Resort Thread Walt Disney World SWAN, DOLPHIN & SWAN RESERVE Resorts

[SteveH]

@kylenne I 100% agree with you about TripAdvisor, I avoid. I do use Yelp, but only bother if the person actually shows the checked-in at the location. Even then I take with big chunk of salt. Sadl,y people that complain out number those of us that have a good experience probably 10 to 1, but that's a number that sounded good to me.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I find TA reviews in general to be a cesspool of entitlement

Agree with all your response @kylen. And a good example of your TA thought is the past owner of these boards.

 

[kylenne]

@kylenne I 100% agree with you about TripAdvisor, I avoid. I do use Yelp, but only bother if the person actually shows the checked-in at the location. Even then I take with big chunk of salt. Sadl,y people that complain out number those of us that have a good experience probably 10 to 1, but that's a number that sounded good to me.

This is so true and something really important to keep in mind on any type of review site. People are much more likely to go online and complain about a bad experience they had (whether valid or not) than praise a good one.

 

[Cfabar1]

We had one not so great situation at the Dolphin once... They addressed it swiftly and were very good about it.

We have stayed at all three properties. Swan Reserve might be the best domestic non-RC Marriott property we have stayed at in terms of service. It is definitely our favorite of the three properties and the suites are just incredible. Swan and Dolphin are both great. We don't even remember which stays we had in which place - though I think we have had more Dolphin stays than Swan stays.

 

[parith1114]

Does anyone have any experience with the pull out couch at the Swan Reserve, ondering how it sleeps for an adult? Thanks in advance

 

[Dan Murphy]

Does anyone have any experience with the pull out couch at the Swan Reserve, ondering how it sleeps for an adult? Thanks in advance

I have not personally slept on one but the comments I've seen here for years have always very favorable.

 

[emilyann704]

Does anyone have any experience with the pull out couch at the Swan Reserve, ondering how it sleeps for an adult? Thanks in advance

Oh, I hated it! We stayed in a 1 bedroom suite in January when I was running over Marathon weekend. The night before my race I planned to sleep on the pull out couch so I didn't disturb my partner when I woke up at 2:30am. We unfurled the couch and it was AWFUL. Super thin and lumpy mattress. I definitely wouldn't consider myself a picky sleeper either, it was just that bad. I ended up sleeping on the couch as-is and I found it just fine. I'm 5'2 and had plenty of room.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Does anyone have any experience with the pull out couch at the Swan Reserve, ondering how it sleeps for an adult? Thanks in advance

I slept on one of the pullout couches in a suite for 4 nights. I was glad to be done after the 4 nights for sure- but it’s not as horrendous as the pullout couches at Copper Creek (in case you have experience there, worst one we’ve ever had). I actually found it softer than the bed lol. It had barely any support though and was lumpy so definitely a sofa couch as opposed to Disney’s new drop down couch/bed combos that are practically a bed. And it CREEEEEKED about that loud every time I so much as shifted. I would be willing to sleep there again for the right price but max of 3-4 nights.

 

[parith1114]

I see they are doing refurbishments at the Dolphin, does anyone have a timeline for when rooms will be done?

 

[vanillagirl]

I see they are doing refurbishments at the Dolphin, does anyone have a timeline for when rooms will be done?

I actually just called the swan/dolphin to ask about the dolphin room refurbs. I was told they haven’t started working on the rooms and they haven’t been given any timeline yet. I booked a room at both the dolphin and swan for over Xmas 2025 and I’m trying to decide between the two.

I don’t know why the Dolphin gets a bad rap….We stayed at the Dolphin in a premium room for a week over Xmas 2024 - it was like a suite with a living room separated from the king bedroom by a wall - and we loved it but the decor was showing its age.

We had a really wonderful stay tho with great housekeeping service, nice valet peeps, and very friendly helpful staff. Any issue was fixed fast thru the texting service. The only concern I have for booking a new Xmas 2025 stay was the room was kind of shabby ish so I’m torn on a new updated Swan alcove room or the same premium type Dolphin room for 2025. Price is within $100 for the entire time frame. But it was a really fantastic Dolphin stay as far as service and restaurants go. IMO Marriott is way better than Disney deluxe resorts as far as service - and I’ve stayed at all of the Disney deluxe many many times.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I have not personally slept on one but the comments I've seen here for years have always very favorable.

