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

[olive]

We had a great experience with Garden Grocer at our last stay at the Dolphin, but are planning on taking advantage of the grocery stop on our upcoming trip. The pantry service looks useful, but it wouldn't fully meet our needs, either.

 

[olive]

Because sometimes (often?) folks on here seem to know more than whoever happens to pick up the phone, does anyone know if you can book a room on points and then get a stay connected rate for a second room? Or does the first room have to be cash?

Thanks!

 

[MBELSANTI]

Pooh2001 & MBELSANTI:

Oh no! It looks like we're all going to potentially get Tropical Storm Debby! We bought cheapo dollar store ponchos to use and throw away as needed, but I guess we need to pull out the big guns! Travel Safely, Pooh2001, and MBELSANTI, enjoy the days of sun leading up to it


The good news is that the S & D have SO much to do inside that if we're trapped for a day, we'll be fine The last time I experienced a Tropical Storm in WDW we were staying at Pop Century. We were basically just stuck in our room for a day and it was difficult to go anywhere.

Oh no is right lol! Well to be honest, we used to travel here and Disney cruises at the hight of hurricane season in aug, sept, so we have been on the tail end or begining of so many. Back in I think it was 08 or 09 we spent the entire week under Faye...you could even see the eye as she passed over and then stopped and lingered over us the whole trip. We have the good ponchos that we keep in our OL and use each year. I just left mine on Haunted Mansion last night and the CM was nice enough to give me a voucher for a new one! Note though that the quality keeps going down on these! They are much thinner than the ones that we bought 4-5 yrs ago. The best were the yellow Mickey ponchos which I still have one of back home. It seems to always rain when we are here, so we just don our ponchos and keep going!!

SRUAlmn, I hope you have the same magical vacation that we are having! And thank you again for the Garden Grove cert...we have our ADR there for Sat. night!

 

[MBELSANTI]

Just FYI [and sorry if this is posted already] - I received an email response today from the Swan confirming that they do NOT accept deliveries from Garden Grocer. Their response is below I do not personally find the selection from the Personal Pantry offered here to fit our needs.....

Thank you for recent inquiry of The Swan and Dolphin Resort. The hotel offers the personal pantry which is an in house delivery service of food and snack items.
They may be contacted at 407-934-6087 for further information. Our guest rooms are equipped with mini refrigerators.
The Swan and Dolphin does not accept deliveries from Garden Grocer or any outside vendors.
Please feel free to contact me if I may be of any further assistance.

Have a refreshing day !

Bob McGovern- Concierge
Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort
1500 Epcot Resorts Blvd Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
P: 407-934-4025 F: 407-934-4867

I was so disappointed to find this out too as we have used them our last 5 or 6 trips and found it to be amazing. Now not having the dining plan we really needed the extra items to save some money OOP. Since guests at S/D are not on the dining plan, I bet many were ordering from there and the amount of deliveries and items to store were a nightmare. If you think about it, every time we place an order, that is money that the hotels, parks are losing. I was always surprised that Disney hotels would do it...and have the extra fridge space to store all of the perishables. We did go to the Screen Door on the boardwalk and picked up bagels, doughnuts and 1/2 gal milk for the mornings. The prices were a bit crazy, but not as bad as buying individual milks at the park.

 

[kandb]

It's official. We have switched from CSR to the dolphin. We are coming in Sept with my family and my mom in a 2nd room. We had free dining at CSR and I just priced out our vacation for the dolphin (for all of us) and we have $1400 for food for 7 nights (that is how much extra CSR was going to be). We got terrific rates at the dolphin (127.20 and 119.00/per night). I guess "free dining" really isn't that "free". I am so excited about staying at the dolphin. I love the idea of being walking distance to HS and epcot. We can spend time on the boardwalk. Are there any other things to do nearby? I know there is minature golf. Does anyone know how much it is? Are there any other activities around the resort? Thanks for all the help. Looking forward to a great vacation.

 

[here_and_there]

Because sometimes (often?) folks on here seem to know more than whoever happens to pick up the phone, does anyone know if you can book a room on points and then get a stay connected rate for a second room? Or does the first room have to be cash?

Thanks!

Yes, you can do that. I booked my next stay just like that. You need to book the points part first, as the hotel staff cannot do that, then call the hotel and ask to add the stay connected room.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Oh no is right lol! Well to be honest, we used to travel here and Disney cruises at the hight of hurricane season in aug, sept, so we have been on the tail end or begining of so many. Back in I think it was 08 or 09 we spent the entire week under Faye...you could even see the eye as she passed over and then stopped and lingered over us the whole trip. We have the good ponchos that we keep in our OL and use each year. I just left mine on Haunted Mansion last night and the CM was nice enough to give me a voucher for a new one! Note though that the quality keeps going down on these! They are much thinner than the ones that we bought 4-5 yrs ago. The best were the yellow Mickey ponchos which I still have one of back home. It seems to always rain when we are here, so we just don our ponchos and keep going!!

