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

[jmasgat]

For any fellow runDisney friends, I highly recommend the Swan

Went to book right after I signed up for Wine and Dine and the Sunday is sold out for all 3 resorts. Hoping rooms will magically materialize somewhere along the way at the Passholder discounted rate.

 

[Dave006]

Trying to book Swan now and it looks like I'll have to pay in full at time of booking? I know others have mentioned this before, but in the past I have only had to pay for one night when I booked. Does anyone have any recent experience with this?

For what time period? The prepayment is tied to the rate / room type that you are selecting. Do you have any "Special Rates" selected in your Marriott Search. Check the top bar in the Search at the top of the page.

Link: https://www.marriott.com/reservation/rateListMenu.mi

Dave

 

[AussieFan8]

For what time period? The prepayment is tied to the rate / room type that you are selecting. Do you have any "Special Rates" selected in your Marriott Search. Check the top bar in the Search at the top of the page.

Link: https://www.marriott.com/reservation/rateListMenu.mi

Dave

Yes, I used the teacher rate. I used it last year as well but did not have to prepay.

 

[Sandi]

Yes, I used the teacher rate. I used it last year as well but did not have to prepay.

I just did a dummy reservation using the Annual Passholder code and it was requiring pre-payment, too. That's disappointing as I've only ever been required to pay a one night deposit in the many, many times I've used the code in the past.

 

[Karalee402]

I'm getting the same thing trying both the teachers' rate and a government rate. I know I've had to pay a deposit with those before, but we've never had to pay all up front unless we were using the member pay-in-advance rate. I hope this isn't the new normal!

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

I teach online, so I have to check-in or have Zoom meetings with my students, even at Disney. I've worked from the Swan/Dolphin/Boardwalk, even during Hurricane Ian, and I've never had any issues at all with speed or connection. Many, many people are working from there, you're exactly right, so I'm sure wifi is a priority for the hotels. Your son should be in good shape!

Seconding this - I’ve never had an issue with Swan/Dolphin/Reserve WiFi.

 

[SteveH]

Looks like anything but full rack rate or a AAA rate, generates a full up front non-refundable charge. The rack/AAA rate is typical 1 night deposit and cancellations 5-days before arrival. They'd been monkeying with this a while back, but seems more consistent now.

I reached out to a friend that worked in hospitality, mostly mountain resorts, but he said bigger hotels are doing this as the money gets held on their balance sheet, deposited in an interest bearing account and they pocket the interest. Which honestly makes a lot of sense. They are earning some of the money back after giving the discount. He did say some unscrupulous resorts don't hold the money and use it, which is fine until something big like covid happens and they don't have the funds for refunds. He figured that the Marriott system has some regulations, but isn't positive.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Went to book right after I signed up for Wine and Dine and the Sunday is sold out for all 3 resorts. Hoping rooms will magically materialize somewhere along the way at the Passholder discounted rate.

Yes, I used the teacher rate. I used it last year as well but did not have to prepay.

I just did a dummy reservation using the Annual Passholder code and it was requiring pre-payment, too. That's disappointing as I've only ever been required to pay a one night deposit in the many, many times I've used the code in the past.

I'm getting the same thing trying both the teachers' rate and a government rate. I know I've had to pay a deposit with those before, but we've never had to pay all up front unless we were using the member pay-in-advance rate. I hope this isn't the new normal!

Seconding this - I’ve never had an issue with Swan/Dolphin/Reserve WiFi.

Looks like anything but full rack rate or a AAA rate, generates a full up front non-refundable charge. The rack/AAA rate is typical 1 night deposit and cancellations 5-days before arrival. They'd been monkeying with this a while back, but seems more consistent now.

I reached out to a friend that worked in hospitality, mostly mountain resorts, but he said bigger hotels are doing this as the money gets held on their balance sheet, deposited in an interest bearing account and they pocket the interest. Which honestly makes a lot of sense. They are earning some of the money back after giving the discount. He did say some unscrupulous resorts don't hold the money and use it, which is fine until something big like covid happens and they don't have the funds for refunds. He figured that the Marriott system has some regulations, but isn't positive.

A real bummer for sure.

