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

[Dan Murphy]

I just realized that I had forgotten about those escalators coming from the boat ramp. Is there an elevator there also? We will have two scooters in our party, and obviously escalators will not work for us. I know they must have elevator somewhere hopefully right in the same area.

@jlundeen they do, when you check in either at Swan or Dolphin ask and they can tell you where they are.

I could tell you where it is, but would make it sound more complicated than it actually is. Best to do as Steve suggested above. It really is simple to get to.

 

[SteveH]

@Dan Murphy @jlundeen Dan is 100% right, we got so lost at the Dolphin our first time... finding the elevators was like a major challenge until we knew where they were.

 

[Dan Murphy]

@jlundeen, I also do not do escalators, having used a scooter probably the last 5 or 6 trips there.

 

[summerlvr]

I'm not counting on it, someone said that with gold you have a good chance of an upgrade.

I'm Bonvoy Gold and almost always book the cheapest no view room. I have pretty much always been upgraded to a room on an upper floor with a resort view.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

We are back from the Swan Oct. 31- Nov. 3.
We booked a resort view room with balcony.
We had 694 West wing. Dh said he could see some fireworks from the room.

Our room wasn’t ready so we took the Swan bus to the MK. Ds and I didn’t like the drop off location. Dh didn’t care. I felt like the bus was old, the seats were really hard plastic and the floors didn’t look clean or were beyond used with lots of white stains?

When Dh checked into the room the ac was set to 64 degrees. He had to put his hoodie on and needless to say he caught a really bad cold. It took hours to warm up the room.
Ds got us breakfast from the Java bar once. It was ok. I do like the new location and update there.
Boat transportation was good as always. Once ds and I took the Boardwalk bus back from MK because he didn’t want to use the Mears/Swan bus. The Disney bus driver was so funny, telling jokes etc. The walk back to the Swan was a little out of the way and extra.
We did ask to get the room made up on day 2 and maybe 3 too. Dh wanted this.
I don’t know if this is normal or a mistake but in the shower we had 1 body wash and 2 shampoos - no conditioner?
We saw a wedding party at 7:30 pm one night.
The entry lobby table and chairs/stools were a little too modern for me.
Overall we enjoyed our stay. I just wish they had the regular Disney busses for transportation instead of the Mears busses with their inconvenient park drop off/pick up locations.

 

[Dan Murphy]

We are back from the Swan Oct. 31- Nov. 3.
We booked a resort view room with balcony.
We had 694 West wing. Dh said he could see some fireworks from the room.

Our room wasn’t ready so we took the Swan bus to the MK. Ds and I didn’t like the drop off location. Dh didn’t care. I felt like the bus was old, the seats were really hard plastic and the floors didn’t look clean or were beyond used with lots of white stains?

When Dh checked into the room the ac was set to 64 degrees. He had to put his hoodie on and needless to say he caught a really bad cold. It took hours to warm up the room.
Ds got us breakfast from the Java bar once. It was ok. I do like the new location and update there.
Boat transportation was good as always. Once ds and I took the Boardwalk bus back from MK because he didn’t want to use the Mears/Swan bus. The Disney bus driver was so funny, telling jokes etc. The walk back to the Swan was a little out of the way and extra.
We did ask to get the room made up on day 2 and maybe 3 too. Dh wanted this.
I don’t know if this is normal or a mistake but in the shower we had 1 body wash and 2 shampoos - no conditioner?
We saw a wedding party at 7:30 pm one night.
The entry lobby table and chairs/stools were a little too modern for me.
Overall we enjoyed our stay. I just wish they had the regular Disney busses for transportation instead of the Mears busses with their inconvenient park drop off/pick up locations.

Sounds like a pretty successful trip overall, LMP. Glad you guys enjoyed yourselves. And yes, that is a bummer with the Mears rather than the Disney buses. Hope that changes back at some point.

Thanks for the report.

 

[chris benton]

@Dan Murphy @jlundeen Dan is 100% right, we got so lost at the Dolphin our first time... finding the elevators was like a major challenge until we knew where they were.

I completely got lost and frustrated trying to navigate the bottom floor for the first time. But it's WAY easier than we were making it. What threw me off is that the bottom floor just seems like an entirely different hotel theme and layout, but, actually, I like it now. There's some cool little features down there.

 

[jlundeen]

The only floor plan I can find for Dolphin is for convention folks... not very helpful.... I can't even figure out where the entrances are!

Ground floor



Lobby Floor

 

[Dan Murphy]

I completely got lost and frustrated trying to navigate the bottom floor for the first time. But it's WAY easier than we were making it. What threw me off is that the bottom floor just seems like an entirely different hotel theme and layout, but, actually, I like it now. There's some cool little features down there.

The only floor plan I can find for Dolphin is for convention folks... not very helpful.... I can't even figure out where the entrances are!

Ground floor
View attachment 717637


Lobby Floor

View attachment 717636

Okay, I'm going to try to explain where the elevator would be to go from the ground floor to the 1st floor, where check-in and other things are.

If you were facing the two VERY long escalators, you would turn left and walk/ride past the Fountain restaurant. When you went as far as you could (a short distance actually), you would come to where the Fresh restaurant used to be (not sure what's there now), you will be able to turn right and walk/fide down another short hallway. You would go past the narrow end of the Fountain restaurant when you go down this hallway. When you get to the end of that hallway, look up and you will see some directions ahead of you. Pointing to the right are Restrooms, Caribbean Room and Central Elevators. Walk/ride to the end of that hallway and there are your elevators. Go up one floor and you are now on the main floor of the Dolphin. You basically have done a U around the Fountain.

