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

[floridascgirl]

Hello everyone!
Can someone please tell me a bit about being a Starwood Preferred Guest Member? Do you have to pay $ to join? Do you get a discount just by being a member or do you have to accrue points first?

I've been researching the S & D for our next trip because it seems like the most economical way to experience staying near the Boardwalk and Epcot. Right now, I'm trying to decide which would be the best discount for us. We are AAA members and teachers...or should I join SPG?

 

[roydavid7771]

Hello everyone!
Can someone please tell me a bit about being a Starwood Preferred Guest Member? Do you have to pay $ to join? Do you get a discount just by being a member or do you have to accrue points first?

I've been researching the S & D for our next trip because it seems like the most economical way to experience staying near the Boardwalk and Epcot. Right now, I'm trying to decide which would be the best discount for us. We are AAA members and teachers...or should I join SPG?

The best source of information would be www.spg.com. There, they'll tell you all about the different levels of membership. Membership is free, however I got the Starwood AMEX card and got a whole bunch of points just for signing up and I get points for everything that I charge to the card.

AAA members and teachers can usually get good rates at the S/D, but being an SPG member can get you things like free upgrades and other promotional specials. Either way, I've found staying there quite a bit less expensive than staying at a Disney resort.

 

[Tink412]

I'm doing a split stay at the Swan/Dolphin starting this Sunday!! However I am going with my 3 teenaged brothers and the plan for our sleeping arrangements was that we would get a full/queen air mattress for the floor so my brothers don't have to sleep together, and for our stay in the dolphin that allows for 5 guests, our dad will be joining us, so the air mattress is definitely necessary. After looking at the room pictures though I'm afraid it won't fit! Has anyone had experience or can tell me if it will fit? Or if there is space for 2 twin sized air mattresses??

 

[SRUAlmn]

Hello everyone!
Can someone please tell me a bit about being a Starwood Preferred Guest Member? Do you have to pay $ to join? Do you get a discount just by being a member or do you have to accrue points first?

I've been researching the S & D for our next trip because it seems like the most economical way to experience staying near the Boardwalk and Epcot. Right now, I'm trying to decide which would be the best discount for us. We are AAA members and teachers...or should I join SPG?

I am an SPG member with no points accrued yet, and I am also a teacher and I have AAA. I called a month ago to check rates for the summer and the teacher rate was the lowest of the 3.

 

[simonmunro]

Wonder if Daisey's Gift Shop has batteries that will fit Mike's camera lol.

 

[NancyC1000]

We are teachers, AAA members and Starwood members and I agree the teacher's rate is always the lowest. I would join Starwood, it is free, so why not. I always check Starwood rates, hotel rates, AAA rates, teacher's rate and the hotels rates before booking and go with the lowest! I have found that the Starwood website (or you can call) always has better rates than the hotel itself. You can book the teacher's rate and AAA rate with either the hotel directly or the Starwood phone number/website. If you book on the Starwood website, sometimes you have to pre-pay the whole thing and it is non-refundable. And, oh two years ago when we booked directly with Starwood we later found a better rate and they matched it.

 

[floridascgirl]

Thanks for the info. everyone!

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Is there a way to time the best rates at the Dolphin? By this I mean when do they tend to have the best specials? How far out? I was looking at the end of April 2012 and the AAA rate was almost 300 for just a regular room. It is 2 weeks after Easter so not really a busy time. I looked at May too and noticed the same. People say they get great rates at the Dolphin, like under 200. Is that still possible? Do I just need to wait a while to book?

 

[lovingthemouse]

Sometimes a travel site like Travelocity will have a special rate that Starwood competes with for a limited time. The very low rates are often not promoted that far in advance, like 2 or 3 months. Three weeks ago I did have a prepaid $129. night rate, but thanks to some advance warning by members here.
Do check rates often - from when I first booked last Nov, through Mem'l Day weekend, I went down 4 different times. Usually the teacher rate is the best, but these specials can be lower.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Sometimes a travel site like Travelocity will have a special rate that Starwood competes with for a limited time. The very low rates are often not promoted that far in advance, like 2 or 3 months. Three weeks ago I did have a prepaid $129. night rate, but thanks to some advance warning by members here.
Do check rates often - from when I first booked last Nov, through Mem'l Day weekend, I went down 4 different times. Usually the teacher rate is the best, but these specials can be lower.

Are these the prepaid non refundable rates?

What is the cancellation policy for the Dolphin. I know that room-only reservations for disney resorts are 5 days in advance no penalty (you get you deposit back).

 

[lovingthemouse]

Yes, it was prepaid and non-refundable. Will check on their policy for you.

 

[LexiC123]

Thank you for your quick response Lexi! I did some searches for pictures and I found this one:

It's kind of hard to tell, but the windows are definitely big enough for me

Thank you for the tip about telling them it's your birthday on your reservation! That's really cool. So you went in September last year? How was it? I picked to go then because the crowds are supposed to be incredibly low, and the hotel prices also seemed to be at their lowest. I was a bit hesitant about the weather, but I'm from Texas so I figured it can't be that bad!

