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

[Dan Murphy]

Picabu is a sort of hybrid location operating as both a convenience store and a fast casual location.
My previous experience with the AAA discount at Picabu is that the discount only applied to the "food/beverage" items, and did not apply to the "convenience store" items. So items like packaged snacks and bottled beverages were not discounted, but "fresh prepared" food items (like the plastic clamshell salads or sandwiches) usually were. I haven't stayed since January 2020, though, and don't remember exactly what fell into which category.

Great to see you, IG! Have not seen you in ages!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Yes, definitely 14%
View attachment 667894

Yes, definitely 14%. A 1% bump. At least the 20% AAA discount is on the base bill, and not also on the service charge.

 

[lowlight]

Yes, definitely 14%
View attachment 667894

Your name is on the receipt I think, in case you didn’t intend it.

 

[CeeCee101]

I am confused about staying at the Swan and making ADRs. Some threads I have read say you can’t do online, you need to call. Others say they were able to get it to work on MDE. Which is right? I have some time as our trip isn’t until November but just want to have my ducks in a row by September. We’re also doing a split stay which I realize now will give me two different ADR dates. This all used to be simpler 12 years ago which was the last time we were at WDW! Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Meglen]

I am confused about staying at the Swan and making ADRs. Some threads I have read say you can’t do online, you need to call. Others say they were able to get it to work on MDE. Which is right? I have some time as our trip isn’t until November but just want to have my ducks in a row by September. We’re also doing a split stay which I realize now will give me two different ADR dates. This all used to be simpler 12 years ago which was the last time we were at WDW! Thanks in advance for any help.

I think it just depends.. I am at the reserve and had to contact a cm through the chat to get my adrs. It never was fixed and I could not book 60+ anything only day of. Others have had no issues..

 

[patty57]

I asked the guy working at the towel shack about the waterfall at the Grotto Pool not working. Apparently, it is down for maintenance, but it has been down longer than it was anticipated. There seems to be some kind of problem with it.

 

[AzzySpazbourne]

I am confused about staying at the Swan and making ADRs. Some threads I have read say you can’t do online, you need to call. Others say they were able to get it to work on MDE. Which is right? I have some time as our trip isn’t until November but just want to have my ducks in a row by September. We’re also doing a split stay which I realize now will give me two different ADR dates. This all used to be simpler 12 years ago which was the last time we were at WDW! Thanks in advance for any help.

I think it just depends.. I am at the reserve and had to contact a cm through the chat to get my adrs. It never was fixed and I could not book 60+ anything only day of. Others have had no issues..

This was my experience. Also at SR.

 

[patty57]

A page or two back, I mentioned that Fuel sells milk. Apparently, I forgot the price. It's $3.20 for 8 ounces!

 

[redmister]

I am confused about staying at the Swan and making ADRs. Some threads I have read say you can’t do online, you need to call. Others say they were able to get it to work on MDE. Which is right? I have some time as our trip isn’t until November but just want to have my ducks in a row by September. We’re also doing a split stay which I realize now will give me two different ADR dates. This all used to be simpler 12 years ago which was the last time we were at WDW! Thanks in advance for any help.

I am staying at the Swan and had no problems. I believe everyone I've read about having problems were staying at the Reserve, not the Swan.

 

[Dan Murphy]

A page or two back, I mentioned that Fuel sells milk. Apparently, I forgot the price. It's $3.20 for 8 ounces!

So $51.20 a gallon.

 

[Poohlovr]

I am confused about staying at the Swan and making ADRs. Some threads I have read say you can’t do online, you need to call. Others say they were able to get it to work on MDE. Which is right? I have some time as our trip isn’t until November but just want to have my ducks in a row by September. We’re also doing a split stay which I realize now will give me two different ADR dates. This all used to be simpler 12 years ago which was the last time we were at WDW! Thanks in advance for any help.

