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

[LeeAnn]

How's the noise level at the pool with the construction?

 

[Vasiliki76]

Anyone have an opinion on if the Swan/Dolphin food is better/worse than Disney food? Our dining reservation window comes up next week and leaning towards eating at the hotel (mostly Fountain/Cabana) pretty often unless the Disney food is better. Also trying to decide between Shula's and 50s PrimeTime at Hollywood Studios for my husband's bday if there are any opinions there.
Thank you!

 

[mickey916]

Anyone have an opinion on if the Swan/Dolphin food is better/worse than Disney food? Our dining reservation window comes up next week and leaning towards eating at the hotel (mostly Fountain/Cabana) pretty often unless the Disney food is better. Also trying to decide between Shula's and 50s PrimeTime at Hollywood Studios for my husband's bday if there are any opinions there.
Thank you!

We loved our meal at the Fountain and the shakes are great as well. Service was also excellent at the Fountain.

 

[Vasiliki76]

We loved our meal at the Fountain and the shakes are great as well. Service was also excellent at the Fountain.

That's great to hear! thank you!

 

[SteveH]

Also trying to decide between Shula's and 50s PrimeTime at Hollywood Studios for my husband's bday if there are any opinions there.

Shula's every day and twice on Sunday! I was say any of the Signature restaurants at SDR will blow away most in-park food.

 

[Vasiliki76]

Shula's every day and twice on Sunday! I was say any of the Signature restrants at SDR will below away most in-park food.

thank you! and I'm married to a dolphins fan so decision is made!

 

[LeeAnn]

Worried about Construction at the Dolphin. Will be heard by the Grotto Pool?

 

[Dan Murphy]

Anyone have an opinion on if the Swan/Dolphin food is better/worse than Disney food? Our dining reservation window comes up next week and leaning towards eating at the hotel (mostly Fountain/Cabana) pretty often unless the Disney food is better. Also trying to decide between Shula's and 50s PrimeTime at Hollywood Studios for my husband's bday if there are any opinions there.
Thank you!

No comparison between Shula's and PT50's. Additionally, I have found all of the eating choices at S/D excellent.

Yes up a small hill to get to the bridge. The pedestrian path is separated from the highway and felt very secure. Just follow the path over the bridge. It meets up with the BW path just below the bridge and continues together as a single pathway. Maybe it was a nice walk at a good pace because there was only a handful of people on the Swan side. The BW side was very crowded. It was 9/8 which happened to be Disney+ day (and our 10-year wedding anniversary) and the parks opened an hour early for early entry instead of 30 minutes. It was a very busy, crowded morning at HS!

A Google map

https://goo.gl/maps/sUYBfHpDEsCXvVTx7

 

[melking23]

A Google map

https://goo.gl/maps/sUYBfHpDEsCXvVTx7

Google is quite outdated and I’m a bit surprised! It looks like the Christmas tree is up in Echo Lake and the bus depot construction was going on which puts the map at Nov-Dec 2018.
Ah, the good ole days when you could park hop as early as you wanted and there were buses to easily take you from one park to the next without having to go through the TTC.

 

[melking23]

Which wing at Swan would you choose for a no-view room? On our last trip we had a balcony room in the east wing. It seemed really convenient to get out the back door quickly. Is the west wing just as convenient? I was going to submit a request for the east wing again but now I’m wondering if west might be better for a possible upgrade to a resort view of HS. No view was my only option when I booked on points.

 

[SteveH]

@melking23 I think its classified at a "resort view" but we had a corner room overlooking the water way and Boardwalk it was room 444 but anything along that area would be nice IMHO.

 

[melking23]

@melking23 I think its classified at a "resort view" but we had a corner room overlooking the water way and Boardwalk it was room 444 but anything along that area would be nice IMHO.

I looked back at my notes and see that we stayed in 428 last time. These photos were our view from the balcony.

