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

Just saw that Costco is selling $100 worth of SpaFinder gift cards for $69.99. It says that they can be used at “Marriott Bonvoy” locations. Has anyone ever used them at the spa here?
Well DANGIT. Are you telling my I could have used those at JW Bonnet Creek?! Because I thought I was doing good using an Amex offer LOL (Also- lovely spa. Do recommend.)
 
I just remembered a peculiar thing about SR for those who use ECVs. Bell Services asked my father to leave his ECV with them when came back from the parks and charged it for him. He would then pick it up from them every time he left. They told him it was to prevent scooters being left in the hallways.

He found that an ideal situation as bell services is right there when you enter the hotel and none of the rooms are a far walk.
 
@gottalovepluto we ran into this for our Disneyland stay when we were at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort, bell services also asked if we wanted to leave it with them, though they said it was to save space in the room, but one was also honest and said it saved damage to the hotel ;) We found it a great convenience to have it charged, and parked and ready to go each morning.
 
We will have two scooters in our Dolphin room. Is there room for two? We've always been able to rearrange furniture a bit in the Disney resorts to accommodate two scooters, but have never stayed with two in the Dolphin. Suggestions?
 


Hi all! Are the resort fees and parking fees the same for Swan Reserve as they are for the Swan/Dolphin?
 


@jlundeen I think you can make it work. Do you have a single or double bed room? The King rooms should have more space, but I think you can manage with either. From this page you can click to see what the space looks like.
 
@jlundeen I think you can make it work. Do you have a single or double bed room? The King rooms should have more space, but I think you can manage with either. From this page you can click to see what the space looks like.
Thanks Steve, we have two double beds, but from the pictures that I have been able to find, there should be room if we move a few things around. We're hoping to have a connecting room, so that kind of takes that space needed for opening the door away too.
 
Thanks Steve, we have two double beds, but from the pictures that I have been able to find, there should be room if we move a few things around. We're hoping to have a connecting room, so that kind of takes that space needed for opening the door away too.
If scooters fit through the door then I think there’s no problem fitting them into a double bed room. Here is our room from this weekend, the hallway space is quite spacious and continues in front of the beds. Then there is a good amount of space near the balcony (or window I suppose, if no balcony), enough for chairs and table. You would need to rearrange those a bit but I’m sure it would work. The only part of the room that felt small to us was the bathroom! Otherwise it felt in line with the Disney moderates in size to us.
 

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If scooters fit through the door then I think there’s no problem fitting them into a double bed room. Here is our room from this weekend, the hallway space is quite spacious and continues in front of the beds. Then there is a good amount of space near the balcony (or window I suppose, if no balcony), enough for chairs and table. You would need to rearrange those a bit but I’m sure it would work. The only part of the room that felt small to us was the bathroom! Otherwise it felt in line with the Disney moderates in size to us.
Thank you, that does look like it is workable. If we put one in the hallway across from the closet, and one by the windows, we should have no issues. Just don't want to block the doorway to get out of the room! Lol
 
If scooters fit through the door then I think there’s no problem fitting them into a double bed room. Here is our room from this weekend, the hallway space is quite spacious and continues in front of the beds. Then there is a good amount of space near the balcony (or window I suppose, if no balcony), enough for chairs and table. You would need to rearrange those a bit but I’m sure it would work. The only part of the room that felt small to us was the bathroom! Otherwise it felt in line with the Disney moderates in size to us.

@Disneyhanna Thanks for sharing! @jlundeen the pics made me think... bring an extension cord with you.

Thank you, that does look like it is workable. If we put one in the hallway across from the closet, and one by the windows, we should have no issues. Just don't want to block the doorway to get out of the room! Lol
I agree. I have used a single scooter for a number of trips there. There is enough room to do two, with a bit of furniture realignment. Enjoy the trip.
 
Just returned from 3 nights at the Dolphin and wanted to give a review while things are still fresh. This was our first stay here, we typically stay on property but with rising prices the AP rate QWH at the Dolphin is too good to resist. I tend to ramble so this is a LONG review, lol! I typed this up on the plane to pass the time, I was too tired to pay attention to a movie!

