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

[ozziewags]

The july teacher rate I had, plus tax, plus parking, plus resort fees would have totaled roughly $1330 for our 7 days. Our TA, with the new July discounts they just rolled out, booked us room only at WL for $1229. It was tough, because we actually could've gone POFQ for just over $1000. But, we figured we were budgeted for the Dolphin, so went Disney Deluxe @ WL.

That's a good deal! But keep checking rates, as teacher rates tend to drop into the summer. Last June I got a teacher rate of $129 and $99 for a second room. I have stayed at WL and loved it. We are going in 4 days and staying at CSR and I will miss my S/D, but DH had a travel reward that could be used at disney resorts. You will enjoy WL. Thanks for letting us know.

 

[DisFan09]

We used to always stay at the Grand Floridian Resort, but after feeling the lack of appreciation, we now stay at the Swan and we LOVE it.

During our visit a few weeks ago, we had breakfast at Picabu. As we were at the cashier getting ready to pay, an employee approached us and offered to take our trays of food to a table! We have NEVER received this type of service at a Disney resort (i.e., Gasparilla Grill).

Then during breakfast, an employee came by several times to ask if we wanted more coffee/tea and then they cleaned our table when we were finished with our meal! Again, we were shocked that we received such fantastic service at the Swan and we've NEVER received such service at the Grand Floridian, nor any quick service restaurant inside a Disney resort.

Besides that example, we have generally found the employees of the Swan to be friendlier than the CMs at Disney resorts. And we really enjoy being able to walk to both Epcot and DHS, or take the Friendship launches. So, for us, we don't miss the supposed "Disney magic" at the resorts at all!

 

[RachelTori]

I'm not going to go so far as to compare Swan/Dolphin CM's to the WDW CM's, but I must say that I have never encountered a Swan or Dolphin CM who was anything less than awesome!!

 

[FINFAN]

Thanks NancyIL - that's what I get from mostly staying at S/D.

Sorry Finfan, then you need to add in the parking to the Dolphin price, but I still don't think you're going to come close to your S/D rate with a Disney deluxe. Maybe close at WL, but if you need a trundle like we do, then you're out of luck with WL too.

Bottom Line, if you're comparing apples-to-apples (deluxe standard room) with their many discount programs, S/D has ALWAYS had, by far, the best rate for us.

Thanks all...sorry for delayed reply (DS track meet today..8 hours ) anyway, We love the Dolphin, would take a really sweet rate to get us to switch, had the opportunity for
CR MK VIEW August for 258...THAT would do it, but had to cancel due to ilness have yet to grab that same rate...so, luckily the S/D makes it preeeeetttyyyy easy to get over losing CR. I wish I had the budget for the Exec suite, THAT looks amazing, but we are commando, just not in the room that much to enjoy all of that luxurious space. Our AAA discount on most if the restaurants help a lot too, I'm just thrilled we could get the Dolphin AAA rate over our dates, they are going to be jammed that week , might even be sold out!! We really like what we see at CSR too, but the hold up there is the exterior doors, DS really only hopes for 1 main thing w/a WDW trip and interior doors is that thing. Since he's the one who gets the roll-a-way or air matttress, guess we should at least put him at ease on the doors.

 

[leebee]

Hi Dan

Thanks for your quick replies! I don't know if I will be able to resist a discount on a value or mod room, should one come along, but we've always wanted to stay in the Epcot resort area, and S/D teacher rate might just make it happen!

 

[Needafix]

Hi Dan

Thanks for your quick replies! I don't know if I will be able to resist a discount on a value or mod room, should one come along, but we've always wanted to stay in the Epcot resort area, and S/D teacher rate might just make it happen!

Good Luck leebee. Keep looking for those teacher discounts. We've almost always been able to find S/D teacher discount rate that beat moderates and even came close to value rates. Even if they say there are no discounts availabe, keep checking back closer to your dates because they often open up more discounts as they get closer to the date.

