The *NEW* SWAN & DOLPHIN RESORT Thread ~ April 2009 ~ Please read Post #1!

[abouna]

We are staying at the Swan from December 27-January 2 on points! Surprisingly, they still have award stays available for those nights. Sure beats $339 a night plus tax!

 

[abouna]

Can anyone answer my question? I can't find the answer ..Do Swan guests get to book their ADR's 90+10 days out??

Unfortunately no! Just get the extra magical hours.

 

[OrangeCat04]

Aww Man! Oh Well, Thanks for answering!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Can anyone answer my question? I can't find the answer ..Do Swan guests get to book their ADR's 90+10 days out??

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=33706399#post33706399

 

[ImprovGal]

OMG! LOVE your siggie pic...it's and at the same time. What is the item in the pic and what restaurant? LOL...Guess the Disney Chefs are pretty skilled in creating miniature selections. NOw if the quarter were in the picture to represent the pric, that would be different

Thanks! The item in the picture is a polenta cake with a pistou sauce and parmesan shaving. IIRC it was 1/2" in diameter. It was actually the first of three "courses" from the first Cook, Book, Bottle at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival in 2006. The chef was Francois Payard and he was there to plug his book of canapes "Bite Size". Long story short, too little food to balance out the wine and after I complained at Guest Services, Disney eventually made amends.

And to keep this thread on topic, greetings from the Swan! I'm only here for one night (then 2 nights Dolphin, then 1 night back at Swan) but have been upgraded to what I believe is an Executive suite. Nice!

If anyone's interested in the Food & Wine Festival, I'll be posting a review thread tomorrow for live reviews of festival stuff. Tomorrow's report will cover 2 demos, some kiosk offerings, and (non-festival) dinner at Kouzzina.

 

[DisneyBride'03]

we are at BLT now, and later this afternoon we are checking into the Swan (my first time) woohoo and beginning our F & W fun!
Cant wait to see the Swan in person!

 

[vicb]

Does anyone know how the Swan's connecting rooms are set up in terms of beds?

I know at some hotels I've stayed in the connecting rooms are always 1 king room and 1 room with 2 beds. That would be ok with me but there wasn't enough room on the special requests part of the online reservation to note that.

I guess I could call when it gets closer and let the hotel know it is ok for us to have one of the rooms be a king room even though it looks like I requested connecting rooms each with 2 beds.

 

[vicb]

 

[Mickeyfaniam]

well I have had connecting rooms at the Swan and had 2 queens in each room but I can't say if they're all like that. So I guess this half helps you

 

[vicb]

well I have had connecting rooms at the Swan and had 2 queens in each room but I can't say if they're all like that. So I guess this half helps you

Any info is helpful, thanks.

 

[snels]

We have had a king bed in one room and a connecting room with queen beds at the Swan.

 

[FloFlo71]

Hi, I am looking for rates for 12-26 Aug at the Dolphin but I am getting not available - would it realy be completely booked already?

Thanks

 

[ImprovGal]

Hi, I am looking for rates for 12-26 Aug at the Dolphin but I am getting not available - would it realy be completely booked already?

Thanks

It could be a conference booking up the resorts. Rooms may get freed up as it gets closer to the date. Also, were you looking at the date range as a whole? If so, you may try breaking it in pieces to see which room types are available night by night at which resorts and then pop it back together again.

 

[Boatingmom]

Does anybody know about a health club at the SWAN? I only recall a health club at the Dolphin, but during my last visit I wasnt really interested in exercising, so I wasnt looking. Now I'm planning another trip, and was checking for the gym on the off ( way off) chance that I may want to workout. The S&D site states there are two health clubs. Where exactally are they?

 

[dmwang9]

Does anybody know about a health club at the SWAN? I only recall a health club at the Dolphin, but during my last visit I wasnt really interested in exercising, so I wasnt looking. Now I'm planning another trip, and was checking for the gym on the off ( way off) chance that I may want to workout. The S&D site states there are two health clubs. Where exactally are they?

The Dolphin's health club is on the ground floor near the laundromat. The Swan's is near its pool. The Dolphin's workout facilities are larger, but both have (by my standards, at least) good cardio machines, resistance machines, and free weights. My last couple of trips, I worked out every afternoon after lunch as part of my "avoid the midday summer heat" break, and there was never a crowd.

 

[Meteora]

Hi everyone!
We just booked the Swan for a few nights in March, leading up to a weeklong stay at out timeshare. We are Starwood members and will be staying on points (not sure if that makes a difference). Last time we had a great view of Epcot and wanted the same this year. We told the person who helped us that we would like a view of Epcot, and she seemed confused and then said she was noting our request for a "resort view." Is that what we want? Should we call back and try to have something noted more specifically? I can't remember what we said the first time to get that view!
Thanks so much!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I think I would ask for a Boardwalk view, the higher the better.

 

[vicb]

Anyone think the S/D will offer up any better room discounts for the general public now that Disney resorts have the 4/3 deal for Jan-March?

I have a AAA discount booked at Swan $211 total with taxes in Feb. but just booked CSR for the same overall price but with 4 park hopper passes included. Hard to justify the extra $1200 to stay at Swan no matter how much I love that Epcot area.

 

[Beccabunny]

Anyone know if May is usually a good time for discounts? I really want to stay at either the Swan or Dolphin, but we're eligible to stay at Shades of Green and always get a great rate there. I know I'm going to have to pay room tax and resort fee, so if the base rate isn't comparable to what I pay at SOG, I can't justify it. We really can't be flexible with our travel plans; early May is probably the only time we can go.

 

[llqool]

just got back from a long weekend at the Dolphin....had the gov't rate combined with the birthday special (free night), so it was a deal that couldn't be beat.

we had an AWESOME view (which i think must have been an upgrade, considering the rate I was booked at)....12th floor in the central section, and we could see into both DHS and EPCOT. We watched Illuminations a couple of times from the room, including one night when it was pouring and lightning so hard that nature's fireworks were competing with Disney's!

this was our first visit and we loved the convenience of being able to walk to EPCOT, although it would have been a more pleasant walk had the humidity been a little lower! staff was fine, decor was not Disneyfied, but that was OK. We liked having Starbucks coffee and internet access. The kids liked the pool. it was kind of a pain to get towels and that was the only place where the staff wasn't very friendly. We got the kids some food at Picabu....it looked pretty unappetizing to me, but they seemed to like it. We used our AAA card to get a 20% discount on the food. There is some sort of discount on food for military (50% off) but you apparently had to have pre-booked it -- kind of like the DDP or something.

The only negatives were:
-long line at check-in
-self-parking was pretty packed some nights; people were parking illegally on the ends of rows, but i was afraid of getting towed
-a strange (bad) food smell in the central elevator area, especially down on the first and lobby levels. my 7 year old said it smelled like beans.

we would stay here again, especially if we got a rate like we did this time! (it made it comparable to SoG or a moderate for us!)