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

[SingingMom]

By my math, with the resort fee added and taxes, the 149 turns into just under 178. And as far as I read, that rate applies to all gov't employees, state, federal, educators, school support staff, etc. I was even told that a person can book 2 rooms under one ID for the discount.

my DH works for the company that actually "owns" the Swan and the Dolphin and we can book two rooms at the same time with his "employee discount" rate.

 

[MinnieNurse]

Going to book for December 2010 at the Swan. This will be our first time not staying on actual Disney property, but we dont want to do the dining plan this trip and had lots of issues with magical express last trip. I have always wanted to stay at the Swan so now seems like a great time.

So glad to find this thread and need to go through the whole thing to look for tips.

 

[chell]

Going to book for December 2010 at the Swan. This will be our first time not staying on actual Disney property, but we dont want to do the dining plan this trip and had lots of issues with magical express last trip. I have always wanted to stay at the Swan so now seems like a great time.

So glad to find this thread and need to go through the whole thing to look for tips.

Make sure you check into the nurse discount! Welcome to the thread!!!

 

[mnosky]

ImprovGal - thank you so much for taking the time to share and the great info! I'm hoping DH's travel schedule will ligten up next year so that current promotion will help him stay platinum.

Hi, I'm SPG Platinum and I've had excellent experiences with upgrades at both the Swan and Dolphin.

requalifying promotion for current gold and platinum members (for golds, nights/stays count double; for plats, choose between double stays/nights OR have stays/nights count both towards this year's counts as well as next year's).

 

[MinnieNurse]

Make sure you check into the nurse discount! Welcome to the thread!!!

I have been looking at the nurse discount or the government employee discount since DH is a Firefighter. Are they the same discount? Or is one better than the other?

 

[Mouseteacher]

Teacher, nurse, government rate are all the same.

 

[woodleygrrl]

going to be at the Dolphin the first week of November for a convention and this is my second time staying here. last time I did the cash plus points the day before we started our WDW vacation last May.

Looking forward to this stay as it will be easy to take advantage of the food and wine festival.

Looking forward to learing more about this resort!

Jennifer

 

[pooh2001]

Has anyone been to the Dolphin recently - fall of 2009 - Are there real mini refrigerators in the Dolphin rooms ? Real cold refrigerators which can keep milk and dairy products cold ?

I know ther used to be the snack coolers in the rroms - where the Dolphin charges for the snacks inside of it. The mini snack cooler is not cold enough to store milk.

Has the Dolphin upgraded the rooms to real mini cold refrigerators and has removed the costly snack coolers ?

 

[LexiC123]

Has anyone been to the Dolphin recently - fall of 2009 - Are there real mini refrigerators in the Dolphin rooms ? Real cold refrigerators which can keep milk and dairy products cold ?

I know ther used to be the snack coolers in the rroms - where the Dolphin charges for the snacks inside of it. The mini snack cooler is not cold enough to store milk.

Has the Dolphin upgraded the rooms to real mini cold refrigerators and has removed the costly snack coolers ?

We were there over Labor Day and yep...the rooms have real mini refrigerators. We didn't store milk in it, but we did have yogurt in it, and it was fine.

Oh...and the beer fared pretty well, too.

 

[SingingMom]

Oh...and the beer fared pretty well, too.

...as did the wine on our trip in June 2009....

 

[LexiC123]

...as did the wine on our trip in June 2009....

The perfect end to another perfect day at Disney!

 

[pooh2001]

We were there over Labor Day and yep...the rooms have real mini refrigerators. We didn't store milk in it, but we did have yogurt in it, and it was fine.

Oh...and the beer fared pretty well, too.

THANK YOU !!!!

 

[kpadalik]

Has anyone been to the Dolphin recently - fall of 2009 - Are there real mini refrigerators in the Dolphin rooms ? Real cold refrigerators which can keep milk and dairy products cold ?

I know ther used to be the snack coolers in the rroms - where the Dolphin charges for the snacks inside of it. The mini snack cooler is not cold enough to store milk.

Has the Dolphin upgraded the rooms to real mini cold refrigerators and has removed the costly snack coolers ?

We were there end of September and they had fridges in the rooms. However, they looked like a minibar w/ the goodies removed. It was cold though. We put room temp bottled water in there and it got very cold. We also kept milk in there and it didn't spoil. HTH!

 

[SwanDolphin]

Yes, they are new refrigeration units that replaced all of the former mini-bar ones, which were more so coolers.

PS: Some very cool things planned for the causeway during the holiday weekends this year... more to come!

 

[Dan Murphy]

.....PS: Some very cool things planned for the causeway during the holiday weekends this year... more to come!

 

[chell]

Yes, they are new refrigeration units that replaced all of the former mini-bar ones, which were more so coolers.

PS: Some very cool things planned for the causeway during the holiday weekends this year... more to come!

Hmmm, wonder what that means... Does this include New Years? I'll be there then! AND I can't wait!!!

 

[Ramsfan28]

Due to DH's horrendous work travel schedule, (and me convincing him to only stay at SPG hotels so we can get more Disney trips!), he is now SPG platinum.

Any advice on asking for upgrades? We went in sept and didn't ask and got a blah room that smelled moldy, no balcony. He usually gets a concierge level for busines travel without even asking. We figured we probably should have called and asked but he was only gold then and the stay was totally on free nights so we didn't know if we'd get an upgrade.

Any tips on redeeming points? Do they have certain times where it is less, weeknds vs weekdays, etc? What's the best way to stay on top of this? This last stay was with the summer free weekend night promotion (awesome promtion!) DH actually earned so many nights we couldn't even use them all - and non transferable because we did try.

Any other tips would be appreciated too!
Thanks.
Michelle

I would contact the hotel directly ASAP. I have found that they will usually process your upgrade (and confirm it) if you call the hotel as soon as you book your reservation.

As a Platinum member they almost always put you in one of their premier suites (I have been booked in the Governor and Grand suites) as a Platinum SPG member - and if you need the space I would ask for a 2-bedroom suite.

 

[loritemp]

Just wondering if the Dolphin has advanced online check in.

Also, and this is just a curiosity question...do a lot ofpeople bring beer or wine to keep in the hotel room? We are stopping on the way from the airport to the hotel to get some supplies for the week and I considered getting some beer. Is this tacky?

 

[LexiC123]

Just wondering if the Dolphin has advanced online check in.

Also, and this is just a curiosity question...do a lot ofpeople bring beer or wine to keep in the hotel room? We are stopping on the way from the airport to the hotel to get some supplies for the week and I considered getting some beer. Is this tacky?

<----- tacky, and proud of it.

Hey, it's your vacation...why shouldn't you indulge a little?! We'd take our mid-day pool break, then DH would relax on our balcony with his beverage of choice, while I got ready for the evening's activities. He loved relaxing for a bit...I loved that he wasn't rushing me to hurry up, LOL.

PS - As of right now, I haven't read/heard anything about advanced check in at S/D. I'm sure if it exists, someone will chime in here with the details.

 

[llqool]

we always bring a couple of bottles of wine and some beer. With drinks going for as much as $9 each (or more!), I rarely buy alcohol when we are out....instead I like to have a glass of wine in the evening after we have gotten the kids to bed.

The dolphin even has a wine bucket on the counter above the mini fridge!