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

[sheilafri]

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 was there a week ago. My room was assigned in the app before I arrived and I did have an upgrade. I suspect the comment about morning assignments might be accurate. I think I actually did online check in as I was arriving late and wanted my park plans to be in order.

 

[melking23]

Thanks y’all! I’m gonna call Bonvoy and get them to make the switch to Dolphin. DH and I stayed at Swan for a week in September for our 10-year wedding anniversary leaving the kids at home. We had an awesome time and loved the convenience. The kids are 1st and 4th graders and we’re not bringing a stroller. We don’t even own one anymore but the kids never really used it at Disney anyway - it became a catchall more than anything.

After I make the hotel switch I’ll buy the kids’ tickets and make park reservations. Then I need to get online for DAS. I’m not mad at the lazy day on the phone. lol

I wish SwanDolphin would drop their parking fees like Disney finally did!

 

[melking23]

As soon as I posted my last comment I called to get the reservation switched around. And just within maybe 2 hours from first looking Dolphin is no longer available with points. 😭 I loathe the idea of a split stay since it’s only 2 nights but Swan is available for the Saturday night and other Marriott properties are available nearby for the weekend (Flamingo Crossings). I want to take advantage of walking to Epcot and HS, early entry, and ILLs at 7AM since we only have 1 park day. In theory those perks should be available to me on checkin day but has anyone here had issue with it? I know about the reservation possibly falling off of MDE. I’m thinking we could enjoy the free breakfast at whichever hotel I choose to stay at Friday night and then drive over to Swan to park and then checkin later. Or should I do mobile checkin? All I care about it the queen beds, not interested in upgrading to a room with a view. Even if our room isn’t ready when we want a break, there’s so many couches in the lobby that we could chill and relax (even a nap for the kids if needed).

Which Flamingo Crossings hotel would you choose for 1 night before a park day?

ETA: Swan is available Friday night, not Saturday, so we’d still get the perks on our park day. In this case, I don’t care which Marriott property we stay at Saturday except that it’s not far from the Swan as the car will stay there all day on checkout day until we’re done with the parks.

 

[SteveH]

Which Flamingo Crossings hotel would you choose for 1 night before a park day?

We stayed at the SpringHill Suites for a night before our POFQ stay, and loved it. Room was great, pool was nice and the food saved us from having to leave the hotel after a long day. We really enjoyed the stay and the evening meal we had.

 

[summerlvr]

I think any of the Flamingo Crossing hotels would be fine, but with 2 kids, you might want the extra space that comes with Springhill, TownPlace or Residence Inn. I would probably go for whichever one has the best rate.
I do have a suggestion though about the split stay. Why not stay at FC both nights? You could drive to Swan/Dolphin in the AM and park your car there and walk/boat to Epcot or HS.

 

[patty57]

You could drive to Swan/Dolphin in the AM and park your car there and walk/boat to Epcot or HS.

Is that doable? When I've had my car at the Dolphin, I think I had to use a ticket that I've paid for at reception to get out of the gate. Can someone park there, and then go inside to pay? Am I remembering wrong, because that's definitely possible.

 

[summerlvr]

Is that doable? When I've had my car at the Dolphin, I think I had to use a ticket that I've paid for at reception to get out of the gate. Can someone park there, and then go inside to pay? Am I remembering wrong, because that's definitely possible.

You can park there without being a guest. You pay at the gate on your way out. I usually park at the Swan though because the parking lot is closer to the building. There have always been plenty of spots available. Dolphin lot always seems to be fuller, maybe because that’s where the convention center is.
The only issue with parking there without being a guest is that you don’t have in/out privileges, so if you left and came back, you would have to pay again.

 

[patty57]

@summerlvr thanks for clarifying that for me.

