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

[TaraPA]

I was just talking w/ my DH and I am using that D part loosely !! I have planned this trip for months and nwo he is asking questions !!

We are staying at the Dolphin, first time, July 16-23. I got a teacher rate of $199/night for a resort room view w/balcony. My DH loves sitting on the balcony drinking his java in the morning and the same w/ an adult beverage in the evening (me too). His question, what might we be seeing from our resort view room balcony ? Please let it not be that awfully scary view that the infamous Tara PA took a pic of !!!

Thanks so very much !!

LOL it's me!

I don't think any rooms on that part of the hotel had balconies. Whew.

Resort View with balcony could be just about anywhere else though, except in the main building "triangle." We stayed in the West Tower last week & every other room had a balcony (ours did not). We faced DHS. The pic under my name is a Resort View With Balcony, and last year we had the same category in a different tower.

They are very accomodating - if you don't like your view, kindly let them know & they will fix it for you if they can!

 

[TaraPA]

Are there places around the S/D resort to watch epcot fireworks and do they pipe in the music (I actually dont even know if there is music to go with the epcot fireworks, my only experience is with Disneyland fireworks).

Are there rooms with fireworks view and again (if there is music) can you turn the TV to a certain channel for the accompaning music?

No, unfortunately they do not pipe the music in to the resort, or on TV. Yes there is a room category - Epcot Fireworks View - but Illuminations isn't just a fireworks show, most of it is done on the lagoon inside Epcot - so you can't see any of that. You will just be able to see the higher fireworks from the begnining & end of Illuminations.

You can view the higher fireworks from both Illuminations at Epcot and Wishes at MK from The Boardwalk.

This is what we saw of Illuminations from our Epcot Fireworks Room at The Dolphin last year:

 

[jlcd]

Looking forward to our first stay at the Dolphin. We check in 2 weeks from tomorrow! We have a standard view booked. What should we request in order to avoid that terrible dumpster/service area view? TIA!

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

Thank you Tara. Very helpful!

Is the music piped into the boardwalk area?

 

[TaraPA]

Thank you Tara. Very helpful!

Is the music piped into the boardwalk area?

I've never heard it there, but I'm not positive.

 

[SingingMom]

Are there places around the S/D resort to watch epcot fireworks and do they pipe in the music (I actually dont even know if there is music to go with the epcot fireworks, my only experience is with Disneyland fireworks).

Are there rooms with fireworks view and again (if there is music) can you turn the TV to a certain channel for the accompaning music?

I've never heard it there, but I'm not positive.

It's not "piped in" - but if you walk to the end of the boardwalk, right before the walk down to the International Gateway, and stand at the bridge, you can faintly hear the music...

 

[Mark P.]

Hi all,
Wer'e heading down to Disney on April 6th. and can't wait!

Anyway, it's probably just me, as I'm just a dumb prison guard here, pretty good at counting live, breathing inmates, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out the incidental charges at the Swan / Dolphin!

We're all paid in full (taxes & resort fee), and I've got (no kidding here) 4 different answers from the reservation folks regarding the incidental fees. Kind of frustrating that they don't even seem to know.
The fees given to me were as follows: $50 only, $50/day, $100 only and the "best" (and seemingly correct), $100/day hold on our card, which in our case is them holding $600 hostage.

Finally got a hold of the front desk and found out that they'll hold $100/day, which I think is a bit much.

The front desk rep. was very helpful and seeing that we've stayed there several times, he made a note on our reservation to only hold $100. Hope they'll hold true to this...

Just thought I'd ask if anyone else has been through this. Or is it just me who doesn't have an extra $100 / day for them to hang on to.

Thank you for listening,
-Mark

 

[Dan Murphy]

Hey Mark!! Great to see you.

I do not have an answer for you, I don't know, but just wanted to say hello. Have a great trip.


And don't talk like that, you are not just an anything, but rather a smart and valuable person.

 

[jnfr2424]

Hey Mark
They only held $100 no more no less and that was for the entire trip
Unless someone else exprienced recently since my last trip in January

Jenn

 

[ImprovGal]

We're looking forward to staying at the Swan next month! Just a quick question--do they include bottles of mouthwash with the soap & shampoo, and if so, what kind? Thanks.

I am at the Dolphin at the moment and the toiletries in my room (plat upgrade to resort view room w/balcony) include 2 bars of Shine soap, 1 Shine body lotion, 1 Shine shampoo, 1 Shine conditioner and 1 Shine mint mouthwash. Note that new packaging on the products just say "Shine" and not "Shine by Bliss" like they used to for Sheraton. The mint mouthwash may not be a standard amenity in the rooms, but since they do have it on hand, it may be requested when you check in at the front desk. The Swolphin resorts are EXCELLENT when it comes to this service. I know in the past I've forgotten my toothbrush and toothpaste or a razor and the front desk happily provided those. If you need it and don't see it, ask!

 

[ariel5884]

We had an awesome view of the magic kingdom fireworks, and since we were there in oct we could see the mnsshp fireworks as well, awesome!

 

[Mark P.]

Thanks folks, and Dan, nice to see a familiar face (These boards are great!)

Take care!

