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

[TaraPA]

Hi everyone! We have never stayed anywhere but the Dolphin and were there last year for Food and Wine Festival. It's our own fault for booking so late, but apparently the resort is full to capacity this time. I recall this happening last year, then rooms opened up at the last minute. I would greatly appreciate any advice and/or experiences anyone can share. We are booked at a lovely moderate and were able to get the Dolphin our final night (Nov.13th), but it would break my heart not to stay at the Dolphin the whole trip. I wish they had a "waiting list"! Starwood suggested we try to book on Expedia/Priceline, etc., as they may be the only ones who still have rooms open at the 11th hour. Thanks so much for any advice.
Joanne

I don't know if this helps but I just cancelled a 1BR Executive Suite for 11/11-15 at the Dolphin yesterday - it's more expensive than a regular room but unless someoen else booked it overnight it should still be available!

It killed me to cancel it, but the group of ladies I'm going with decided on a 1BR at Kidani. I DO love Kidani too!

 

[lovetheduck]

Thanks, LovetheDuck! We will see you there! Our family is doing the Alice theme for MNSSHP- if u see us at the resort or party!

We were originally booked for a 1 br executive suite at Dolphin, but they emailed me to change to the Swan due to renovations. I called them to find out our options and they upgraded us to a 2br grand suite at Swan for the same price. With the nurses rate- we are getting a huge room for 339/nite!!

What is your strategy for the busy weekend? We are definitely planning more "down time" this trip. My kids are still pretty scared of thrill rides---so the Mountains are out, but we just MAY get them on Soarin and/or Haunted Mansion. We are going for the party! A few character meals, Hoop Dee Doo and some pool time.
Have a blast!

We don't really have a strategy. My dds don't really care about meeting the characters so that saves us a hugh amount of time. We use the halloween party to go on all the rides because the lines are usually shorter than on a non-party day. We use a regular ticket during the day and spend the whole time at MK. We go knowing that we won't get to do everything and we don't even try to go to all 4 parks.

Have a great trip and if you see Pippi Longstocking come say hi!

 

[LBYC-19]

I hope you have a great trip w/the girls! I have called every day hoping at least Sat. the 12th will open up; it must not be meant to be. I feel so bad bothering them. This is a great lesson to book in advance, especially at Food and Wine Festival!

 

[TaraPA]

I would call again (and again & again) - the 1BR Executive Suite can be split into a Parlor Suite room and a regular room - now I don't know if they routinely do this, but it would be worth the call! Or just splurge & get the whole suite - I think I had a rate of $339/nt & it sleeps 8.

 

[teacher31]

This might be a silly question, but are there certain days of the week in which rates are lower? I was checking the teacher rates at The Dolphin on Monday & Tuesday and they were about $179 for our dates. We decided to book and went back to the teacher rate site yesterday (Wednesday) and the lowest rate available was $220!!! Anyone know why that would be?

Thanks

SRU - I believe we were at Disney the same time last year and helped each other out on pricing. I'm a teacher, too, and just booked a 10 night stay beginning on a Saturday for 149 a night. I'd check again as the teacher rate dropped for me 10 a night in the past two days. Good luck!

 

[Aliceacc]

Please forgive me if this has been asked and answered too many times.

I'm trying to save money on next summer's trip. As you can see, we're a family of 5, and my son would NOT be comfortable spending a week on a rollaway bed.

Could someone tell me about the suites at the Swan/Dolphin. And does anyone know about whether the teacher discounts somehow apply to them?

Thanks for any info you can give me!

 

[twinkletoes919]

We just returned from a hospitality suite at the Dolphin. It was wonderful and huge! Seprate bedroom with 2 double beds and in the suite area was a king size bed and a sleeper sofa. It was the best situation for for our family. Give them a call and see if its available and if your discount will be given

 

[Aliceacc]

We just returned from a hospitality suite at the Dolphin. It was wonderful and huge! Seprate bedroom with 2 double beds and in the suite area was a king size bed and a sleeper sofa. It was the best situation for for our family. Give them a call and see if its available and if your discount will be given

So it sleeps 6? Could you give me a ballpark of the undiscounted price? I'm not having lots of luck finding it online.

And while I'm at it, I have another question:
I'm kind of playing with the idea of switching our reservation from Beach Club to the Swan/Dolpin if it can save us enough money. But my kids are total water rats, and they're thrilled with the idea of StormAlongBay. Could someone talk to me about the pools at S/D?? They're not lap swimmers, but love a cool pool-- they really enjoyed the Volcano pool at the Poly and are so excited about SAB.

Right now, I'm at the "doing the research before I think about mentioning it" stage.

 

[twinkletoes919]

The hospitality suite does sleep six. The bed situation worked perfectly for us. DH and i had the king bed and my 2 sons and daughter had the the 2 double beds. The sofa bed we never even opened up !! Plenty of room for even a roll away if needed. I believe we paid 340 with the taxes and that was without any discount. Call and ask about this. They will tell you it has a murphy bed but it does not. They did away with that. It had a kitchen area (no stove) just fridddge sink and great counter space. It even had a starbucks bar in the kitchen. Lots of extra chairs and a round table that sits 4 people. Also 2 bathrooms and 3 tvs. It was a great deal! Hope your searc goes well!

