Ugh! Swan/Dolphin

[msb578]

Regarding airport transportation, I’ve always assumed the Swan/Dolphin could get in on DME if they elected to chip in for it.

 

[Dave006]

No not any option for DME to/from Swan or Dolphin.

Dave

 

[Dave006]

Thanks all! I am having issues linking the reservation, but it says it can take up to 24 hours so I'll try again tomorrow I guess.

I just went through the same thing today.

The Swan / Dolphin in-house reservation team at 407-934-000 VRU Option 1 can verify your correct "Swan / Dolphin" reservations and push this information to the Disney reservation system (DME) pulls from here.

I did it this afternoon, in less the 30 minutes my reservation showed up in MDE.

Dave

 

[msb578]

No not any option for DME to/from Swan or Dolphin.

Dave

Just to clarify, I meant the hotel itself, not its guests. If the management had an interest in participating in DME, I’m sure a deal could be worked out with Disney.

But yeah, there’s no arrangement for that in place.

 

[dansdad]

Just to clarify, I meant the hotel itself, not its guests. If the management had an interest in participating in DME, I’m sure a deal could be worked out with Disney.

Swan/Dolohin does have an interest, WDW does not.

 

[msb578]

Swan/Dolohin does have an interest, WDW does not.

That surprises me. Any idea why some of the other perks have been successfully negotiated, but not DME?

 

[dansdad]

That surprises me. Any idea why some of the other perks have been successfully negotiated, but not DME?

WDW has to keep some of the perks to themselves, they feel this one is big enough to keep.

 

[msb578]

WDW has to keep some of the perks to themselves, they feel this one is big enough to keep.

Thanks- that does make sense.

 

[TeamSy]

Swan/Dolohin does have an interest, WDW does not.

It IS an amazing amenity that always makes us re-think if we want to try swan/dolphin. This time we caved and are seeing how we like it. But I cannot get over how expensive it is for transportation to/from the airport, especially if you don’t want to share! I know DME is shared, but there’s something about it that makes it okay lol.

 

[cmwade77]

So our original hotel was BLT but we had to change our dates and it's not available for the new ones. Really bummed because we were looking forward to walking to Magic Kingdom. New plan is Swan or Dolphin. We've down Beach, Boardwalk, and Yacht Club, so it seemed like the next logical place to go. I know you don't get transportation to/from the airport. Any other major differences? Also...

1) If we want to book through Marriott are we not eligible to reserve dining in advance or get the dining plan if we choose?

2) Which do you prefer swan or dolphin? They seem pretty similar. We'd book either through Marriott, but one is technically a Sheraton and the other a Westin I think.

3) There are SO. MANY. ROOM. CHOICES. Typically when we book "run of house" it means you get best available at checkin. Is that the case with these rooms? Are rooms titled "no view" legit with no view, or is it like parking lot, etc?

If I am not mistaken, I don't believe you can book the dining plan no matter how you book the Swan and Dolphin. One of the reasons we never stayed there.

 

[Brett Wyman]

If I am not mistaken, I don't believe you can book the dining plan no matter how you book the Swan and Dolphin. One of the reasons we never stayed there.

This is correct.

 

[chris benton]

Quick counterpoints:
DME return times stink. If you have TSA Precheck, it's even worse.

Uber to and from airport is not that expensive (depending on your party's needs, of course.) Non sharing, I call it an even 100.00 rt to compare with DME.

For some ppl, the dining plan doesn't make financial sense at all. Our family is part of that group, so it just doesn't matter to us. Even when it's free, we have to do the math for the room only discount.

For the beds, the standards are Queens vs Doubles, but Dolphin also has king rooms with sofa sleepers. There's a bank of rooms, I think 1300 series at Dolphin that has awesome access to the pools and bus stop. Our last room was a king with a sofa sleeper in that row of rooms. I will request one of those rooms every single time from now on. I do like the chill vibe of Swan, but we are pool ppl. The Swan's pool is nice, but it's just not the awesome pool complex that is on the Dolphin side. It's not a far walk between the two AT ALL, but adding those steps + Disney park steps...the walk to the pool can start to add up after a few days. Love Swolphin - everyone has different reasons for liking or disliking things. The Swolphin's amenities and location make it a no brainer for our family. In fact, I was second guessing myself before our first visit up until the moment we stepped into the lobby. The next morning, we woke up, and walked to Epcot, and I was sold. I gave us a buffer for the walk, in case we needed directions or anything. We were in line at the IG in about 8 minutes, and there were about 30 ppl total. Everyone was just chill.

Also, Kimonos. And Fuel's sandwiches...and froyo station.
The walk to Epcot for am emh rope drop. You only have to leave your room 15 min before RD.
Walking back to the room from Epcot after Illuminations - you're IN your room WITH ice cream from Ample Hills before most people are at a bus queue.

 

[SteveH]

I guess that DME for families is a plus, but for just my wife and I it cost about $30 from MCO to the Swan and didn't have to wait or bounce to other hotels. Same goes for the dining plan, it's never been something that penciled out for us so it doesn't matter to us. We did buy our own Magic Bands, which was just easier for us then finding a card when we went on rides. What really matters to us and the reason we really have liked staying at S/D is the the LOCATION and the PRICE. The walking distance to two parks is a big deal, and the boats are just as wonderful. The ability to get a deluxe room at a more moderate price was the other plus. Though right now with the higher prices, plus the resort fee it's not as great of a deal, and why we're booked at POFQ for our 2020 trip. If the prices drop, we'll probably switch back to S/D.

