Does anyone have any feedback between the Swan and Royal Pacific @ Universal?
I have stayed at both ... most recently RP in 2015 and Swan in fall 2014. I was at the Dolphin last fall.
While I enjoyed RP, it was quite a few notches below my usual Universal resort, Portafino Bay. The overall theme was nice, but the rooms were much smaller, and the resort itself seemed very cramped. The pool at the RP was so crowded we barely went down there ... and walking from RP to Citywalk was a bit of a pain. However, Happy Hour at Emeril's Tchoup Chop was outstanding, and the party atmosphere at RP was contagious. Couple that with the awesome convenience of Universal's Express Pass for Deluxe Resort Guests, and I would stay there again if I couldn't get in to Portafino.
We stayed in a pre-reno room at the Swan and really enjoyed it. We spend much less time at a resort when in Disney, so we're basically only there for sleeping. The walk to DHS and Epcot from The Swan is so quick, and we loved having easy access to both Kimonos and the bar at Il Mulino, for when we were waiting for the rest of our party to finish getting ready. The pre-reno room was looking a little worn, so I wasn't surprised when they announced a total overhaul.
Our trip to the Dolphin was during food and wine, and we got a post-renovation room with a great Theme Park view of the boardwalk (I think it was 10th floor ... not sure - but looked over the Boardwalk and had a great view of both Epcot and DHS fireworks). The room was nicely appointed, spacious, clean and the bed was fantastic. I think we booked that room through a Costco package, and it came out to about $200 a night. The Swan/Dolphin also have a great room service option where you can pre-order certain supplies and they are just waiting for you in your room - we pre-ordered a case of bottled water, a six pack of beer, some snacks and a bottle of aspirin - it was super reasonable !
Funny ... I was just thinking about the Dolphin because I bought the wife a new scent diffuser for Mother's Day, and one of the scents I got smells exactly like the scent they pump into the lobby of The Dolphin.