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

[kappyfamily]

In the noise by any chance coming from the bottom of the door? I wonder if they never put in any fillers for the sides and bottom. And if it is the bottom maybe a towel will help. Seems like a crazy few days. Sadly I would not be as positive as you and ask for a refund or credit/points for all these issues

We will give the towel a try! Luckily no fire. When I was getting my coffee after it, the barista said to me “yep those have been fun the last two weeks”. Yikes. I do believe the hotel has potential. I think the next couple weeks though are going to still be spotty on issues until they get the kinks worked out.

Since I’m already getting about $500 off my bill for the first night fiasco, it’s easier to “deal” with these other things. I will be checking my bill the night before I leave and if that comped night is still on there, well, then they will see a different side of me. For now, I’m choosing to enjoy the vacation and not bring the rest of the family down. Still holding out hopes each day is better on the hotel front!

 

[Dave006]

When I was getting my coffee after it, the barista said to me “yep those have been fun the last two weeks”.

Unfortunately the False Fire Alarm issue is very common in new buildings. I have had these issues in many areas of the world.

New building take months to shake off startup issues. Even the new GDT tower at the CSR resort had a very early Electrical Transformer issue that wrecked havoc across the new tower in August 2019.

https://blogmickey.com/2019/08/power-outage-at-gran-destino-tower-leaves-half-of-disneys-newest-hotel-in-the-dark-tonight/

The good news is that your Swan Reserve was at 10 AM and not 2 AM as we had on our last visit to the Contemporary resort. It went off twice once at 1:15 AM and again at 4 AM a couple of years ago.

Dave

 

[mickey916]

******UPDATE: room number layout. I’m always wondering when I do mobile check in and get my room assignment what end of the hallway, by the elevators etc I will be at. So I walked down the halls like a crazy person taking notes of how the layout is. From what I can tell each floor is the same.
*When you climb off the elevator you can either go right or left to groups of rooms down a standard hallway. Floor number first then room number. So 12th floor and room number 301 would be 12301.
*301 -323 are to the left off the elevator. Room 301 & 302 is closest to the elevator all the way at the end (so the corner furthest away from elevator is 323 & 324.
*324 - 336 are to the right off the elevator. Room 324 is closest to the elevator. All the way at the end (so the corner furthest away from the elevator is 336 & 333).

Thank you for all the wonderful updates, especially "real time"...just wanted to mention that you may want to update the room numbers. 324 is listed as both close and far away from the elevator. I think may 322 and 323 are furthest away on the left? As someone who always wants to be far away from the elevators, I appreciate the info...thanks again and hope you have a stress free rest of your trip.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Sorry Dan! My initial in Red update was what I wanted but for now for whatever reason it will only let me “update” in black. I can put the date next to the update, maybe that will help!

No, no, no sorry stuff. Your info is great. And thank you again.

 

[kappyfamily]

Thank you for all the wonderful updates, especially "real time"...just wanted to mention that you may want to update the room numbers. 324 is listed as both close and far away from the elevator. I think may 322 and 323 are furthest away on the left? As someone who always wants to be far away from the elevators, I appreciate the info...thanks again and hope you have a stress free rest of your trip.

You’re right! I will get that updated tonight, thank you!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

SR update: We received turndown service last night and housekeeping has already come by this morning at 9:15am to offer their services.

I’ve stayed in many hotels during the pandemic and rarely receive housekeeping, including recently at the Poly.

SR update: Yesterday we spent a little time by the pool after the rain passed. A nice few hours- pool attendant blew up the floaties we bought at Dolphin last month and brought with us. Also saw him passing out balls or floats to kids without. Nice pixie dust. After we ordered drinks (and received them) and apps, the server required a physical room key or credit card for a tab. We aren’t accustomed to needing either to charge to our room and had neither on us. It would have been a hassle had we been wet to have to return to the room to retrieve a physical card. I’d recommend this system be changed.

We’ve seen Epcot fireworks and tonight we saw what must be Magic Kingdom fireworks from our room.

Good, consistent housekeeping. Room service in about 30 mins vs 60 quoted. Chat through Marriott app has been super convenient.

The negative: This is no surprise to anyone regularly reading this thread but the bus transportation for Swolphin properties is a joke. Took it from and to DAK without issue, but upon returning tonight from DAK there were extreme safety issues. There were hundreds of people waiting at about an hour before close. No signage and busses are poorly marked. No organization and loading occurs in the dark parking lot. Only a handful of families made it on the bus. As we were riding, a window above my son’s head became unlatched and swung open towards our heads. Another woman and I attempted to reattach the window arms, but ultimately I covered my son’s head the remainder of the ride for protection. Exited at Swan instead of SW as I couldn’t fathom being on that bus any longer. I did notify SR of this issue.

