Does anyone occasionally stay at Swan or Dolphin or go to Universal

[tom1944]

Instead of adding additional points? Asking because I am purchasing another contract, and my expectation is this will be the last. There might be an occasion when I borrow points and have a limited number the next year. Going to Universal or staying at Swan/Dolphin for a trip to rebalance my points seems like a decent way to rectify that. I would have points for WDW but not the entire 9/10 days I want to stay.

Have you done that?

 

[tom1944]

Instead of adding additional points? Asking because I am purchasing another contract, and my expectation is this will be the last. There might be an occasion when I borrow points and have a limited number the next year. Going to Universal or staying at Swan/Dolphin for a trip to rebalance my points seems like a decent way to rectify that.

Have you done that?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We'll often do a day or 2 at Universal, but we don't tend to do cash rooms at Disney when we have DVC points available. Instead, we'd be more likely to splurge for one of the deluxe resorts at Universal for a couple days and get the Express Pass included with the room...... For us, that would be a better value than a couple nights at Swan/Dolphin. Depending on the deal you can get at S/D, it probably wouldn't be too much more for the Universal resorts.

 

[walt34]

We've quite frequently switched to Universal for the last two nights. It's a good opportunity to save points for the next year and it gives much better access to the Universal parks. If you can get a good rate for a premier hotel, you get express passes for everyone in the room. If premier hotels are too expensive, Cabana bay and Aventura don't give express passes but punch above their weight in all other aspects.

Another option to save points is to book a Disney value hotel at the start of your trip (arrival day) have bell service transport the luggage and go to your DVC resort via the parks.

 

[tom1944]

Thanks

I do not know how I double posted. Sorry about that

Added by Mod: No worries. Merged them for you.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

If I had seen a double post, I would've answered the same!!

 

[pianomanzano]

No interest for us in universal until our kids are a little older and after the demand dies down from epic universe. Huge nintendo fan growing up, but my wife and little ones aren't as into it.

If you're short on points and want the big rooms that a 1BR+ provides, look into the getaways portion of interval international. Lots of area timeshares included. We stayed at Sheraton Vistana for 3 weeks back in 2022 in a 2BR villa for only $372/week.

 

[karen4546]

If I go to Universal it is for one of the Orlando informer ticketed events and we stay on WDW property. Lyft or Uber to and from event.

 

[Judique]

Instead of adding additional points? Asking because I am purchasing another contract, and my expectation is this will be the last. There might be an occasion when I borrow points and have a limited number the next year. Going to Universal or staying at Swan/Dolphin for a trip to rebalance my points seems like a decent way to rectify that. I would have points for WDW but not the entire 9/10 days I want to stay.

Have you done that?

I just spent a night at Swan on 'points' but not DVC points mid February. Last year in May I added 2 nights there to attend Moonlight Madness at DHS after I had a 1 night DVC room to qualify for the perk.

My Universal days are both behind and ahead of me. When DD (31) was younger we had to do the Harry Potter thing. Now 8 yo granddaughter wants to go and 1 figure in 2 years when she is 10. Royal Pacific is my preference.

I do like the Swan but I'm not crazy about Dolphin. But if it were there or nothing I'd stay.

All the rooms are not yet renovated, and some of the unrenovated ones are a bit rough. I've personally had rooms in excellent condition but got to see some that 'I' wouldn't accept.

 

[Brian Noble]

Going to Universal

We did Universal for spring break '23, staying the week at Marriott's Cypress Harbour. We loved it, but we are also amusement park/coaster dorks. We did that on a (non-DVC) exchange, but you could also get it for a good price as a getaway during non-peak times.

 

[tom1944]

I just spent a night at Swan on 'points' but not DVC points mid February. Last year in May I added 2 nights there to attend Moonlight Madness at DHS after I had a 1 night DVC room to qualify for the perk.

My Universal days are both behind and ahead of me. When DD (31) was younger we had to do the Harry Potter thing. Now 8 yo granddaughter wants to go and 1 figure in 2 years when she is 10. Royal Pacific is my preference.

I do like the Swan but I'm not crazy about Dolphin. But if it were there or nothing I'd stay.

All the rooms are not yet renovated, and some of the unrenovated ones are a bit rough. I've personally had rooms in excellent condition but got to see some that 'I' wouldn't accept.

My granddaughter is only 5 so Universal is in the future for us.

I was just wondering if it made sense.

 

[Judique]

My granddaughter is only 5 so Universal is in the future for us.

I was just wondering if it made sense.

I think so. I enjoyed going to Universal and I'm old. It's not Disney but it's different and great in it's own way. I'd never get on the roller coasters, but there are lots of things I can enjoy.

I will say that if you get on their mailing list they send offers.