 

[TaraPA]

We used to always stay at the Grand Floridian Resort, but after feeling the lack of appreciation, we now stay at the Swan and we LOVE it.

During our visit a few weeks ago, we had breakfast at Picabu. As we were at the cashier getting ready to pay, an employee approached us and offered to take our trays of food to a table! We have NEVER received this type of service at a Disney resort (i.e., Gasparilla Grill).

Then during breakfast, an employee came by several times to ask if we wanted more coffee/tea and then they cleaned our table when we were finished with our meal! Again, we were shocked that we received such fantastic service at the Swan and we've NEVER received such service at the Grand Floridian, nor any quick service restaurant inside a Disney resort.

Besides that example, we have generally found the employees of the Swan to be friendlier than the CMs at Disney resorts. And we really enjoy being able to walk to both Epcot and DHS, or take the Friendship launches. So, for us, we don't miss the supposed "Disney magic" at the resorts at all!

I have to agree with DisFan - we've received far superior service at S/D than at any WDW Resort including AKL & BLT. At S/D they really make you feel like they're welcoming you back home, and that they appreciate you staying there.

As far as my opinion on the beds - I've stayed at both Swan & Dolphin & really didn't notice a difference in the size of the beds at all. I have a king at home, and honestly even the doubles at The Dolphin aren't all that much smaller - I really think S/D Heavenly beds are larger than the average double & queen.

 

[DisFan09]

I'm not going to go so far as to compare Swan/Dolphin CM's to the WDW CM's, but I must say that I have never encountered a Swan or Dolphin CM who was anything less than awesome!!

Okay, I'll admit that there are A LOT of friendly helpful CMs at the Grand Floridian & other Disney resorts, but we have also encountered some indifferent and downright surly CMs at the Grand Floridian, which we have NEVER encountered at the Swan!

 

[MomWith2Cinderellas]

Hi All!

We have decided to stay at the Dolphin for our next trip. We have stayed at both the Swan and Dolphin before and have found their rooms to be nice and clean. The service has always been wonderful.
I do have a question, is it true all king rooms have the sofa bed? We will be there 9 nights and would prefer to have the kids in the sofa bed and us in the king. Also, would this type of room cost more than the 2 double bed rooms?
Thank you in advance!! I look forward to counting down our trip with you all!!

 

[Zuzu03]

Hi everyone! DD is asking me if her Ipod Touch will pick up wireless internet in the lobby of the Dolphin. I remember having to plug in my laptop and sign in for in-room high speed, but thought that maybe wireless was available in the lobby. Can someone let me know? Thanks!

 

[Rudegrle]

Briefly tried wireless in the lobby w/ my Ipod and was not able to pull anything that did not require a password. I was in a hurry and internet was not all the important so I just left it alone.

 

[Zuzu03]

Briefly tried wireless in the lobby w/ my Ipod and was not able to pull anything that did not require a password. I was in a hurry and internet was not all the important so I just left it alone.

Thank you!

 

[SondraC]

I went ahead and booked my trip at the Swan for 7/14/10-7/21/10 via Lastminutetravel.com. The rate for 7 nights was $1,055.00. The rate on the Swan website even with my AAA was over $400 more! I really researched and feel confident booking with them. The customer service rep. I spoke to reassured me.

The rate for the Dolphin was the exact same. Also, 1800hotels.com have the same rates available. I can only go in July so I just checked the weeks I wanted.

I am just thrilled to have this awesome rate and my trip finally booked. Now I can relax about the hotel and start planning my days and dining! I am so excited!!!!

How did you know you were getting Swan on LMT? When I go to that site, they don't tell you the name of the hotel.
I am playing around with dates in June to see if we can squeeze a Disney trip in, even though we already booked a cruise in July!

 

[Needafix]

Thank you!