See if this interactive helps you. Face the escalators, turn left, go to the end, turn right, go to the end, turn right to the elevators.

https://self-walk-imaging.captur3d.io/view/swan-and-dolphin/dolphin-ground-lobby

 

[jlundeen]

Y

Okay, I'm going to try to explain where the elevator would be to go from the ground floor to the 1st floor, where check-in and other things are.

If you were facing the two VERY long escalators, you would turn left and walk/ride past the Fountain restaurant. When you went as far as you could (a short distance actually), you would come to where the Fresh restaurant used to be (not sure what's there now), you will be able to turn right and walk/fide down another short hallway. You would go past the narrow end of the Fountain restaurant when you go down this hallway. When you get to the end of that hallway, look up and you will see some directions ahead of you. Pointing to the right are Restrooms, Caribbean Room and Central Elevators. Walk/ride to the end of that hallway and there are your elevators. Go up one floor and you are now on the main floor of the Dolphin. You basically have done a U around the Fountain.

See if this interactive helps you. Face the escalators, turn left, go to the end, turn right, go to the end, turn right to the elevators.

https://self-walk-imaging.captur3d.io/view/swan-and-dolphin/dolphin-ground-lobby

YES!! That helps a LOT! Thank you.... this is just what I was looking for!

 

[ultimatefans]

I'm looking way ahead to next fall and see that both Swan and Dolphin are unavailable for checking in on certain nights. There are nights before and after that are available. The unavailable nights are different between Swan and Dolphin. Does anyone know why the entire resort is blocked out? I'm assuming (hoping) it will open up at some point - anyone have experience with this and know when it might open? Do I need to wait a few weeks or could it be blocked out for many more months or is it fully booked by a large convention group and might never open?

 

[SteveH]

@ultimatefans There are a couple larger conferences that are showing up Sept 10-12 and Oct 16-19, plus I'm sure there are others not yet listed. Without knowing your dates it's hard to say what's impacting. For a large conference they could be holding the whole resort until thing's get ironed out, then rooms will open up, more rooms would be released a month or two before the conference. You might try calling to see if there openings that they've not released to the online system.

 

[Lewisc]

AP rates showed up for some dates middle of December.

 

[Scalemaster34]

AP rates showed up for some dates middle of December.

Yeah just have to watch out for block out dates, as those start the middle of the month as well... unless you have an Incredi Pass.

 

[The Pluto People]

Be careful what room you accept. We have a lovely view but the room has been extremely noisy from people outside. And then this morning we were unable to sleep past 6am - and it’s a non park day for us. They are setting up for food and wine. No regard for guests at all.

 

[ultimatefans]

@ultimatefans There are a couple larger conferences that are showing up Sept 10-12 and Oct 16-19, plus I'm sure there are others not yet listed. Without knowing your dates it's hard to say what's impacting. For a large conference they could be holding the whole resort until thing's get ironed out, then rooms will open up, more rooms would be released a month or two before the conference. You might try calling to see if they’re openings that they've not released to the online system.

It’s the mid-October dates. I was afraid this was the case, hopefully they’ll be released relatively soon. I did call the resort and there’s nothing they can book now. Where did you find the list of conferences? Thanks so much!

 

[SteveH]

@ultimatefans look for an app called "10times" it's a conference app, mostly for vendors and those serving conferences/events but can be helpful in finding what's going on. But it's not wildly user friendly.

 

[blrem]

I wouldn’t bother hoping for an upgrade. Plenty of Plats and Titaniums struggle to get upgrades out of Swolphin. I swung one at SR as a Plat but I only had a one night stay.

I'm titanium and I agree - very hard to get decent upgrades and even harder to get "suite nights" lately. I often get upgraded but at most it's to a limited resort view and never with a balcony. I was Platinum last year and had more luck at Dolphin but that has to do with crowd levels. Now that they are harder to book in general the upgrades are smaller and more rare as well. I also rarely get the late check-out. They say "noon" and only once did I get until 2pm. Everywhere else I stay with them I can get 4pm. And yes, I had the same issue with the breakfast vouchers not being honored at SR - and I've never been given the option at SR of redeeming them for room service either. So things seem to be changing for the "worse" as far as Bonvoy perks - I'm still grateful to be able to stay there on points though compared to what I'd pay at the other Epcot deluxe resorts!

 

[Usty]

Something I learned this morning, the Dolphin does not qualify for the additional reservations Disney is now holding back at certain restaurants for on-site guests.

We have a 1 night stay at Pop since we get in after 6 our first night and I can see Chef Mickey's, Beaches and Cream and Topolinos reservations still available on 1/12. But at 60+8 for my Dolphin reservation, nothing for any of the ones on the list.

 

[SteveH]

@Usty - I'm not surprised at all that SDR isn't included (thank you for confirming), and honestly it make sense. This is one of the perks that Disney implemented that makes sense for those paying Disney's exorbitant prices as it doesn't cost Disney a dime.. sort of throwing them a bone. I still don't fully understand how SDR got into the mix of Disney Deluxe Hotels for the Extended Evening Theme Park Hours benefit. Between that, the restraunt deal and the busing I can't figure out the relationship between Disney & SDR - can't tell if it's pure pay for benefits or if there is more or less now.