 

[justinslot]

Has it ever been established why the Disney bus service to the Swolphin ended? Like...did Disney end the service, or was this Marriott's doing?

 

[ckelly14]

Has it ever been established why the Disney bus service to the Swolphin ended? Like...did Disney end the service, or was this Marriott's doing?

The contract ended and was not renewed. Rumor I heard was this was on Disney's end, due to difficulty with staffing at the time. Not sure if this is true however.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Any tips on what to do if you reservation comes unlinked sometime between when you go to bed and when you wake up for the next day’s Genie and IAS purchase if you can’t re-link it yourself??? Had that happen this morning and lost my chance to IAS Rise. Called the number that popped up in the app but got disconnected. Called back and said 160 minute wait. Guest relations, when I went in person, just basically said “thems the breaks.” (BTW it eventually let me re-link it myself after a few hours but too late to get any IAS we wanted.) Anybody know the magic number to call if that happens again???

I am so, so sorry that this happened to you! And I would love to hear an answer from someone about what to do if it happens again. "Them's the breaks" just doesn't cut it. For all of the money we are paying for these vacations, we should be able to expect the system to work as planned. I will be furious if I miss out on the most desirable rides because Disney's woeful IT fails at just the wrong time.

 

[cgattis]

I am so, so sorry that this happened to you! And I would love to hear an answer from someone about what to do if it happens again. "Them's the breaks" just doesn't cut it. For all of the money we are paying for these vacations, we should be able to expect the system to work as planned. I will be furious if I miss out on the most desirable rides because Disney's woeful IT fails at just the wrong time.

If I ever get an answer on what to do, I will definitely come report it. The part that really chaps me is that with FP+, if at 60 days you literally knew you couldn’t get any FP for an entire day, you could try a different park or move your whole trip. Now, you don’t find that out until you’re on property, park reservations might not be able to be changed, and money is already sunk. It’s horrendous. It’s not “more flexible,” it’s a crapshoot, and I’m not a gambler. Although I guess you can say I “know when to fold ‘em” because we bailed and went home. I lost 4 days of tix but I saved 5 nights of hotel. Still sad though; had been waiting 5 years to get back.

 

[cgattis]

One note from this week that I haven’t seen mentioned here. My DH and DS bailed on the trip a week prior (sons HS football team made the playoffs), so I was able to change our alcove suite to a standard “no view” room. (It was room 5044 and so funny cuz I had another room with this sane view for the Star Wars half a few years back!) So IDK if my room change had anything to do with this or not, but…

I checked in on the app the night before, but when I arrived, I had a room assignment but still didn’t have a mobile key. Chat kept telling me they were sending it, but I had to stand in line to get keys anyway. About the time I had keys, the mobile key finally showed up. So I went to my room and the mobile key lit up the light but didn’t turn the tumbler, and only one of the hard keys worked. I wanted one for each of us, so I went back down. Got two more; neither of them worked.

Got on chat and asked them to bring me some so I didn’t have to go down again, and they said they’d have bell services bring them up. After about 20 minutes we were ready to go to the park, so I went down to bell services. They had no keys but went to get them. Meanwhile I realized I was wearing my slippers and not my running shoes LOL, so once he hands me keys, went back to the room to change shoes….nether worked. Then realized he’d given me keys to room 5144!! Good grief.

Took those back down and told the girl at the desk that I was reallllly not happy and I needed two keys right then that worked. Honestly, I’m not sure I ever even checked those, because the mobile key had started working at some point in there. So I said ALL that to say I’m not sure if the system doesn’t like having both mobile and hard keys, if their new hard keys are crap, or what. And CCB I have no advice either if it does happen, so just good luck, I guess!! LOL

I will say though, I asked for more towels from chat, and they were there very soon after. I also got a quick response from them when I inquired about an early checkout, so they must really monitor it very actively. That’s a nice feature. And even though I had a crappy view (but as advertised—and at a very low rate, accordingly) the bedding was fabulous. Very comfy.

 

[Meglen]

One note from this week that I haven’t seen mentioned here. My DH and DS bailed on the trip a week prior (sons HS football team made the playoffs), so I was able to change our alcove suite to a standard “no view” room. (It was room 5044 and so funny cuz I had another room with this sane view for the Star Wars half a few years back!) So IDK if my room change had anything to do with this or not, but…

I checked in on the app the night before, but when I arrived, I had a room assignment but still didn’t have a mobile key. Chat kept telling me they were sending it, but I had to stand in line to get keys anyway. About the time I had keys, the mobile key finally showed up. So I went to my room and the mobile key lit up the light but didn’t turn the tumbler, and only one of the hard keys worked. I wanted one for each of us, so I went back down. Got two more; neither of them worked.

