Walt Disney World SWAN, DOLPHIN & SWAN RESERVE RESORTS Information & Questions

[gottalovepluto]

I would like to book a short trip 3/2-3/4. everything is sold out. What's going on for those dates?

Swolphin hosts many conventions, they are not listed publicly. Sometimes the conventions have unsold rooms that will get released back into inventory like a month out so maybe keep trying over the next couple weeks.

 

[Yank]

Swolphin hosts many conventions, they are not listed publicly. Sometimes the conventions have unsold rooms that will get released back into inventory like a month out so maybe keep trying over the next couple weeks.

I hope so. I've never seen everything sold out before.

 

[patty57]

@patty57 I wonder if they are buying some time before the massive overhaul of the new aquatics complex

Could be. I was told in May that the waterfall refurb should have been finished by last spring.

 

[jessily]

The pool area is fabulous, especially if the waterfall is operating, which some recent reports have said it wasn't. Not sure it's status now. But even without, the pool complex is wonderful, one if the very best on property.

We’re here now and the waterfall area was heavily under construction today (noisy). The slide is open though and there are quite a few pools and areas to spread out. Didn’t bother us, just a warning

 

[austinelsa]

@austinelsa


I would be there as early as the buses start which I believe is an hour before park opening. I always do the math backwards. I imagine AK early entry isn't quite as competitive but I would still want to be there at least 30 minutes before early entry to be towards the front. Then I figure about 15 minutes for the bus ride, 5 minutes to stop at the Swan Reserve. That's already 50 minutes, so the other 10 is making sure you're there to get on the first bus and security.

Edit: replied to wrong person, sorry.

thank you!

 

[LoveDaisy]

I would like to book a short trip 3/2-3/4. everything is sold out. What's going on for those dates?

It’s the start of flower and garden festival at Epcot. Not sure if there is a conference or something else going on.

 

[Scalemaster34]

We’re here now and the waterfall area was heavily under construction today (noisy). The slide is open though and there are quite a few pools and areas to spread out. Didn’t bother us, just a warning

Nearly a year ago permits were filed concerning a HUGE addition to the pool area https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2022...ld-permit-hints-at-huge-hotel-pool-expansion/

The waterfall stopped running not too long after, and they just seemed to not want to fix it... as changes were coming.

 

[sjuncfan]

We are just back from our first stay at the Swan so I thought I'd share my experience and maybe a couple lessons learned. We had a great time and I learned a lot from this board .

We took a lyft from the airport Wednesday evening. I think it was in the range of $35. We got to the hotel around 9... my son was exhausted so he crashed out and my husband and I wandered around looking for a quick, casual bite. We ended up getting a couple rolls at Kimonos, which worked fine.

Thursday morning we were up at 7 to try to get in virtual queue for GOTG. I didn't do anything before 7 - big mistake. We should have confirmed our party a few minutes early. Not sure what happened but when I got to the screen, it said none of us were eligible and then the queue was full. So... I threw some money at the problem ($14pp) and got an ILL for 11:05. The good news was we were able to get in the 1 pm VBQ so we got to ride it twice . Awesome ride. We loved being able to walk to Epcot and stopped at Boardwalk Deli as someone here recommended. Though we accidentally walked around the wrong way (by Yacht Club) so DH and DS got in the line at Epcot while I zipped back to the Deli.

Friday we took the bus to Animal Kingdom. The bus was easy but the front desk really has no idea what time they'll be coming. I think they said 45 minutes before early open but the bus was even earlier than that - good thing we were down there early or we would have missed it. We took the bus back around 2 and checked out the pool and swan boats. The waterslide was closed but we still enjoyed the pool area and lazing in the sun, knowing the next day would be busy.

Saturday we got ILL for ROTR and G+ for Slinky Dog Dash, then out the door to DHS. We rope dropped ROTR and were glad we were able to do it twice. Another awesome ride. DH and DS rode Millenium Falcon like 4 times. Another open to close day.

Sunday we were going to take the bus to Disney Springs but the front desk was really confused about what time it was coming (first they said 45 minutes before open, which would have been 9:15. Then when we got down there at 9:10 they said it would be 15 minutes before open since Disney Springs doesn't have early hours.) We had checked out of our room and left our bags with the bell hop so we decided to Lyft over. $10 and easy. We wandered around for several hours then went to catch the bus back. I had in my head that the bus was at the West End Bus Loop. Then I googled and saw that the Disney buses were at the Town Center area. So we headed to the Town Center and realized that the Swan and Dolphin buses were indeed on the West End. We decided to take the Boardwalk/Yacht Club bus which probably worked out better anyhow.

Got back to the hotel, grabbed our bags, and took a Lyft to the airport. $25.

