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

[gottalovepluto]

Dolphin. If Swan were a choice also, the Swan.

And Swan it now is! Price dropped so for less than $10/day more we’re at Swan now

 

[mommy2mrb]

Quick question. Does the business center at S/D have boxes available for shipping items home?
THanks!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Quick question. Does the business center at S/D have boxes available for shipping items home?
THanks!

Yes, the business center has shopping available.

S/D business center

 

[pigletto]

Good morning
I am looking to book five nights at either the Swan or Dolphin in May. I was wondering where everyone is finding their best prices or deals? I think we used Priceline last time we booked in 2019, though anything non refundable is completely off the table for us now.
I am prepared to book, I just didn’t want to be missing a deal if there is one out there.
Thank you!

 

[mickey916]

Good morning
I am looking to book five nights at either the Swan or Dolphin in May. I was wondering where everyone is finding their best prices or deals? I think we used Priceline last time we booked in 2019, though anything non refundable is completely off the table for us now.
I am prepared to book, I just didn’t want to be missing a deal if there is one out there.
Thank you!

I'd suggest looking into COSTCO packages or AAA rates.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Yes, the business center has shopping available.

S/D business center

Thank you Dan. Never seem to get things packed right going home lol.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Good morning
I am looking to book five nights at either the Swan or Dolphin in May. I was wondering where everyone is finding their best prices or deals? I think we used Priceline last time we booked in 2019, though anything non refundable is completely off the table for us now.
I am prepared to book, I just didn’t want to be missing a deal if there is one out there.
Thank you!

I book on the Marriot Site right now.... using codes for Annual Passholder, but AAA rates are pretty good as well. Even got a Marriot Card just to snag a few free nights.

Pre-COVID I would book using Hotwire as S/D were a common Hot Rate property for the Bonnet Creek area. But S/D hasn't been using these discounters that I've seen... and yeah right now refundable is important.

 

[Eastern]

Good morning
I am looking to book five nights at either the Swan or Dolphin in May. I was wondering where everyone is finding their best prices or deals? I think we used Priceline last time we booked in 2019, though anything non refundable is completely off the table for us now.
I am prepared to book, I just didn’t want to be missing a deal if there is one out there.
Thank you!

Swan room rates in May with QWH passholder discount was the cheapest I found.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Swan room rates in May with QWH passholder discount was the cheapest I found.

Haven't checked in a while but Easter was the cheapest weekend I could find.... assume it's a slow conference time. I just knew I didn't want to be there for those crowds.

 

[SugarSweetLee]

Looking at the 2nd week of Feb starting 2/07...any clue why Swan is posting rates of almost $600/night? Dolphin is showing up at the more typical 300ish rate.

 

[Marthasor]

Looking at the 2nd week of Feb starting 2/07...any clue why Swan is posting rates of almost $600/night? Dolphin is showing up at the more typical 300ish rate.

I was looking at the same check-in date! No clue why Swan is so high. I will keep checking, as I prefer the Swan, but I snagged a Dolphin room just in case.

 

[SteveH]

@SugarSweetLee it's because SDR uses dynamic pricing, as the resort begins to fill prices go up. I've seen some single nights listed for over $1000. You can find their Value Days on that calendar. It also shows when its sold out. My guess is they have a convention booked, time will tell if that convention still takes place or not. So prices could drop again if it gets cancelled.

 

[angelinaxox]

We are a party of five staying at the swan reserve currently including my mom who has mobility issues. We had a one bedroom suite which was nice with having a large area to keep a scooter for my mom and a nice big table for keeping our things. The room was the closest to the elevators which was convenient
as well.

Yesterday, we returned from Animal Kingdom in the early evening to get ready for a nice dinner at Shula's. When I went to open my suitcase to get something out, I noticed it was extremely wet. Then noticed that the table was wet.I looked up and the ceiling area above was leaking. Everything we had out on the table was wet. Thank goodness yesterday was planned as our early return to the hotel night as things in the room would have been even more wet.

We had to pack up our room, could not relax and get cleaned up for dinner after a tiring day in the park, had to delay our dinner at Shulas and ended up having to go to bed much later than anticipated last night after having to deal with this unexpected hassle.