Got on chat and asked them to bring me some so I didn’t have to go down again, and they said they’d have bell services bring them up. After about 20 minutes we were ready to go to the park, so I went down to bell services. They had no keys but went to get them. Meanwhile I realized I was wearing my slippers and not my running shoes LOL, so once he hands me keys, went back to the room to change shoes….nether worked. Then realized he’d given me keys to room 5144!! Good grief.

Took those back down and told the girl at the desk that I was reallllly not happy and I needed two keys right then that worked. Honestly, I’m not sure I ever even checked those, because the mobile key had started working at some point in there. So I said ALL that to say I’m not sure if the system doesn’t like having both mobile and hard keys, if their new hard keys are crap, or what. And CCB I have no advice either if it does happen, so just good luck, I guess!! LOL

I will say though, I asked for more towels from chat, and they were there very soon after. I also got a quick response from them when I inquired about an early checkout, so they must really monitor it very actively. That’s a nice feature. And even though I had a crappy view (but as advertised—and at a very low rate, accordingly) the bedding was fabulous. Very comfy.

Surprised your mobile key worked.. I got any messages saying the key was sent and I never got one. I showed front desk they said they would resend it and still nothing. So we ended up using the key cards. Was frustrating.

 

[cgattis]

Surprised your mobile key worked.. I got any messages saying the key was sent and I never got one. I showed front desk they said they would resend it and still nothing. So we ended up using the key cards. Was frustrating.

I know. I had read your post (or someone’s) about trouble with the mobile key, so I wanted cards too. Didn’t know the cards would be an issue!

 

[sghokie]

I have Bonvoy Platinum Elite (got the status temporarily through my work), has anyone gotten free room upgrades with it?

 

[marsh0013]

I have Bonvoy Platinum Elite (got the status temporarily through my work), has anyone gotten free room upgrades with it?

We were at the Swan for 7 nights in May 2021 and had booked the lowest rate. My husband was Plat at the time, got upgraded to a balcony. It was on the inside of building, facing toward the boat dock. We were also at the Swan for 4 nights in June, also booked on the lowest rate, husband was still Plat, and only got upgraded to a "view" room. They said they were fully booked and that was the best they could do. It was a corner room overlooking the back of the Boardwalk resort. He's now titanium but we don't have any trips booked to test out if that would be better upgrades.

I think I've read that it's very hit or miss on any upgrades at Swan/Dolphin. I think upgrades to suites are much less common. Maybe if you use suite night rewards it gives you a better shot. But I think the last time I checked, they didn't offer any of the actual suites on the suite nights upgrade page. Could have been a fluke with whatever our dates were, but we ended up cancelling that reservation before we could find out anyway.

 

[loves to dive]

One note from this week that I haven’t seen mentioned here. My DH and DS bailed on the trip a week prior (sons HS football team made the playoffs), so I was able to change our alcove suite to a standard “no view” room. (It was room 5044 and so funny cuz I had another room with this sane view for the Star Wars half a few years back!) So IDK if my room change had anything to do with this or not, but…

I checked in on the app the night before, but when I arrived, I had a room assignment but still didn’t have a mobile key. Chat kept telling me they were sending it, but I had to stand in line to get keys anyway. About the time I had keys, the mobile key finally showed up. So I went to my room and the mobile key lit up the light but didn’t turn the tumbler, and only one of the hard keys worked. I wanted one for each of us, so I went back down. Got two more; neither of them worked.

Got on chat and asked them to bring me some so I didn’t have to go down again, and they said they’d have bell services bring them up. After about 20 minutes we were ready to go to the park, so I went down to bell services. They had no keys but went to get them. Meanwhile I realized I was wearing my slippers and not my running shoes LOL, so once he hands me keys, went back to the room to change shoes….nether worked. Then realized he’d given me keys to room 5144!! Good grief.

Took those back down and told the girl at the desk that I was reallllly not happy and I needed two keys right then that worked. Honestly, I’m not sure I ever even checked those, because the mobile key had started working at some point in there. So I said ALL that to say I’m not sure if the system doesn’t like having both mobile and hard keys, if their new hard keys are crap, or what. And CCB I have no advice either if it does happen, so just good luck, I guess!! LOL

I will say though, I asked for more towels from chat, and they were there very soon after. I also got a quick response from them when I inquired about an early checkout, so they must really monitor it very actively. That’s a nice feature. And even though I had a crappy view (but as advertised—and at a very low rate, accordingly) the bedding was fabulous. Very comfy.