 

[melking23]

Everything kept changing so quickly yesterday! There would be availability for Swan, Dolphin, and Flamingo Crossings hotels but then I’d refresh or go back to another search and they were suddenly gone. I called Bonvoy again and the only availability was a booking at SpringHill for the 2 nights. Bummer to not have on-site perks (I really want early entry and 7AM ILLs) but at least we would be nearby, it would be cheaper overall (no resort fee and park parking is cheaper than SwanDolphin’s daily rate), it saved a ton of points, and the room is bigger. I checked SwanDolphin again this morning and Swan was available again for Friday night! Since I saved so much in points I had plenty to book that night and will call later to adjust SpringHill to just Saturday night.

I guess I never really thought about using Swan’s parking for anything over than a resort stay. I knew as a non-guest it’s the flat rate every time you exit the gate though and that’s a ridiculous price honestly. I wonder if they charge it that way to convention patrons just coming in for the day?

Thanks so much for everyone’s help! I don’t really care for the split stay on such a short trip but I’ll do some very strategic packing between Disney and the cruise to save from having to bring more than 1 piece of luggage into the hotel room or at embarkation on the ship (never know when the luggage will arrive to the room so I bring everything we need for the first day/night in a carryon).

I’m so excited to be back in Disney again soon!!!!

 

[jessily]

Just back from another great stay at Swan, thanks for all the information in this thread. We were in a king alcove room (son used the pull out couch), bed was very comfortable and we really enjoyed the balcony. We loved having Java there, I don't think there was a grab and go location last time we stayed aside from the small coffee bar in the lobby. Takeout from Kimonos was delicious.

The resort was very busy with conventions last week. The restaurants and elevators were crowded. We didn't have any issues, but it definitely had a different feel from past trips.

The waterfall section of the pool is still under construction (they were actively working on it one day we were there, but it was quiet the rest of our stay). Lots of construction going on at Dolphin too. The playground was replaced since we were last there, really nice. We enjoyed the updated walking path over to Swan Reserve/mini golf.

Service was hit or miss. We had a long wait for bedding for the pullout couch (it was requested before we arrived), often had to request extra towels (2 towels left for 3 people some days), were never able to get them to unlock the safe, one of our belongings was broken (or taken, but it was glass so I assume it was broken and cleaned up - we were never notified, it was just gone). None of those things had a negative impact on our trip, but it was frustrating given the cost of the rooms, which is much higher than the last time we stayed. Some days housekeeping was great. We got 2-4 bottles of water each day.

We only took the bus from Swan to Animal Kingdom, no issues. We decided to take a Minnie Van to MK and Blizzard Beach which definitely saved time. If we hadn't had a young child with us we would have taken a Lyft to Blizzard and the bus from Boardwalk to MK.

Overall a great stay and we'll definitely return as long as the prices don't creep up even higher. The location can't be beat!

 

[melking23]

I’ve read back the last 40 pages or so since my last trip Labor Day week at Swan. I can help clarify the bottled water and housekeeping situations.

Housekeeping was available daily during our 7-night stay (Sat-Sat, park days Sun-Mon and Wed-Fri). They would make the beds, change out towels, restock soap bars and mini lotion, take out the trash, and wipe everything down. They would also replenish water bottles. Most of the time it was 2 bottles and once it was 4 bottles. We rope dropped every morning except Tuesday (rest day) and took midday breaks. Sometimes we’d come back as early as 11AM but as late as 2PM. We completed everything we wanted to do in that park in the morning and would go to a different park in the evening (we did every attraction offered at each park except most shows and all kiddie rides like Dumbo, Magic Carpets, etc.). Sometimes housekeeping had already come by the time we returned but usually had not when we took the earlier breaks. I’d say they came around noon on average. On the days they hadn’t come yet we put up the do not disturb sign and we were fine skipping that day’s cleaning.

Bottled water is always available even outside of housekeeping. There were 4 bottles in our room when we arrived. Every time we came in from a park we stopped at the front desk and asked for more water. They asked how many we wanted and I always got 4. Sometimes they would even offer a bag. We took 4 with us each morning and again in the afternoon to the parks. I estimate we got 58-62 bottles of water total for the week. I think we packed 4 bottles in the cooler for the drive home. There was usually not a line at the checkin counter but if there was it was maybe 1-2 people. I always walked up the mobile checkin line because it seemed they called those people first (presumably because those people already checked in and would be quick to assist).

