elvispursley
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2008
- Messages
- 2,015
Thought I’d share our experience staying at the Swan. We stayed Aug. 26-Sep. 3. And a big thank you for all the planning help and advice. Start of with what we liked about the resort.
PROS:
1. The ability to have an ECV dropped off-picked up at bell services was so convenient! The rooms were large enough that we could easily fit 2 in our room and move about.
2. The small foot-print and compact size was excellent for getting around.
3. The boat transportation was very helpful getting to/from HS. One always seemed to come within a few minutes of us getting in line.
4. Best breakfasts of any the Disney resorts we’ve stayed at. Garden Grove was nearly empty when we had breakfast there (it was 7:00am)—terrific server. I had probably the best omelet I’ve ever had at Rosa Mexicano—the Roasted Veggie omelet was just perfect! Should’ve had all our breakfasts at these two resorts.
5. The Fountain—we split a patty melt (plant-based) and it was sooo delicious that I wish I could get the recipe!
So much better than beache n cream—even though we didn’t try the deserts, they looks amazingly delicious
6. Staff—we had a few hiccups during our stay (I’ll get to that). Bell services was very helpful with our luggage and scooter pick-up/drpp-off. The front d al resolved our issues promptly. Ran into the general manager and he took care of checkout for us as we rode the elevator )not that checkout was difficult.
7. Extended our checkout from 11 to 12 as my mom was up all night sick fr medication she takes.
CONS:
1. Bus transportation. We used it only once
to AK and back. We were able to get my mom’s ECV underneath the coach bus, which I was really concerned about. But having a “tips appreciated” sign up made me realize we weren’t at a Disney resort and left kind of a bitter taste in my mouth. There was no communication where pick-up was (it wasn’t too difficult to figure out once I saw the swan/dolphin bus sign on its side). We opted to use YC’s bus for all our trips to/from AK/MK.
2. Housekeeping. I hate that I have to mention this but housekeeping service was absolutely abissale. The first full day they never came by and we were out all day. The second day, no one came and we needed to have our towels restocked and more water—used the text feature and it worked great. The THIRD day, I was quite miffed that we STILL didn’t get any housekeeping. I called the front desk at this point to ask what was up and to express that I was a little disappointed in the housekeeping service. They note that I had indeed requested daily service and I told them we were always out of the room from 7_2 and again from
5-10pm. We regular service the next 3 days. Yesterday the cart was at the room next to ours. We waited and no one came. Due to an incident at MK (will mention that later after I make a claim with Disney), we needed towels to dry off and shower to warm up. I was just going to grab a few from the cart next door and it was gone!! Another call to the front desk for service. And today, I needed to return my mom’s ECV and as I open the door, housekeeping parked their dang cart in front of my door, blocking the exit. I tried moving it but wouldn’t budge. I waited 20 min—still there. I had to again call the front desk and they told me to “feel free to move it”! Duh! I explained o tried that, didn’t work, and no one was around, door cracked, etc
3. When we arrived, the big revolving door was closed off. The other door to was as well. No signs pointing to which door to use. They were this way the whole time with one night the automatic wheelchair opener was not working either!
4. The room. While we had a remodeled room, which was really nice, the design is quite frankly awful. I knew going into the stay that there wasn’t a drying line. But literally on towel
holder next to the sink with the toilet. We had to use the makeup mirror as a make-shift towel rack. We gave up trying g to hang our
towels over the curtain rod—everything gin there was chronically damp. If there was a fan in the shower, it didn’t work. Made getting ready at that vanity nearly impossible if someone showered prior. ALL of the USB ports in the room were broken. It’s a good thing I brought a lot of charging blocks or none of our devices could’ve charged. And the door to the balcony was just about useless mess you had super human strength. There was no handle on the inside (but one on the outside??!! Overall, our room looked like the grapes of wrath, with ponchos/rain covers trying to dry out draped on everything we could find (closet doors, shower rods, table and chairs outside, the scooters in the room. It was not a relaxing environment once we returned from a long park day.
So would I stay here again? I’m really torn but am leaning towards staying elsewhere. The issues with the room and housekeeping were fairly big and caused quite an inconvenience that it weighs heavily against the “pros”.
