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

[kylenne]

The boats are for leisurely returns post midday break or if you don’t care about what time you get there. They are absolutely not for Early Entry. They don’t run early enough and they’re too slow. You should frankly already be at the gate going through security by the time the boats start running if you’re serious about EE.

The notion of “step saving” is absurd to me when staying at a Crescent Lake resort because the entire selling point of them to me is being able to walk to Epcot and HS. Walking is always going to be the single best way to get to a theme park for rope drop because it’s the only form of transportation under your complete control, and you aren’t reliant on timetables or schedules. And at Epcot and HS specifically the walking advantage is tremendous. Being able to arrive before the Skyliner starts running and dumping hordes of people at the gates is huge. At Epcot it can mean the difference between knocking out 2 of 4 headliners before official park open with semi-reasonable posted waits still at the other 2 or barely getting in 1. I was the literal first person in line for Epcot security last Monday walking over from Swan and was in the first load at Remy, which meant I was first off and walked straight onto Frozen. At HS especially if you intend on hitting Slinky or Rise getting there before the Skyliner masses is critical if you don’t want to potentially waste your whole EE time in lines.

Bluntly, from an EE master: being front of pack is how you get the most out of EE and walking is the single easiest and best way to do that. If you’re not going to walk imo you might as well save your money and just stay at a cheaper resort on the Skyliner or elsewhere altogether. If you want to save your feet that’s what midday breaks back at the resort are for (and work very well!).

 

[sconnell]

I was the literal first person in line for Epcot security last Monday walking over from Swan and was in the first load at Remy, which meant I was first off and walked straight onto Frozen. At HS especially if you intend on hitting Slinky or Rise getting there before the Skyliner masses is critical if you don’t want to potentially waste your whole EE time in lines.

Bluntly, from an EE master: being front of pack is how you get the most out of EE and walking is the single easiest and best way to do that. If you’re not going to walk imo you might as well save your money and just stay at a cheaper resort on the Skyliner or elsewhere altogether. If you want to save your feet that’s what midday breaks back at the resort are for (and work very well!).

That's a good perspective. What time do you leave Swan to get to Ep and HS?

"Saving steps" because I have some neuropathy from unexpected nerve damage from a surgery. Sometimes I'm good, sometimes I'm not. So absurd to one is just planning for contingencies for others. To explain why Dolphin, we're only doing Epcot and HS this trip and I'm staying on Bonvoy points and like the area. I get to take advantage of on-site benefits like early Lightning Lane passes and EE while using my points/free nights.

 

[Disneydawg74]

That's a good perspective. What time do you leave Swan to get to Ep and HS?

"Saving steps" because I have some neuropathy from unexpected nerve damage from a surgery. Sometimes I'm good, sometimes I'm not. So absurd to one is just planning for contingencies for others. To explain why Dolphin, we're only doing Epcot and HS this trip and I'm staying on Bonvoy points and like the area. I get to take advantage of on-site benefits like early Lightning Lane passes and EE while using my points/free nights.

I have neuropathy from chemotherapy and find that rope drop doesn’t work for me. I’m too slow and the thundering herd isn’t always cognizant of how they run over slow pokes. We do ride the boats to EPCOT for EE, but are never front of the pack.

 

[Best Aunt]

The boats are for leisurely returns post midday break or if you don’t care about what time you get there. They are absolutely not for Early Entry. They don’t run early enough and they’re too slow. You should frankly already be at the gate going through security by the time the boats start running if you’re serious about EE.

The notion of “step saving” is absurd to me when staying at a Crescent Lake resort because the entire selling point of them to me is being able to walk to Epcot and HS. Walking is always going to be the single best way to get to a theme park for rope drop because it’s the only form of transportation under your complete control, and you aren’t reliant on timetables or schedules. And at Epcot and HS specifically the walking advantage is tremendous. Being able to arrive before the Skyliner starts running and dumping hordes of people at the gates is huge. At Epcot it can mean the difference between knocking out 2 of 4 headliners before official park open with semi-reasonable posted waits still at the other 2 or barely getting in 1. I was the literal first person in line for Epcot security last Monday walking over from Swan and was in the first load at Remy, which meant I was first off and walked straight onto Frozen. At HS especially if you intend on hitting Slinky or Rise getting there before the Skyliner masses is critical if you don’t want to potentially waste your whole EE time in lines.