We had an awesome time... my only (very very minor) complaint is general lack of information about the buses. I couldn't find much online other than "buses run every 20-25 minutes" and the front desk didn't know much. It worked out fine to Animal Kingdom but not so much for Disney Springs. The Swan was a great place to stay... we loved being able to walk to two parks, we grabbed breakfast on the go from Java two of our mornings, the staff was nice, room was clean, we did have several waters in the room every day. Happy to answer questions if anyone is wondering anything else about the current situation there.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

We had an awesome time... my only (very very minor) complaint is general lack of information about the buses.

Agree, but I will say having stayed at disney properties and S/D non disney properties, many of the hotel front desk and concierge staff we've encountered are not that knowledgable about transportation at all, not just specific to non-disney properties. We've stayed at POP, CBR, POR, BWV, the list goes on and many times they never know. Sometimes it really just depends on who you ask. I'm pretty sure that the S/D buses try to mirror what disney buses do for start times but I think it goes without saying that the buses are always a wild card. I've learned that if you want to know how the buses run, ask a bus driver, the skyliner, ask the skyliner CM, etc.

 

[Disneyhanna]

We are just back from our first stay at the Swan so I thought I'd share my experience and maybe a couple lessons learned. We had a great time and I learned a lot from this board .

We took a lyft from the airport Wednesday evening. I think it was in the range of $35. We got to the hotel around 9... my son was exhausted so he crashed out and my husband and I wandered around looking for a quick, casual bite. We ended up getting a couple rolls at Kimonos, which worked fine.

Thursday morning we were up at 7 to try to get in virtual queue for GOTG. I didn't do anything before 7 - big mistake. We should have confirmed our party a few minutes early. Not sure what happened but when I got to the screen, it said none of us were eligible and then the queue was full. So... I threw some money at the problem ($14pp) and got an ILL for 11:05. The good news was we were able to get in the 1 pm VBQ so we got to ride it twice . Awesome ride. We loved being able to walk to Epcot and stopped at Boardwalk Deli as someone here recommended. Though we accidentally walked around the wrong way (by Yacht Club) so DH and DS got in the line at Epcot while I zipped back to the Deli.

Friday we took the bus to Animal Kingdom. The bus was easy but the front desk really has no idea what time they'll be coming. I think they said 45 minutes before early open but the bus was even earlier than that - good thing we were down there early or we would have missed it. We took the bus back around 2 and checked out the pool and swan boats. The waterslide was closed but we still enjoyed the pool area and lazing in the sun, knowing the next day would be busy.

Saturday we got ILL for ROTR and G+ for Slinky Dog Dash, then out the door to DHS. We rope dropped ROTR and were glad we were able to do it twice. Another awesome ride. DH and DS rode Millenium Falcon like 4 times. Another open to close day.

Sunday we were going to take the bus to Disney Springs but the front desk was really confused about what time it was coming (first they said 45 minutes before open, which would have been 9:15. Then when we got down there at 9:10 they said it would be 15 minutes before open since Disney Springs doesn't have early hours.) We had checked out of our room and left our bags with the bell hop so we decided to Lyft over. $10 and easy. We wandered around for several hours then went to catch the bus back. I had in my head that the bus was at the West End Bus Loop. Then I googled and saw that the Disney buses were at the Town Center area. So we headed to the Town Center and realized that the Swan and Dolphin buses were indeed on the West End. We decided to take the Boardwalk/Yacht Club bus which probably worked out better anyhow.

Got back to the hotel, grabbed our bags, and took a Lyft to the airport. $25.

We had an awesome time... my only (very very minor) complaint is general lack of information about the buses. I couldn't find much online other than "buses run every 20-25 minutes" and the front desk didn't know much. It worked out fine to Animal Kingdom but not so much for Disney Springs. The Swan was a great place to stay... we loved being able to walk to two parks, we grabbed breakfast on the go from Java two of our mornings, the staff was nice, room was clean, we did have several waters in the room every day. Happy to answer questions if anyone is wondering anything else about the current situation there.

Great review! It looks like the S&D app if you click "on property" and transportation is pretty close to what you experienced, other than the AK bus being there even earlier than 45 minutes before opening.

 

[sjuncfan]

Great review! It looks like the S&D app if you click "on property" and transportation is pretty close to what you experienced, other than the AK bus being there even earlier than 45 minutes before opening.

View attachment 736296

Fair point. I could have found it easily enough I suppose - and it's possible I saw the "west end bus loop" part Friday and had forgotten by Sunday. Disney Springs is just annoying because the restaurants open before the shops... we wanted to get there earlier and eat breakfast. All good, the Lyft was cheap and worked out great.

I think the "45 minutes prior to park opening" is 45 minutes before early entry.

 

[Nursemanit]

I made the mistake of taking the S/D bus to the springs once in the August heat, I used Lyft from then on.

 

[Punkrockbebop]

Question about mobile check in and upgrades. I am a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite member and called ahead to the Dolphin to request an upgrade, if available. Does Mobile check in affect the possibility of getting an upgraded room, at all? I searched the forum but couldn’t find any info on this.