Room:

We stayed on the lobby floor of the West Wing in room 3175, which is almost at the end of the hall. This was actually a great location as the hall is not that long (only when dragging luggage!) and being at the end meant very few people walking by. Lobby floor was great to not wait for elevators. It was a bit confusing for us to find our hallway but it ended up starting right by Fuel and that made it easier to remember. This meant being relatively close to the bus stop as well.

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Hallway carpet has seen better days! Edit - apparently this is the pattern, LOL!

The beds were very comfy and we LOVED having an actual duvet, something we hate about Disney resorts (just thin blankets and sheets). We booked a balcony room and had a nice view of the pool and could see the Tower of Terror. It would be nice to have a room facing Epcot to see the fireworks though! The hallway carpet was very tired but the room carpet was nice, no complaints. The rooms look quite a bit more tired than in the hotel stock photos but they probably have a few more years of life in them before I’d say they need a refurb. We didn’t hear much of our neighbors to the side or above/below, we could hear people pass by but since we were at the end of the hallway it was just the people next to us maybe once or twice a day, I imagine rooms closer to the lobby would have more noise from foot traffic.

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Two double bed room, plenty of room to move around with two adults (unlike at Pop or All Stars).

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Huge coffee counter, we did lots of charging and purse organizing here!

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Teeny tiny bathroom, hardly enough room for the toilet in there, only real complaint about the room. A pocket door would have made this much better. Also no door for the sink area, another slight downside. Great sink with minimal splashing, you can just see the shelf in the wall which added more storage since the counter is small. We had plenty of towels for our three night stay.

The closet was huge, which is nice if you want to hang stuff. The only real complaint I had about the room was the bathroom situation, the door to the toilet/shower barely fits so you have to squeeze around it a lot and it’s super cramped. Not much counter space, there was a nice built in shelf in the wall that held quite a bit. Loved the separate coffee counter though, even though we just used it for extra counter space. Good water pressure from the shower! One thing I hate about hotel room designs that Dolphin was guilty of, is the big mirror in the middle of the room that provides a view from the bed to the bathroom sink area. If you like to change in private, you’ll need to keep the door shut!

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Large hallway space is nice and puts some space between the door and the beds to keep things quieter, a major perk of deluxe resorts. The closet was one of the widest hotel closets I've ever seen.

The room was plenty big for two adults and is similar to the size of Disney moderates. The room is very dark at night, I was glad I brought a nightlight for the middle of the night bathroom visits. I would bring a power strip in the future. The nightstand between the double beds is a bit small when sharing. We had good cell service (Verizon) in the room. Wi-Fi is nothing special when I checked it was 12mbps download so I stuck to using data. I do not have any special status with Marriott and there were free water bottles in the room. I’m sure you could grab some from the many housekeeping carts that are always in the hallway, they all had multiple cases of water on top.

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Our view at night, the little purple light on the left is the Tower of Terror.

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Same view during the day!

Location/transportation:

We LOVED the location. It was maybe a 10 minute walk to the Boardwalk Deli from our room. We both walked and took the boat to Epcot and both were great. We took the boat to Studios which was even better given S/D are the first stop in both directions. From our room to the International Gateway at Epcot was a 15 minute walk, if you’re more leisurely it would be more like 20 minutes. The boat from S/D to Epcot takes about 15 minutes plus whatever time to wait for a boat, we often walked on or waited at most under 10 minutes. The boat between S/D and Studios only took 8-9 minutes plus loading/waiting time. We walked onto way more boats than we had to wait for. The order is Epcot, Boardwalk, Beach/Yacht Club, Swan/Dolphin, Studios, and vice versa.

For buses, we did to and from AK once and to MK once. I think I reviewed the AK bus in a previous post, we did wait about 26 minutes for the AK bus at 9:30 (and saw a DS and MK bus during that wait) and it took 16 minutes from leaving the bus stop to being dropped off at AK by the rideshare area. We liked the bus stop at AK which is on the opposite side of the Disney buses, and there is seating and it is probably as close or closer to the entrance than the closest Disney buses. On our return to Dolphin from AK, we waited all of a few minutes for a bus and it took 15 minutes from departing the MK bus stop to dropping us back at the Dolphin. There is no estimated bus arrival time at the Dolphin which is a downside, and the buses are not always marked by park, in which case the driver gets out and tells people where they are going.

