Swan vs. POR

[TOBS2010]

Considering a trip where we would stay either at POR or The Swan. We have stayed at POR in the past, but last time we did WDW we stayed the Yacht Club.

Curious for those who have stayed at the Swan how your experience was. We are used to staying in a WDW resort on property. Even though the Swan is on Disney Property, do you still feel like you are a part of the Disney bubble? What else am I not thinking of?

Booking this trip a little late in the game, so hotel options within our budget a more limited than normal.

 

[Anthony1971]

Stayed at POR a long time ago in the past. Never stayed at swan but have been inside the hotel. If Disney theming matters you will simply not find this at the swan. If walking to EPCOT or HS matters you will simply not find this at POR.
We own DVC for over 20 years. Personally we like theming. This year we are staying g at BW and while I do not mind the resort we stay there for the ability to walk…. I would prefer POLY or WL or AKL-Jambo for theming. POR is also well themed IMO.
Personally I do not buy into transportation for any resort in the end all 4 parks will even out and even if they do not 5 minutes extra on a bus or? is just irrelevant if you are at a resort you enjoy for the week.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Considering a trip where we would stay either at POR or The Swan. We have stayed at POR in the past, but last time we did WDW we stayed the Yacht Club.

Curious for those who have stayed at the Swan how your experience was. We are used to staying in a WDW resort on property. Even though the Swan is on Disney Property, do you still feel like you are a part of the Disney bubble? What else am I not thinking of?

Booking this trip a little late in the game, so hotel options within our budget a more limited than normal.

If you plan to spend a good bit of time at EP and/or HS, you can't beat the Swan location. The Swan will get you access to almost all of the benefits you would have if you stayed at POR, but the location is better. You'll still feel a part of the Disney bubble at Swan!

 

[NJTOAD]

Hotel theming is very important to us, and although we've never stayed at Swan or Dolphin, we have stayed numerous times at POR and love it, we would definitely go with POR. just my opinion.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Are you calculating the resort and parking fees at Swan? Sometimes people forget them. The only thing that takes me out of the Disney bubble is not being able to charge on my MB.

POR will have much better theming- but Swan is better in almost every other aspect. Boat access to 2 parks. Bigger rooms. Better beds. Indoor hallways. Numerous dining options. Swan was just remodeled. Huge pool complex at Dolphin. The bus for MK goes to TTC, but you can walk to BWI if that’s a big deal. Unless theming is like the purpose of your room, or the boat to DS means a lot, I’d do Swan hands down.

 

[Kae]

We have stayed at Both and I'm going Swan. Extended hours like staying at a deluxe, the rooms were nice, being close to Epcot. con for us, concrete around the pools is hot, I mean lava hot, we have never had that issue at Disney resorts. We got a Nurse/Medical rate. We like being at a smaller resort.

 

[stinkpickle]

If the rates are similar (including resort fees), I'd pick the Swan for the location alone. It's got plenty of bubble.

 

[elvispursley]

Love that you get bottled water for free at the Swan. Also love you can text requests. And don’t forget, they actually have ROOM SERVICE! I really loved that we got the deluxe EEH benefit.

 

[Dave006]

Love that you get bottled water for free at the Swan. Also love you can text requests.

Not Free since you are paying the $50 Resort Fee per night. The good news is that you can get more of your Free water via text message on the Swan & Dolphin app.

Dav

 

[Marthasor]

We have stayed at the Swan multiple times and really like it. The location, dining options, room comfort are all excellent, IMHO. That being said, I definitely feel out of the WDW bubble when staying there. We go to WDW often, so I don't mind some of our trips not being completely immersed in Disney theming. If theme immersion is important to you, I would probably stay at POR.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

If the rates are similar (including resort fees), I'd pick the Swan for the location alone. It's got plenty of bubble.

100%. The "no-theming" thing is blown way out of proportion. To me personally I think Swan feels as much a Disney property as any other simply because it's on Crescent Lake adjacent to the other great resorts, with a Friendship boat stop. And I love POR! Love the theming and QS but I would choose Swan 99/100 times if given an apples to apples choice. I love being walking distance/a quiclk boat ride to two parks any day.

