Tell me the coolest things about the Swan & Dolphin!

[Lilolvr]

If you have a rental car, be prepared to pay $10.00 per day for parking.

 

[anbouk]

If you have a rental car, be prepared to pay $10.00 per day for parking.

Yikes...a bit too much with all the extras, like previous poster mentions!

 

[anbouk]

The major difference for me is the bed size. In a room with two beds, the Swan has 2 queens, while the Dolphin has 2 doubles. If this didn't matter to me I would chose the Dolphin (although I have never stayed there because of this). It has the arcade, kids club, bigger lobby, more restaurants, and basketball courts are closer. These are all available to Swan guests as well, but have to walk to the Dolphin to use them.

Do they have basketballs to lend, my son would love this activity one day. Where do you borrow from? Thanks

 

[eebadeeba]

Do they have basketballs to lend, my son would love this activity one day. Where do you borrow from? Thanks

I haven't actually used it. I think I was wrong on the location, I thought is was closer to the Dolphin. In the description it says it is next to Swan lap pool. It looks like there is also Tennis and Sand Volleyball.

http://www.swandolphin.com/activities/tennis.html

"BASKETBALL
If hoops are your thing, get a ball from the health club and head on over to our basketball court for pick-up game, one-on-one, or just practice your free-throws."

Courts are located next to the Swan Lap Pool and Cabana Bar and Grill so you’ll be able to cool off after the game.

 

[anbouk]

Getting happier by the minute....thanks for the basketball info...after all of these stays, I'm still learning lots of stuff hanging out here

 

[pooh2001]

1) Location

2) price for a 4 star resort

3) Grotto Pool

4) AAA 10% discount off restaurants owned by the S/D

5) Starbucks coffee

6) Walk to EPCOT - boat to both EPOCT and STUDIO's

7) taxi's in front of the resort in case you are late for an ADR

8) Dolphin Fountain for a quick lunch or dinner

9) We had a free cot b/c of our teen DS & teen DD not sleeping together

10) no refrigerator - but we use a foam small cooler (Walmart $15 - ditched it before we came home) - and ice from the resort machine to keep water bottles cold.

11) you still get all the extra magic hours

ENJOY !

 

[jgates]

Location - It is by far our fav for location. We stayed at the Swan each time, with the exception of one New Years trip stay at the Dolphin. Love to be able to go down to the buffeteria and get a quick but hot breakfast etc. The atmosphere is so relaxing. My ONLY complaint, which is a big issue for some people, is not being able to charge at the parks to the room of course. We stayed at POFQ this last January however, and the charging to the room becomes VERY DANGEROUS, LOL. Our choice in POFQ was based on staying at S/D before - the pleasant quiet atmosphere. The distance from Swan to Dolphin is so short that either hotel is convenient to everything.

 

[tjmw2727]

Yikes...a bit too much with all the extras, like previous poster mentions!

What extras - I missed that?

I booked the Dolphin for $30.00 less per night than a moderate, I priced out CBR and CSR,so even with the parking fee its $20.00 less. (But we don't rent a car so its still a $30.00 savings).

The amenities - balcony, restaurants, walking or boat to two parks, one of the best pools on property, heavenly beds and shower, room service and starwood points make it even more worthwile I love the Dolphin, OP the Swan is a wonderful choice for a couple, DH and I stayed there sans kids once. Your going to have a wonderful time.

TJ

 

[SteveH]

Couple years ago we stayed at the Dolphin and loved the hotel and the location. Our kids love MK but Epcot and MGM are big hits too, being able to stroll down or take the Boat to Epcot was a big hit. The hotel was clean and very festive without being overboard.

We've had the Amex Starwood card for a while and since our last trip we've used it pretty much exclusively for all our purchases. We've managed to rack up enough points that our 8 night stay at the Swan in December is 100% paid for by points. Can't beat that deal.

The room charge and dinning plan are not enough to convince us to stay at a Disney hotel.

We ate over on the Boardwalk many times, enjoyed walking through the area hotels to see the Christmas Decor, but we were always happy to go back to our hotel too.