Rereading the question, my reply was relative to the Swan and Dolphin, not the Reserve. First comments I've seen on the Reserve are above. And those do not sound good.

 

[SteveH]

I see they are doing refurbishments at the Dolphin, does anyone have a timeline for when rooms will be done?

You got great info from @vanillagirl already, I'll just add that we had no formal announcement of the room refresh at the Swan either. No announcement it was over either. The big, and announced project, is the expansion of the meeting space. They do mention this includes the rooms at the Swan but I haven't seen anything that specifically says when/if the Dolphin might be updated.

 

[Cfabar1]

You got great info from @vanillagirl already, I'll just add that we had no formal announcement of the room refresh at the Swan either. No announcement it was over either. The big, and announced project, is the expansion of the meeting space. They do mention this includes the rooms at the Swan but I haven't seen anything that specifically says when/if the Dolphin might be updated.

My understanding is that Swan (Westin) rooms were announced for renovation. The Dolphin rooms have not been announced yet.

The big Orlando hotels get used and abused constantly. I have my issues with this property from time to time, and I know I am in the minority, but I am not a huge fan of the so-called heavenly beds. That said, for a hotel built in the late 80s/early 90s I think it is well taken care of - and we have had better experiences with the overall condition of the rooms than say at the Hyatt Regency (which is our favorite off-property hotel and have no qualms recommending).

My personal view is Disney does room cleaning/preparation better than any of the major hotel chains, but I dislike Disney mattresses and find many of them to have subpar room appointments. So much of it all is personal taste….

 

[Dave006]

My understanding is that Swan (Westin) rooms were announced for renovation. The Dolphin rooms have not been announced yet.

The Swan guest rooms just finished a refurbishment in very late 2024. Nothing was ever announced before it started or even when it was completed.

Dave

 

[SteveH]

My understanding is that Swan (Westin) rooms were announced for renovation. The Dolphin rooms have not been announced yet.

I looked about every where I could find, never found an official press release, even those that reached out to Swan got a very non-descriptive, no time line response. There was more info on the balcony updates then the room refresh. It's very odd and not sure why they kept it quiet. If you have anything I'd love to see it out of curiosity.

Their Press Release from Nov 18 2024 makes no mention of Dolphin room updates, "It is one part of an overall $275 million project that will also upgrade the meeting space in the Swan and Dolphin as well as all the guest rooms in the Swan." Other odd part of this was by that time the room refreshes at the Swan were probably close to being complete, as I think most were done by end of December. Strange.

 

[Cfabar1]

I do not think I have been at the Swan since the renovations. We tentatively have a room booked there for September of 2025, depending on if we go on our cruise or do a WDW stay instead.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Just returned from 3 nights at Dolphin. I've stayed a couple times over the last year or so and it is my favorite of the 3 hotels due to the hustle/bustle vibe, dining options & pool. I stayed with fam who had only stayed at SR, they knew going in this was not going to be that level of nice but accepted it because SR was like $200+/night more.

Room Condition: showing its age. The rooms need TLC, as much I love the resort the vent in my shower was about 1 inch fallen out of the roof (did not report, looked like it had been like that a long time and didn't move), my double bed had a bad dip (that was new to me and disappointing as beds here have been a highlight for me), closet doors kept falling off the rack (they've never worked right in any of the rooms I've had but this one was literally impossible to keep on the tracks whenever I opened it). The second room had a bad dip in the King bed (fam couldn't believe I like the beds usually), closet door same problem falling off tracks, couch super broken down, generally appeared to need TLC. None of the issues were deal breakers but if they are not going to fully refurb these rooms they absolutely need to soft refurb them.

Pool: the weather was a mix of coolish and warm, pool area moderately busy. The bar pool was closed the whole trip along with the hot tub that is located closer to Swan which I found disappointing as the hot tubs got crowded with Spring weather. Have they always had the automatic 25% service charge on pool orders? Went to order a drink from the code on my chair and was surprised so I really don't think it was that high last time I was there (Sept I think). You can still just walk up to the bar and do your own tip though.