ZuZu - I just noticed your sig says Dolphin/Poly split. That is my ultimate dream vacation!!! And what I'll be saving for once the kiddies have flown the coop.

 

[diskids2]

Hi all,

I just switched our room category from the patio rooms to Deluxe alcove. We decided against the patio because one of my main reasons for wanting them was to go in and out of those doors (pool, boats, etc.)...but I found out that you can't lock them from the outside and I didn't feel like leaving a person behind to lock the door...anyway....

We switched to deluxe alcove rooms on a high floor....has anyone ever stayed in one of these rooms...how different are they from the regular rooms at the dolphin?

 

[ozziewags]

Hi all,

I just switched our room category from the patio rooms to Deluxe alcove. We decided against the patio because one of my main reasons for wanting them was to go in and out of those doors (pool, boats, etc.)...but I found out that you can't lock them from the outside and I didn't feel like leaving a person behind to lock the door...anyway....

We switched to deluxe alcove rooms on a high floor....has anyone ever stayed in one of these rooms...how different are they from the regular rooms at the dolphin?

Are you talking about the turret rooms? If so, we stayed in one on the east side. It has two balconies, a king bed, a sofa, but the set up seemed so small, as did the dressing area. I thought it was an unusual layout. There were only 2 of us so it was fine and the view was spectacular.

 

[SunBearLewis]

I have a question that I'm thinking maybe other people have figured out. If you go to dreams unlimited website you can type in your dates you want and the discount you may use (in my case the nurse discount) and kind of play around with dates and swan vs dolphin rooms to see where you can get a good rate. Does anyone know if this is a pretty good comparison to actually just calling and checking with the hotel? I know I should just call and get it over with, but the reason I ask is the first weekend in Oct at the dolphin is 149$ a night, but at the swan it's 199, and then every week after that at both hotels the rate is anywhere from 199 to 229. it seems odd to me the price would jump around so much. I would think it would be more expensive at the start of food and wine festival. Maybe they have conventions they are booked for and that affects the price?
anyways, I was just wondering if anyone had different luck when they call and talk with someone, we'd like to go later in Oct, but not at the expense of an extra 70$ a night.

 

[LexiC123]

I have a question that I'm thinking maybe other people have figured out. If you go to dreams unlimited website you can type in your dates you want and the discount you may use (in my case the nurse discount) and kind of play around with dates and swan vs dolphin rooms to see where you can get a good rate. Does anyone know if this is a pretty good comparison to actually just calling and checking with the hotel? I know I should just call and get it over with, but the reason I ask is the first weekend in Oct at the dolphin is 149$ a night, but at the swan it's 199, and then every week after that at both hotels the rate is anywhere from 199 to 229. it seems odd to me the price would jump around so much. I would think it would be more expensive at the start of food and wine festival. Maybe they have conventions they are booked for and that affects the price?
anyways, I was just wondering if anyone had different luck when they call and talk with someone, we'd like to go later in Oct, but not at the expense of an extra 70$ a night.

I would call the hotel directly to find out about the nurse discount for the dates you want. And while you're on the phone, you can ask if there are any other special rates available that you might not be aware of. I found a $116.00/night rate for early September at the Swan that way.

You can also try going directly to the Dolphin website. I can't speak for everyone, but I found the prices to be lower on the Sheraton site than they were on the DU website.

 

[SunBearLewis]

I never thought about trying that, thanks. I'll call today. They have a less strict cancellation policy than disney, I want to go ahead and get my room so I can leave this alone for a while! they say planning for disney is half the fun, but I don't know, I like being there myself!

 

[diskids2]

Are you talking about the turret rooms? If so, we stayed in one on the east side. It has two balconies, a king bed, a sofa, but the set up seemed so small, as did the dressing area. I thought it was an unusual layout. There were only 2 of us so it was fine and the view was spectacular.

These rooms overlook the center (swan)...they used the term alcove...so I'm not sure if they are the same. These don't have balconies either.