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

[wilderness01]

Thanks.

 

[glo]

Only 118 days til my next stay which is at the Swan, and then another stay in Aug. I am so excited! Our last room at the Swan had a great tiled bathroom that I wish we could have at home. We had a one bedroom executive suite and the living area part was perfect for us! With six of us and 4 of them being teenagers I had some peace and quiet!

 

[SwanDolphin]

The Swan is a day a-way!!!!

Cate back at the old Lemonade Stand!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I got fan-tabulous news from work....They are sending me to a conference that is taking place at the Swan/Dolphin!!!!!!!! I'm so excited! The conferences I usually go to are in Vegas or California so this is a first for me. Yes, I will go to the conference but evenings are for ME! I've never stayed at the Swan/Dolphin so I'm sure I'll be asking y'all tons of questions. So thank you in advance

 

[Dan Murphy]

My very first trip to WDW was a business conference, at the Swan/Dolphin, back in '98. Have a wonderful trip. Hard to beat.

 

[chell]

I got fan-tabulous news from work....They are sending me to a conference that is taking place at the Swan/Dolphin!!!!!!!! I'm so excited! The conferences I usually go to are in Vegas or California so this is a first for me. Yes, I will go to the conference but evenings are for ME! I've never stayed at the Swan/Dolphin so I'm sure I'll be asking y'all tons of questions. So thank you in advance

Sorry, but I'm not laughing at you but more at the fact that I'd be having the same reaction! I'd be thrilled to be sent there for work! Send me anywhere else & I'd spend the evening in my room. But send me to WDW and I'll be out in the parks until they close.

You are going to have an awesome time!

 

[chell]

Hope you have a great time Nancy! Hope you have great weather!!!

 

[gattra]

4 Days until our honeymoon at the Swan!!! To say that we are excited is an understatement! We are sooooo looking forward to hanging out at the parks, enjoying the food and wine fest, and staying in the Beautiful Swan! We stayed at the Dolphin last year and absolutely fell in love with the location, staff, hotel beauty, etc.

Does anyone have any last minute advice for our first trip to the Swan? Any room request recommendations? We would love to have a balcony, but we don't NEED to have one, since we wont be in the room enough to really enjoy it.

I know I don't talk too much on these boards, I'm more of a lurker, but I just wanted to say how awesome all of you are, and how great your inputs have been while we were planning this trip! I'll give you all a full update when we return!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Congratulations, gattra!!


Make sure they know it is your honeymoon, on your reservation and at checkin.

Make sure to complete this......

http://www.swandolphinconcierge.com/public/login.cfm


Have a wonderful honeymoon; health and happiness to you both.

 

[chell]

Congrats Gattra! We started off our Honeymoon at the Swan last December and had a wonderful time. We moved to SSR for the rest of the trip and wished we could have stayed at the Swan. Have an amazing time!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Here comes my questions

So, I am going to the Swan/Dolphin for a conference in mid-March. There is a possibility that my husband will join me for a couple of the days but otherwise my kids won't be there and I'll pretty much be by myself. Given this information, what do you recommend for a room? Is the Swan or Dolphin better? Does one of them host the majority of conference meetings? Ok, maybe I don't care about that AS MUCH for room preference... but seriously - what do you recommend for a room preference/location? I do know WDW a bit but have never stayed or visited these hotels!!!

Any thoughts on their restaurants too???

Thank you, thank you, thank you for any info you might provide me!!

 

[SingingMom]

Here comes my questions

So, I am going to the Swan/Dolphin for a conference in mid-March. There is a possibility that my husband will join me for a couple of the days but otherwise my kids won't be there and I'll pretty much be by myself. Given this information, what do you recommend for a room? Is the Swan or Dolphin better? Does one of them host the majority of conference meetings? Ok, maybe I don't care about that AS MUCH for room preference... but seriously - what do you recommend for a room preference/location? I do know WDW a bit but have never stayed or visited these hotels!!!

Any thoughts on their restaurants too???

Thank you, thank you, thank you for any info you might provide me!!

Our favorite is the Dolphin. We have stayed there four years in a row, with our fifth visit hopefully coming this next June.. I truly think it is a matter of "preference". Do you like "hustle & bustle" or "serenity"? : The Dolphin tends to be busy - but in a fun and exciting way - in our opinion. It's a great place to "people watch" with a cocktail in the lobby. There are more restaurants and the Cabana Bar and Grotto Pool area are more conveniently located. The Mandarin Spa is also located in the Dolphin.

There have been numerous conventions while we have stayed, and it seems the activities/meetings are spread between the two locations.