I can’t recall if we ever took the bus from Swan to the TTC but we did take it back twice. The first time we waited about 20 minutes for a bus. The second time it pulled up as soon as we sat down to wait. The AK bus from Swan was far better than any Disney bus. We went to AK twice and the bus pulled up as soon as we got to Swan’s stop. Both days were Disney Cruise Line coaches that were extremely comfortable. The drop off at AK is very close to the main entrance gate. We did not take the bus back as we had a dinner ADR at Sanaa after park close on one visit and a late breakfast ADR at Boma another. The AKL bus was at the far end of the Disney bus stop. It was a much farther walk than SDR’s bus. We Uber’d back to Swan after both meals. Uber was cheaper than Lyft all week but we paid less than $9 for 3 trips and under $10 for one (before tip). We Uber’d from AKL to Swan x2, Swan to Riviera, and Swan to Contemporary. There’s an app called Obi that will compare ride-share costs including Minnie Vans.

No one ever talks about the Swan walking path to HS. It was absolutely faster than the BW walking path. It was not crowded at all and we only passed a few people (they were walking towards the Swan) but we could see across the water how full the other path was. We kept track of a few people to see if we would beat them to HS and we did by a decent amount. The Swan path definitely saves some steps because we didn’t have to walk out the back door, up the hill, nor over the bridge to get to the path like the BW path. We cut through the Swan parking lot and jumped on the path from there.

 

[JJ2017]

Huge Swolphin fan - many stays. Coming back soon but have Pop booked b/c I truly would like to experience more WDW resorts. Solo trip and barely time in the room so I've been OK with it. Until now.....

I see that one of my nights I'm there - Dolphin is a low Marriott point value (42,000 - lower than I've recently seen) and I have a free night certificate I can use and then add some top off points (but of course I can use this free night award in the future on other family vacations). The second night is, all in, $375.

My stay at Pop is $600 for the two nights.

Is there a better deal in here? Or is it neglible? I promised DH I wouldn't bother him with these questions - but I cannot decide. I miss Dolphin!

 

[kylenne]

Huge Swolphin fan - many stays. Coming back soon but have Pop booked b/c I truly would like to experience more WDW resorts. Solo trip and barely time in the room so I've been OK with it. Until now.....

I see that one of my nights I'm there - Dolphin is a low Marriott point value (42,000 - lower than I've recently seen) and I have a free night certificate I can use and then add some top off points (but of course I can use this free night award in the future on other family vacations). The second night is, all in, $375.

My stay at Pop is $600 for the two nights.

Is there a better deal in here? Or is it neglible? I promised DH I wouldn't bother him with these questions - but I cannot decide. I miss Dolphin!

I really can't speak to the deal aspect, but FWIW I go solo for most of my trips and if the choice is between Dolphin and walking to EP/HS vs. Pop and the Skyliner I'm picking Dolphin every time, even if it's costing me a little more. I don't mind to pay a bit more to stay in a hotel with deluxe perks within walking distance to a park, even on a short trip. Especially on a short trip if I'm honest, because time really is money on trips like that. Anything to minimize transportation use is a good thing. HS is a very challenging park right now with Tower at half capacity and RNRC set to go down for refurb, and I just think it's worth it to be able to walk there. But I also have admittedly unpopular opinions of the Skyliner, I think it's a cute way to park hop but I could never rely on it as a primary method of transportation to and from parks, the transfer at CBR is awful at peak times and I've seen it go down for weather too many times and seen too many nightmare lines for buses at the other Crescent Lake resorts that ensue because of the sheer number of displaced guests. I know a lot of people love it but it's just not for me. Maybe when it's not peak storm season.

 

[Disneyhanna]

Huge Swolphin fan - many stays. Coming back soon but have Pop booked b/c I truly would like to experience more WDW resorts. Solo trip and barely time in the room so I've been OK with it. Until now.....

I see that one of my nights I'm there - Dolphin is a low Marriott point value (42,000 - lower than I've recently seen) and I have a free night certificate I can use and then add some top off points (but of course I can use this free night award in the future on other family vacations). The second night is, all in, $375.

