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

[blrem]

@blerm - Thanks for the updates. I thought the Cabana price was raised to $300 a while back so when others said it was $200 I figured they lowered the rates - guess not. I think Disney prices for full day are $249 so seems S/D is within reason here.

As for your Saturday visit it's going to be so hard to say what to expect, as things keep changing so much and so fast. The earlier you arrive the better I'd think. Looking at the rates for the 4th/5th looks pretty good so may its not going to be jam packed. Best of luck!

Thx so much Steve - much appreciated!

 

[blrem]

I was just at the Swan this past weekend and although we weren't swimming we walked through all the pool areas on Saturday late morning/early afternoon and there was not a single empty chair or cabana to be found. Kind of expected that on a Saturday as that has seemed par for the course on most Saturdays at WDW resorts with it being a major check-in/check-out day. There also doesn't appear to be any distancing, particularly at the Grotto pool; although there are signs stating the loungers are 6 feet apart for safety they were all just lined up in rows all around the pool.

We stayed in Disney-owned resorts prior to the weekend stay at the Swan and the difference in perceived safety measures is night and day. There are maskless people all over S&D inside and out and no one said a word to them whereas masking was pretty well enforced at the WDW-owned resorts we stayed at.

I stayed in king bed balcony alcove room and it, along with the hotel in general, was looking pretty tired and worn. I've never seen hallway carpets so worn, there was trash in the hallway when we checked in and that same trash was still there when we checked out 2 days later. It's priced about $100 per night too high at this point imo.

Ugh - that's my worry about finding an open lounge chair on Saturday, June 5 - thx for sharing. Question to anyone that might know - for our Cabana rental on the 4th it says it includes 2 loungers. My daughter and I both want to be in the sun, not the shade. I read that you are not supposed to move the chairs as referenced in your post, but didn't know if that included the cabana chairs. Is it possible to move out cabana loungers outside in front of our cabana to be in the sun?

 

[Turk February]

Wow that Costco deal would save me over $1k on my October trip. Too bad I don't have the full $3500 available right now to book.

 

[SMRT-1]

Wow that Costco deal would save me over $1k on my October trip. Too bad I don't have the full $3500 available right now to book.

If you click "modify room" on the Hotel page, you can choose a refundable rate. The price will go up a little bit, but you'll only have to pay for the tickets at booking (and the flights if you chose to include flights), and the rest isn't due until closer to your trip (and even then, with a refundable rate, the hotel portion of the package is fully refundable up to five days before check-in).

 

[Donnask8pro]

Good morning, Walking from Dolphin.. what time should we game plan to leave for HS first in line? 7:15-7:30? Also, hopping to MK. Bus or walk back to Epcot and monorail? I always have done a rental car so new system for us. Thanks so much!

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

The worn carpet comments have been made, since shortly after the carpet was installed. If you follow the pattern repeat of the carpet, you readily notice that it’s the design; it’s generally not wearing out. The faded out look runs down the center of the hallways, with the saturated colors next to the walls. I was there shortly after the carpet was installed, and that was how it looked, then.

When I was there about two years ago, I did notice an area in my hallway where the carpet was rippled, and I reported it to management. With all of the rolling traffic, between the housekeeping carts and luggage, the carpet can stretch,
depending on installation method.

View attachment 574357

I'll take your word for it but we'll just have to agree to disagree. This picture looks like worn carpeting to me and not a design and it looks worse in person. The worn theme continued in the room furniture with really worn chair cushions and couch. You could tell me this picture was taken in 1990 and I'd believe that. From what I've seen this past weekend the resort needs a major refresh.

 

[Turk February]

If you click "modify room" on the Hotel page, you can choose a refundable rate. The price will go up a little bit, but you'll only have to pay for the tickets at booking (and the flights if you chose to include flights), and the rest isn't due until closer to your trip (and even then, with a refundable rate, the hotel portion of the package is fully refundable up to five days before check-in).

OH! That is excellent information thank you so much! I'm not a Costco member (yet) so I just assumed the only difference between the 2 rates was that one was refundable and you still had to pay in full at booking. I can definitely manage paying just for the tickets right now. Even with the higher refundable rate I'd still save $740 (and that's with a friend's CM ticket discount so the deal is even better for full price).

Question since I have never booked through Costco...if we choose regular park tickets can we later decided to upgrade to park hoppers if we want, or are these package tickets locked in with our initial choice?

 

[SMRT-1]

OH! That is excellent information thank you so much! I'm not a Costco member (yet) so I just assumed the only difference between the 2 rates was that one was refundable and you still had to pay in full at booking. I can definitely manage paying just for the tickets right now. Even with the higher refundable rate I'd still save $740 (and that's with a friend's CM ticket discount so the deal is even better for full price).

Question since I have never booked through Costco...if we choose regular park tickets can we later decided to upgrade to park hoppers if we want, or are these package tickets locked in with our initial choice?

We've only ever gotten park hoppers, so I don't know for sure if you can upgrade later. However, I do know that the tickets and room reservations are handled separately in My Disney Experience, and not as a package. The package booking confirmation number only links the hotel reservation to MDE. A day or so after you book, Costco sends you an another email with a code to redeem your tickets on MDE independently of the room reservation. So my guess would be that Disney would treat the tickets as if you just purchased them separately, and you should be able to upgrade them to park hoppers directly through Disney like you would any other tickets. But again, this is just my guess based on the fact the tickets and room reservation are linked separately, and I don't know for sure, so I would check with them to verify.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Good morning, Walking from Dolphin.. what time should we game plan to leave for HS first in line? 7:15-7:30? Also, hopping to MK. Bus or walk back to Epcot and monorail? I always have done a rental car so new system for us. Thanks so much!

