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

[Dominion]

Checking in tomorrow evening for a 6 night stay!!!

Yes I'm a little excited...moreso than the kids I think!

Thanks so much to everyone here who answered all my questions these past few weeks. I promise to report back!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Enjoy, Dominion, along with your family. Let us know how it all goes. I know you will have a great stay and a fun trip.

 

[Babsy]

That's what I always understood but I was looking at the Swan/Dolphin site directly (swandolphin dot com when then goes to the Sheraton site for the Swan). They list different room options, where one of them is called "Disney Exclusive".

All the rooms get the same Disney 'perks'. The name Disney exclusive would refer to the rate and any extra perks that are associated with it in the description. I pick the lowest rate that I qualify for and book that one. Usually there is a nice AAA rate along with a resort credit for $50 with a minimum 5 night stay. If you call and ask, they sometimes have an AP rate with a one category upgrade.

 

[Babsy]

Looking for opinions from anyone that has stayed in the newly refurbished Swan rooms. I am looking at either a balcony and fireworks view room at the Dolphin or a Crescent lake view room with balcony at the Swan. Currently, the Swan is about $10 more per night.

What would you do?

 

[Nicmitt]

A few random questions:

Mousekeeping envelopes for tips or just leave like 'regular' hotels?

Any idea what time the pools close? On Fri night (our last night), we will leave the park @ 7 (party night) and I know the kids would love night swimming.

Any fun towel characters or nice 'extra surprises'?

I apologize if these were answered elsewhere, I did search before posting. Thanks!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

A few random questions:

Mousekeeping envelopes for tips or just leave like 'regular' hotels?

Any idea what time the pools close? On Fri night (our last night), we will leave the park @ 7 (party night) and I know the kids would love night swimming.

Any fun towel characters or nice 'extra surprises'?

I apologize if these were answered elsewhere, I did search before posting. Thanks!!

I use regular envelopes for tips.
Pools are listed 9-9.
We have had a few specials when making reservations aware, but have not seen or heard of towel animals. See last picture here.....

http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-birthday-at-the-world-pictures.692410/

 

[Nicmitt]

I use regular envelopes for tips.
Pools are listed 9-9.
We have had a few specials when making reservations aware, but have not seen or heard of towel animals. See last picture here.....

http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-birthday-at-the-world-pictures.692410/

Thank you!! Your pictures were so great!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

S/D Food and Wine.......

http://swandolphinfoodandwineclassic.com

http://swandolphinfoodandwineclassic.com/dis.html

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/events.htm#carnivalcorner

And thanks, Nicmitt.

 

[ReganlovesWDW]

Question...How do I request a VIP cleaning at the Dolphin? My son is highly sensitive to dust, etc. and I want to be sure it is appropriately cleaned. Thanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Question...How do I request a VIP cleaning at the Dolphin? My son is highly sensitive to dust, etc. and I want to be sure it is appropriately cleaned. Thanks!

I would say to talk to the Dolphin directly, making sure they have an clear understanding of your request. 407-934-4000 Maybe ask at the main number if you can make your request to housekeeping so you are sure that they have it.

 

[hsmamato2]

i am wondering...anyone know about renovations,and what things might look like right now? I am concerned b/c we stay there in 3 weeks(dolphin) and I had thought when I booked they wouldn't start on Dolphin till 2016..... any news?

 

[sharona]

Looking for opinions from anyone that has stayed in the newly refurbished Swan rooms. I am looking at either a balcony and fireworks view room at the Dolphin or a Crescent lake view room with balcony at the Swan. Currently, the Swan is about $10 more per night.

What would you do?

Full disclosure I haven't stayed at either but... Swan has renovated rooms, Dolphin has either not started the reno yet or has begun it early. I would choose the Swan. We are at the Dolphin only because of our party of 5.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Well we are back from the Swan.

If anyone remembers my posts I did ask a few questions.

Here is my mini report. We booked the trip using dh ff miles. It was some kind of package which I never booked before. It said we were to get the resort fee for free as well as a $100 resort credit. I did print out all the info and bring it with me. Obsessive planning me, lol. They said they didnt think we were going to get the resort credit and would check with someone . She copied all my papers. Never got back to us. I didnt care. Happily when we checked out we saw they applied the credit, happy us!!

I didnt make any room requests.

When we got there they couldnt find the wheelchair we pre ordered from Randys Mobility. they finally found it in storage. Later the wheel fell off but that is another story, sigh. Not too fond of Randys Mobility right now.

We got room 844 I think. Its a corner room. The view was the Epcot fireworks and you could see Spaceship Earth and Eiffel Tower. Great View!

Only bad thing about our stay was one day they didnt make up our room till almost 8 pm. That is not good and they sent a note to everyone saying to shut your windows because they were washing the windows etc. That was only one day.

We had breakfast at Garden Grove on Sunday. Great as usual. Dh also made a few trips to the Java Bar for breakfast things.

There was an international thyroid cancer conference when we were there. Of course being a thy ca survivor I was impressed by this. Anything to help discover new information etc. is great.

We didnt have to pay the resort fee, Yay!

