The **New** Swan and Dolphin Resort thread ~ September 2010 ~ Please read post #1

[NancyIL]

We were real fans of the B&C burgers - They were a must-do for our visits. But friends kept saying that we needed to try the Fountain burgers and one day the line at B&C was just too long to wait. Quick walk over to the Fountain and no wait. The burger there was so much better than B&C that we switched our allegiance.

If you're not staying at the Swolphin, how do you earn SPG points at the Fountain? I'm a SPG Gold member but it never occurred to me that I could get points for eating there unless I did a room charge.

I almost always stay at the Swan, and I also have the Starwood AMEX.

 

[OKW Lover]

I don't have the Starwood AMEX so I'm out on that account. I do try to stay at the Swolphin when I'm out of DVC points though. Otherwise I'm a Marriott guy.

 

[Chrissyb8885]

hmmm I wonder if i can get the super bowl discount if i was BORN in NY...im a huge fan but havent lived their in years

 

[ImprovGal]

If you're not staying at the Swolphin, how do you earn SPG points at the Fountain? I'm a SPG Gold member but it never occurred to me that I could get points for eating there unless I did a room charge.

The pre-tax amount has to be at least $10 and in theory if you bring the receipt to the front desk, they can manually post the starpoints to your account without the matching resort stay. In practice, however, I've had to fax a copy of my receipt to Starwood. (I can't find the #, but if you call your customer service number they can assist you.)

I think SPG is the only hotel program that allows you to earn points on food & beverage purchases alone without having to be charged to a room stay account.

 

[OKW Lover]

The pre-tax amount has to be at least $10 and in theory if you bring the receipt to the front desk, they can manually post the starpoints to your account without the matching resort stay. In practice, however, I've had to fax a copy of my receipt to Starwood. (I can't find the #, but if you call your customer service number they can assist you.)

I think SPG is the only hotel program that allows you to earn points on food & beverage purchases alone without having to be charged to a room stay account.

Good to know! We will be at the Swolphin for four-nights in about 6 weeks.

 

[autumnblue]

Hi,

I just booked the Dolphin using the AAA rate but I am wondering if I might qualify for either the Teacher or Government Rate. I work as an academic administrator at a public state university and I am a state employee however I will not be traveling for business.

Also does anyone know if there is a pool lift for people with disAbilities.

Best,

Autumn

 

[LexiC123]

Hi,

I just booked the Dolphin using the AAA rate but I am wondering if I might qualify for either the Teacher or Government Rate. I work as an academic administrator at a public state university and I am a state employee however I will not be traveling for business.

Also does anyone know if there is a pool lift for people with disAbilities.

Best,

Autumn

If your paycheck is issued by the university or the state, then you would definitely qualify for either, or both, discounts. Also, the travel doesn't have to be business-related to qualify for the rate.

I see that you're from Massachusetts, so that would also qualify you for the Swan/Dolphin Super Bowl promotion. With that promotion, you pay for two nights at the lowest standard rate and you get the third night free. If you stay for 6 nights, two nights would be free. For me, that worked out better than the AAA rate, so it might be worth looking into. You can't book that promo on line, though...you have to call.

Regarding the pool lift, I definitely recall seeing one at the Swan lap pool last October, but you might want to call the hotel directly just to confirm.

 

[autumnblue]

If your paycheck is issued by the university or the state, then you would definitely qualify for either, or both, discounts. Also, the travel doesn't have to be business-related to qualify for the rate.

I see that you're from Massachusetts, so that would also qualify you for the Swan/Dolphin Super Bowl promotion. With that promotion, you pay for two nights at the lowest standard rate and you get the third night free. If you stay for 6 nights, two nights would be free. For me, that worked out better than the AAA rate, so it might be worth looking into. You can't book that promo on line, though...you have to call.

Regarding the pool lift, I definitely recall seeing one at the Swan lap pool last October, but you might want to call the hotel directly just to confirm.

Thank you so much. I checked the teacher rate and it is the same as my AAA but I will definitely look at the Super Bowl promo. We are booked for 6 nights so that might just work out better for us. Thank you again.

I will call about the lift as well.

Autumn

 

[Debrn]

I checked out he nurse discount but the Super Bowl special was much better. Booked 3nights in Oct. so paid for 2got 1 free. A quick girls food/wine get away

 

[SRUAlmn]

Hi I asked this a couple posts back, but I think it got buried amidst the Starwood Amex posts What is the reservation policy for Kimonos and for The Fountain? I can't find the option to make reservations for either on the S&D site or on the Disney site. Are they both just walk up? I saw that lovingthemouse did respond (TY ) that they walked up to the Fountain and didn't see anything about reservations. I'm assuming that's the case, since it's a casual place. Can anyone confirm? My main question is about Kimonos since we have some Restaurant.com certificates that I'd love to get to use

 

[lovingthemouse]

Hi - i did respond to your question and told you that I am not familiar with Kimonos, but i have never seen or heard about ressies for the fountain!! I do not believe you need any ressies for the Fountain. Great foods, awesome ice cream!!!!! Been there far too many times, and will definitely go back in a few months!!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Hi - i did respond to your question and told you that I am not familiar with Kimonos, but i have never seen or heard about ressies for the fountain!! I do not believe you need any ressies for the Fountain. Great foods, awesome ice cream!!!!! Been there far too many times, and will definitely go back in a few months!!