 

[anbouk]

Couple years ago we stayed at the Dolphin and loved the hotel and the location. Our kids love MK but Epcot and MGM are big hits too, being able to stroll down or take the Boat to Epcot was a big hit. The hotel was clean and very festive without being overboard.

We've had the Amex Starwood card for a while and since our last trip we've used it pretty much exclusively for all our purchases. We've managed to rack up enough points that our 8 night stay at the Swan in December is 100% paid for by points. Can't beat that deal.

The room charge and dinning plan are not enough to convince us to stay at a Disney hotel.

We ate over on the Boardwalk many times, enjoyed walking through the area hotels to see the Christmas Decor, but we were always happy to go back to our hotel too.

Ditto...for us, but just curious, how many points do you need for an 8 day stay?

 

[Disbug]

Ditto...for us, but just curious, how many points do you need for an 8 day stay?

A 4-Star Starwood property is 10,000 pts/night. As a Bonus, every 5th night is free. So, that would be 70,000 pts. Someone check my math?

 

[princess pooh]

I haven't actually used it. I think I was wrong on the location, I thought is was closer to the Dolphin. In the description it says it is next to Swan lap pool. It looks like there is also Tennis and Sand Volleyball.

I think you were right the first time. I definitely remember the basketball court being close to the dolphin lap pool.

DH and I had a wonderful trip to the Swan last February. I usually stay at the Dolphin, but the Swan was more quiet and relaxed. We really enjoyed reading on the beach or lying in the hammocks. It was also nice to go to the Grotto pool in the afternoon and have your choice of lounge chairs.

 

[anbouk]

A 4-Star Starwood property is 10,000 pts/night. As a Bonus, every 5th night is free. So, that would be 70,000 pts. Someone check my math?

WOW ! ~ Thats a Whole Bunch of Points! How can you ever come up with that...how long did it take? Just trying to figure out how I can accumulate points....gotta try to get in another trip, ya know?


"BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, COMING BACK!"

 

[SteveH]

A 4-Star Starwood property is 10,000 pts/night. As a Bonus, every 5th night is free. So, that would be 70,000 pts. Someone check my math?

You are correct!

WOW ! ~ Thats a Whole Bunch of Points! How can you ever come up with that...how long did it take? Just trying to figure out how I can accumulate points....

We pretty much use the Amex for everything, pay it off and all, but use it for groceries, gas, you name it. We stopped shopping at places that didn't take Amex in some cases. We don't use any other CC or debit card. We figured we'd need to pay for 2 nights, but we took a 2 week trip to Utah this summer and the gas for our motorhome paid for a night (well almost)

We started saving just after our last trip in 04, but we've used points for many stays in Seattle too. I think its one of the best rewards cards out there, we've never had a problem redeeming points and the rewards are excellent! Last trip we had enough for a room upgrade, but who can complain about 7 nights free.

 

[eebadeeba]

I think you were right the first time. I definitely remember the basketball court being close to the dolphin lap pool./QUOTE]

Thank you. I have a vivid memory of being in the kiddie pool and watching a small little kid shooting baskets. This was from several years ago, so I thought maybe I had things confused. Glad to know I am not losing all of my memory yet. Although I do think that some part of my brain gets transferred to each new baby (at least that is my excuse).

 

[minnie61650]

The story behind the Swan& Dolphin

The Swan&Dolphin hotels have a theme even though most guests do not understand the whimical building s that were designed by Micael Graves.

Here is the story behind the Swan& Dolphin that was told by Michael Graves the designer to Wade Sampson staff writer for Mouse planet:


The "black box" area on the Walt Disney Dolphin that many Disney fans mistakenly believe was meant to be an entrance for the monorail similar to the Contemporary resort is actually the heart of a mountain. The Walt Disney Dolphin is a mountain that has struggled to thrust its way out of the tropical rain forest. That is the reason for the banana leaves painted along the side of the building.

