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

You don’t really need a Magic Band when staying at the Swan or Dolphin. It serves only two functions. One, as your park ticket and Fastpasses, and two, for your Photopass pictures if you Memory Maker.

It won’t open your resort door or allow you to charge back to your resort account. Obviously, you won’t need it for the Dining Plan credits.
 
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AAA is good for 20% off food and soft drinks only at these places in the Swan and Dolphin: Picabu, The Fountain, Cabanas Beach Bar and Grill, Splash Terrace, Fresh Mediterranean, and the Garden Grove.

I want to mention that you get hit with a service fee at Picabu and there is tax, so the 20% is kind of a wash there. Regardless, we love the taqueria there, and the family meal deal is outstanding.

I have heard that the AAA discount may or may not be given at Fuel, and it seems to depend on who rings up your order. My nephew was also able to use the discount for room service from Kimonos.
 
How far out can reservations generally be made? Getting a little nervous about reserving at current point values “just in case” as a result of the latest news about the SPG/Marriott merger. Since they haven’t released hotel categories for the new Marriott program, I’m wondering about reserving now for way out (prior to the August changes) even though we have no plans for a trip, just in case there ends up being a big jump in points needed per night.
 


I’m crazy frustrated right now. We switched our dates of our trip after I set up MDE. Now we go 6/26. Ice pent no less than 4 hours on the phone between MDE, Costco, and the dolphin trying to link our NEW dates and no one can give me a straight answer. Finally the doplihib gave me their conf number and told me it would work within 24-Hrs. Well, it’s two weeks later and a few days before our FP reservations and we are back to square one. It still won’t link the new dates! Any advice? Thanks in advance.
 
I’m crazy frustrated right now. We switched our dates of our trip after I set up MDE. Now we go 6/26. Ice pent no less than 4 hours on the phone between MDE, Costco, and the dolphin trying to link our NEW dates and no one can give me a straight answer. Finally the doplihib gave me their conf number and told me it would work within 24-Hrs. Well, it’s two weeks later and a few days before our FP reservations and we are back to square one. It still won’t link the new dates! Any advice? Thanks in advance.

I think I remember @vicb had issues with linking a Costco reservation a couple months ago. Hopefully they see this and can shed some light.
 
I think I remember @vicb had issues with linking a Costco reservation a couple months ago. Hopefully they see this and can shed some light.
Thanks. This has been a NIGHTMARE. And the dolphin rep tonight told me to “read the fine print, that it’s costcos fault and I need to deal direct to them” he was EXTREMELY rude.
 


I think I remember @vicb had issues with linking a Costco reservation a couple months ago. Hopefully they see this and can shed some light.
Definitely reach out to @vicb he had some issues and worked through them. Ours took awhile too, and I did call both Costco and Swan to work it out. But the staff at the S/D were both very helpful. In our case without any major issue it still took about a week to resolve. My take is that everything is done manually not automated thus it's a time consuming process.
 
How far out can reservations generally be made? Getting a little nervous about reserving at current point values “just in case” as a result of the latest news about the SPG/Marriott merger. Since they haven’t released hotel categories for the new Marriott program, I’m wondering about reserving now for way out (prior to the August changes) even though we have no plans for a trip, just in case there ends up being a big jump in points needed per night.

Generally, it was a huge number (more than a year). Then recently the dropped it down to 300ish. However, even though we are in that window for March 2019 and I can see current rates, I have been unsuccessful getting booked online. Going to try again this week and then call. Please post back here if you have any luck.
 
I’m crazy frustrated right now. We switched our dates of our trip after I set up MDE. Now we go 6/26. Ice pent no less than 4 hours on the phone between MDE, Costco, and the dolphin trying to link our NEW dates and no one can give me a straight answer. Finally the doplihib gave me their conf number and told me it would work within 24-Hrs. Well, it’s two weeks later and a few days before our FP reservations and we are back to square one. It still won’t link the new dates! Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Try calling Disney dining and ask them for your confirmation number. This was the only way I got the correct one last year for our trip, we weren't booked through costco, but it was a third party site and they were the only ones that had the correct number! (407) 939-3463
 
I’m crazy frustrated right now. We switched our dates of our trip after I set up MDE. Now we go 6/26. Ice pent no less than 4 hours on the phone between MDE, Costco, and the dolphin trying to link our NEW dates and no one can give me a straight answer. Finally the doplihib gave me their conf number and told me it would work within 24-Hrs. Well, it’s two weeks later and a few days before our FP reservations and we are back to square one. It still won’t link the new dates! Any advice? Thanks in advance.
Not sure she is there because last time I called she was on a medical leave, but Sophie at Dolphin seemed to know EVERYTHING about linking to MDE.
 
