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

[nuhusky123]

Interesting. Is the Dolphin bathroom any better or worse?

same, also bad

pay more and stay at swan reserve. Night and day. I’ll never stay at swan or dolphin if reserve is an option

 

[summerlvr]

Awesome. So the only things we can’t do with magic bands (that we would be able to do in a Disney resort stay) are opening room door, and charging for meals or other items at parks or Disney resorts?

Yes!

 

[happ]

Thanks. Bummer the Magic Band doesn’t even cut it for that if have one.. but good to know the card is enough as that’s straightforward.

Magic band worked for me for early entry. I didn't need to show my room key.

 

[4_canucks]

Room key card

How does it work with verifying being a resort guest with respect to early entry or deluxe resort guest for extra evening hours?

we will have magic bands.. because while value is limited at Swan/Dolphin.. we like them. Will scanning those work for this or would we need to verify differently?

For us it was magic bands.

We stayed at the Swan over the christmas break - for our first extra evening hour visit, we were at EPCOT, and we showed our Swan room keycards - the CM tried scanning, but of course disney's system wouldn't recognize a non-disney hotel keycard, but another CM said, "oh if it's Swan/Dolphin then they're good" and we were let into Remy's Ratatouille. And we continued to just wave our swan room key at the next few rides that evening. I thought oh, people who hold onto their swan/dolphin room keys can then continue to go to Extra evening hours in future visits even if they're staying elsewhere?

However, the next extra evening hour we had , at MK, the cast member said we can just scan our magic band - and low and behold, we got the green mickeys scanning our bands, and we were let in.

Early morning would be the magic bands too, just to get into the parks _and_ having a Swan hotel reservation on MDE.

 

[SteveH]

i will add the swan bathroom is probably one of my least favorite bathrooms of any hotel. Small and taking a shower soaks the toilet. I hate the swan bathrooms

Did you not have the glass shower doors? Can't say we had any issues with a wet toilet .

 

[Dan Murphy]

I’ve stayed at the swan around ten times and I’m a titanium

ive never been upgraded on status

ive upgraded once to corner family room using snas

pros of swan
- proximity to epcot
- it’s a marriott
-cheaper than Disney hotel by a fair bit

cons of swan
- rooms are dated
- bathroom is tight
- almost impossible to get an upgrade
- parking is really far away

rooms were as clean as any other hotel. No worse and no better

i also recently over dec did a two night reserve stay. I loved the reserve
pros
- rooms are much bigger than swan
- upgraded were really easy with sna. I got awesome suite facing Epcot
- it’s new
- bathroom is very large and toilet isn’t right next to shower
- shower is a dedicated shower vs shower tub combo
- parking is 100% better and closer than compared to swan

cons
- growing pains, recommend you look past these
- a bit further to walk to Epcot or boat

if I ever go back to swan complex I will not hesitate to pay more for the reserve, well worth the extra couple of $

biggest con for entire swan dolphin complex
- it lacks Disney character inside. transport any of these hotels to middle America and you would not know they are Disney world hotels. I go to Disney for the immersion and although these hotels are easier on the wallet they are not and will never have the character of a Disney hotel. As such to me they are about saving money and being inside the Disney bubble. But if $ are no consequence I’d pick a Disney hotel over any swan dolphin hotel

pre covid I was also a rabid marriot point and status collector. Now I don’t care so much. The loyalty I had to Marriott is now gone. Now I prefer to pay for the experience I want vs compromising so I can get more marriot points/nights added to account

Sure the outside is nice and well themed but go inside and to your room. Would you know you are at Disney or Nebraska?

On the swan reserve, love the hotel. But it’s a glass tower. Again would not look out of place in any city

overall though the swan and dolphin have great outdoor grounds and theme. Inside like the reserve it’s very much a marriott hotel although pre merger swan and dolphin were spg

Love the heavenly beds, but I was disappointed in the sheets my last stay. They seem to be going with lower quality sheets than what I remember from years past

i will add the swan bathroom is probably one of my least favorite bathrooms of any hotel. Small and taking a shower soaks the toilet. I hate the swan bathrooms

same, also bad

pay more and stay at swan reserve. Night and day. I’ll never stay at swan or dolphin if reserve is an option

I think you are a candidate for a stay at a Disney branded resort.

 

[nuhusky123]

I think you are a candidate for a stay at a Disney branded resort.

I’ve lost my bonvoy loyalty during pandemic, realized i can do better

bought into dvc. So yeah Im hopefully done with the swan. May do the odd reserve stay if I run out of dvc points but yeah done with swan and dolphin

 

[Dan Murphy]

I’ve lost my bonvoy loyalty during pandemic, realized i can do better

bought into dvc. So yeah Im hopefully done with the swan. May do the odd reserve stay if I run out of dvc points but yeah done with swan and dolphin

 

[kayteekt]

It's been several years since we've stayed at the S&D. I've seen bits and pieces about the buses being different now. I'm sure this has been asked before, but could I get a quick recap.

 

[jbaysingar]

It's been several years since we've stayed at the S&D. I've seen bits and pieces about the buses being different now. I'm sure this has been asked before, but could I get a quick recap.

