The **New** Swan and Dolphin Resort thread ~ April 2012 ~ Please read post #1

[Judy from Boise]

There is a 13% 'service charge' in Picabu purchases. I personally think it is fine for when dining there, as I tip there like any restaurant, and many people do not, thereby 'penalizing' the employees who work there. I do not agree that it is proper for Picabu 'store' purchases or necessarily so for carry outs (though I normally tip employees for carry out most places also, though not 15-20%).

If you show your AAA card you can get a nice discount so it may even out!



PS hi Dan !

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[Dan Murphy]

If you show your AAA card you can get a nice discount so it may even out!



PS hi Dan !

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Hi Judy, nice to 'see' you. I do use my AAA card at all the places that accept it there at S/D. Yes, 20% discount there is great.

A December trip planned this year?

 

[patty57]

I'm anxious to see the final FP+ product for the Swan/Dolphin. We only discovered them in 2012, after many years of BW/BC stays, and as it turns out...love them. Unfortunately, if there isn't an ability to pre-book the FP+ in the same way as a WDW resort, it will negate the value of the S/D for us. We have a trip booked at the Dolphin in May, but will have to see how all this plays out. My two boys (college students) will never wake up in time to get FPs in the parks if they continue to run out early...if they are even still available in May. Who knows what the availability of FP+ would be in the parks in the late morning, or early afternoon. I'm hopeful that this will all work out in the end, and we just need to be patient as this unfolds.

 

[ckelly14]

My two boys (college students) will never wake up in time to get FPs in the parks if they continue to run out early...if they are even still available in May. Who knows what the availability of FP+ would be in the parks in the late morning, or early afternoon. I'm hopeful that this will all work out in the end, and we just need to be patient as this unfolds.

Certainly may be the worst of both worlds in your situation. Less FP availability and the inability to book ahead.

I always stay at the Swan or Dolphin with Starwood points so generally stay for no cash out of pocket. However, I want to use my points for my trip in June so I considered paying cash for the Dolphin for a quick trip in Feb. Rates were about $279 for a regular room, when you added taxes, parking and "resort charge", the total was $375.13; comparable room at the Yacht club was $406.97 for a standard room, including all taxes and fees, and this was peak time over President's Day weekend.

I don't really think the Swan and Dolphin represent a significant savings anymore, unless you have Teacher or other discounts, or you use Starpoints. Have you ever thought about a Starwood credit card?

If it was out of pocket, and given all this FP mess, I'd consider a onsite stay. And this is coming from someone that loves the Swan and Dolphin....

 

[OKW Lover]

We are staying at the Swan starting Thursday. Looking forward to the stay!!

 

[patty57]

Certainly may be the worst of both worlds in your situation. Less FP availability and the inability to book ahead.

I always stay at the Swan or Dolphin with Starwood points so generally stay for no cash out of pocket. However, I want to use my points for my trip in June so I considered paying cash for the Dolphin for a quick trip in Feb. Rates were about $279 for a regular room, when you added taxes, parking and "resort charge", the total was $375.13; comparable room at the Yacht club was $406.97 for a standard room, including all taxes and fees, and this was peak time over President's Day weekend.

I don't really think the Swan and Dolphin represent a significant savings anymore, unless you have Teacher or other discounts, or you use Starpoints. Have you ever thought about a Starwood credit card?

If it was out of pocket, and given all this FP mess, I'd consider a onsite stay. And this is coming from someone that loves the Swan and Dolphin....

I have a good AAA rate booked in May, and I'm also a nurse, so there is that possibility as well. The Dolphin would still be a good value for us, except if the FP+ remains the way it is right now in testing. Once all this FP+ gets sorted out, if the S/D remains as a book in the park the day of...I would either stay at a WDW resort, or more likely, take a different trip. Luckily, we have time to wait and see how this shakes out, although I find myself checking airfares to London.

