will tell you busses and boats run about every 20 minutes, so a 20 minute wait could happen at any resort on property. We had this happen to us at AKL and CBR, so it is not just at this resort.
We were right above one of the courtyards on the 4th floor and did hear noise from there on our last night with the doors open, but heard nothing once we closed them.

We were there from 6/22-6/29...we came back yesterday. We were on the 4the floor of the Swan (RM 418) and I would have LOVED to open the slider but the noise from below was too much.

As for lifeguards, there were TWO. One at the top of the slide and one at the bottom; the one at the bottom was directly in the middle of the pool. Those were the only 2 lifeguards we saw ALL WEEK LONG. We spent the mornings and evenings plus all of Thursday and most of Friday at the pool so I think we would have seen the lifeguards if they were there, kwim?

As for the transportation, 20 minutes would have been tolerable but I can say we definitely waited longer than that in the morning, early evening and later in the night. We did appreciate the service but it could have been more...

I know everyone has different experiences at the same resort but all of the women in the laundry room with me (there were 8 others doing laundry) were sharing the same complaints and more horror stories. I simply wouldn't choose to return to this resort and wouldn't recommend it to others.

As a first timer to WDW and obviously to the Swan, waiting until after 6PM to check in was completely unacceptable when our check-in time was 3PM. My children should have been in their bed not sleeping in the lobby. That truly colored my experience with this hotel and I let them at the hotel and their CS online know of our experience.

 

[BlueFairy]

Hey folks, did you notice April*Fools' name and post count. I think you may be getting drawn-in hook-line-and-sinker on this one. Enjoy your future stays. I don't think these complaints are anything we haven't already seen here and elsewhere.

 

[SingingMom]

Hey folks, did you notice April*Fools' name and post count. I think you may be getting drawn-in hook-line-and-sinker on this one. Enjoy your future stays. I don't think these complaints are anything we haven't already seen here and elsewhere.

I hope you are right on that! The "negativity" was starting to get to me! I was about to reply again, but decided - hey - not worth the energy!
I know that WE had a LOVELY time at the Dolphin, and nothing can take that magic away!

 

[CanadianGuy]

As a first timer to WDW and obviously to the Swan, waiting until after 6PM to check in was completely unacceptable when our check-in time was 3PM. My children should have been in their bed not sleeping in the lobby. That truly colored my experience with this hotel and I let them at the hotel and their CS online know of our experience.

There is common confusion around this.

There is no such thing as '3pm check-in time' at any of the Disney resorts. That is just the earliest possible time your room could be available. At non-busy times, the rooms can be available much earlier than that.

During peak times.. the room may not be available till 6pm.

You were travelling during a time period when all the resorts on property, including the Swan & Dolphin were nearly completely full ... or "boxed" as they refer to it.

This means that everything can take longer than usual : check-in, transportation.. everything. Mostly because everything is running at 100% capacity or worse.

As for the transportation, 20 minutes would have been tolerable but I can say we definitely waited longer than that in the morning, early evening and later in the night. We did appreciate the service but it could have been more...

It's very likely you could have had that same experience at a Disney resort during the week you travelled for the same exact reasons. Everything was at capacity which means even the slightest little hitch can really slow everything down.

I might be mistaken, but I believe that Swan/Dophin transportation is handled by the same people who do all the other resorts, so if it was slow there, odds are it was slow everywhere that week. [EDIT: Nope, I was wrong on this.. it IS separate transportation]

Early morning and evening are the busiest times for transportation and I know there are a few times that I've waited 45 minutes or longer for a bus to a Disney resort leaving a theme park during a non-peak travel period so it doesn't surprise me you had that experience when all resorts were near 100% capacity.

Sorry your trip was less than magical, but travelling during peak time periods comes with its own set of concerns that you do kinda have to be prepared for and plan around.

From mid-June to early August is very much a peak time period for travel to Disney.

Knox

 

[Hieatt]

There is common confusion around this.

There is no such thing as '3pm check-in time' at any of the Disney resorts. That is just the earliest possible time your room could be available. At non-busy times, the rooms can be available much earlier than that.

During peak times.. the room may not be available till 6pm.

I have to disagree with this perspective. If I had to wait until 6:00 p.m. to get into my room, I would be EXTREMELY unhappy. The stated check-in time should be the LATEST time the room will be available, and I usually come with an expectation that the room likely will be ready earlier (and, at the Dolphin, it ALWAYS has been, even during the week after Christmas). Why else would they have a stated check-in time?? The stated check out time certainly is not the earliest time you can check out.

Point is, check in time to check out time is the minimum time to which you are entitled to occupy the room for the rate you are paying... often you can get in early, and often you can stay later... but you should be guaranteed use of your room from 3:00 p.m. on arrival until 11:00 p.m. on departure. I would not put up with being made to wait that long for a room without some sort of compensation.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I respect your viewpoints.. But that is how Disney does things. They very much try to have your room ready by 3pm, but sometimes, it can be later. I know the Swan/Dolphin are Starwood resorts or whatever.. but it appears they work on the same idea.

For the most part, as I noted, in all but the busiest travel season, your room is available to you much sooner than 3pm.. but during maximum busy periods, at any hotel not just Disney or Swan/Dolphin, it can be later than the stated beginning check-in time.

Believe me - NO hotel wants to make you wait that long.. but it does happen. Especially when people refuse to check out by the required time etc. I'm wondering if the O/P took this concern to a manager while they were waiting?

What I don't understand is why they couldn't give them a key to their room to enjoy the pool while they waited. That seems like pure miscommunication to me.

In any event, I encourage the poster who wrote of these problems to contact the management at the Swan/Dolphin directly with their concerns about their trip. Give them a chance to make things right perhaps. It's unfortunate that could not be done while their trip was in-progress.

Knox

 

[SingingMom]

I respect your viewpoints.. But that is how Disney does things. They very much try to have your room ready by 3pm, but sometimes, it can be later.

For the most part, as I noted, in all but the busiest travel season, your room is available to you much sooner than 3pm.. but during maximum busy periods, at any hotel not just Disney or Swan/Dolphin, it can be later than the stated beginning check-in time.

Believe me - NO hotel wants to make you wait that long.. but it does happen. Especially when people refuse to check out by the required time etc. I'm wondering if the O/P took this concern to a manager while they were waiting?

What I don't understand is why they couldn't give them a key to their room to enjoy the pool while they waited. That seems like pure miscommunication to me.

In any event, I encourage the poster who wrote of these problems to contact the management at the Swan/Dolphin directly with their concerns about their trip. Give them a chance to make things right perhaps. It's unfortunate that could not be done while their trip was in-progress.

Knox

Last Friday, our room was available when we checked in - at 10 AM! We had planned on just checking in, leaving our bags, and heading to Epcot. We were SO surprised when we were given the keys - AND they upgraded us to a balcony. We were able to unpack and be at the park before noon!!

Last year, the room wasn't ready yet, but they gave us our key to use the pool, and asked for our cell # and called as soon as it was ready.

I have had two extremely pleasant experiences at the Dolphin!

 

[pixiedust247]

I may have missed this but are there certain Disney experiences that are available to S/D guests? For example, Magic Express from the airport or extra hours? My husband is unsure of booking a room at either resort because of this. Thanks for filling me in!

 

[Mouseteacher]

Extra hours are available to S/D guests but not ME.