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

[gottalovepluto]

Got my email. Standard Swan Reserve room starting 9/23 booked direct through Marriott was rebooked to Swan with a slight discount. I’m happy, I wanted a booking at Swan.

 

[shb5007]

Coming up on a dilemma. We check in at "Reserve" on October 6th. We have back-up reservations at AoA. At some point, soon, I am going to have to cancel the AoA reservation. If I call Marriott, will they "guarantee" a stay at the Swan / Dolphin if the "Reserve" is not done by October? I really want to stay within walking distance of EPCOT / DHS. I wouldn't find switching to Swan, but I don't want them to swap me out to Springs... or beyond. I know that first week of October is going to be very busy. Hmm...

 

[BusyAZMom]

Coming up on a dilemma. We check in at "Reserve" on October 6th. We have back-up reservations at AoA. At some point, soon, I am going to have to cancel the AoA reservation. If I call Marriott, will they "guarantee" a stay at the Swan / Dolphin if the "Reserve" is not done by October? I really want to stay within walking distance of EPCOT / DHS. I wouldn't find switching to Swan, but I don't want them to swap me out to Springs... or beyond. I know that first week of October is going to be very busy. Hmm...

I am in a similar boat. We check-in to reserve on 9/30 and depart on 10/5 for Lowes Portofino. I am trying to use my suite night upgrades at Reserve too. My backup is AKL. I want to stay near Epcot and HS though.

 

[SteveH]

... If I call Marriott, will they "guarantee" a stay at the Swan / Dolphin if the "Reserve" is not done by October? ...
...I don't want them to swap me out to Springs... or beyond....

Tough to say, but a couple thoughts. Since SwanDolpin is not owened by DIsney I don't see them moving you to any Disney resorts and same goes for other Marriott properties. The SwanDolphin is owned by the Tishman group, not Marriott. Their other properties in the area are not Marriott branded properties. All that is to say I don't see them moving you anyplace but Swan or Dolphin.

If you want to call, don't call the Marriott 800 number. You'd want to use the S/D direct number, 407-934-4000, between regular business hours I suggest 9AM-4PM and ask for In-House Reservations. While they won't tell you if it will be available they can probably give you some assurances.

 

[MarBee]

Is there a central place to see all of the upcoming conferences being held here?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Anyone know what brand the water bottles provided in the room at Swan are?

 

[Ss77]

Where is the best dolphin room location to request to be close to the pool and have a good view of the Epcot fireworks?
I think I’m going to book a resort view with balcony, I’m still kind of on the fence. The swan is 400 more but I’m still debating..

 

[SteveH]

Is there a central place to see all of the upcoming conferences being held here?

There used to be but I can't find the website I used to have. This 10times.com seems to be decent, you can plug in dates and drill down, then just do a page search for either swan or dolphin and you can see what it finds. There is one Aug 30-Sept at the Swan, if you click on the one you find you can see an estimated # of attendees.

Anyone know what brand the water bottles provided in the room at Swan are?

In the past years it was Dasani same that Disney was using in the parks.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Where is the best dolphin room location to request to be close to the pool and have a good view of the Epcot fireworks?
I think I’m going to book a resort view with balcony, I’m still kind of on the fence. The swan is 400 more but I’m still debating..

West end to be close to pool, east end for Epcot view.

 

[Ss77]

Thank you..
will the west end give us a view of HS?
do you think the swan is a better option?

 

[JayMass]

Anyone know what brand the water bottles provided in the room at Swan are?

Just got back from the Swan last week. The bottled water was Dasani.

Thank you..
will the west end give us a view of HS?
do you think the swan is a better option?

We stayed on the west side of the Swan which was closest to the pool but you still have to go to the center of the building to get outside so I don't think it really matters which side of the Swan you are on (unless someone knows a different walkway to the pool--I couldn't find one!) The Dolphin, however, has access to the pools from the side of the building. We had front/side facing alcove room so we could see the Dolphin in front and the DHS to the left. We could see the Tower of Terror and the mountains of Galaxy's Edge in the distance.

 

[Ss77]

Thank you for all the info. Now I need to just make a decision. We were originally booked at the boardwalk inn, but I can’t see paying double. Saving about 2k seems like an easy decision to make.. but it’s still bothering me.

 

[Dan Murphy]

(unless someone knows a different walkway to the pool--

You could come out of one of the two walkways from the west wing shown here.

https://goo.gl/maps/t48nGEXd4fnip74eA

And then a shot from further out

https://goo.gl/maps/bV2WVWfdmWDS1xUv7

Hope those links work properly.

 

[scheddj]

Please solve a debate I’m having with a friend. I’ve looked through DIS and a few other sites. Are we still able to make our ADR’s 60 +10? My friend says no. I don’t see anything that it has changed.

TIA

Yes, BUT apparently there is some sort of known glitch in the system that can occur. My window opened today and I had to call to get my reservations for the week.

 

[SteveH]

I agee, Disney's IT department is having another bad day/week again. Lots of people reporting having ADR issues on the forums. The same people bringing you Genie... what could go wrong

 

[scheddj]

The same people bringing you Genie... what could go wrong

My exact thought this morning!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I agee, Disney's IT department is having another bad day/week again. Lots of people reporting having ADR issues on the forums. The same people bringing you Genie... what could go wrong

I have had more problems with MDE in the last two months than the last 5 years. And I’ve only been planning.

Genie- is gonna be fascinating

 

[JayMass]

You could come out of one of the two walkways from the west wing shown here.

https://goo.gl/maps/t48nGEXd4fnip74eA

And then a shot from further out

https://goo.gl/maps/bV2WVWfdmWDS1xUv7

Hope those links work properly.

All the doors I checked on the west side said "Cast Members Only." The one open door I did find was right next to Kimono's but to get to the elevator you still had to go to the center of the hotel by the swan fountain. There's a little courtyard there between the Kimono's hallway and the hallway toward the elevators that I thought might be a short cut through but I couldn't find a working door on the Kimono's hallway side.

Anyway, the walk to the pools is pretty short no matter where you are so I would pick the side that has the view you want.

 

[Lizard0989]

Where is the best dolphin room location to request to be close to the pool and have a good view of the Epcot fireworks?
I think I’m going to book a resort view with balcony, I’m still kind of on the fence. The swan is 400 more but I’m still debating..

I would not spend an extra $400 for swan. They are all one in the same IMO.

 

[Lewisc]

I would not spend an extra $400 for swan. They are all one in the same IMO.

Swan has queen sized beds, Dolphin has double. May be worth it for some and not others