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

[Dan Murphy]

Just wanted to pop back in and report. We arrived after midnight on Friday of Labor Day weekend so unsurprisingly the Dolphin was unable to accommodate my request for a renovated room. We were assigned 2049 which is in the East Wing with a nice view of the Swan:

(iPhone pic, not great quality but you get the gist).

While it had not been renovated, our room looked like it had been well taken care of (the paint looked fresh and the bathroom fixtures were shiny and new-looking). The air conditioning worked too well - if that's even possible in Florida - and we enjoyed the Heavenly Beds as always. The room did have a moldy smell and for some reason housekeeping never replaced our ice bucket liner even though she would clean the ice bucket and one day we only got one bottle of water rather than 2. No big issues at all.

I liked the location of the room and we also received a nice gesture from the resort since I had noted a birthday celebration.

Balloons, a birthday card, a birthday button, and a coupon for a free ice cream cone at the Fountain. The coupon did not have restrictions on it and we were able to use it for a waffle cone but your mileage may vary.

It was a great stay! I can't wait for all the rooms to be renovated.

That's great, Melinda! Love the birthday acknowledgement.

Are all the rooms in the Swan renovated?

Yes they are.

 

[butternut]

I have secured a renovated room at the Dolphin! Would love it if any of you have any photos to share of what it may look like! Getting very excited!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

No Starbucks for purchase at S/D. The rooms are all Starbucks. Closet locations would be either Epcot at the Fountain View or Hollywood Studios at the Trolley Car Cafe.

Thanks for the info.
Btw we are also from Chicago area--west suburbs.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Btw we are also from Chicago area--west suburbs.

NW suburbs here.

 

[danjoan14]

Does any know if the Garden Grove at the Swan still has the Good Morning Character Breakfast events on Saturday's and Sunday's? I've been trying to make a reservation online for our trip in December, and they're only offering dinner on the weekends. No times are an option before 5:00 pm.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Yes they do.

http://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/gardengrove/index.html

The young at heart will also enjoy Disney character dining at dinner nightly and for breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays. Garden Grove is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

http://www.kennythepirate.com/dining/disney-world-character-meal-list/

http://allears.net/din/cb.htm

Does any know if the Garden Grove at the Swan still has the Good Morning Character Breakfast events on Saturday's and Sunday's?

 

[DoBug]

Swan Santa rate in December? Does anybody remember a discounted rate last December? I think you had to check in by Dec 16 or near there.
If you remember it do you know when it was posted/advertised? Trying to decide if I should hold out or just take the AAA rate now. Looking for Dec 16-Dec 21.

 

[danjoan14]

Yes they do.

http://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/gardengrove/index.html

http://www.kennythepirate.com/dining/disney-world-character-meal-list/

http://allears.net/din/cb.htm

Thanks Dan. I used the first link to get the web site where you can directly make a reservation. I tried to book in December, but the request only go up to October 19th. I'm guessing they'll add additional dates/and times as it gets closer.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks Dan. I used the first link to get the web site where you can directly make a reservation. I tried to book in December, but the request only go up to October 19th. I'm guessing they'll add additional dates/and times as it gets closer.

Maybe give them a call directly, 407-934-1618. See what is going on.

 

[BrownHP800]

Does the Dolphin charge you anything to have a package shipped to the resort so we have it when we check in? Some resorts charge anywhere from $5-$25 per package.

Thanks.

 

[danjoan14]

Maybe give them a call directly, 407-934-1618. See what is going on.

Yes, that's a good idea. I'll give them a call. Thanks for the info.

Another question, I know we can choose our fastpass+ 60 days in advance if staying onsite.. If I'm not mistaken, that is true when staying at the Swan as well. I'm currently more than 60 days out, but when I go into my account to check to see if I could book my fastpasses, it shows that I can only book 30 days out. Would you know if that will change as soon as I get to my 60 day mark? Thanks...

 

[Dan Murphy]

Does the Dolphin charge you anything to have a package shipped to the resort so we have it when we check in? Some resorts charge anywhere from $5-$25 per package.

Thanks.

Yes, they do charge. See rates below.

HANDLING FEES:
Handling charges are in addition to the cost of shipping, and
are charged on a per package basis. Charges apply to inbound
and outbound shipments. The charges can be applied to your
room, master account, credit card or cash.
Letter Packs $3.00
1 – 10 lbs. $ 6.00
11 – 20 lbs. $10.00
21 – 40 lbs. $15.00
41 – 75 lbs. $20.00
76 – 99 lbs. $25.00
100 + lbs. $ 0.70 per lb.
Pallets/Freight $ 0.70 per lb.
Exhibit Cases: 1 – 75 lbs. $ 35.00
Exhibit Cases: 76 – 150 lbs. $ 75.00
Exhibit Cases: 151+ lbs. $ 0.70 per lb.