 

[Skippyboo]

You could probably get a good deal price wise for Cabana Bay at Universal. Easier than trying to deal with I4 traffic from WDW to Universal.

 

[Judique]

Instead of adding additional points? Asking because I am purchasing another contract, and my expectation is this will be the last. There might be an occasion when I borrow points and have a limited number the next year. Going to Universal or staying at Swan/Dolphin for a trip to rebalance my points seems like a decent way to rectify that. I would have points for WDW but not the entire 9/10 days I want to stay.

Have you done that?

I'm also thinking of doing a house in January/February/March next year for an offsite stay. I would use an annual pass during that time frame and of course I would also do onsite during part of it as well. Already have the 2 bedroom BWV in progress. Already have the pass in my MDe. Up to 2021, I would also make use of my family owned homes in Reunion, but they were sold. My point being that I have a nice bit of points but I would never make them my exclusive vacationing tool.

 

[pinkxray]

We typically do 2-3 nights at Universal followed by 5 nights at WDW. I really enjoy the Universal resorts that include the fast pass, so we always like to stay onsite for that. We had annual passes for Universal for a few years and used all of our DVC points for fall at WDW, spring in Aulani and then paid cash for Universal in July. I think we are right at the amount of points we need bc I don’t like to stay at Disney to visit Universal.

I have also stayed at Dolphin for arrival night when short on points.

 

[tony67]

As far as Swan and Dolphin - also check out Swan Reserve - its much nicer and if the price is the same or close enough I think its well worth it.

Swan and Dolphin are convention hotels IMO- Swan Reserve is a much higher end Luxury hotel. (autograph Collection)
They also all have a $50 resort fee that is a total ripoff IMO.

As for Universal I go there far more often than Disney.

On my recent trip I did have some things to do at Disney I could not put off. For some of that I stayed at the Swan and Swan Reserve, but I also did Uber from Universal and as I mentioned in another thread it cost about the same as parking at Disney. It is 20 minutes each way and I just go back and forth using Boardwalk as my destination.
(Note: for some reason going to Boardwalk was 25% less than going to Swan via Uber because of a flash sale)

As for Universal Dockside is a bargain and much nicer than a Disney Value IMO.
I prefer Aventura, but at $40 more a day Ill pick Dockside - depends a lot on what you want to do.

As PP said the free express pass with a deluxe is a huge value - but comes with a much higher cost - so again it really depends on what you are looking to do at Universal.

 

[RichVIII]

S&D is a good backup for sure. If you can book with the 5th night free, that is even a bigger savings. Rates can really fluctuate (especially if they have a conference in town). Parking fee is annoying and they are no longer using the Disney busses (assuming this is still the case that they are using their own). Walkable to the parks and still can enjoy the boardwalk/Beach Club area.

As far as universal, we prefer to stay closer to the parks if we are going out there. We have done day trips out from Disney can depending on time, traffic can be annoying but not bad.

 

[NVDISFamily]

While a splurge for sure, there seem to be really good deals on bundled ticket packages if you stay 5 nights at Universal that save a good 20 to 30 precent (perhaps even more) off the package. For our summer 2024 trip coming up in a few months we are just staying at our DVC room for a majority of the trip and doing a one night stay at a universal hotel to get the express passes for the entire family for two days. We aren't even checking out of the DVC for that one night to allow us to keep the bulk of the stuff there. I think for future trips we'll just do a few nights at US before WDW so we expand our room size larger as the trip goes longer. If we like US at much as we think we might, this may be a reoccurring detour on future Florida trips.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

Love Swolphin...especially the Swan for being overall just quieter. The main shared pool is better than many on property in my opinion. Great food choices and walking distance to both parks would easily make this a deluxe hotel if branded Disney. Like a PP said the rates fluctuate greatly and sometimes day to day. Grab a room and then cancel and rebook as the price gets cheaper. If the reserve is close in price I would grab a room there although it does add about 5 minutes of walking to where the friendship boats are...or just figure 5 extra minutes anywhere from the Swan or Dolphin exits...if that makes sense.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Love Swolphin...especially the Swan for being overall just quieter. The main shared pool is better than many on property in my opinion. Great food choices and walking distance to both parks would easily make this a deluxe hotel if branded Disney. Like a PP said the rates fluctuate greatly and sometimes day to day. Grab a room and then cancel and rebook as the price gets cheaper. If the reserve is close in price I would grab a room there although it does add about 5 minutes of walking to where the friendship boats are...or just figure 5 extra minutes anywhere from the Swan or Dolphin exits...if that makes sense.

We ended up doing a split stay between PVB and swan because we extended our trip at the last minute. It was extremely seamless to have the bellhop at Poly get our luggage and magically transfer it to the Swan.