Since there were no suites available, we were moved to 2 standard rooms instead. After being in the suite, the rooms seem tiny, especially with a scooter and wheelchair in the room. The hotel only offered us credit towards our dinner last night after we complained about the room issue with the leak. I asked for our room to be reimbursed for last night. Because we booked through Disney, I was told they could only offer us points or hotel credit. Lesson learned, I would never book Swan Reserve, Swan or Dolphin through Disney nor would I recommend it (and for me personally, I wouldn't stay here again.) It was an extremely frustrating night and now I am just too tired to get up and get ready for rope drop this morning and for the seven am anxiety booking time.

 

[PepperjackDragon]

We are a party of five staying at the swan reserve currently including my mom who has mobility issues. We had a one bedroom suite which was nice with having a large area to keep a scooter for my mom and a nice big table for keeping our things. The room was the closest to the elevators which was convenient
as well.

Yesterday, we returned from Animal Kingdom in the early evening to get ready for a nice dinner at Shula's. When I went to open my suitcase to get something out, I noticed it was extremely wet. Then noticed that the table was wet.I looked up and the ceiling area above was leaking. Everything we had out on the table was wet. Thank goodness yesterday was planned as our early return to the hotel night as things in the room would have been even more wet.

We had to pack up our room, could not relax and get cleaned up for dinner after a tiring day in the park, had to delay our dinner at Shulas and ended up having to go to bed much later than anticipated last night after having to deal with this unexpected hassle.

Since there were no suites available, we were moved to 2 standard rooms instead. After being in the suite, the rooms seem tiny, especially with a scooter and wheelchair in the room. The hotel only offered us credit towards our dinner last night after we complained about the room issue with the leak. I asked for our room to be reimbursed for last night. Because we booked through Disney, I was told they could only offer us points or hotel credit. Lesson learned, I would never book Swan Reserve, Swan or Dolphin through Disney nor would I recommend it (and for me personally, I wouldn't stay here again.) It was an extremely frustrating night and now I am just too tired to get up and get ready for rope drop this morning and for the seven am anxiety booking time.

personally I wouldsend A few emails to management and marriot and Disney and when free time was available speak to the highest level I could get access to. Also don’t low ball yourself, I would insist respectfully that it should be at least 3 nights one on both ends of the incident plus another for the problems now incurred bysplitting the suite into Rooms. Might even offhandedly mention concern over damage to your property and if they offer free dry cleaning for clothes that were damaged, or if there is a specific procedure to email any permanent damage to anything/or health concerns as a result of the problems in the previous room (got to keep them on their toes, but if there is any actual damage it would be a serious inquiry). Keep records of everything and if they don’t play ball for at least one night I would personally look at options with my credit cards. They know they owe you for that,they just don’t want to do what’s right. If you come across as too angry it won’t work out ime, but also if you are too gentle they will just steam roll you.
Note: I haven’t had this happen to me at this hotel, just general advice from your friendly neighborhood Karen.

note 2: this is the kind of thing that can be done when you leave.while on vacation. Personally I would do some initial contacts (emails and to head property manager, most likely) and look into any hotel policies. Mostly focus on documentation of everything so that if they fail to set it right after the fact, You are prepared to strike and know which rules/policies to focus on. Totally Not necessary to take time out of your trip beyond that, just to see if they are proactive-in doing the right thing. Email is great here as it leaves a paper trail of what they say if you need to go that route, and you can just copy and paste your message.

 

[Luisfba]

I have the a dolphin grand suite booked in April. Price was right compared to villa pricing at Boardwalk, and I find the fact there are so many food options on site (which I guess I can do take out?), as well as availability of room service. Some questions as I’ve never stayed at Swan/Dolphin.

1) my Marriott account is only showing the parlor, should it be showing both parlor and the room as two separate rooms?

2) any requests you folks recommend I make? Stuff like room location, etc.

thanks

 

[Luisfba]

I have some questions about buses. is it true they don’t use WDW buses and have their own dedicated buses, and thus for MK they drop off at TTC?

if so,
1) for MK and AK, where on the bus area at the parks are the spots for the Swan/Dolphin buses? (I've always stayed on site so not sure where the 'offsite' buses drop and pick up)

2) for MK, could an option be to just catch the bus at Boardwalk? (I’m assuming that’s the closest of the area resorts)

3) how often do the buses for each park come around and how reliable are they? I remember one stay at the Boardwalk where I waited about an hour for a bus for AK… was not fun (looking at you missed Fast Passes). Wondering if S/D have dedicated buses there are less problems.