 

[Judy from Boise]

Hi Judy, nice to 'see' you. I do use my AAA card at all the places that accept it there at S/D. Yes, 20% discount there is great. A December trip planned this year?

A trip January 22-29, staying at our beloved Swan, just my mother and me celebrating her 75th birthday!

And yes, I love that 20% discount at pica bus ( or tubbies as my family still affectionately calls it )

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[My2CrazyGirls]

Is there any events calendar for Swan/Dolphin? Movies at night or campfire? Or can we go to BC and do those things there? Is that allowed? Thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

A trip January 22-29, staying at our beloved Swan, just my mother and me celebrating her 75th birthday!

And yes, I love that 20% discount at pica bus ( or tubbies as my family still affectionately calls it )

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Well, an early birthday wish for mom, God bless.

Is there any events calendar for Swan/Dolphin? Movies at night or campfire? Or can we go to BC and do those things there? Is that allowed? Thanks!

This might be helpful.

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

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

This might be helpful.

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

Thanks, I saw that but it does not mention anything about movies or campfires....so I guess they don't do them?

Is it OK to to do them at the Beach Club???

 

[ckelly14]

Anyone at the S&D now that can comment on the FP+ test there? Surprised it's been so quiet....

 

[Roo2]

It is my understanding that all are welcome to enjoy the campfire/movie activities at all Disney resorts. Based on this, my daughter and I enjoy a campfire and movie night on the beach near the pirate ship at the Beach Club beach at least once a trip- usually as we are walking back from Epcot to the Dolphin in the evening. We tried the Boardwalk this year- VERY hard to find the area, and when we finally did, the quality of the movie screen was very poor as well as poor sound quality- we could hardly tell what was going on in a movie we knew by heart! Took the boat over to the Beach Club's movie- MUCH better! Plus you can enjoy the view of the Boardwalk across the water if there is a slow point in the movie! As far as the Dolphin- they used to have Dive-In movies at the main pool on Friday or Saturday night, weather permitting, but we have not done that for a year or two- not sure if they still have it or not. Pretty sure there is no campfire at the Swan/Dolphin.

Hope that helps!
Roo2

 

[NBCGal]

Anyone at the S&D now that can comment on the FP+ test there? Surprised it's been so quiet....

I posted our experience with FP+ on 11/4 in this thread. Any further Q's let me know. We just got home today but had a favorable experience with FP+ as Swan guests overall. When I asked other guests if they tried it out they didn't know about it.

 

[ckelly14]

I posted our experience with FP+ on 11/4 in this thread. Any further Q's let me know. We just got home today but had a favorable experience with FP+ as Swan guests overall. When I asked other guests if they tried it out they didn't know about it.

Sorry about that! I saw your original post but somehow missed the "updates".

Follow up: Yesterday there was a bit of confusion at EPCOT as to how Swan/Dolphin guests obtain FP+ - interesting to note that Swan/Dolphin staff were the ones working the kiosk, but it did work and I was able to get on Test Track using FP+. I was glad as regular FP's were out for the day by this point. Today at the Magic Kingdom everything went very smoothly! This time it was manned by WDW staff and they knew exactly what to do. Plus I was told that I could change my FP+ reservations anywhere in the park once I had them for the park for the day. One thing they made clear was that FP+ will be available to all - even offsite guests, eventually. Swan/Dolphin is the beta test for this eventual roll out. I also found out that the Swan/Dolphin will be going through a major redo, hopefully within the next year.

Update 2/

BTW - no paper FP issued - FP+ info stored on your WDW RFID tickets. My Disney Experience isn't linked to your FP+ reservations though. Only Dining Reservations through WDW restaurant are shown. I was told by WDW cast member they don't recommend linking park tickets through My Disney experience as it doesn't do anything. They eventually want to link Swan/ Dolphin room reservations with MDE, but that will be a long time coming.

Interesting information. So the RFID tickets store FP+ information directly but don't link to MDE like the Magic Bands. That would suggest that FP+ will be available as a same day selection, not something reserved in advance. That stinks. Perhaps S&D will have that ability once room reservations are linked in the system, but it doesn't sound like this will be available by my trip in June!