Asked about the sold out rooms we were interested in in December. The front desk told me to call reservations but she felt that they committed all the rooms to this conference at both resorts and they were totally sold out, so chances would be slim to none to get a room. sigh.

Bus transportation was great. Only one grumpy friendship captain. I dont know why they let more wheelchairs on when clearly we wont fit with all of the other strollers, ecvs etc. already on board. I like to sit in it instead of the boat seat.

They were fixing the Swan fountain inside a couple of times when we were there.

The tv was a pain to change the channels with.

So all in all it was a great stay!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Sounds like another great trip, MAry. Welcome home.

 

[Dominion]

OK, we just got back as well. Had a great time! Stayed at the Swan on my SPG points, so I did have to pay the resort fee, but didn't have to pay a hotel rate!

Rooms were great. They looked really nice and were clean. Our room was on the 2nd floor kind of in between the waterway to DHS and the bus stop, but it was really quiet. I was actually surprised. Except for the EPCOT fireworks and the family that checked in across the hall on day 4. ;-) I declined Housekeeping to get extra points for making "a green choice" but they were fine when they came. Except that they kept replacing my coffee pods with decaf until I had no caffeine in my room at all! the only other negative I can think of was the hairdryer - it looks like it should have full size power but it definitely did not. If you absolutely need that, you might want to bring your own. I don't think they are new with the refurb.

Buses to MK were great. Longest we waited at the hotel was 5 minutes and longest at the park to come back was 15, but I think we had just missed it. And so easy to take the boats or walk to DHS and EPCOT. We actually realized that to go to EPCOT its fastest just to walk to the Boardwalk and then you're only on the boat one stop. We didn't have a car, but I used Tiffany Town Car to and from the airport and they were great - on time, very clean cars, good drivers.

Pools were nice. I was disappointed they didn't have a lifeguard, b/c its hard to watch multiple kids in the grotto pool with the waterslide and the different areas that you can't always see because of the shape, bridges and other obstructions. There is an attendant to make sure the kids follow the rules on the waterslide though. The pool area could be kept cleaner. There didn't seem to be anyone going around cleaning up trash or removing used towels (there were bins for those, but some people just left them on the chairs when they left the pool.) But in general the area was beautiful and a lot of fun for our family on our relax at the resort day.

We had dinner at Il Mulino which was fantastic. Amazing food and service. We had dinner twice at Garden Grove and it was OK. Food was very pricey for what you got and the restaurant is really an odd shape for a buffet - hard to move around in there! But there are characters every night so my kids loved it anyway. Our other dinners were at Yacht Club and in EPCOT WS.

Kids went to Camp Dolphin one evening (for free since we ate at Il Mulino!) and really enjoyed it.

All in all, it was a great trip. Everything worked pretty seamlessly - transportation, our old magic bands, FP+, etc... I even scored a BOG ADR the day before we left which was great!

Thanks to everyone who helped me plan our vacation. Happy to pay it forward and answer any questions!

 

[luvallprincesses]

Can housekeeping be declined for some days for points and used some days? We don't like cleaning every day anyway, but with a 10 day stay will need it a few times. How many points? Do I need to let them know at check in?

 

[pepperandchips]

When we were there in May, we let them know at check in which day we wanted housekeeping service. I believe you still get trash and towel service if you decline the full housekeeping (someone refresh my memory who has been more recently) and each day we declined service we got a little business card sized "credit" that was good for either $5 at the resort (restaurants only I think) or 500 spg points. They were adamant that if we needed anything we could call down for it and we did not miss the full cleaning at all.

I just realized I will be back at the Swan in exactly three weeks! (Only for one night pre-cruise so I won't be able to check out the housekeeping situation) but I am SO EXCITED!!!!

 

[luvallprincesses]

When we were there in May, we let them know at check in which day we wanted housekeeping service. I believe you still get trash and towel service if you decline the full housekeeping (someone refresh my memory who has been more recently) and each day we declined service we got a little business card sized "credit" that was good for either $5 at the resort (restaurants only I think) or 500 spg points. They were adamant that if we needed anything we could call down for it and we did not miss the full cleaning at all.

I just realized I will be back at the Swan in exactly three weeks! (Only for one night pre-cruise so I won't be able to check out the housekeeping situation) but I am SO EXCITED!!!!

Thanks for your information. I'm glad to know we can do a combination of days of cleaning. We will be flying to Orlando 3 weeks from today as well, but are doing 3 nights at Universal prior to 10 at the Swan. Excited here?? Absolutely! Enjoy your cruise!

 

[Dan Murphy]

I just realized I will be back at the Swan in exactly three weeks!

We will be flying to Orlando 3 weeks from today as well,

Have some great trips, guys!!

 

[happymommy]

Looking for opinions from anyone that has stayed in the newly refurbished Swan rooms. I am looking at either a balcony and fireworks view room at the Dolphin or a Crescent lake view room with balcony at the Swan. Currently, the Swan is about $10 more per night.

What would you do?

I would totally go with the Swan. Queen size beds (or king if you book that) and totally renovated rooms! Plus, two sinks.

I've always preferred the Swan over the Dolphin, but have enjoyed both. I thought the old decor, though, was kind of "Golden Girls" colored. I'm looking forward to seeing the new decor!