But keep in mind that S/D caters to the conferences, those business travelers have expense accounts. That's why you see so many top of the line restaurants. While the individual tourist is great the bulk of their business comes from those conference attendees.

 

[janiceinwonderland]

We stayed at Dolphin for 2 nights last december, it was lovely. The only non perk was not getting to use DME. But the location was fantastic! Walking to Epcot was just great. The beds are very comfortable too. We hooked up our Magic Band to the resort, the only thing we couldn't do was charge on them like we could staying at a Disney resort. We used the boats for DHS too. The room was clean, and brand new looking. We had no issues.

 

[WDW_Diane]

My husband and I just stayed at The Swan on points in October. When using points, you get a run of the house room, but we did get our King and high floor request. We hired a town car service to and from the airport. We really love MDE, so missed having that perk. But we also loved only paying a resort fee for our stay! My husband used Lyft when he played golf, because WDW doesn't comp your taxi when you don't stay in one of their official hotels. Besides the transportation costing us some money, we really enjoy the location of The Swan and Dolphin. Have stayed in both before. We love the Epcot location and the boat transportation. I booked our dining just as far out as when we stay elsewhere on property, and our FastPasses at 60 days out. You can read about our stay on my blog!

 

[Joe Brig]

The best thing about staying at the swan or dolphin is that you can't see them while you are there. They are definitely an eyesore for the boardwalk area. Disney should buy them out and replace them.

 

[msb578]

The best thing about staying at the swan or dolphin is that you can't see them while you are there. They are definitely an eyesore for the boardwalk area. Disney should buy them out and replace them.

Michael Eisner picked the architect and approved the design...

 

[ClapYourHands]

A few other thoughts:

Swan has two queen beds, while Dolphin has two double beds. BUT this means you can get a rollaway bed into a Dolphin room (I think it's like $25 extra), making it possible for a family of 5 to stay in one room. Would my family of 5 be okay crammed in there? No, but a theoretical family of five could stay in the boardwalk area for about the price of a moderate.

Park buses go to the Swan and then the Dolphin, so if you want to make sure you get on early with a good seat, use the Swan's bus stop. If you're running late and you arrive just as the bus is pulling away at the Swan, you can run back through the buildings and probably catch it at the Dolphin's stop.

Although you can only use the dining plan if staying at a Disney owned hotel, anyone can buy a refillable mug. We stopped by the Boardwalk Bakery when we stayed at the Swan, and got our soda fix on the way to/from the parks.

Uber was about $40 from the Swan to MCO. I have TSA precheck, and had no interest in leaving 3-4 hours early It meant spending every last minute at DHS, coming back to the Swan, getting our bags from bell services, and hopping into our Uber. Easy-peasy.

 

[gmorales29]

It's been 10 years since I've stayed at the Dolphin, but I definitely preferred the Swan. My husband & I stayed at the Swan in January 2015 while room makeovers were still in progress. We had paid for a king-sized bed room and were upgraded to a room with a view (we could see the top of the Epcot ball from our balcony and fireworks in the distance at night) in one of the new rooms and given 2 drink tickets when we said we were on our honeymoon while checking in. They asked if we were celebrating anything, we didn't just offer this up expecting anything in return, so it was a very nice surprise. We both loved the room. We never had a problem with the buses or getting a seat on the bus, but we preferred to walk over to the Boardwalk and use boat transportation when we could. And you can't beat walking distance to Epcot. My husband needs an iced coffee within seconds of walking up (New Englanders through and through!), so the Java Bar downstairs came in very handy. I had just assumed all of the hotels had some kind of coffee shop, but am now learning that is definitely not the case - so that worked out great for us!

Obviously this was before Uber was very popular, so we booked a sedan through HappyLimo - it was $66 each way. And they were out of sedans for our ride back to the airport, so they sent a limo! That was another nice surprise.

 

[nurseberta]

Quick counterpoints:
DME return times stink. If you have TSA Precheck, it's even worse.

Uber to and from airport is not that expensive (depending on your party's needs, of course.) Non sharing, I call it an even 100.00 rt to compare with DME.

For some ppl, the dining plan doesn't make financial sense at all. Our family is part of that group, so it just doesn't matter to us. Even when it's free, we have to do the math for the room only discount.

For the beds, the standards are Queens vs Doubles, but Dolphin also has king rooms with sofa sleepers. There's a bank of rooms, I think 1300 series at Dolphin that has awesome access to the pools and bus stop. Our last room was a king with a sofa sleeper in that row of rooms. I will request one of those rooms every single time from now on. I do like the chill vibe of Swan, but we are pool ppl. The Swan's pool is nice, but it's just not the awesome pool complex that is on the Dolphin side. It's not a far walk between the two AT ALL, but adding those steps + Disney park steps...the walk to the pool can start to add up after a few days. Love Swolphin - everyone has different reasons for liking or disliking things. The Swolphin's amenities and location make it a no brainer for our family. In fact, I was second guessing myself before our first visit up until the moment we stepped into the lobby. The next morning, we woke up, and walked to Epcot, and I was sold. I gave us a buffer for the walk, in case we needed directions or anything. We were in line at the IG in about 8 minutes, and there were about 30 ppl total. Everyone was just chill.

Also, Kimonos. And Fuel's sandwiches...and froyo station.
The walk to Epcot for am emh rope drop. You only have to leave your room 15 min before RD.
Walking back to the room from Epcot after Illuminations - you're IN your room WITH ice cream from Ample Hills before most people are at a bus queue.

OMG I’ve been looking for this exact info!!! 8 minute walk from Swan to IG at Epcot for EMH? I’m guessing that is much quicker than the Ferry? What time of year was this?