Walt Disney World SWAN, DOLPHIN & SWAN RESERVE RESORTS Information & Questions

[Threehearts]

Housekeeping- I was at the Dolphin last week for 5 days and received a notice that I would not be receiving housekeeping for my entire stay which is exactly what happened. I left a large tip for the housekeeper as I imagine many of the rooms are quite a mess after a week without cleaning. The cleaning staff is wonderful at the Dolphin and these must be very tough times for the employees.

 

[SteveH]

Do any restaurants at the Swan have refillable mugs?

I don't think they are selling them at the time being. Normally you could buy one at Picabu and refill it there or at Cabana, The Fountain, Garden Grove and Fresh. Nobody has said anything about them during all of this so my gut says they've stopped selling them for the time being. You can call them at 407.934.4000 or use the Dining & Restaurant Feedback form to ask them.

 

[Leigh123]

Housekeeping- I was at the Dolphin last week for 5 days and received a notice that I would not be receiving housekeeping for my entire stay which is exactly what happened. I left a large tip for the housekeeper as I imagine many of the rooms are quite a mess after a week without cleaning. The cleaning staff is wonderful at the Dolphin and these must be very tough times for the employees.
[/QUOT
Thanks for Your response. I will be requesting Housekeeping so I hope they can at least bring fresh towels etc.

 

[shoreward]

The current word is that the new Swan Reserve will not open until June or July 2021.

The Dolphin will be open on weekends in Oct, Nov, & December, with the possibility of fully opening on other dates, depending on demand and ability of the Swan to accommodate the demand, by itself.

 

[SteveH]

I feel for the Reserve developers; they are to far along to cancel it and with many contracts signed and money owed they probably can't afford not to continue. Looking at occupancy rates right now has to have them nervous and hoping that things turn around soon, but I'd say the next year or so is going to be tough going. Opening a new hotel on Disney property has to be a money losing operation right now. Hopefully a vaccine will come soon.

 

[Leigh123]

When do you think they will let people know if they’re moving them to the dolphin? I’m there for a week starting October 17 and everything still shows my reservation under the dolphin

 

[JacknSally]

The Dolphin will be open on weekends in Oct, Nov, & December, with the possibility of fully opening on other dates, depending on demand and ability of the Swan to accommodate the demand, by itself.

UGH. Is this official, confirmed info?

On to figure out hotel number 3, I guess. 3rd time's a charm, right? That still works in 2020?

 

[shoreward]

UGH. Is this official, confirmed info?

On to figure out hotel number 3, I guess. 3rd time's a charm, right? That still works in 2020?

It is not set - everything depends on how things are projected to look as far as bookings, etc.; if there are more than enough available rooms at the Swan to accommodate Swan+Dolphin booked guests, the Dolphin will probably not be open, except on the weekends. Just like so many things, right now, there are so many unknowns for the upcoming months. If the Dolphin will not be open during your stay, you will be accommodated at the Swan, instead. During holiday periods, i.e. Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc., the Dolphin will very likely remain open.

 

[JacknSally]

It is not set - everything depends on how things are projected to look as far as bookings, etc.; if there are more than enough available rooms at the Swan to accommodate Swan+Dolphin booked guests, the Dolphin will probably not be open, except on the weekends. Just like so many things, right now, there are so many unknowns for the upcoming months. If the Dolphin will not be open during your stay, you will be accommodated at the Swan, instead. During holiday periods, i.e. Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc., the Dolphin will very likely remain open.

Right, I get that - I just meant is this "weekends-only-through-December-unless-needed-more" plan confirmed to be the actual plan, or just rumor/speculation?

We're scheduled the week after Thanksgiving. There might be enough demand at Dolphin that it's not an issue. The Swan was unavailable when we booked - it may free up for our dates, but if it doesn't, and there's not enough demand to justify the Dolphin being opened... who knows. We don't want to be walked to an actual off property or good neighbor resort.

This will be our 3rd (and probably last) attempt at a resort for this trip - first POFQ, then Dolphin. While we know it's probably not reopening this year, POFQ has absolutely no official info, not even a "we decided it's not happening until sometime in 2021 at the earliest so check back later", and Dolphin is now a maybe/maybe not.