I love September! We went the past two years the week of Labor Day, and it was terrific. Yes, the heat and humidity were insanely high (more so last year than in 2009), but the lack of crowds allowed us to build lots of breaks into our schedule for the hottest parts of the day. We did make rope drop every day, but took our time and were still able to see everything, because just about all the attractions were walk-ons. The only crowds we encountered were at the MK EMH on the night before Labor Day, and the only FP we actually used was for Soarin'.

If you're ok with the heat, I highly recommend this time of year. I'm kind of sorry we're not going this September, but we wanted to experience the Food & Wine Festival and attend one of MNSSHP's, so we pushed our trip out to October this year.

I'm sure you'll have a great time!

 

[mikegood2]

Sorry about not posting any images yet. Does anyone know how to post images from an iPad? My posting Rule info on the bottom of the page says I may not post photos and when I click on the image button it asks for a web address.

Would do some looking in to it, but that time is better used in the parks or napping.

 

[Belle83]

Are these the prepaid non refundable rates?

What is the cancellation policy for the Dolphin. I know that room-only reservations for disney resorts are 5 days in advance no penalty (you get you deposit back).

They are prepaid on travelocity, but travelocity lets you cancel. They tell you that you are subject to the hotel's cancellation policy, which is "up to the full charge of your stay..".

I was under the impression we would have had to pay the entire stay if we cancelled (which we almost did because of a family member gettin really sick). The Dolphin's regular cancellation policy was something like 1 night stay (if it's too short notice), but I wonder if they do the same for prepaid reservations?

(We had the $129/night rate)

 

[bumble]

Hi Everyone.

First let me say that this thread is awesome.

The family and I will be heading down for a stay at the Dolphin starting July 5. We are super excited and can't wait.

Here's my question.... Has anyone ever mailed a package through the USPS and then have the Dolphin hold it for you upon arrival? I could also try and time the delivery so it hopefully arrives within the first day or two of us being there.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[simonmunro]

Hey Mike, we will look when you get back! The only thing I have ever gotten out of my ipad is when I went to gmail or yahoo and attached it then sent it to myself. The long way around I'm sure but it worked. From my email I downloaded it to my droid or pc. Have a great time!

 

[Phlip]

Live from the Dolphin...it's Saturday night with Phlip!!
Short report...flight was great, got a great last minute deal on a car from Alamo-165.00 for a midsize suv! Trouble is that the last renter must've puked in it, the car smells like a mix of old barf and hooker perfume. Seriously. Soooo...the Alamo counters here and the car care center were closed. MCO Alamo said I could switch it out up there (uh, no) or wait till the am and switch it here at the Dolphin. FYI, the counter here closes at 4pm. Soooo...we will see. The car was not so bad, till we got to Walmart and it sat in the heat for a bit. Yuck.

On to the Dolphin-no traffic, Walmart super busy (when is it not). Dolphin front desk super slow, but wonderful to us when we got up to the desk. Starwood desk rep couldn't upgrade us to a suite (wouldn't that have been nice?) but got us a one class up grade to resort view. We are on the 16th floor, look out over the lobby roof, at a nice woods view. We see some hotels in the distance don't know what they are though--is it the MK?? I'll have to check it out. Got a resort credit for both rooms (100 bucks!) and she comped the resort fee. Super! All 'cause we had to wait (and wait).
Comfy beds, lots of room--kids went to the pool, awesome.
So aside from the yuck car (and a minor bathroom incident that I will call about tomorrow...) a great start to a nice vacation. Off to see if that really is an MK view....
Oh, and the wifi is free...
Phlip

 

[cleophus12]

I have searched every word I could think of on this thread, but cannot get the a/c override instructions to come up for me. Would someone be willing to help me out? At the Dolphin now. Lovely room, great view, first stay. So far, everything is grand!

 

[jcb]

I have searched every word I could think of on this thread, but cannot get the a/c override instructions to come up for me. Would someone be willing to help me out? At the Dolphin now. Lovely room, great view, first stay. So far, everything is grand!

These are Dan's instructions:

[FONT=&quot]You hold the 'Display' button down and while holding down, push the 'on/off' button and then the 'up' button. That will put it on manual operation for 3 days. You can check if it worked since if in auto mode, temp can only be set down to 65, if manual, can go to 60.[/FONT]

 

[jnfr2424]

Sorry about not posting any images yet. Does anyone know how to post images from an iPad? My posting Rule info on the bottom of the page says I may not post photos and when I click on the image button it asks for a web address.

Would do some looking in to it, but that time is better used in the parks or napping.

Hey Mike
Glad you are having great time!
Use the photobucket app on your iPad
you can upload your imported pictures from your iPad to photobucket
when you view the photos there is a link symbol you can see which option to copy links
on the DISboards use the IMG one. Once your tap the IMG link its copied
so you can paste in the boards.
If you need more help PM and I will be glad to help out