 

[SRUAlmn]

Does anyone know if something is going on during the last week in June? I have been trying to search June 25-30 at both resorts for the past month and it keeps saying "null Please start a new search, or visit our Hotel Directory to see a complete list of hotels" for both resorts Unfortunately, our dates aren't very flexible.

Also, does the Swolphin have 'seasons' like the other resorts? We will be in FL for a family vacation through June 25, so we figured it made the most sense to just go over to WDW on June 25, but if we stay at one of the WDW resorts, the Deluxe value season starts July 17.

 

[Mark P.]

Hi SRUAlmn,

Googled convention dates for the Swan/Dolphin for June and found the following:

2011 Annual SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) Conference June 23rd – 26th, 2011.

and

The Annual Pediatric Nursing National Conference, June 23-25, 2011.

Two concurrent conventions would certainly be the cause for lack of availability.

Hope this helps,
Mark

 

[SRUAlmn]

Hi SRUAlmn,

Googled convention dates for the Swan/Dolphin for June and found the following:

2011 Annual SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) Conference June 23rd – 26th, 2011.

and

The Annual Pediatric Nursing National Conference, June 23-25, 2011.

Two concurrent conventions would certainly be the cause for lack of availability.

Hope this helps,
Mark

DOH!! Thanks so much for the info, Mark! Guess that explains it!


Another question for anyone who can help:
I know some of the other resort threads show room block maps of the resort with info about which types of rooms are in which sections. Do we have anything like that for the Swolphin? I'm trying to figure out where the executive/grand suites are located. The AAA rate for these is cheaper than the 30% Deluxe rate at Beach Club & Boardwalk and we'd get another bedroom and bathroom. No brainer!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Does anyone know if something is going on during the last week in June? I have been trying to search June 25-30 at both resorts for the past month and it keeps saying "null Please start a new search, or visit our Hotel Directory to see a complete list of hotels" for both resorts Unfortunately, our dates aren't very flexible.

Also, does the Swolphin have 'seasons' like the other resorts? We will be in FL for a family vacation through June 25, so we figured it made the most sense to just go over to WDW on June 25, but if we stay at one of the WDW resorts, the Deluxe value season starts July 17.

I would call directly and see if there are openings. And I do not recall ever seeing a stated schedule, like Disney does, as to value, regular, holiday, etc seasons. I think they do change the discounts based on the anticipated and then actual occupancy levels.

DOH!! Thanks so much for the info, Mark! Guess that explains it!


Another question for anyone who can help:
I know some of the other resort threads show room block maps of the resort with info about which types of rooms are in which sections. Do we have anything like that for the Swolphin? I'm trying to figure out where the executive/grand suites are located. The AAA rate for these is cheaper than the 30% Deluxe rate at Beach Club & Boardwalk and we'd get another bedroom and bathroom. No brainer!!

I also have never seen a room map, only a general map of facility locations....pools, restaurants, walking trails, spa, etc... at the resorts.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Thank you

 

[SingingMom]

Does anyone know if something is going on during the last week in June? I have been trying to search June 25-30 at both resorts for the past month and it keeps saying "null Please start a new search, or visit our Hotel Directory to see a complete list of hotels" for both resorts Unfortunately, our dates aren't very flexible.

Also, does the Swolphin have 'seasons' like the other resorts? We will be in FL for a family vacation through June 25, so we figured it made the most sense to just go over to WDW on June 25, but if we stay at one of the WDW resorts, the Deluxe value season starts July 17.

That is the week we have gone down for the past five years in a row - and there has always been a dance troupe staying for some type of competition. Also, some pharmacutical companies have had conventions during that week while we've been there.

If you are flexible, would keep checking - they have cancellations all the time.

Good luck!

 

[SRUAlmn]

That is the week we have gone down for the past five years in a row - and there has always been a dance troupe staying for some type of competition. Also, some pharmacutical companies have had conventions during that week while we've been there.

If you are flexible, would keep checking - they have cancellations all the time.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info!! That must be it, lots of conventions that week.


One more thing that I'm hoping someone can explain to me..... the credit card hold policy. I know someone asked previously, but I just read the details on their website and I'm confused. It says:

"If you would like to use your debit or check card to secure your reservation with us, we require that you sign an agreement that pre-authorizes us to freeze funds in your account to be used towards room, tax, and incidental charges incurred during your hotel stay. The pre-authorization amount will be for the amount of room nights (inclusive of tax), and 40% of the total anticipated amount for incidentals.

Even though you may use cash or another credit card at check out, the pre-authorization will tie up that portion of the current funds you have in your bank account. It will be up to your bank to release the funds after checkout. Depending on your bank, it could take 2 - 30 days for the unused funds to reappear back on your account."


So can I use my bank card as a credit card and avoid this process?

 

[lovingthemouse]

Have you seen the "promotion" on Travelocity for the Dolphin? They are setting the cost of a limited view, 2 dbl bed room for $129., so it appears that with taxes, (no resort fee), the room comes to $145. per night. Here's the catch - must be prepaid in full. Has anyone ever prepaid their room before? I have not and wonder if it is that good a deal.
Would appreciate any feedback. Right now with my teacher discount the room is $149 per night - with no taxes incl. This is for the end of May.Thanks.