After reopening, S/D switched to using Mears charter buses to MK, AK, and Disney Springs instead of the Disney-run transportation. The big difference is where they drop off, especially at MK where you get dropped of at the TTC and have to cross the lagoon via ferry or monorail, instead of getting dropped off right at the main gate.

They still use the Disney-run "Friendship" boats to HS and Epcot.

 

[SteveH]

It's been several years since we've stayed at the S&D. I've seen bits and pieces about the buses being different now. I'm sure this has been asked before, but could I get a quick recap.

Glad to have you on the group! Here is my post from October 21 in this thread talking about the bus situation and some advice; Bus Situation Info I hope it helps. Do check the SwanDolphin app (listed in the link) as things can change but the app is usually the most up to date info.

 

[kayteekt]

Glad to have you on the group! Here is my post from October 21 in this thread talking about the bus situation and some advice; Bus Situation Info I hope it helps. Do check the SwanDolphin app (listed in the link) as things can change but the app is usually the most up to date info.

Thanks! Is there something different about the DS bus? Seems like I've seen something about that, but I can't remember what the details were.

 

[jbaysingar]

Thanks! Is there something different about the DS bus? Seems like I've seen something about that, but I can't remember what the details were.

IIRC, the Disney buses drop you off in the center of DS, whereas the Mears buses drop you off all the way on the far west side past Cirque du Soleil.

 

[Lsdolphin]

I thought the Mears busses from S/D dropped off at the old bus station near the Market Place entrance or is that just for Uber/Lyft and the DS area hotels?

 

[jbaysingar]

I thought the Mears busses from S/D dropped off at the old bus station near the Market Place entrance or is that just for Uber/Lyft and the DS area hotels?

You might be right. For some reason I thought I remembered the old bus stop being for rideshare and taxis, and buses being on the west end, but I can't remember for sure, and now I'm questioning myself. Either way, Disney drops off in the center, and Mears drops you off at one end or the other.

 

[Dan Murphy]

IIRC, the Disney buses drop you off in the center of DS, whereas the Mears buses drop you off all the way on the far west side past Cirque du Soleil.

I thought the Mears busses from S/D dropped off at the old bus station near the Market Place entrance or is that just for Uber/Lyft and the DS area hotels?

You might be right. For some reason I thought I remembered the old bus stop being for rideshare and taxis, and buses being on the west end, but I can't remember for sure, and now I'm questioning myself. Either way, Disney drops off in the center, and Mears drops you off at one end or the other.

Previous replies here

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...s-information-questions.3264274/post-63117107

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...s-information-questions.3264274/post-63004097

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...s-information-questions.3264274/post-63350212

 

[jbaysingar]

Previous replies here

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...s-information-questions.3264274/post-63117107

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...s-information-questions.3264274/post-63004097

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...s-information-questions.3264274/post-63350212

So I'm not going senile... yet.

 

[isabellea]

We’re booked for the first time at the Dolphin this summer. We are driving to Florida so we’ll pay parking fees during our stay. Is park parking included if staying at the S/D?

 

[Dan Murphy]

Is park parking included if staying at the S/D?

Yes it is. Enjoy your first ever at the Dolphin, Isabelle. It won't be your last.

 

[Lsdolphin]

We arrived at Dolphin on Sunday 9/5 and are departing on 9/10. We are DVC, and this was an extra trip we threw together since our points are tied up in other trips.

This being a hotel that hosts conventions, we can tell. We are in a king room (booked no view but are overlooking BoardWalk and can see Epcot fireworks). I have traveled a lot for work, and this feels like a business hotel. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing; I am level-setting expectations.

Mask required signs are everywhere, yet I would say around 50% are compliant. We’ve let elevators go if the other occupants are unmasked.

We’ve eaten at Fountain, which was good, especially after an exhausting day of travel. We’ve also purchased hot sandwiches and coffee from Fuel. A bit pricey but convenient.

I ran a load of wash on Tuesday morning. Laundry room is huge. We are in the East wing so I had to take the elevator to the lobby and then the escalator to level 1 from Central. It’s in the vicinity of Picabu, right past the arcade. I used my credit card to pay, but there is a change machine. It looks like at least the washers take quarters (didn’t look to see if the dryer had a coin slot. Washer was $3, and I believe the dryer was $2.75.

We used the bus from BoardWalk to Magic Kingdom. We did not go at rope drop so no worries about a crowded bus. Mask compliance on transportation was around 95%. We did use the Dolphin-Disney Springs bus and opted to use the bus to BoardWalk for our return. The Dolphin bus drops you off past Cirque du Soleil, but the entrance to Disney Springs is closed at that end. Instead, we had to cross the road to the parking garage, walk up to level 2, and go to the second entrance in the parking garage where security is set up. We normally have a rental car so we park in the garage. We didn’t want to pay $29 per night to self-park a rental (parking is included with DVC reservations).

Overall, it’s nice but doubt we would stay here again.

Wouldn’t the bus to MK from the Yacht Club have been closer tHan walking over to Boardwalk?