Did you get a sense that this was a separate "pool" of FP+ only for this type of media? Also, would love to hear any details about the "major redo" you may of heard....

Thanks!

 

[lizabu]

I posted our experience with FP+ on 11/4 in this thread. Any further Q's let me know. We just got home today but had a favorable experience with FP+ as Swan guests overall. When I asked other guests if they tried it out they didn't know about it.

I'd like to know too. How do you identify the Kiosks? S/D posted where they are located but what are we looking for exactly? Does it look like a FP machine?

Also when it's time to use the FP+ if it's stored in the ticket is there someone at the attraction then swiping your cards? Or how does that work?

Did you feel like the selections available were good? One concern I know is that all the "good" attractions will already be gone by day of.

 

[patty57]

Sorry about that! I saw your original post but somehow missed the "updates".




Interesting information. So the RFID tickets store FP+ information directly but don't link to MDE like the Magic Bands. That would suggest that FP+ will be available as a same day selection, not something reserved in advance. That stinks. Perhaps S&D will have that ability once room reservations are linked in the system, but it doesn't sound like this will be available by my trip in June!

Did you get a sense that this was a separate "pool" of FP+ only for this type of media? Also, would love to hear any details about the "major redo" you may of heard....

Thanks!

Uh oh. I was afraid of this. If it remains this way, then S/D won't work for us. Not being able to book FP+ ahead of time definitely won't work for my two college boys. They would never get up in time to get FP+ for the top attractions if they need to book in the park. That's really too bad because we now love the S/D. Frankly, when they removed Splash from the evening EMH, that put a big-time damper on WDW for us/them because we would ride it over and over at night. That's gone, and so is the ability to make more than one FP+ for an attraction, so riding our favorites more than once with FP looks like a thing of the past. We haven't used FP+ yet, and I hate to be overly reactionary, but it looks like the changes at WDW have made it considerably less desirable for us. London in May is looking better and better.

 

[SingingMom]

Uh oh. I was afraid of this. If it remains this way, then S/D won't work for us. Not being able to book FP+ ahead of time definitely won't work for my two college boys. They would never get up in time to get FP+ for the top attractions if they need to book in the park. That's really too bad because we now love the S/D. Frankly, when they removed Splash from the evening EMH, that put a big-time damper on WDW for us/them because we would ride it over and over at night. That's gone, and so is the ability to make more than one FP+ for an attraction, so riding our favorites more than once with FP looks like a thing of the past. We haven't used FP+ yet, and I hate to be overly reactionary, but it looks like the changes at WDW have made it considerably less desirable for us. London in May is looking better and better.

Aww... That's too bad. Can you go a different of year? January had very few lines and was great for college age - our daughter's break is until late January.

If you decide London, have you ever been? If not, look into Adventures by Disney Knights & Lights tour to London and Paris. It was fantastic !

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[patty57]

Things change. Sometimes those changes work in your favor, and sometimes not. We haven't been to London yet. I would probably rent an apartment for a week, so we have some room to spread out. My husband and I just rented a one-bed apt. in Rome last week...it was heaven.
The ABD trip sounds amazing. Glad you loved it.

 

[cinderella'smommy]

I will be interested in seeing how this FP+ set up goes during the busy Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas break. (I just made reservations for Thanksgiving 2014!)

I am just sort of imagining a long line of Swolphin guests at kiosks while the masses rush by towards the big rides/character meets first thing.

We are rope-droppers, and that would seriously bum me out!

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm at the Dolphin now. We got to the IG for rope drop, did Soarin' with a 25 min wait (we didn't rush over, just took our time), then did TT with a 25 min wait time. Both had FPs with return times of 11, at 9:30. Then we did M:S and walked on. I didn't go looking for the kiosks or whatever that we could have used. Will try to scope those out tomorrow.