My stay at Pop is $600 for the two nights.

Is there a better deal in here? Or is it neglible? I promised DH I wouldn't bother him with these questions - but I cannot decide. I miss Dolphin!

I stayed at Pop about a year ago and will never be going back if the Dolphin is available, if that helps. Not having a long wait for the Skyliner at park close is wonderful. Plus way more food options. That seems like a really low point night at Dolphin, with a free night cert I'd hop on that immediately. 375 for the second night isn't too bad if it's including fees. The rooms are just so quiet at Dolphin. Every time I stay at a value I remember why I say never again to the motel style rooms. I know everyone says they just need a place to sleep but I do not sleep well at values. The beds at Pop were especially bad my last trip, but I could have just gotten a bad mattress.

 

[JJ2017]

I really can't speak to the deal aspect, but FWIW I go solo for most of my trips and if the choice is between Dolphin and walking to EP/HS vs. Pop and the Skyliner I'm picking Dolphin every time, even if it's costing me a little more. I don't mind to pay a bit more to stay in a hotel with deluxe perks within walking distance to a park, even on a short trip. Especially on a short trip if I'm honest, because time really is money on trips like that. Anything to minimize transportation use is a good thing. HS is a very challenging park right now with Tower at half capacity and RNRC set to go down for refurb, and I just think it's worth it to be able to walk there. But I also have admittedly unpopular opinions of the Skyliner, I think it's a cute way to park hop but I could never rely on it as a primary method of transportation to and from parks, the transfer at CBR is awful at peak times and I've seen it go down for weather too many times and seen too many nightmare lines for buses at the other Crescent Lake resorts that ensue because of the sheer number of displaced guests. I know a lot of people love it but it's just not for me. Maybe when it's not peak storm season.

All good points. I think I might grab Dolphin at this rate and keep an eye on the cancellation. I don't want to miss out if I ultimately want to stay where I feel most comfortable.

 

[kylenne]

All good points. I think I might grab Dolphin at this rate and keep an eye on the cancellation. I don't want to miss out if I ultimately want to stay where I feel most comfortable.

I have such a soft spot for the Dolphin because I grew up staying there on our family trips, due to the nurse/gov't discounts (my mom is a vet and was an RN at the VA Hospital here for 35 years before she retired). I still want to get back there some time soon, had several stays there planned that got canceled due to Covid. My gf and I are staying at the Poly at the end of May but plan on visiting Mandara spa, since I really enjoyed my first experience there back in 2021.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Huge Swolphin fan - many stays. Coming back soon but have Pop booked b/c I truly would like to experience more WDW resorts. Solo trip and barely time in the room so I've been OK with it. Until now.....

I see that one of my nights I'm there - Dolphin is a low Marriott point value (42,000 - lower than I've recently seen) and I have a free night certificate I can use and then add some top off points (but of course I can use this free night award in the future on other family vacations). The second night is, all in, $375.

My stay at Pop is $600 for the two nights.

Is there a better deal in here? Or is it neglible? I promised DH I wouldn't bother him with these questions - but I cannot decide. I miss Dolphin!

I’d jump to Dolphin.
-better beds + rooms with less noise = better sleep
-Marriott points could devalue in Mar when the program goes fully dynamic (hotels will no longer be capped at what points they charge) so I’m of the opinion if you have points or certs the time to burn them is NOW

 

[Scalemaster34]

I’d jump to Dolphin.
-better beds + rooms with less noise = better sleep
-Marriott points could devalue in Mar when the program goes fully dynamic (hotels will no longer be capped at what points they charge) so I’m of the opinion if you have points or certs the time to burn them is NOW

Yeah changes last year were pretty bad in my view.... but they promised to fix the 34K limit.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Yeah changes last year were pretty bad in my view.... but they promised to fix the 34K limit.

What’s the 34k limit?

 

[piglet1979]

Questions about tickets. We bought the package through Disney. We are staying at the Swan and got the tickets with the package. I know we don't get the tickets until we get to Disney. Where do we go to get them?