 

[Eastern]

Haven't checked in a while but Easter was the cheapest weekend I could find.... assume it's a slow conference time. I just knew I didn't want to be there for those crowds.

I didn't mean to imply it was the cheapest time overall. I was looking for end of May dates, and it was cheapest compared to other hotels I was looking at (Disney resorts only). I think it was the same price (or a bit cheaper) as POFQ, even considering all taxes and fees. I booked directly through Marriott website.

 

[Gitelfor]

We are a party of five staying at the swan reserve currently including my mom who has mobility issues. We had a one bedroom suite which was nice with having a large area to keep a scooter for my mom and a nice big table for keeping our things. The room was the closest to the elevators which was convenient
as well.

Yesterday, we returned from Animal Kingdom in the early evening to get ready for a nice dinner at Shula's. When I went to open my suitcase to get something out, I noticed it was extremely wet. Then noticed that the table was wet.I looked up and the ceiling area above was leaking. Everything we had out on the table was wet. Thank goodness yesterday was planned as our early return to the hotel night as things in the room would have been even more wet.

We had to pack up our room, could not relax and get cleaned up for dinner after a tiring day in the park, had to delay our dinner at Shulas and ended up having to go to bed much later than anticipated last night after having to deal with this unexpected hassle.

Since there were no suites available, we were moved to 2 standard rooms instead. After being in the suite, the rooms seem tiny, especially with a scooter and wheelchair in the room. The hotel only offered us credit towards our dinner last night after we complained about the room issue with the leak. I asked for our room to be reimbursed for last night. Because we booked through Disney, I was told they could only offer us points or hotel credit. Lesson learned, I would never book Swan Reserve, Swan or Dolphin through Disney nor would I recommend it (and for me personally, I wouldn't stay here again.) It was an extremely frustrating night and now I am just too tired to get up and get ready for rope drop this morning and for the seven am anxiety booking time.

So sorry about the problems you are experiencing. If you will still be there for a number of days, you may want to ask if you can be moved to a suite at the Swan or Dolphin, instead of having to stay in two standard rooms at the Reserve.

The issue of the Swan Reserve not being able to comp part of your stay could be that as you booked through Disney, you were not a customer of the Reserve, Disney was. You should try to contact Disney Central Reservations, or possibly their wholesale department, for compensation; Disney would then get credit from the Reserve, to be passed on to you.

I recall there being previous reports of water leaks at the Reserve before/after its opening this year.

 

[SteveH]

I have some questions about buses. is it true they don’t use WDW buses and have their own dedicated buses, and thus for MK they drop off at TTC?

if so,
1) for MK and AK, where on the bus area at the parks are the spots for the Swan/Dolphin buses? (I've always stayed on site so not sure where the 'offsite' buses drop and pick up)

2) for MK, could an option be to just catch the bus at Boardwalk? (I’m assuming that’s the closest of the area resorts)

3) how often do the buses for each park come around and how reliable are they? I remember one stay at the Boardwalk where I waited about an hour for a bus for AK… was not fun (looking at you missed Fast Passes). Wondering if S/D have dedicated buses there are less problems.

Yes the bus service changed around end of September 2020.
1. This thread i posted a while back may help. Spaces for MK are C3 & C4 at TTC.
2. Yes, you can walk to BW or YC/BC. Many guests opt to do this and have done so without issue.
3. For me I would not bother with using the Disney bus for AK, where it drops you off (see my post in #1 is nearly the same distance from taking the Disney bus service.

If you don't yet have the SDR Mobile App you need it, once loaded click on the I'm On Property then Transportation and it will give you all the info for the locations of drop off.

 

[Luisfba]

Thank you!

We are staying in a suite, and our arrangements will be the teenagers get the beds, while I get the sofa bed. How are the rollaway beds? Am I better off with a rollaway bed (assuming I can get one), or is the sofa bed comfortable enough?

I'm assuming the rollaway beds can fold up and out of the way when not in use?