Yes, that's a good idea. I'll give them a call. Thanks for the info.

Another question, I know we can choose our fastpass+ 60 days in advance if staying onsite.. If I'm not mistaken, that is true when staying at the Swan as well. I'm currently more than 60 days out, but when I go into my account to check to see if I could book my fastpasses, it shows that I can only book 30 days out. Would you know if that will change as soon as I get to my 60 day mark? Thanks...

Yes, the 30 days will change to 60 when you get to the 60 day mark.

 

[danjoan14]

Yes, the 30 days will change to 60 when you get to the 60 day mark.

I was thinking that would happen. Wanted to double check just in case. Thanks for your reply.

 

[BrownHP800]

Thanks for the info. Until I read the last few posts here, I didn't realize I could link the reservation to my MDE account. Glad to know I can do fastpasses 60 days out. I am guessing now that my reservation is linked, that is how they will know we are resort guests and able to access EMH?

 

[patty57]

Thanks for the info. Until I read the last few posts here, I didn't realize I could link the reservation to my MDE account. Glad to know I can do fastpasses 60 days out. I am guessing now that my reservation is linked, that is how they will know we are resort guests and able to access EMH?

Check your MDE account to see if it's there. You used to have to manually input the Swan/Dolphin reservations into your account...as far as I know, you still need to do that.

 

[ckelly14]

Thanks for the info. Until I read the last few posts here, I didn't realize I could link the reservation to my MDE account. Glad to know I can do fastpasses 60 days out. I am guessing now that my reservation is linked, that is how they will know we are resort guests and able to access EMH?

I'm not sure it's as sophisticated as that. The only way they used to know I was a Swan and Dolphin guest was to show my room key. That worked for theme park parking and EMH. Don't think they ever accessed my MDE, but I agree you need the reservations linked to open the 60 day FP window.

 

[patty57]

Completely off topic, but I kind of feel like this thread is my home on the DIS. Our niece is getting married on Oct. 29th, right near Anaheim. How could I not go to Disneyland for a couple of days? If anyone here has any good food recommendations, or other tips...would you consider PMing me? I don't want to clog up the S/D thread with off topic posts. I have been looking around on the Disneyland side of the of the board as well.

 

[patty57]

I'm not sure it's as sophisticated as that. The only way they used to know I was a Swan and Dolphin guest was to show my room key. That worked for theme park parking and EMH. Don't think they ever accessed my MDE, but I agree you need the reservations linked to open the 60 day FP window.

Uh oh...I think I completely misunderstood the original question when I said you need to manually link the reservation on MDE. I think this is what they were actually asking about.

 

[pwrflpills]

I booked the Dolphin through Starwood 8 days ago and have been unable to get my reservation reflected correctly on MDE. It shows wrong number of guests and won't let me update. I've spoken to Starwood 3 times and Disney twice. Starwood says they'll resend the reservation and each time 24-48 hours later, no change. I discovered in talking to Disney this morning while she called Starwood directly that they had tried to resend and it didn't go through "for some reason". So they're trying again. I'd like to be able to utilize the 60 day FP access (also only showing 30 day options at this point), but it's getting close.

Anyone else having any problems with MDE and S/D lately?

 

[Tess]

I booked the Dolphin through Starwood 8 days ago and have been unable to get my reservation reflected correctly on MDE. It shows wrong number of guests and won't let me update. I've spoken to Starwood 3 times and Disney twice. Starwood says they'll resend the reservation and each time 24-48 hours later, no change. I discovered in talking to Disney this morning while she called Starwood directly that they had tried to resend and it didn't go through "for some reason". So they're trying again. I'd like to be able to utilize the 60 day FP access (also only showing 30 day options at this point), but it's getting close.

Anyone else having any problems with MDE and S/D lately?

Yes, I did on two separate occasions. Both times we had more than one room (3 rooms with 2 adults in each) and another it was two rooms--four adults. All rooms were showing my husband's name because we booked the rooms. It would not let us replace him although we could add one adult to each room. Unfortunately, that left three/two adults without a room or name to assign FP+ to it. I was ping ponged between Disney and Dolphin until I finally found a sympathetic Dolphin employee who took the bull by the horn and followed through to get it resolved. This individual resolved my issues in short order and on both separate occasions. I made repeated calls directly to Dolphin until the matter was successfully resolved prior to the 60 day mark. Good luck!