 

[mmm_texas]

Question about mobile check in and upgrades. I am a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite member and called ahead to the Dolphin to request an upgrade, if available. Does Mobile check in affect the possibility of getting an upgraded room, at all? I searched the forum but couldn’t find any info on this.

I'm not sure, but we avoid mobile check-in just for this reason.

I suspect it depends on the particular property. I've heard that some go through their list of arrivals in the morning and distribute any available upgrades at that time, in which case mobile check-in shouldn't affect anything. But if they don't actually check for upgrades until you arrive, I think you'd want to be working with a live person.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Yeah I'm not sure if Mobile Check-in is an issue or not, more likly it would the the timing of Check-in... I've had more sucess getting an upgrade with later check-in rather than early or at 4PM. But I'm just Gold, and often there just aren't any upgrades...

 

[mmm_texas]

Yeah I'm not sure if Mobile Check-in is an issue or not, more likly it would the the timing of Check-in... I've had more sucess getting an upgrade with later check-in rather than early or at 4PM. But I'm just Gold, and often there just aren't any upgrades...

So then the timing may depend somewhat on your status. The person I talked to said in the morning they go through the check-in list for upgrades in status order (Ambassador, then Titanium, etc.), so timing may not matter so much if you're a top tier status, but for Gold, etc., you may have more luck once they really know what's left over in the afternoon.

 

[100AcreWood]

We just returned last Sunday. The location was fabulous and once we figured out we should walk to Boardwalk and catch the bus to MK, we decided we would definitely stay at the Swan or Dolphin again. I loved the easy access to the Boardwalk Deli which was amazing for breakfast. Our room was "meh" but we didn't spend much time there anyway. The beds were good though and that was the most important part. I wish there was a fun in the bathroom to help with steam from the shower. We thought the hotel was understaffed and waited forever one night for towels. Overall, it was a good stay.

 

[melking23]

I need some help in deciding what to do!

We’re boarding a cruise ship on 2/19. I currently have 2 nights booked at Residence Inn Cape Canaveral. We originally planned to have dinner at Boma at AKL on 2/17 and visit KSC on 2/18. We’ve decided to visit Disney on 2/18 instead. DH and I already have park tickets (non-expiring from way back in 2008) but I have to buy 1-day park hoppers for our 2 kids (holy expensive!). I’d like to rope drop and close down the parks on the 18th but I know we’re going to need a midday break. It’s about 45-55 minutes from our current hotel to get to Disney. I’m not saying we would do that drive for a break but we’d likely power through and deal with the exhaustion on the ship. It’s a 1-bedroom king room with sleeper sofa and full kitchen at 42K points per night. Free breakfast, no resort fee, free parking? (if charged it’s $10/night max), and only 3 minutes to drive to the port. We’d have to get up super early to drive to Disney and pay for parking at the parks.

It looks like only Dolphin is available for the 2 nights and is 105K points (42K Friday, 63K Saturday) for a no view room. When/if I cancel the RI stay I’d have more than enough points to cover the stay. I know we’d had to pay the resort fee and parking as well (~$158.16 total for both nights) but we can walk to Epcot and HS. We’ll likely hit those 2 parks and finish the night at MK. I’m not too keen on the double beds but I can make due for 2 nights. I wish Swan was available for the double queens! We’d also get early entry perks. The drive to the port on Sunday AM wouldn’t be terrible. Our checkin arrival for the ship is 10:30AM so I figure we can leave Dolphin around 9AM to grab a quick, cheap breakfast on the way and still arrive early. We also wouldn’t be as exhausted having been able to take a break during the day and an easy commute back to the room after we close down the parks.

So what would you do…drive back and forth from Residence Inn 50-ish minutes away or pay the resort/parking fees and have the convenience of Dolphin?

 

[glocon]

Definitely stay at the dolphin.

If you must take a break in a resort room, driving almost an hour there and then again back if a huge waste of precious vacation time.

If you can take a break by having a long lunch at an air conditioned wdw sit down restaurant, or break by doing air conditioned shows, or break by lounging in a nearby wdw resort lobby (and thereby not make the long ride there and back to your offsite hotel) then keep your current reservation.

I guess it’s all about how you take your break.

We definitely would not want to make that long round trip in middle of our day. We’d choose Dolphin for the convenience for sure.
Vacation time is too precious to spend on the road.

 

[disneyfan150]

Dolphin gets my vote. Not sure how old your kids are or what your break style might be. As a first grade teacher, when kids are done - they are done. The Dolphin allows a quiet private break when you need one to refresh. At the Dolphin, you start and end your day without drive time. Being at the parks from open to close and then driving 50 miles would not be magical for me.

There are ways to try to take a break within Disney. Boat, Skyliner, Monorail rides or quiet nooks and crannies are possibilities. But there are inturruptions (doors opeining and shutting, loud voices, people passing . . ). These spots allow me a quick refresh, but not a relaxing reset.