SRUAlmn, I hope you have the same magical vacation that we are having! And thank you again for the Garden Grove cert...we have our ADR there for Sat. night!

Yes, I agree about the rain! Thankfully we know this in advance, so we're bringing the heavy duty rain gear

Thanks for the magical wishes! I'm taking a grad class and have my final tomorrow and then I can be excited It's been hard to try to finish all my course work and pack at the same time! I'll be READY for some relaxation. Maybe falling asleep to the sound of POURING rain outside our Dolphin window will be soothing. Ha! Enjoy your dinner!!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Have a super trip, SRU!!!

 

[Jennasis]

Parents are looking into staying at Dolphin for the food and Wine Classic in OCtober. Couple of questions...

Can they get DME from the airport?

What ID is required to get a government rate (my mother works for the town)?

If no DME, what's the best way to get there from MCO?

 

[SRUAlmn]

Have a super trip, SRU!!!

Thanks so much, Dan!! And thanks for all of your HELPFUL advice and tips!
Our trip will be even greater thanks to all the wonderful people on this thread!

 

[SingingMom]

Parents are looking into staying at Dolphin for the food and Wine Classic in OCtober. Couple of questions...

Can they get DME from the airport?

What ID is required to get a government rate (my mother works for the town)?

If no DME, what's the best way to get there from MCO?

Unfortunately, no DME. They can use Mears, but we prefer a town car service. I like door to door service, and I feel "special" when the nice driver is waiting for us with our name on his sign.

A paystub and/ or a township ID would most likely be all she needs. I used both when I had a teacher's rate years ago, but one or the other seemed fine with the front desk.

 

[olive]

Yes, you can do that. I booked my next stay just like that. You need to book the points part first, as the hotel staff cannot do that, then call the hotel and ask to add the stay connected room.

This is great news! I called to switch our room to points yesterday (the other room is for my parents), and was told the only choices are limited view, resort view with a balcony or suite for either Swan or Dolphin. We were hoping for an Epcot fireworks view, which we loved on our last trip, so I decided to just keep the cash reservation. My parents don't care about view, though, so now I know we can switch theirs to the points reservation and book ours as a stay connected once they are released for 2013. I assume you can pay more than whatever the baseline stay connected rate is for a specific room category.

Thanks for the expertise!!

 

[pooh2001]

We will be in our Dolphin room by 6/23, 4:30 PM

I will report our room condition and any thing else we see when my DS lets me use his computer, which he has to bring for an on-line summer college class. DS just does not use his 'mouse', he likes the 'finger pad', so my entry may not be as great, since I never use the 'finger pad'

I will try a picture upload when we get back.

Does anyone need me to check out something at the Dolphin, as long as we can get to it or see it ?

We have a resort view standard double room with a balcony.
We do not plan to eat at the restaurants at the Dolphin or Swan.
Maybe Picaubu's just to buy some snacks.

 

[robinbutterfly]

We will be in our Dolphin room by 6/23, 4:30 PM

I will report our room condition and any thing else we see when my DS lets me use his computer, which he has to bring for an on-line summer college class. DS just does not use his 'mouse', he likes the 'finger pad', so my entry may not be as great, since I never use the 'finger pad'

I will try a picture upload when we get back.

Does anyone need me to check out something at the Dolphin, as long as we can get to it or see it ?

We have a resort view standard double room with a balcony.
We do not plan to eat at the restaurants at the Dolphin or Swan.
Maybe Picaubu's just to buy some snacks.

Have a great trip!!!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Enjoy, Pooh, have a fun trip.

 

[brunette8706]

Hello !

Has anyone here tried their Concierge Level? Was wondering what the offerings were and the prices?

Thanks so much!
Brunette

 

[Dan Murphy]

The concierge level, or Club as they called it, has been gone for several years now. No club level at the S/D.

 

[Jennasis]

Which resort is closest to Epcot as far as WALKING distance? They seem almost negligible to me, but my dad had knee surgery recently and asked.

 

[robinbutterfly]

Does the Swan/Dolphin have refillable mugs?
How much are they ? Where can they be refilled?
Thanks!

 

[el_tigre]

Which resort is closest to Epcot as far as WALKING distance? They seem almost negligible to me, but my dad had knee surgery recently and asked.

If you take the main route, as most people seem to, the Swan would be closer. Most Dolphin guests seem to cross the walkway that passes the water taxi pier which also goes right in front of the Swan's entrance.

However, the Dolphin has a small exit on the ground floor of its most eastern wing, which I don't think most people know about. If you took this exit, the Dolphin would be the quicker walk to Epcot of the two resorts.

If choosing the Dolphin, it might make sense to request a room on ground floor eastern wing in your case.