Food: Rosa's for breakfast was great as usual, used my plat voucher for a couple continental buffets and others ordered off the menu (they do allergy mickey waffles FYI). One person was even able to order just some eggs and toast, hit the spot for everyone each morning. Il Mulino was good as always, we hit the bar there twice for dinner.


Overall we don't regret our choice, we wanted an EP Deluxe hotel and didn't want to pay Disney prices. It met the low expectations I had set for my fam and is still preferable over CBR or POP for all of us despite the rooms needing TLC. The fam is looking forward to making it back to SR though when we aren't so date constrained.

(I saw those new Swan photos and WOW, those rooms look nice. I have had wonky, weird bad luck with Swan and swore I'd stay at Pop for a whole trip before I ever stay there again- but the rooms at Dolphin vs the look of those rooms at Swan could draw me back to trying Swan again.)

 

[gottalovepluto]

I do not think I have been at the Swan since the renovations. We tentatively have a room booked there for September of 2025, depending on if we go on our cruise or do a WDW stay instead.

You'd know if you stayed in a renovated room link

 

[summerlvr]

Just returned from 3 nights at Dolphin. I've stayed a couple times over the last year or so and it is my favorite of the 3 hotels due to the hustle/bustle vibe, dining options & pool. I stayed with fam who had only stayed at SR, they knew going in this was not going to be that level of nice but accepted it because SR was like $200+/night more.

Room Condition: showing its age. The rooms need TLC, as much I love the resort the vent in my shower was about 1 inch fallen out of the roof (did not report, looked like it had been like that a long time and didn't move), my queen bed had a bad dip (that was new to me and disappointing as beds here have been a highlight for me), closet doors kept falling off the rack (they've never worked right in any of the rooms I've had but this one was literally impossible to keep on the tracks whenever I opened it). The second room had a bad dip in the King bed (fam couldn't believe I like the beds usually), closet door same problem falling off tracks, couch super broken down, generally appeared to need TLC. None of the issues were deal breakers but if they are not going to fully refurb these rooms they absolutely need to soft refurb them.

Pool: the weather was a mix of coolish and warm, pool area moderately busy. The bar pool was closed the whole trip along with the hot tub that is located closer to Swan which I found disappointing as the hot tubs got crowded with Spring weather. Have they always had the automatic 25% service charge on pool orders? Went to order a drink from the code on my chair and was surprised so I really don't think it was that high last time I was there (Sept I think). You can still just walk up to the bar and do your own tip though.

Food: Rosa's for breakfast was great as usual, used my plat voucher for a couple continental buffets and others ordered off the menu (they do allergy mickey waffles FYI). One person was even able to order just some eggs and toast, hit the spot for everyone each morning. Il Mulino was good as always, we hit the bar there twice for dinner.


Overall we don't regret our choice, we wanted an EP Deluxe hotel and didn't want to pay Disney prices. It met the low expectations I had set for my fam and is still preferable over CBR or POP for all of us despite the rooms needing TLC. The fam is looking forward to making it back to SR though when we aren't so date constrained.

(I saw those new Swan photos and WOW, those rooms look nice. I have had wonky, weird bad luck with Swan and swore I'd stay at Pop for a whole trip before I ever stay there again- but the rooms at Dolphin vs the look of those rooms at Swan could draw me back to trying Swan again.)

Wow, thanks for the detailed review. I usually stay at the Dolphin several times a year because you just can't beat the location for the price. Sounds like I may have to start considering the Swan instead, even though it's usually a bit more expensive.

 

[SteveH]

@gottalovepluto thanks for the honest review, sounds like Dolphin needs some attention. I hope after they get the new meeting space done (or sooner) they get to work on the refresh there. The Swan rooms look really good and I know I appreciate that they didn't go completely without some carpet in the rooms.

I hope others check out the link you posted, some great photos and does appear to confirm that all rooms have been completed not just the standard rooms.