Returned from Swan on Apr 28th.
We made ADRs via MDE with no problem.
Also meant to add to my review that we did online check-in maybe 2 days prior to our arrival. Once that showed up, we added our reservation back to MDE and were good to go. In the 10 days there, it never fell off again

 

[Poohlovr]

I am confused about staying at the Swan and making ADRs. Some threads I have read say you can’t do online, you need to call. Others say they were able to get it to work on MDE. Which is right? I have some time as our trip isn’t until November but just want to have my ducks in a row by September. We’re also doing a split stay which I realize now will give me two different ADR dates. This all used to be simpler 12 years ago which was the last time we were at WDW! Thanks in advance for any help.

Returned from Swan on Apr 28th.
We made ADRs via MDE with no problem.
Also meant to add to my review that we did online check-in maybe 2 days prior to our arrival. Once that showed up, we added our reservation back to MDE and were good to go. In the 10 days there, it never fell off again

 

[patty57]

So $51.20 a gallon.

Ha ha sort of. I won't be buying a gallon anytime soon.

 

[Ellen]

Returned from Swan on Apr 28th.
We made ADRs via MDE with no problem.
Also meant to add to my review that we did online check-in maybe 2 days prior to our arrival. Once that showed up, we added our reservation back to MDE and were good to go. In the 10 days there, it never fell off again

How did you check in 2 days early was it on MDE app or Swan or Marriott. I have a flight tomorrow morning and would like to make 7 am LL for Hollywood studios not sure if I have to be checked in before making reservations
Thanks
Ellen

 

[hedberg1661]

So $51.20 a gallon.

Good thing they don't sell gasoline!

 

[zounderz]

Just stayed at the Dolphin last week. First time staying there and I have to say I had a wonderful time. Loved the hotel, especially considering the price for what would be a deluxe just down the street. Really liked having all the restaurants on site.. not really needing reservations, especially since I could get 20% off using the AAA discount for most of them (which also used on the room). The pool area was awesome, and the convenience for HS and EC was great.

Some things that worked for me as far as logistics:

- transportation to MK; what worked best for me was uber to TTC, then express monorail to MK. tried the 'walk to BW and take their bus' one morning and it backfired as there were a lot of people waiting for a bus (probably 2-3 bus loads worth) so we just took an uber from there (thus.. wasted the 10 min walk). took BW or Yatch club buses back as they are next to each other so just grabbed whichever came first.

- for breakfast; Mediterranean was great for a solid breakfast with no real wait as its a buffet. Fuel didn't work great for me for breakfast since there was always a long line but for a real quick breakfast to take to room, I instead just went to Picabu and picked up food to go.. never a line there for breakfast. also worked well for a real quick dinner/easy bite.

Anyway, Swan/Dolphin are our new go to hotels. (is Swan better, because we really liked Dolphin!)

Is there a list of which restaurants have the 20% AAA discount?

 

[SteveH]

Is there a list of which restaurants have the 20% AAA discount?

This post from a few days ago should help. I've never seen an official list on their website, if you want to verify you can call the SD dining hotline or use the SD app and send them a text message.

 

[JiminyCricketNJ]

We arrive on Saturday for our first stay ever at the Swan. I believe it’s a standard room, no view. Any recommendations for what I might request to make the best of it?

We stayed at the Swan on Sunday night to be close to Epcot for our AP preview of Guardians on Monday morning. Since it was one night, I booked the 2 queens standard no view. Asked for a high floor (we were on 7th floor). What I got- a view of Tower of Terror all lit up (and a bit of Galaxy's edge) on my right, and beautiful skyliners and Boardwalk on my left! That is the best "no view" IMO!

 

[jacknsally19]

Returned from Swan on Apr 28th.
We made ADRs via MDE with no problem.
Also meant to add to my review that we did online check-in maybe 2 days prior to our arrival. Once that showed up, we added our reservation back to MDE and were good to go. In the 10 days there, it never fell off again

Did you link your Swan / Dolphin reservation on MDE? I booked Swan and Dolphin via Expedia - would that preclude me from using MDE? Thanks in advance - I've never stayed at this resort before!

 

[jbaysingar]

I'm sorry you misunderstood me we are not handicapped and want to request a full shower if they have those in rooms that are not handicapped.

We just got back from the Swan, and our non-accessible room had just a shower with a sliding door, so they do exist.