Bluntly, from an EE master: being front of pack is how you get the most out of EE and walking is the single easiest and best way to do that. If you’re not going to walk imo you might as well save your money and just stay at a cheaper resort on the Skyliner or elsewhere altogether. If you want to save your feet that’s what midday breaks back at the resort are for (and work very well!).

a) Kylene always gives top-notch advice.

b) I should have mentioned that my perspective is different from other people's because I get motion sick very easily. The only Early Entry ride I can do at DHS is Toy Story Mania, so there's no reason for me to try to be among the very first people to enter the park. At Epcot, there are more Early Entry rides that I can do, but not the biggies (Guardians, Mission Space, Ratatouille, Soarin). So I like to get to the park early, but it's not as big a deal for me as it is for other people.

 

[Harmacist]

Anyone have opinions on the SW food and wine classic. We have reservations at the Swan for that weekend, we didn't plan for that it just happened. We are torn between doing this one night or Jollywood. We did Jollywood last year and enjoyed it, but leaning towards trying something new. Jollywood is about $50 less a ticket after our AP discount, but I'm sure we would end up paying more than that in drinks and snacks at the event.

Just trying to see how people enjoyed the event It's pretty tough getting non-sponsored opinions of it since it seems to be a bit under the radar in comparison to most things at Disney. Im sure being just one weekend a year plays a big reason for that

 

[kylenne]

That's a good perspective. What time do you leave Swan to get to Ep and HS?

It really depends on how long it takes you to walk and where in the Dolphin you are. I’ve done the walk to Epcot in 7 min and HS in 10 from there but I’m a very fast walker without any kind of mobility issues. The good thing about walking though is unlike the boats you can leave whenever you want.

"Saving steps" because I have some neuropathy from unexpected nerve damage from a surgery. Sometimes I'm good, sometimes I'm not. So absurd to one is just planning for contingencies for others. To explain why Dolphin, we're only doing Epcot and HS this trip and I'm staying on Bonvoy points and like the area. I get to take advantage of on-site benefits like early Lightning Lane passes and EE while using my points/free nights.

That’s fair—but, again, if you can’t be there early enough to front of pack for EE I would not go for headliners. I am actually a big fan of zigging while others zag at EE anyway though (with the exception of Remy and Guardians. depending on which entrance I’m coming in, Remy just makes the most sense from IG and Guardians I actually do rope dropping from the front bc I like re-rides).

Like my standard HS strategy involves prebooked LLs for Slinky Dog and Rise and actually rope dropping the Sunset attractions, working my way back from Tower to MMRR. I still like being there 1 hr prior to EE though because you do get people going over to Sunset, and if you wait too long to get over there you do actually risk lines forming; recently I’ve noticed Rock n Roller Coaster getting longer lines quicker while waiting for EE to start, probably because of the impending retheme. Not to the extent of a Rise or a Slinky but they can get long enough to make EE a bust. I also like being near the front for Tower rope drop as insurance against only one side running. Sometimes during EE it will have problems and only 1 elevator runs. If you’re up front it doesn’t matter because you’ll still get on fairly quick, maybe first or second load. If you’re further back, waits will double and you probably won’t be able to pivot to RNRC to salvage EE because like I said that line has been longer lately.

From Swolphin the walk to HS is very easy and only BWI is better positioned for it. With mobility concerns I would allocate maybe 20-25 min for it at a reasonable pace. Assuming a 9a official open, 8:30a EE, I would aim to be at security at 7:30. So try to be out of your room by 7 just to be safe. It’s early but I promise you it’s worth it, only AK gets worse crowds at the tapstiles as fast as HS—when the Skyliner starts running, it literally doubles every 5 minutes. I have photos lol. If you wait until the boats start running you will really screw yourself. I cant emphasize how much you set yourself up for a way better day getting there that early. Waits at that park get very ugly very quickly and stay that way for most of the day.

Epcot I think you can get away with not being front of pack if you hit Frozen first (no one is rope dropping it or even doing it as ride #2 now that TT is back), but that’s going to be a longer walk to Norway than France. But I still prioritize hitting Remy then Frozen and only buying SP for Guardians when coming in thru the IG. Which means again getting there at 7:30 since EE is usually 8:30.

I will say Epcot is kind of annoying to walk to from the Dolphin side unless you utilize the shortcuts where you don’t have to do the long walk around the lake to the YC side. I don’t remember them off the top of my head but iirc there’s a door that lets you out closer to YC.