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Seating area at the AK bus stop, I think there were three benches.

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The red box is where the AK park entrance is, very close to the S/D bus stop.

The MK bus worked well, we decided to give it a try rather than spend 10 minutes walking to the Boardwalk. We saw a MK bus at the Dolphin and ran onto it at 9:00AM and it departed right away. I checked Lyft prices and they were $9-11 to get to the other parks/TTC for reference. We stopped at the Swan 9:05 and were dropped off at the TTC at 9:17. No wait for security at TTC and we walked onto a ferry at 9:22 and they basically closed the gate behind us. The ferry departed 9:24 and landed at MK at 9:30. So, it took about 30 minutes from getting onto the Dolphin bus to getting to MK. We were happy with that as it would take 10 minutes to walk to the Boardwalk plus however long to wait for the bus. We did not take the bus back to Dolphin.

Based on our limited usage, buses seem frequent enough and usually (but not always) are the coach buses so everyone gets a comfy seat. Most of our buses were almost empty so we never had to worry about seating, but we didn’t do rope drop or park close.

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Lots of people watching Harmonious from their rooms, we wished we had this view as it would have been great!

Continuing my review in my next post...
 
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(review continued)

Food options:

We only stopped a few times at Fuel and the Fountains (for ice cream) so we didn’t take much advantage of the actual dining options. Fuel was convenient for a quick snack but I can’t speak much for the actual food options, they did have a decent breakfast sandwich selection. I had the Mickey waffles one morning which were the exact same as what I was served at the Riviera a few days later in the trip, so two thumbs up for the waffles! We shared a small cup of ice cream one night and were able to get two flavors, a nice option for late nights.

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Small order of ice cream from the Fountain, two flavors are allowed. Two small scoops, about $8.

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Three Mickey waffles were about $9, fresh and hot!

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Not sure if it is a new mix but the waffles on this trip were denser than I remembered, very good and more filling!

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Several soft serve options at Fuel including Dole Whip, priced by weight.

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Toppings are packaged to go, no perishable toppings. Banana runts...I might judge anyone grabbing those...

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Less judgement over these toppings.

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There was a microwave in Fuel by the fro yo, I imagine it's for anyone to use.

Dolphin employees:

Everyone I encountered was friendly! The front desk, bell services, cabana hut, pool boys, Fuel workers, all great. We asked about transferring luggage to Disney resorts and it occurs from 6am-11am, the earlier you drop your luggage the earlier they will get it to your resort. We asked about a 9:30 drop off and the bell hop guessed 3:30-4 for the bags being ready. They guarantee by 7pm. We have AirTags in luggage and dropped it off at 9am and saw it was at our next resort around 2:00, and it may have been there a while. Make sure you tell them you are transferring vs holding luggage as I believe it’s a different tag.

Cost:

With the AP rate for 11/24-11/27 Thurs-Sun and the holiday weekend it was $892 for three nights, inclusive of all fees, for a balcony room. I think the cheapest room was maybe $100 cheaper over the stay. I booked direct through Marriott and checked rates frequently, I booked originally in XXXX and modified half a dozen times online every time I saw the rate drop. I think I modified for the lowest rate in late August, which was after the resort fee went from $35 to $40. On check in and check out I was given the $35 resort fee, so my final bill was $17 less than the amount online when I rebooked, which I appreciated. This is in line with the Disney moderates discounted with an AP rate.

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Room key card holder from check-in, notice the $35 resort fee.

Other:

We did use the big pool once and it was nice, a little chilly but more than enough seating and the kids were all well behaved. I think there were 3 hot tubs which was nice, of course they were never empty during the day! We didn’t order anything at the pool but the delivery to your seat was a cool perk. We did not have to show a room key for the pool towels. Since the pool area is accessible to anyone, I’d be cautious leaving stuff out. We kept an eye on our loungers and only brought minimal items, hid phone in shoe, etc. I don’t think it’d be an issue but since the pool isn’t enclosed and is easy to access from the Boardwalk area it’s good to be careful.