If park opens at 8AM, currently that means gates will open about 7:15 (this can change at any time). Depends on where you want to be in line and if waiting is an issue. We left room at 6:45 and got something for breakfast on the go (no one around so no issue on walking and eating). Arrived just after 7AM with a few hundred early risers in front of us.

To go to MK from HS.... will be a bus that can take you there. LONG walk to the Epcot Monorail Station (even if you use the boat to get to Epcot), which wasn't running a few weeks ago.

While your there the MDE app can give you directions...

 

[Turk February]

We've only ever gotten park hoppers, so I don't know for sure if you can upgrade later. However, I do know that the tickets and room reservations are handled separately in My Disney Experience, and not as a package. The package booking confirmation number only links the hotel reservation to MDE. A day or so after you book, Costco sends you an another email with a code to redeem your tickets on MDE independently of the room reservation. So my guess would be that Disney would treat the tickets as if you just purchased them separately, and you should be able to upgrade them to park hoppers directly through Disney like you would any other tickets. But again, this is just my guess based on the fact the tickets and room reservation are linked separately, and I don't know for sure, so I would check with them to verify.

Yea I would assume the same as you since they are handled independent but will check first. Thank you so much for this info!

 

[SMRT-1]

Good morning, Walking from Dolphin.. what time should we game plan to leave for HS first in line? 7:15-7:30? Also, hopping to MK. Bus or walk back to Epcot and monorail? I always have done a rental car so new system for us. Thanks so much!

If you don't mind waiting, and really want to be toward the front of the pack, I would suggest getting to HS at least an hour (probably more) before the posted opening time. You can walk to HS in about 20 minutes (depending on your pace), so I personally would leave at least 90 min. before the posted opening time. If it's a really busy time, you might need to leave a little earlier.

As for hopping to MK, as far as I know, the Epcot monorail has not been available since the reopening, but even if it were running, it would still likely be faster to just take a bus from HS to MK.

 

[SMRT-1]

Yea I would assume the same as you since they are handled independent but will check first. Thank you so much for this info!

No problem.

I forgot about this in my earlier post, but just so you have all the info (and don't think Costco is charging you too much for the tickets), I should mention that the amount due at booking for refundable rates also includes a refundable $200 hotel deposit in addition to the ticket price.

 

[Dan Murphy]

The worn carpet comments have been made, since shortly after the carpet was installed. If you follow the pattern repeat of the carpet, you readily notice that it’s the design; it’s generally not wearing out. The faded out look runs down the center of the hallways, with the saturated colors next to the walls. I was there shortly after the carpet was installed, and that was how it looked, then.

When I was there about two years ago, I did notice an area in my hallway where the carpet was rippled, and I reported it to management. With all of the rolling traffic, between the housekeeping carts and luggage, the carpet can stretch,
depending on installation method.

View attachment 574357

Yes, the choice of carpet pattern was a BIG mistake!!

 

[SteveH]

...You could tell me this picture was taken in 1990 and I'd believe that. From what I've seen this past weekend the resort needs a major refresh.

They completed a room refresh of all Swan rooms in 2015 and all Dolphin rooms by 2017. If they follow a 7-10 life cycle I'd think something would be announced in the next couple of years, but Covid-19 has thrown a lot of life cycles out the window.

 

[Turk February]

No problem.

I forgot about this in my earlier post, but just so you have all the info (and don't think Costco is charging you too much for the tickets), I should mention that the amount due at booking for refundable rates also includes a refundable $200 hotel deposit in addition to the ticket price.

I actually think Costco is charging less for the tickets. A quick comparison for my dates (October 6-12) show that the difference inn standard vs. park hopper is shown as $215 on Costco's booking page, whereas it's actually $272 on Disney's site.

Is the package price listed on Costco before the "login and book" screen including tax and everything? I'm not yet a Costco member.

 

[SMRT-1]

I actually think Costco is charging less for the tickets. A quick comparison for my dates (October 6-12) show that the difference inn standard vs. park hopper is shown as $215 on Costco's booking page, whereas it's actually $272 on Disney's site.

Is the package price listed on Costco before the "login and book" screen including tax and everything? I'm not yet a Costco member.

Yes; if I remember correctly from our previous bookings, the "total price" they quote you really is the final price, including taxes and resort fee.

 

[ScotScroogeMcDuck]

I take it there are still no plans to have Swan/Dolphin revert back to Disney bus transport? Are the new coaches on a rigid timetable (like Hilton Bonnet Creek where you it specifies 9:00am, 9:30am pickup etc.) or are they 'every X minutes' similar to the Disney transport? Many thanks

 

[SteveH]

@ScotScroogeMcDuck no word of any changes, if they had a 1-year agreement we probably won't hear of anything until September since the change over took place until mid-October. The operate on more of Disney schedule, if you don't yet have the Swan/Dolphin app you want to grab that as it is where the most up to date info is found. Right now the start running 45 minutes before & after park closing and they say every 20 minutes but that's probably a reach. The app will show you where to meet the bus.

 

[moesy4]

OH! That is excellent information thank you so much! I'm not a Costco member (yet) so I just assumed the only difference between the 2 rates was that one was refundable and you still had to pay in full at booking. I can definitely manage paying just for the tickets right now. Even with the higher refundable rate I'd still save $740 (and that's with a friend's CM ticket discount so the deal is even better for full price).

Question since I have never booked through Costco...if we choose regular park tickets can we later decided to upgrade to park hoppers if we want, or are these package tickets locked in with our initial choice?

We added a park day to the package and our lady was super confused and spent about a half hour talking to the supervisor about it. Once she figured it out, it was an easy switch.

 

[Turk February]

We added a park day to the package and our lady was super confused and spent about a half hour talking to the supervisor about it. Once she figured it out, it was an easy switch.

And this was after you booked? You had to do it through Costco and not directly with Disney?