I've had that view before, I always book standard so no surprise. We were there in Sept. and I got the mobile key notification but could never get it to actually come up on my phone. I actually never got my room ready notification, I texted them around 4:30 or 5 and they told me it was ready. I had already checked in via the app. and had actually gone to the front desk when we got there and let them know we were there and told them I couldn't get the mobile key thing to respond on my phone. It didn't matter to me since I was going to need 3 keys anyway and we wouldn't always be together. They told me to come to the front desk again and get the keys when I got the text that I never got so I did have to go stand in line again to get the actual keys. I did always have good luck with the texts though, I texted and asked for more water and towels and it wasn't 10 min. later and they were knocking on my door.

 

[Dan Murphy]

One note from this week that I haven’t seen mentioned here. My DH and DS bailed on the trip a week prior (sons HS football team made the playoffs), so I was able to change our alcove suite to a standard “no view” room. (It was room 5044 and so funny cuz I had another room with this sane view for the Star Wars half a few years back!) So IDK if my room change had anything to do with this or not, but…

I checked in on the app the night before, but when I arrived, I had a room assignment but still didn’t have a mobile key. Chat kept telling me they were sending it, but I had to stand in line to get keys anyway. About the time I had keys, the mobile key finally showed up. So I went to my room and the mobile key lit up the light but didn’t turn the tumbler, and only one of the hard keys worked. I wanted one for each of us, so I went back down. Got two more; neither of them worked.

Got on chat and asked them to bring me some so I didn’t have to go down again, and they said they’d have bell services bring them up. After about 20 minutes we were ready to go to the park, so I went down to bell services. They had no keys but went to get them. Meanwhile I realized I was wearing my slippers and not my running shoes LOL, so once he hands me keys, went back to the room to change shoes….nether worked. Then realized he’d given me keys to room 5144!! Good grief.

Took those back down and told the girl at the desk that I was reallllly not happy and I needed two keys right then that worked. Honestly, I’m not sure I ever even checked those, because the mobile key had started working at some point in there. So I said ALL that to say I’m not sure if the system doesn’t like having both mobile and hard keys, if their new hard keys are crap, or what. And CCB I have no advice either if it does happen, so just good luck, I guess!! LOL

I will say though, I asked for more towels from chat, and they were there very soon after. I also got a quick response from them when I inquired about an early checkout, so they must really monitor it very actively. That’s a nice feature. And even though I had a crappy view (but as advertised—and at a very low rate, accordingly) the bedding was fabulous. Very comfy.

That looks like the exact room that Tara had, over 10 years ago.



Dumpster view room

 

[sghokie]

We were at the Swan for 7 nights in May 2021 and had booked the lowest rate. My husband was Plat at the time, got upgraded to a balcony. It was on the inside of building, facing toward the boat dock. We were also at the Swan for 4 nights in June, also booked on the lowest rate, husband was still Plat, and only got upgraded to a "view" room. They said they were fully booked and that was the best they could do. It was a corner room overlooking the back of the Boardwalk resort. He's now titanium but we don't have any trips booked to test out if that would be better upgrades.

I think I've read that it's very hit or miss on any upgrades at Swan/Dolphin. I think upgrades to suites are much less common. Maybe if you use suite night rewards it gives you a better shot. But I think the last time I checked, they didn't offer any of the actual suites on the suite nights upgrade page. Could have been a fluke with whatever our dates were, but we ended up cancelling that reservation before we could find out anyway.

Thanks for the tip.
I have Jan 1 2022 booked at the dolphin, had already booked a balcony room before I found out about the platinum elite program.
I need to go back in Feb for 8 nights, am trying to decide what to book for that trip. Was thinking of booking the cheapest room type at the dolphin and then seeing what they would give me for an upgrade.

 

[cgattis]

That looks like the exact room that Tara had, over 10 years ago.

View attachment 625819 View attachment 625820

Dumpster view room

Funny!! For $226 during Thanksgiving week, I couldn’t really complain.

 

[kappyfamily]

Ending our week here at Swan Reserve and first wanted to say thank you for all the tips and advice! Can’t stress enough, for park transportation from swan reserve to MK and AK, both there and back, walk over to the Boardwalk Resort. Quick walk and the drop off spots are much better than where Swan buses go. Also, beach club and boardwalk buses park next to each other at the park so we would just jump onto which ever was there and walk back to swan reserve.

if anyone has questions, happy to answer!