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Huge normal sized bath towels given at the pool, beats the usual skimpy pool towels.

We used the paddle boats, it’s in a nice little enclosed pond(?) so it’s not like you could get stuck anywhere. It is a workout and one person can go alone, we saw a man with a dog on one! One little lap was enough for us. They are free, you just sign your name as a waiver at the cabana hut first where the towels are, and they give you a pass. I believe it ends at 4:30 every day.

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Make sure to stop at the Cabana hut by the pool to get your free "pass" prior to getting on a paddle boat!

Overall:

I would say the Dolphin is like a moderate room-wise, with Deluxe transportation! So I would definitely book Dolphin before I book a Disney moderate again. (And I already have two more short stays booked!) I know some people like Disney being in their face but that doesn’t matter to us. We stay on property for the benefits of dining reservations, extra park hours, ride reservations, proximity to parks, etc. I do not need Mickey art everywhere to feel like I’m at Disney. It was a little funny going up the walkway to the Dolphin and hearing the Backstreet Boys!

Walking and boating to the parks was brand new to us and I can’t imagine going back to a resort that requires a bus to all 4 parks! With the Magical Express gone, S/D are practically the same as Disney resorts right now. We never charge to Magicbands anymore since we buy discounted gift cards and use those, and the Marriott app room key worked perfectly. We stayed at the Riviera for the second half of our trip and while that was an upgrade, it wasn’t like I’d be disappointed to stay at the Dolphin if the order was flipped. Given the cost difference, I’d say the Dolphin is a steal with the AP rate.

We had no issues buying and booking Genie+, I did not do any paid individual lightning lanes this trip. I did rebook all our park reservations just before the trip as I heard some people had issues with their reservations that were made before Disney made it possible to modify park reservations. Not sure if this was necessary but I didn’t want to risk it. I did the Cosmic Rewind VQ and had no issues there either. Overall, we had a really good stay at the Dolphin and I’m excited to stay there again. We did a lot of evenings in the Boardwalk area and it was wonderful to be back in our room in under 15 minutes.
 
@Disneyhanna thanks for taking the time to share comments and photos from your trip, that is always very help for future guests.

I did get a smile about the carpet, it's come up on this group and others a lot. Actually, as others have noted and noted it really is part of the pattern. During our trip I got down to check it out, and its a repeating pattern. I still have no idea why anyone would put carpet like that down in the hall though - but as @Dan Murphy has commented this has been an issue since it was first installed. It's dang near famous for being so ugly... or is that infamous? ;)
 
@Disneyhanna thanks for taking the time to share comments and photos from your trip, that is always very help for future guests.

I did get a smile about the carpet, it's come up on this group and others a lot. Actually, as others have noted and noted it really is part of the pattern. During our trip I got down to check it out, and its a repeating pattern. I still have no idea why anyone would put carpet like that down in the hall though - but as @Dan Murphy has commented this has been an issue since it was first installed. It's dang near famous for being so ugly... or is that infamous? ;)
That is too funny. I will have to look closer next time, it really is a hideous pattern. Right up there with MCO! :rotfl:
 
I would say the Dolphin is like a moderate room-wise, with Deluxe transportation!
Other posters have compared Swan and Dolphin to Disney moderates

The rooms could use updating. The Dolphin as a resort is not like a Disney moderate. Swan, Dolphin,Reserve offer daily housekeeping, room service, signature restaurants, bars,spa, interior corridors, one of the best pools on property..


The S,D,R resorts as a whole are deluxe, not moderate.

Some people may prefer the Disney themeing in Disney hotels. I'd agree Disney hotels rooms are configured better for families.
 
@Disneyhanna, thanks so much for your report! Our first stay at Dolphin after multiple stays at WL is coming up soon, and I'm nervous about what we'll think, but hopeful! I suspect the lack of two sinks/sink door will be the main issue we'll have, but I'm hoping everything else will be great!
 

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