 

[gumbo1009]

I see that some of the Swan/Dolphin restaurants have discounted certificates available on restaurants.com. Most indicate a "2 entree minimum." When we visit WDW it will just be me and my child (age 7). Does anyone happen to know whether they consider a child's meal as an "entree"? (Just want to know what I'm getting into before I opt to purchase a certificate.)

(If I "strike out" here, I will try calling one of the restaurants...)

Thanks!
~pg

 

[TaraPA]

So it sleeps 6? Could you give me a ballpark of the undiscounted price? I'm not having lots of luck finding it online.

And while I'm at it, I have another question:
I'm kind of playing with the idea of switching our reservation from Beach Club to the Swan/Dolpin if it can save us enough money. But my kids are total water rats, and they're thrilled with the idea of StormAlongBay. Could someone talk to me about the pools at S/D?? They're not lap swimmers, but love a cool pool-- they really enjoyed the Volcano pool at the Poly and are so excited about SAB.

Right now, I'm at the "doing the research before I think about mentioning it" stage.

I've never seen the discounted suite rates online, you have to call for them. They are VERY patient & helpful on the suite reservation line!

We had a 2BR Executive Suite in March that slept 12. There were only 5 of us (all adults) so it was wonderful to have all that room to spread out. Not to mention having 3 full baths for 5 ladies getting ready!

I had a 1BR Executive Suite booked for next month that slept 8, but recently cancelled because the group decided to stay at Kidani instead. That discounted rate was $338/nt. I don't know what the rack rate was on that, but I think we had a 50% discount - so maybe $695?

My kids LOVE The Grotto Pool at S/D. While it may not be as cool as SAB at BC/YC, it's great. There is a water slide & waterfall as well, and the pool is very large.

 

[mma800]

Tara,
We have a 2nd grand suite at the swan booked for next week. Do you know if the is a view, wing, or floor I should request to keep the walks short to the pool or lobby. A great view would be nice, but my kids with spec. needs will have a tough time with super long in-resort commuting if you kwim. We will be taking mostly taxis to get around WDW as the buses don't work so well for us. Any suggestions? TIA

 

[TaraPA]

Good morning mma!

There is very little leeway in regards to requests with Executive Suites. They are very few of them, and both times I had reserved them they were all booked. You could always call the suite reservation line (don't have it with me right now but it's on their website) & check, they are very nice there.

Our 2BR at The Swan was on the 3rd floor overlooking a small patio & the waterway between the Swan & BW. It was very serene. We were also right by the elevators at the back of the hotel which came out at the walkway to the Friendship Boats. The lobby, bus & parking lot is on the front of The Swan, and I don't think there's an elevator right there, but I could be wrong.

I'd give them a call, worst case scenario they're all booked & you get what you get. Enjoy!

 

[jnfr2424]

Please forgive me if this has been asked and answered too many times.

I'm trying to save money on next summer's trip. As you can see, we're a family of 5, and my son would NOT be comfortable spending a week on a rollaway bed.

Could someone tell me about the suites at the Swan/Dolphin. And does anyone know about whether the teacher discounts somehow apply to them?

Thanks for any info you can give me!

We just returned too from a 1 Br Executive Suite at the Dolphin. There was 6 of us altogether. We had one bedroom with 2 double beds and the Parlor had a King size murphy bed and a sleeper sofa. There was also a mini bar/ counter section which worked out well for our late night snacking sessions! It was nice the only thing was we only had access to one door so the two that were in the bedroom we had to tip toe when going into the parlor if they were sleeping

 

[Northwoods]

We just returned too from a 1 Br Executive Suite at the Dolphin. There was 6 of us altogether. We had one bedroom with 2 double beds and the Parlor had a King size murphy bed and a sleeper sofa. There was also a mini bar/ counter section which worked out well for our late night snacking sessions! It was nice the only thing was we only had access to one door so the two that were in the bedroom we had to tip toe when going into the parlor if they were sleeping

We will be checking into a 1 Br Exec Suite this Friday night. Do you have any pictures of the room? Was the the King Murphy bed comfortable? We are planning to put our kids in the 2 double beds and take the King for ourselves.

We got a AAA rate of $302 plus tax & resort fee

 

[tomi]

Does anyone know the dates for the food and wine classic for next year (2012). We went on Sat night this year and even though they had to move it inside we had a great time. I am anxious to plan for next year. Thanks for any info.

 

[Tess]

Does anyone know the dates for the food and wine classic for next year (2012). We went on Sat night this year and even though they had to move it inside we had a great time. I am anxious to plan for next year. Thanks for any info.

A friend told me that it was scheduled for October 5 & 6, 2012. She got the information from the resort. Hope that helps. I know we were planning to check out the F&W Classic this year, but on Friday. By the time we got back from EPCOT, it was raining and the event was washed out. I hope we have better luck next year.

 

[tomi]

Thanks so much for the information. It is a definite must do !

 

[atrumpet16]

Hello,

If we get to S/D and our room isn't ready....can bell services refrigerate any food that is perishable? We are planning on stopping at the grocery store on our way from the airport to S/D.

Thank you!!

 

[Chomperoni]

I read on the sticky that you can get Disney Tickets at the Dolphin.
Does anyone know if this is regular price or discounted rate?
Am I better off buying online somewhere?