Swan, Dolphin, MK bus questions

[magicalfoursome]

I was going to rent DVC points for BWV for our October 2022 trip. There are 4 adults and 2 children ages 6 and 2. I am thinking of changing our trip (cost is lower and ability to cancel) to stay at the Dolphin or Swan. I have never stayed at either although I have eaten in the restaurants. Any advice on which would be better with two small children? Also, I know that Disney stopped supplying buses to the parks and with 2 MK days planned I would rather not have to go to TTC. How is the walk to a Disney hotel for the MK bus? Is Swan or Dolphin more convenient? Thank you!

 

[CarolynFH]

The walk from Swan/Dolphin to the BW bus stop would be about equal from either hotel. The walk to the YC bus stop would be longer from the Swan - the Dolphin pretty much backs up to the YC. I haven’t stayed at either one, so I can’t answer about which would be better with small children, but I’m sure you’d get lots of help on the Swan/Dolphin thread https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...olphin-resorts-information-questions.3264274/.

 

[DOD-DAD]

We stayed at the Dolphin in May and had heard the bus dropoff at the TTC wasn't the greatest. We did that a couple of times and it was kind of a pain to get on a boat or ride the monorail rather than just getting dropped off and walking up to the park entrance (and to be honest, the bus dropoff for Animal Kingdom seemed farther and more arbitrary from the Swan/Dolphin bus as well). Walking to the Boardwalk, as Carolyn mentioned, to catch their bus was the best option, and is the same distance from both (maybe slightly closer to Swan, but not enough to make or break a decision). We did ride the bus to/from the Yacht Club once but preferred the Boardwalk.

Are you renting a car? I had seen others mention that if you rent a car and drive to the park you can park for free if you stay at a Disney resort, and I think the Swan/Dolphin qualify. I probably would go that route if I did it all over again just to get to MK and AK.

I haven't stayed at the Swan, but when choosing between the two the different in-hotel dining options caused us to choose the Dolphin because it seemed slightly more kid friendly. The ice cream shop on the first level is worth the price of admission, and the restaurant around the corner has plenty of kid-friendly food options.

We loved the location of the Dolphin as we love to walk to the parks (Epcot/Hollywood Studios).

 

[magicalfoursome]

We stayed at the Dolphin in May and had heard the bus dropoff at the TTC wasn't the greatest. We did that a couple of times and it was kind of a pain to get on a boat or ride the monorail rather than just getting dropped off and walking up to the park entrance (and to be honest, the bus dropoff for Animal Kingdom seemed farther and more arbitrary from the Swan/Dolphin bus as well). Walking to the Boardwalk, as Carolyn mentioned, to catch their bus was the best option, and is the same distance from both (maybe slightly closer to Swan, but not enough to make or break a decision). We did ride the bus to/from the Yacht Club once but preferred the Boardwalk.

Are you renting a car? I had seen others mention that if you rent a car and drive to the park you can park for free if you stay at a Disney resort, and I think the Swan/Dolphin qualify. I probably would go that route if I did it all over again just to get to MK and AK.

I haven't stayed at the Swan, but when choosing between the two the different in-hotel dining options caused us to choose the Dolphin because it seemed slightly more kid friendly. The ice cream shop on the first level is worth the price of admission, and the restaurant around the corner has plenty of kid-friendly food options.

We loved the location of the Dolphin as we love to walk to the parks (Epcot/Hollywood Studios).

Thank you! We will not be renting a car so we will have to rely on the buses for transportation to MK. Sadly this trip we don’t have enough days to get to Animal Kingdom. I have been to Disney World many times but my sister-in-law it is her first trip with her two young children and she wants to do two days at MK which means we need to skip another park.

 

[Grumpy92]

From the Dolphin we walked over to the Yacht Club and boarded the Disney buses there. Boardwalk for the Swan. We found they came more frequently. Also the S/D stops at the park often did not have any shade and it made waiting in the sun or late at night awful. The S/D stop for MK is at TTC

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Are they bringing back the boat ride at any point?

 

[babydoll65]

Are they bringing back the boat ride at any point?

The friendship boats have been running for a while now.