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

[vicb]

Hi TaraPA I have seen your photo of the "worst view" and that worries me a lot! I did go ahead and book my limited view room because money is tight for this trip and my DH really did not want to fork over another $30 per night to upgrade to resort view when we could stay cash free on points at the Hilton. So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a decent view.

I thought my rate was decent $199 per night ($230 w/ tax and fees) for Easter week 2012. It is a AAA rate, govt. rate is $20 less but I don't qualify for that.

I'll keep watching to see if the rate drops as the time gets closer. I booked 7 nights but probably will only be staying 5 but since I have no idea which nights I booked them all. We are going to see my DS's high school band perform that week but their itinerary isn't set yet.

Excited to finally stay at the Dolphin!

 

[TaraPA]

vicb- make sure you go to spg.com & sign up for the Starwood rewards program. Just by signing up you're a Preferred level member, and while they no longer give complimentary upgrades for Preferred members, it never hurts to be signed up. Since it's Easter week it might be full to capacity at the hotel, so there might not even be a chance for an upgrade, but you just never know. Service at S/D is great, they do everything they can to give you a great stay.

You will also be able to view your reservation once you sign up for spg.com, and you can check if your rate goes lower on that site as well.

Plus you'll earn Starwood points for your stay next year, and once you accumulate 10,000 points you can get a night free at S/D. There are other rewards available as well for lesser points.

Also take your AAA card - Picabu & some other restaraunts (non-signature) offer a 20% discount on food.

 

[vicb]

Thanks for those great tips. I did sign up for Starwood last night before making my ressie so I could put my number in.

I did not know that about the restaurants, is that a "show and save" kind of deal?

I think the most important thing is location during Easter week (the week I vowed I would never go ) and any room at the Dolphin is a better location than being at the downtown Hilton in my opinion.

Have a great day.

 

[TaraPA]

Yes I've always had to show my AAA card as well as my room key to get the 20% discount. We usually eat breakfast at Picabu every morning - so the 20% discount does save quiet a bit over a week's stay. I think someone said you can use it at The Fountain and Fresh as well, but I never tried.

 

[Dan Murphy]

AAA for Picabu, Fountain, Fresh and Garden Grove. I think maybe Splash also, though have never eaten there.

The Signature restaurants take the AP Tables in Wonderland card if you have it.

http://allears.net/din/dde.htm

And all/or most of the Signatures are on www.restaurants.com for discounts.

 

[lovingthemouse]

VicB, Tara - I sgree that even though we have had back side roomviews, being at the Dolphin is worth the view for me!! There is so much to do, we are out of the room more than in it, and that $30 per night can easily be spent on something else.
While I understand that for many the view is important, to me just being there is important.
We have used our AAA each morning at Fresh- their buffet style offers so much, you can easily skip lunch and make it to the middle of the afternoon.

VicB- are you eligible for the teacher or nurse discount? That is what we use as it does save us some good money.

 

[GinCar]

I am not sure if this has been posted, or not.

The Starwood site has 40% off the second night of stay deal.

When I priced out my dates, it was just a few dollars more than my teacher discount. So for those looking to book that can not get the teacher, nurse, govt. rate, this is a pretty decent discount.

 

[vicb]

VicB, Tara - I sgree that even though we have had back side roomviews, being at the Dolphin is worth the view for me!! There is so much to do, we are out of the room more than in it, and that $30 per night can easily be spent on something else.
While I understand that for many the view is important, to me just being there is important.
We have used our AAA each morning at Fresh- their buffet style offers so much, you can easily skip lunch and make it to the middle of the afternoon.

VicB- are you eligible for the teacher or nurse discount? That is what we use as it does save us some good money.

Nope not eligible for either of those but that's ok, I'm glad they help lots of folks. I had been watching the easter 2012 dates for about a month or more now and they were at $332 just up until a couple of days ago so glad to get the rate I did for now. I'm not sure how much lower I can expect at easter time but I'll keep watching.

We have stayed at BWI, Poly, BC and most recently CSR so this will be great for us. We tried CSR last time to save $$ and it was nice but by the end of the week getting on the bus was getting old. I know we will enjoy being back on the boardwalk area without paying the Disney resort prices for that week! Just wish it wasn't 14 months away... but I've got a trip to Boston/Maine this summer to look forward to.

 

[Mouseteacher]

Nope not eligible for either of those but that's ok, I'm glad they help lots of folks. I had been watching the easter 2012 dates for about a month or more now and they were at $332 just up until a couple of days ago so glad to get the rate I did for now. I'm not sure how much lower I can expect at easter time but I'll keep watching.

We have stayed at BWI, Poly, BC and most recently CSR so this will be great for us. We tried CSR last time to save $$ and it was nice but by the end of the week getting on the bus was getting old. I know we will enjoy being back on the boardwalk area without paying the Disney resort prices for that week! Just wish it wasn't 14 months away... but I've got a trip to Boston/Maine this summer to look forward to.

Hope our New England snow has melted by the July!

 

[clemsondisneyfan]

We are staying at the Dolphin for 3 nights before moving to the CR resort for the remaining 7 nights. We are looking forward to it and have enjoyed reading through the reviews here. Every time we visit WDW, we have checked out the S&D hotels from the road. It will be fun to visit and see them up close!

We are also looking forward to trying the fine dining restaurants there. The menus look great!

72 days and counting!!

April 2011
Dolphin - stand. room - 3 nights
Contemporary CL MK 1 BR 7 nights

 

[SingingMom]

Advice Please...

the rates have dropped for my dates so I want to book tonight. What is the difference between "limited view" and "resort view" ? Staying at Dolphin is a bit of a stretch for us for this trip we are planning, we could stay at the downtown Hilton on points and have emh privilages but really would prefer the Dolphin location. The cost difference is $30 per night.