 

[HeiHei2018]

I have stayed at POR and Dolphin (not swan, but same boat stop and vibe). For the same price, I would choose Swan every time. Walking back after fireworks is delightful.

 

[GsR80]

I think the thing about Swan & Dolphin not feeling in the bubble just comes from knowing that they happen to be run by Marriot instead of Disney. Swan is right there with the other Epcot resorts with deluxe features. It felt like it's own unique resort to me within the "bubble" as much as any of the other ones are.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Considering a trip where we would stay either at POR or The Swan. We have stayed at POR in the past, but last time we did WDW we stayed the Yacht Club.

Curious for those who have stayed at the Swan how your experience was. We are used to staying in a WDW resort on property. Even though the Swan is on Disney Property, do you still feel like you are a part of the Disney bubble? What else am I not thinking of?

Booking this trip a little late in the game, so hotel options within our budget a more limited than normal.

I do still feel you’re in the Disney bubble even though it’s a Marriott due to how close of a proximity you are to EPCOT. If you do want to have that Disney Resorts Collection vibe (and easy access to your Disney snacks), you are only a short walk away from Disney’s BoardWalk.

 

[katyjeka]

We love them both. The Swan is a great location and we take advantage of the deluxe extra hours.

 

[loves to dive]

Define "Disney Bubble". If you mean Disney everywhere you turn within the resort, no. If you mean easy access to parks and transportation, yes.

Pros: deluxe type resort with Deluxe perks such as EMH, bigger rooms, inside hallways, great pool area at Dolphin, loads of food options at Dolphin, easy walk to both Epcot and HS or you can take the boats, buses to both AK and MK (more on MK in the cons), room service if you have the Swan/Dolphin app

Cons: MK bus takes to TTC not the park entrance, you can go over to YC or BW and take their bus if you desire, you can not charge back to the room with your MB or open you room doors you will get a room key card instead.

About the room service, you can only get it using the app. you can not call for it on the house phone. I have a 3 year old Android phone and can not even install the app on it, used to have it on it but I guess with the newest app update it doesn't work. So unless you have a slightly newer phone, that isn't going to be a perk.

I've stayed at both POR and Swan/Dolphin and Swan/Dolphin wins every time. Make sure you factor in resort fees when looking at prices, if you are doing it on line you can just mark to show with resort fees and you can see the total price. If you are driving you will have to pay parking fees so factor that in as well. I have a stay at Dolphin coming up in Sept. and without those fees it's less than a moderate but with those fees it's more but less than the Disney Epcot resorts. I do drive down so have to pay the parking fee.

 

[Harmacist]

My girlfriend and I are frequent S/D visitors, and just went to POR. After we stayed at the Gran Destino Tower at Coronado last year, we said that if prices between Moderates and S/D were roughly equal, we would stay a S/D every time. The location simply cannot beat for the price. I know people harp on the lack of theming at the hotel, but after staying at the GDT, one could say the same about the new towers (and many have).

Pro Tip: walk to the Boardwalk or YC whenever you want to go to MK. The S/D buses now drop you off at the TTC. The Animal Kingdom buses are fine, in fact they may even drop you off closer to the park than Disney buses. On the way back though, the covered area may be crowded since people from other hotels are in there as well.

 

[SteveH]

Fan of POFQ, bigger fan of the Swan though.
1) Location, Location, Location
2) Food options
3) Transportation, with POR or POFQ you have to bus to everything, with Swan you can walk or boat to two parks, bus to AK is probably in a slightly better spot then Disney busses, MK you can walk to YC/BW if you want to bypass the trip to TTC.

 

[TOBS2010]

Does anyone know if the Swan/Dolphin have the "Hey Disney" Echo Show that the other Disney properties have? The kids were excited for that added bonus. If they do not, I would want to let them know before hand.

Does the Swan have it's own pool too---or is it just the Dolphin?

 

[Scott R. Scherr]

Does anyone know if the Swan/Dolphin have the "Hey Disney" Echo Show that the other Disney properties have? The kids were excited for that added bonus. If they do not, I would want to let them know before hand.

Does the Swan have it's own pool too---or is it just the Dolphin?

They do not have the Echo Show.

The Swan and Dolphin share a large feature pool with slide and waterfall. It is an easy walk from the Swan. The Swan also had a smaller ordinary pool.