Thanks! I did mention in my post that you responded and wrote TY to you Thanks again!

I was just posting again in case anyone knew the situation with Kimonos

 

[lovingthemouse]

Sorry about that - tells you that I did not read your response carefully enough. I do hope that someone can answer your question. I will have to check Kimonos more carefully when we go back.

 

[lizabu]

Hi I asked this a couple posts back, but I think it got buried amidst the Starwood Amex posts What is the reservation policy for Kimonos and for The Fountain? I can't find the option to make reservations for either on the S&D site or on the Disney site. Are they both just walk up? I saw that lovingthemouse did respond (TY ) that they walked up to the Fountain and didn't see anything about reservations. I'm assuming that's the case, since it's a casual place. Can anyone confirm? My main question is about Kimonos since we have some Restaurant.com certificates that I'd love to get to use

I was just there in Jan and both places were completely dead but I noticed they had a book with names written in it on the hostess podium so I suppose you could make reservations if you wanted to.

 

[LexiC123]

Hi I asked this a couple posts back, but I think it got buried amidst the Starwood Amex posts What is the reservation policy for Kimonos and for The Fountain? I can't find the option to make reservations for either on the S&D site or on the Disney site. Are they both just walk up? I saw that lovingthemouse did respond (TY ) that they walked up to the Fountain and didn't see anything about reservations. I'm assuming that's the case, since it's a casual place. Can anyone confirm? My main question is about Kimonos since we have some Restaurant.com certificates that I'd love to get to use

You definitely don't need a reservation for Fountain...it's a walk-up, first come, first served kinda place. I would recommend dining at off times, though, because there is often a wait for a table at peak lunch and dinner times.

Re: Kimonos, it is kind of odd that you can't book it on-line, but it does say that you can call for reservations 180 days in advance on the WDW-DINE line.

Thank you so much. I checked the teacher rate and it is the same as my AAA but I will definitely look at the Super Bowl promo. We are booked for 6 nights so that might just work out better for us. Thank you again.

I will call about the lift as well.

Autumn

You're quite welcome. The Super Bowl promo is saving us tons of $$ on our October trip. The AAA rate for our week at the Swan was $209/night (plus taxes and fees); after factoring in the two free nights, our Super Bowl rate works out to $139/night...$156 with taxes and fees.

Hope it works out as well for you, too.

 

[Mouseteacher]

Just finalized our late July stay at the Swan. It is our annual stay where we celebrate our wedding anniversary. The AAA rate was better than the teacher rate for the 5 nights we are staying. This is the first time I encountered that. In the past, the teacher rate was usually the best rate. Unfortinately, the Super Bowl promo did not apply to our dates.

We reserved a deluxe alcove suite with balcony. I didn't want to take the chance of a comp upgrade to a balcony. Last summer the resort was fully booked (same time frame as this year's stay) and the resort was kind to move us to a balcony room on our second night when a balcony room came available. We really enjoy the balcony. Our favorite area of the resort is the east wing.

Now the planning begins...ADRs up next!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Just finalized our late July stay at the Swan. It is our annual stay where we celebrate our wedding anniversary.

Now the planning begins...ADRs up next!

Our anniversary is in July and we go every year for our anniversary too! I'm also a teacher, and the teacher rate was better for us than the AAA rate, but we're going before our anniversary this year (in June,) so maybe that makes the difference? Their rates are so hard to figure out sometimes. I wish they had "seasons" like Disney does. I know sometimes the S&D get you better deals this way, but at least it would be easier to figure out without having to keep calling and checking



As for Kimonos:
I emailed concierge over the weekend so I would have an answer. I don't want to miss out on being able to use our Restaurant.com certificates They wrote back today and said that Kimonos is walk up only, they do not take any kind of reservations. They're scheduled to be open from 5:30pm-1:00am daily, but they will close earlier if they aren't busy. I just thought I'd share Thanks everyone for your input

 

[Dan Murphy]

Trying to help my son and DIL plan their first family trip with their 2 sons (our grandsons ), ages about 3 and 1 at time of trip, to WDW in May, about a week, between the 15th and 25th. DIL is talking about Y&BC and the SAB pool/s. Does anyone know if any of the S/D pools are zero entry?

 

[jjas]

I just booked the Swan last night for March 4th - March 8th for $189 (+$25 per night because we are 3 adults - so $214 total). Does this seem like a good rate for this time of year or does anyone know of better?

Thanks!

 

[texaskathy]

What a great post! I was so excited to find out all this info about where we are staying. Thanks!