 

[Karalee402]

Anyone have an opinion on if the Swan/Dolphin food is better/worse than Disney food? Our dining reservation window comes up next week and leaning towards eating at the hotel (mostly Fountain/Cabana) pretty often unless the Disney food is better. Also trying to decide between Shula's and 50s PrimeTime at Hollywood Studios for my husband's bday if there are any opinions there.
Thank you!

We were "stuck" at the Dolphin during Hurricane Ian, so we had to eat all of our meals there for two days straight, and I was blown away! Not even just the heavy hitters like Shula's, Kimono's, and bluezoo, but Fuel has some really great grab and go options, especially for a quick breakfast before heading into the parks.. My kids also loved Picabu's burrito bowls. Definitely some great options right there within the hotels!

 

[piglet1979]

Does anyone know if all the places at Disney take Google Pay? Since we won't have magic bands we are hoping we can use Google pay instead of carrying a card around with us.

 

[champagne&disney]

Does anyone know if all the places at Disney take Google Pay? Since we won't have magic bands we are hoping we can use Google pay instead of carrying a card around with us.

Most do, but I wouldn't always count on it. Sometimes the network goes down so I always bring a card and cash with me.

 

[austinelsa]

Question about the TVs at the Swan:

We plan on taking afternoon hotel/pool breaks every day with our young kids and would love to have some TV downtime in the room for some of it. Are the TVs smart TVs so i can use Disney+? Would a chromecast work easily if they are not? Just want to plan ahead. Thanks!

Im not sure if this question was asked already in this thread but i couldnt find anything in my hunting. Sorry if it was!

 

[melking23]

Question about the TVs at the Swan:

We plan on taking afternoon hotel/pool breaks every day with our young kids and would love to have some TV downtime in the room for some of it. Are the TVs smart TVs so i can use Disney+? Would a chromecast work easily if they are not? Just want to plan ahead. Thanks!

Im not sure if this question was asked already in this thread but i couldnt find anything in my hunting. Sorry if it was!

There are some smart capabilities…ish. There was Netflix and I believe Amazon and Hulu but definitely no Disney+ which we thought was kind of crazy given the proximity. I didn’t try to cast to the tv because it never even occurred to me. I did bring a FireTV Stick but there wasn’t an available electrical outlet to plug it in. If I had an extension cord I’m pretty sure it would have worked.

 

[SteveH]

Worried about Construction at the Dolphin. Will be heard by the Grotto Pool?

I know you've asked a couple times without a response. I think the fact that people are not posting about the noise probably means its not that bad away from the immediate area. I would say once/when/if they start the major project to completely build the new pool are that might be an issue, but generally for minor projects they seem pretty good about the noise levels.

 

[BeachMouse1]

Help just stayed at the Swan and it was a pleasant experience although I knew there was a $40 resort fee I thought that included parking but it didn’t so the additional $32 per night So my rate was $72 more per night
I’m looking for one night in June and can get Animal Kingdom or Wilderness Lodge for about the same rate as the Swan. No $40 resort fee at Animal or Wilderness and I believe that Disney did away with parking fee. So for those more experienced here would you stay at the Disney resorts for basically a $100 less and deal with bus transportation or stay at Swan and have walking distance to 2 parks?

 

[glocon]

Help just stayed at the Swan and it was a pleasant experience although I knew there was a $40 resort fee I thought that included parking but it didn’t so the additional $32 per night So my rate was $72 more per night
I’m looking for one night in June and can get Animal Kingdom or Wilderness Lodge for about the same rate as the Swan. No $40 resort fee at Animal or Wilderness and I believe that Disney did away with parking fee. So for those more experienced here would you stay at the Disney resorts for basically a $100 less and deal with bus transportation or stay at Swan and have walking distance to 2 parks?

If on your one day you are going to EP or HS, I would stay at Swan for sure.

Otherwise, save $100 and stay at AKL or WL, especially if your going to AK or MK on your one day there.