For as many that love the Dolphin, there are just as many on our thread that love the Swan. Think of what type of atmosphere YOU prefer and I think either resort you can't go wrong! Have fun!

 

[Mouseteacher]

You can't go wrong with either resort. The Italian restaurant at the Swan "Il Mulino" is awesome. We had a wonderful meal there this past summer.

 

[SingingMom]

4 Days until our honeymoon at the Swan!!! To say that we are excited is an understatement! We are sooooo looking forward to hanging out at the parks, enjoying the food and wine fest, and staying in the Beautiful Swan! We stayed at the Dolphin last year and absolutely fell in love with the location, staff, hotel beauty, etc.

Does anyone have any last minute advice for our first trip to the Swan? Any room request recommendations? We would love to have a balcony, but we don't NEED to have one, since we wont be in the room enough to really enjoy it.

I know I don't talk too much on these boards, I'm more of a lurker, but I just wanted to say how awesome all of you are, and how great your inputs have been while we were planning this trip! I'll give you all a full update when we return!

Happy Honeymoon! Looking forward to your update! Have a great time!

 

[CJN]

Here comes my questions

So, I am going to the Swan/Dolphin for a conference in mid-March. There is a possibility that my husband will join me for a couple of the days but otherwise my kids won't be there and I'll pretty much be by myself. Given this information, what do you recommend for a room? Is the Swan or Dolphin better? Does one of them host the majority of conference meetings? Ok, maybe I don't care about that AS MUCH for room preference... but seriously - what do you recommend for a room preference/location? I do know WDW a bit but have never stayed or visited these hotels!!!

Any thoughts on their restaurants too???

Thank you, thank you, thank you for any info you might provide me!!

Tinkerbellie16, I've been there a couple of times for conferences. YMMV, but in my experience if the conference is big enough to require rooms in both hotels then most of the activities will take place at the Dolphin (opening ceremonies, general sessions, seminars, etc) just because they have the space for the larger groups. OTOH, the Swan tends to be the site for committee meetings and smaller break-out sessions.

As far as room reservations go, I've never been given a choice of which hotel much less been able to make a specific room request. Most organizations just have a block of rooms reserved and you get what you get when you check-in. Our organization even does it through third-party booking now and the only real request that can be made is for handicap accessible. Not to be a downer but sometimes rooms reserved through a conference are....shall we say....the less desirable ones. You're paying a group rate, plus I think they make the assumption that since you're there to work you don't care as much about the room/view. But that's hard to predict. I usually attend with about 16 other associates and we often see a real disparity in the quality of rooms we're assigned, even when we all check-in at about the same time. That said, I always love being sent to Swan/Dolphin!

 

[TaraPA]

Tinkerbellie 16 - another thing I wanted to mention with all of the above great advice - I have always felt extremely safe while at the Swan or Dolphin alone. I was at The Swan with DH who was at a conference in 2000 - I had a 7-week old and a 3-year old with me - the 3 of us went up & down that Boardwalk until midnight & there was always a hustle & bustle of people coming & going. The area between the Boardwalk and the S/D is very well lit. Last year I went with just a GF, and one night we did different things. I walked from Epcot back to the Dolphin alone, a little after midnight, and very safe. You're in a great location at either. We prefer The Dolphin, but as others have said, when you ask which is better, the answer will be 6 of one, half a dozen of the other!

 

[ybcvet]

Can anyone tell me if they serve Starbucks coffee at the Java Bar?

 

[paras4ri]

Can anyone tell me if they serve Starbucks coffee at the Java Bar?

 

[Mouseteacher]

Tinkerbellie 16 - another thing I wanted to mention with all of the above great advice - I have always felt extremely safe while at the Swan or Dolphin alone. I was at The Swan with DH who was at a conference in 2000 - I had a 7-week old and a 3-year old with me - the 3 of us went up & down that Boardwalk until midnight & there was always a hustle & bustle of people coming & going. The area between the Boardwalk and the S/D is very well lit. Last year I went with just a GF, and one night we did different things. I walked from Epcot back to the Dolphin alone, a little after midnight, and very safe. You're in a great location at either. We prefer The Dolphin, but as others have said, when you ask which is better, the answer will be 6 of one, half a dozen of the other!

Just to add to TaraPA's post -- One evening I went to see Wishes at the MK. DH and DS didn't want to go so I went by myself. After Wishes was over, I just missed the S/D bus so I hopped on the BW/YC/BC bus and got off at the BW and walked back to the Swan. I felt safe as I walked back even though all was quiet on the Boardwalk but there were people around and it was well lit as Tara pointed out.

 

[maserd]

Could some one advise me the designated smoking areas at the Swan and Dolphin? Thanks so much!