How bad would limited view be???

VicB, Tara - I sgree that even though we have had back side roomviews, being at the Dolphin is worth the view for me!! There is so much to do, we are out of the room more than in it, and that $30 per night can easily be spent on something else.
While I understand that for many the view is important, to me just being there is important.
We have used our AAA each morning at Fresh- their buffet style offers so much, you can easily skip lunch and make it to the middle of the afternoon.

VicB- are you eligible for the teacher or nurse discount? That is what we use as it does save us some good money.

Remember at check in, it doesn't hurt to smile and ask sweetly - "any chance of a pretty view.. or balcony... etc" If they aren't booked to capacity, they very well might upgrade you.
But - the other thing to remember is - how much time to you expect to stay actually in your room, looking at the view? I always like a balcony, because my family are slowpokes and I like to sit on the balcony with my book or cup of tea to wait for them to get moving.
If you end up with a not so nice view, you can always go down and sit in the lobby or around the pools and soak in the view from there!

Don't forget that AAA card! Comes in handy at Picabu, FRESH, and The Fountain. I think we might have used it at the Cabana Bar at dinner one evening, too..

 

[MinnieVanMom]

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Walking-Distances.htm

Thanks Dan for this information. Also for the boat information. I don't know why I couldn't get it backwards.

 

[snels]

I wanted to mention that we had a dumpster view room on one of our visits to the Dolphin. We were right above the dumpster, and every morning around 4-5 A.M. we were awakened to the sound of trucks backing up collecting the garbage. The loading dock was there also, so there was a lot of activity at all hours.

We have decided that a view is important to us, so we pay for a resort view now.






GO PACKERS!!!!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I wanted to mention that we had a dumpster view room on one of our visits to the Dolphin. We were right above the dumpster, and every morning around 4-5 A.M. we were awakened to the sound of trucks backing up collecting the garbage. The loading dock was there also, so there was a lot of activity at all hours.....

 

[mikegood2]

We have yet to get our plane tickets for our June visit yet. Partially because we are looking/hoping for better deals and they have not filled up much yet. If we use AirTran we probably save around $70 a ticket but they only have 2 badly timed return flights, an 8 am or a 5 pm flight.

Question for any of the frequent S/D visitors. Will the S/D securely hold your luggage for you (for a few hours) if your plane does not leave until after your checkout time? Also, does anyone have any suggestions of what we could do for a few hours if we catch a later flight. I don't think we will want to visit any of the parks that day?

 

[TaraPA]

mikegood2 - absolutely they will hold your luggage for you if you have a later flight. We've done this many times. If you're not going to a park there's always DTD, or the mini golf place across from The Swan. If you don't have a lot of time, The Grotto Pool is a great place to relax & have a drink or snack, or take a stroll on The Boardwalk. If you like to walk, you could walk the loop around The Boardwalk, past BC & YC & back to S/D. Personally, I'd be stoping at Beaches & Cream at BC for some ice cream on that walk!

 

[Dan Murphy]

As said before, I fly out of Milwaukee and my flight to MCO is always early AM, flight home is always late. Gives me 2 extra days there. And if you make make AT reservations now and prices drop, you get a credit. I just got a $30 credit a few days ago on my departure flight that I made some weeks ago.

 

[Mackie Mouse]

mikegood2 - absolutely they will hold your luggage for you if you have a later flight. We've done this many times. If you're not going to a park there's always DTD, or the mini golf place across from The Swan. If you don't have a lot of time, The Grotto Pool is a great place to relax & have a drink or snack, or take a stroll on The Boardwalk. If you like to walk, you could walk the loop around The Boardwalk, past BC & YC & back to S/D. Personally, I'd be stoping at Beaches & Cream at BC for some ice cream on that walk!

Would this also hold if we arrived before check-in time?

One additional question. I just read here about the current "40% off second night" promotion and also see that there is a similar promotion going on that gives free breakfast for one person per day. I am currently booked for August with the teacher's rate of $159 night (plus taxes/fees). Since the reservations desk is closed right now, I wanted to see if getting feedback from you all before calling tomorrow would be helpful We are staying 5 nights - do we stand to save more with either of these promotions, do you think? I did a little number crunching and the 40% off promo seems like it would save us about $50 total, I think. Could we combine either of these promos (I am thinking maybe the free breakfast but not the 40% off) with the teacher discount, or can only one discount be applied at a time?

I'll also follow up on making dining reservations, in case anyone cares. Tomorrow is the last day of reservations I need to make - it's the night I want Le Cellier - and I'm pretty sure I'll do just fine. Getting all my other reservations worked well, and I was able to make a conflicting Le Cellier reservation for an alternate night just in case things don't work out tomorrow.

 

[ireland_nicole]

I wanted to mention that we had a dumpster view room on one of our visits to the Dolphin. We were right above the dumpster, and every morning around 4-5 A.M. we were awakened to the sound of trucks backing up collecting the garbage. The loading dock was there also, so there was a lot of activity at all hours.

We have decided that a view is important to us, so we pay for a resort view now.






GO PACKERS!!!!!

Thanks for posting this- we're arriving the day after thanksgiving, and were a bit worried about the limited room availability- having read this we immediately called and upgraded to a resort view- totally worth it do not be over the dumpster lol

 

[TaraPA]

Hi Mackie Mouse! Yes we've also come in on an early flight around 11am & had them hold our luggage while we went to the parks, because it was too early to check in.

Have fun with all your planning!

Hey is anyone going to be there in March? I have 2 ressies in March, one at Swan, one at Dolphin, and it would be nice to say hello to some fellow DIS-ers!