 

[AussieFan8]

I checked my credit card and there is no charge yet. I went back and looked at my confirmation email, which was clipped, to view the entire message. At the bottom, it says that I will be charged the one night deposit tomorrow and that I can cancel up to five days in advance. Fingers crossed! I'll report back tomorrow when my card is charged.

 

[mickey916]

I checked my credit card and there is no charge yet. I went back and looked at my confirmation email, which was clipped, to view the entire message. At the bottom, it says that I will be charged the one night deposit tomorrow and that I can cancel up to five days in advance. Fingers crossed! I'll report back tomorrow when my card is charged.

Recently I was charged the deposit the next day, not the full amount too.

 

[Dave006]

Yes, I used the teacher rate. I used it last year as well but did not have to prepay.

Did you try to book before this weekend?

I just did a dummy reservation using the Annual Passholder code and it was requiring pre-payment, too. That's disappointing as I've only ever been required to pay a one night deposit in the many, many times I've used the code in the past.

Your post also indicates that you just tried over this weekend.

Seconding this - I’ve never had an issue with Swan/Dolphin/Reserve WiFi.

I have seen this happen a number of time over the years. It frequently happened on the web interface when back-end services were down or being updated. Forcing Customers to pre-pay for this many Corporate Discount codes having this common situation just does not make sense to me at this point.

When I just checked regular rates that are not tagged to these Corporate codes work offer a (2) night deposit. Has anyone tried calling Marriott reservations Until someone can confirm that I would suggest waiting until Monday and try again or call the Swan In house reservations at 407-934-4000 or 1-888-828-8850 (they don't always pickup on weekends) your call may roll over to regular Marriott reservations.

Dave

 

[AussieFan8]

Did you try to book before this weekend?

No, I had been checking rates for several weeks but today was the first time I went all the way through to booking. Hopefully it is some kind of glitch.

 

[Dave006]

No, I had been checking rates for several weeks but today was the first time I went all the way through to booking. Hopefully it is some kind of glitch.

OK you don't have to go all the way to booking. Just click on the Rate Details link as shown below. This is a snippet is from the results page on any stay for any rate and yes it does show as a Member Rate Prepay but that is normal on the Prepay and Save. And yes it is nuts since the pre-pay rate is only $7 cheaper per night.



Dave

 

[SteveH]

@Dave006 You very well could be right, this came up last October. I looked back when I did a search, and it was an oddity at the time too. Very odd and confusing.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Recently I was charged the deposit the next day, not the full amount too.

Had an AP rate for a trip this month booked months ago that just got around to charging a deposit last week. I have yet to figure out how they calculated it. I think they did one night and counted the resort fee twice and miscalculated some taxes a bit lol. I gave up trying to figure out how they got there eventually, it’s all due shortly anyway.

 

[AussieFan8]

I can confirm this morning that I have been charged the one night deposit. Very odd, but I am happy that's how it worked out. Thanks to all for helping me try to figure this out!

ETA: Looking forward to trying Swan for the first time!

 

[jmasgat]

I found a PH rate for 3 of my nights during Wine &Dine Race weekend. It required--and I received a confirmation showing-- the deposit requirement of one night plus tax listing the specific $$ amount. What they charged me today was not that--they included the resort fee/tax as well . I know it's not a big deal in the overall scheme of things (I'm staying three nights and obviously spending more), however, it bugs me and frankly seems shady. I called and initiated a case to get a credit for the difference.

If you tell people they will be charged "X.XX" then you should charge them just that.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Agreed

 

[Disneydawg74]

I found a PH rate for 3 of my nights during Wine &Dine Race weekend. It required--and I received a confirmation showing-- the deposit requirement of one night plus tax listing the specific $$ amount. What they charged me today was not that--they included the resort fee/tax as well . I know it's not a big deal in the overall scheme of things (I'm staying three nights and obviously spending more), however, it bugs me and frankly seems shady. I called and initiated a case to get a credit for the difference.

If you tell people they will be charged "X.XX" then you should charge them just that.

For my recent deposit, they took the total amount due (which included tax and resort fee) and divided by the number of nights of my stay.

 

[MirandaB]

Hi everyone. It's been 7 years since we were last at Disney. Does the transportation to MK via TTC work okay?