PROS:
1. The ability to have an ECV dropped off-picked up at bell services was so convenient! The rooms were large enough that we could easily fit 2 in our room and move about.
2. The small foot-print and compact size was excellent for getting around.
3. The boat transportation was very helpful getting to/from HS. One always seemed to come within a few minutes of us getting in line.
4. Best breakfasts of any the Disney resorts we’ve stayed at. Garden Grove was nearly empty when we had breakfast there (it was 7:00am)—terrific server. I had probably the best omelet I’ve ever had at Rosa Mexicano—the Roasted Veggie omelet was just perfect! Should’ve had all our breakfasts at these two resorts.
5. The Fountain—we split a patty melt (plant-based) and it was sooo delicious that I wish I could get the recipe!
So much better than beache n cream—even though we didn’t try the deserts, they looks amazingly delicious6. Staff—we had a few hiccups during our stay (I’ll get to that). Bell services was very helpful with our luggage and scooter pick-up/drpp-off. The front d al resolved our issues promptly. Ran into the general manager and he took care of checkout for us as we rode the elevator )not that checkout was difficult.
7. Extended our checkout from 11 to 12 as my mom was up all night sick fr medication she takes.
CONS:
1. Bus transportation. We used it only once
to AK and back. We were able to get my mom’s ECV underneath the coach bus, which I was really concerned about. But having a “tips appreciated” sign up made me realize we weren’t at a Disney resort and left kind of a bitter taste in my mouth. There was no communication where pick-up was (it wasn’t too difficult to figure out once I saw the swan/dolphin bus sign on its side). We opted to use YC’s bus for all our trips to/from AK/MK.
2. Housekeeping. I hate that I have to mention this but housekeeping service was absolutely abissale. The first full day they never came by and we were out all day. The second day, no one came and we needed to have our towels restocked and more water—used the text feature and it worked great. The THIRD day, I was quite miffed that we STILL didn’t get any housekeeping. I called the front desk at this point to ask what was up and to express that I was a little disappointed in the housekeeping service. They note that I had indeed requested daily service and I told them we were always out of the room from 7_2 and again from
5-10pm. We regular service the next 3 days. Yesterday the cart was at the room next to ours. We waited and no one came. Due to an incident at MK (will mention that later after I make a claim with Disney), we needed towels to dry off and shower to warm up. I was just going to grab a few from the cart next door and it was gone!! Another call to the front desk for service. And today, I needed to return my mom’s ECV and as I open the door, housekeeping parked their dang cart in front of my door, blocking the exit. I tried moving it but wouldn’t budge. I waited 20 min—still there. I had to again call the front desk and they told me to “feel free to move it”! Duh! I explained o tried that, didn’t work, and no one was around, door cracked, etc
3. When we arrived, the big revolving door was closed off. The other door to was as well. No signs pointing to which door to use. They were this way the whole time with one night the automatic wheelchair opener was not working either!
4. The room. While we had a remodeled room, which was really nice, the design is quite frankly awful. I knew going into the stay that there wasn’t a drying line. But literally on towel
holder next to the sink with the toilet. We had to use the makeup mirror as a make-shift towel rack. We gave up trying g to hang our
towels over the curtain rod—everything gin there was chronically damp. If there was a fan in the shower, it didn’t work. Made getting ready at that vanity nearly impossible if someone showered prior. ALL of the USB ports in the room were broken. It’s a good thing I brought a lot of charging blocks or none of our devices could’ve charged. And the door to the balcony was just about useless mess you had super human strength. There was no handle on the inside (but one on the outside??!! Overall, our room looked like the grapes of wrath, with ponchos/rain covers trying to dry out draped on everything we could find (closet doors, shower rods, table and chairs outside, the scooters in the room. It was not a relaxing environment once we returned from a long park day.
So would I stay here again? I’m really torn but am leaning towards staying elsewhere. The issues with the room and housekeeping were fairly big and caused quite an inconvenience that it weighs heavily against the “pros”.
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). I have a Resort View Balcony room reserved for the Swan as the rate was just so much better!