I was able to get an amazing deal on Hotwire as well for August. Were you able to get your Disney reservation directly from the Dolphin? I researched and found that some people had luck going through Hotwire and asking them to contact the hotel to get the reservation number. Any help would be appreciated!

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I called the Dolphin directly and they were able to give me the confirmation number and I had no problem syncing it with MDE (it was the day after I made the reservation when I called)
 
Perhaps the problem I’m having is that we changed our dates. And that has thrown a kink into their whole process. Perhaps I’ll ask for a supervisor today or Sophie.
 
Perhaps the problem I’m having is that we changed our dates. And that has thrown a kink into their whole process. Perhaps I’ll ask for a supervisor today or Sophie.
When you changed dates, did Costco send you a new confirmation email? I changed dates but still had the same confirmation number. I did have to re-enter it in MDE bc my reservation had disappeared, but it did work.
 
I think I remember @vicb had issues with linking a Costco reservation a couple months ago. Hopefully they see this and can shed some light.

Jenn cook: I'm sorry you are having such a hard time with your costco link, yes I am the person who had a terrible time too! I am not expert but will tell what I did. Did you have trouble linking your initial reservation? Regardless it seems that by now your new dates and # should be linkable. I would try the Dolphin again asking for the confirmation # that co-ordinates with the new dates. If that # is the same and the Dolphin confirms you are in their system for the new dates then moved on to disney.

I think initially my problem was I did try too soon but then even after waiting the 5 days I was told to I still had trouble. The second time I called Dolphin they gave me a confirmation # that was different from the # Costco had provided. However I still could not link the reservation on line myself. So then I called Disney guest services to get help linking it they told me to wait 24 hours "for the reservation to populate in their system" and try online again. I did, still nothing. So I called Disney again, worse yet this time was the CM who told me I was not entitled to book 60 day FP with this costco package (WRONG! :headache:) I told that CM in no uncertain terms I was done with him because he was wrong and wanted to speak to a supervisor, he pawned me off on to a different CM who was not a supervisor but was more helpful and said my problem would be "escalated" and resolved within 24 hours and I would received an email with details. I was quite skeptical but a few hours later when I checked on line there was my reservation all linked on MDE! The next day I did received an email from a supervisor saying they had to "manually enter" my reservation #. I have no idea what that meant but it all worked and my FP portal was open.

Other folks here had suggested contacting Disney's tech support or group travel but I did not get to the point of trying either. You can do a thread search using the word "costco" and it should bring up all the posts about it, many helpful suggestions were made.

Please keep us posted. :)
 
Go to swandolphin.com and hover your cursor over "Home" (top left). Look for "VIP Concierge Services" and click on that. Select "Room Requests". It will bring up a "Room Request form". Fill it out and you should receive an email back, usually within a day or 2, confirming your requests. Good luck!

Thank you. This is exactly the info I was needing today. :flower1:
 
RachelTori.... I used the link you provided to send in my room requests this afternoon and I received a positive response already. I requested our two rooms be connecting or adjacent and that we be in the west wing as we plan to spend a couple of half days at the pool. I already paid for a resort view so hopeful to get nice rooms.

One trip at the Dolphin we requested a king room which we did not get and the room they gave us was waaaaay down at the end of the east wing (it was Easter week so they said they could do nothing different). The second trip we had two rooms reserved and they put us on a different floor from our "kids" who were 18 and 21, just inconvenient. I had to raise a stink to get two rooms on the same floor, they weren't even that close to each other so not taking any chances this year. :rolleyes1
 
RachelTori.... I used the link you provided to send in my room requests this afternoon and I received a positive response already. I requested our two rooms be connecting or adjacent and that we be in the west wing as we plan to spend a couple of half days at the pool. I already paid for a resort view so hopeful to get nice rooms.

One trip at the Dolphin we requested a king room which we did not get and the room they gave us was waaaaay down at the end of the east wing (it was Easter week so they said they could do nothing different). The second trip we had two rooms reserved and they put us on a different floor from our "kids" who were 18 and 21, just inconvenient. I had to raise a stink to get two rooms on the same floor, they weren't even that close to each other so not taking any chances this year. :rolleyes1

Wish you luck! I request each and every time we stay and, of recent date (the last 3 years or so) rarely receive what we requested. I use the link that you were provided, call and even email requests as well as reiterate upon arrival. Good Luck!
 

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