We just want to have some fairly reliable (by 2020 standards) back-up plan on the books, though at this point DVC might be the only option for that, and it's not really an option for us.

The search continues.

 

[shoreward]

Right, I get that - I just meant is this "weekends-only-through-December-unless-needed-more" plan confirmed to be the actual plan, or just rumor/speculation?

We're scheduled the week after Thanksgiving. There might be enough demand at Dolphin that it's not an issue. The Swan was unavailable when we booked - it may free up for our dates, but if it doesn't, and there's not enough demand to justify the Dolphin being opened... who knows. We don't want to be walked to an actual off property or good neighbor resort.

This will be our 3rd attempt at a resort for this trip - first POFQ, then Dolphin. While we know it's probably not reopening this year, POFQ has absolutely no official info, not even a "we decided it's not happening until sometime in 2021 at the earliest so check back later", and Dolphin is now a maybe/maybe not.

We just want to have some fairly reliable (by 2020 standards) back-up plan on the books, though at this point DVC might be the only option for that, and it's not really an option for us.

The search continues.

Why not stay in touch with Dolphin's onsite reservations department? They are always very helpful and can give you up-to-date reliable info, and hopefully, some reassurance.

T 888.828.8850

 

[JacknSally]

Why not stay in touch with Dolphin's onsite reservations department? They are always very helpful and can give you up-to-date reliable info, and hopefully, some reassurance.

T 888.828.8850

Thanks. Unfortunately we decided this trip was the time to try out a travel agent, lol, so we're not able to do anything on our own with our reservations. Otherwise I'd be trying to turn our POFQ package into something on-property. Still, we'll likely be playing the "maybe/maybe not" game with our whole trip until the week before, so I don't really want to do it with the hotel, too.

I just wanted to make sure the aforementioned "weekends-only-unless-demand-justifies-more" plan was legit before I emailed our Dreams TA.

 

[Christi0909]

When do you think they will let people know if they’re moving them to the dolphin? I’m there for a week starting October 17 and everything still shows my reservation under the dolphin

We were booked at the Dolphin 9/25-9/30 and they let us know they were moving us to the Swan last Wednesday. YMMV, but I’d say at least a week and a half before your trip? Everything showed as the Dolphin until the day they switched us. Then it showed our Dolphin stay as a “cancelled trip” and has our Swan stay showing under a new reservation number. I haven’t been able to link the new reservation number with Disney, so it still shows us staying at the Dolphin on MDE and the website, but all of our park passes are still intact.

 

[Christi0909]

I should also mention we actually had 2 stays booked at the Dolphin; 9/26-9/30 and then a separate one night stay for 9/25, because when we decided to add on a day to our trip, it wouldn’t let us modify, but we could book the 25th separately. When they moved us to the Swan, they only moved us for the 26-30th dates. When we called to have the 25th moved as well, we did have to pay the difference in price (it was about $50 more), because the Dolphin would be open on the 25th, so they didn’t HAVE to move us. But we didn’t want to have to deal with the hassle of switching hotels and transferring luggage on a park day!

 

[patty57]

I just booked a F&G trip to replace my December trip. My AP was extended until May 3rd, so booked as far out as possible. Staying at the Dolphin April 25-May 1. Hoping that the farther out it's booked, the better chance of a back-to-normal experience it is. I will probably stalk the S/D site for price drops, and would happily change to the Swan. It's an AP rate of $199 (without taxes & fees), so no complaints here.

 

[jerseygal]

I was sad to read about the projected permanent lay offs at the Swan and Dolphin, I believe it said this November!

 

[patty57]

Dan Murphy...you ok? Haven't seen you post in a bit.

 

[SteveH]

Good point @patty57 we haven't seen him since August 30th.

.

You lurking Dan?

 

[shoreward]

Dan Murphy...you ok? Haven't seen you post in a bit.

I've also been thinking of him, over the last several weeks, and hoping all is okay. He has lots of friends on this thread!

 

[shoreward]

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2020...-disney-world-food-event-worth-it-answer-yes/

 

[cruisinaz]

When do you think they will let people know if they’re moving them to the dolphin? I’m there for a week starting October 17 and everything still shows my reservation under the dolphin

About a month ago they had the Dolphin only available on the weekends, it is now available most of October...my guess is you will be at Dolphin