The struggle caused the heart to explode, and the water cascades nine stories down the side of the hotel, passing through five clamshell basins to a fountain and eventually splashing into Crescent Lake. Notice that the walkway from the Walt Disney Dolphin to the Walt Disney Swan has railings and landscaping that mimic waves. The water splashes up onto the Walt Disney Swan and that accounts for the waves painted on the side of that hotel.

Two birds were so awed by this spectacle that they alighted on the top of the waves to get a better look and were magically transformed into swans. Graves deliberately selected two creatures that "were not part of the existing Disney mythology" but had hopes that they would then be developed further as Disney icons once he had selected them.

The dolphin image was inspired by the work of Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini. An example of Bernini's dolphins can be seen in the King Neptune fountain in the Italian pavilion at Epcot. However, there is a major difference that Graves pointed out to us. Bernini's dolphins had mouths that curved downward, and Eisner insisted that wasn't going to happen on Walt Disney World property—so Graves' dolphins have their mouths curved upwards as if smiling.

Designed by Graves, the swan statues (like the dolphin statues) are created from steel, wood, and fiberglass, and were believed to be the largest structures of their kind in the world at the time. Since there were no existing samples to work from, Disney artist Gary Graham following Graves' design, sculpted the swan models out of Styrofoam and these were then computer photographed (photogrammetry) in a process that turns the shapes into a digitized database.

The photogrammetric information was then sent on to a shipbuilding company in Wisconsin. There it was put into a computer that automatically cut the wooden ribs to exact specifications and imprinted the ribs with numbers and location directions. The ribs were then delivered to the statue site, where they were fitted to a steel frame. Once assembled, a fiberglass covering was carefully brushed on and then covered with five layers of laminate. The swan statues were then sanded, painted and ultimately lifted into place on May 1989.

Completed, the swan statues, referred to as "heroic" statues, are 47 feet high. And at a combined weight of 56,000 pounds, they required a multi-ton 70-foot crane to lift them up atop the hotel. They were placed on specially constructed pedestals at either end of the hotel's roof, which support and display them.

The dolphin statues are 63 feet high and some Disneyphiles referred to them as "Flipper's Tomb" when they first appeared. All the roof sculptures are hollow inside, except for the structural beaming, and they have internal staircases and trapdoors for maintenance purposes.

At the Walt Disney Dolphin, the sculptures are three-dimensional where guests can't touch them and two-dimensional, like in the indoor fountain, where they can be touched. At the Walt Disney Swan, it is reversed and the sculptures are generally three-dimensional where they can be touched by guests (like the interior fountain), but two-dimensional (like the monkeys and parrots) where they can't be touched.

Where is the entrance to the Walt Disney Dolphin? No, it is not at the porte cochere (where cars drop off their passengers). It is facing the Walt Disney Swan.

The dolphins in the fountain facing the Walt Disney Swan were supposed to be three-dimensional, but Graves was told to space them out wider because they obstructed the view. Instead, Graves simply sliced the dolphins, making what he called "dolphin filets," and keeping them exactly where they were but opening up the space. He also made the fountain smaller since the dolphins are now two-dimensional and needed to be able to be touched.

When you enter a hotel, the check-in desk is usually on the right-hand side because most guests are right-handed. In the Walt Disney Dolphin it is on the left-hand side. The tent-covered rotunda is also disorienting without landmarks or icons for guests to determine which direction they need to go to get to their room. These were deliberate choices to create a sense of disorientation by Graves.

"It was to be a hotel for conventions and when you attend a convention, what do you want the participants to do? You want them to think differently, to see things from a different perspective. So the design is encouraging that," said Graves.

The Walt Disney Swan is completely different. The entrance is where the porte cochere is. The check-in desk is on the right hand side. The hallways are designed in an angular fashion so that is it easier to locate where you are and where you might want to go. Graves partnered with interior design firm of Wilson and Associates to create rich beach-themed color schemes, hand-painted murals, lily pond carpets, room doors painted to look like striped cabanas, sea shell light fixtures and more to capture the spirit of a playful tropical beach.

"Both inside and out, the hotel was designed to echo the tropical Florida landscape, as well as the fun and whimsy of the nearby Disney attractions and an aura of fantasy that appeals to guests of all ages," said Graves.