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

[vicb]

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!

Hmmmm.... I've never used this in the previous two trips. I think I will print this email response out and bring it with me since it was quite affirmative and has a definite name attached with it.

 

[Jen cook]

So, we leave June 26 providing dolphin gets my reservation fixed, can we reserve FP TOMORROW? Thursday (2 months) ? or Friday actual 60 days if I count on the calendar? Thanks!

 

[Jen cook]

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! ) 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.

Thank you for taking the time to type all that out. I called and spoke with a dolphin supervisor and they told me they have to manually do it and it should be fixed in MDE by tomorrow at noon EST. I’m really hoping it is. But they told me the same thing two weeks ago.

 

[Dave006]

So, we leave June 26 providing dolphin gets my reservation fixed, can we reserve FP TOMORROW? Thursday (2 months) ? or Friday actual 60 days if I count on the calendar? Thanks!

Sixty (60) days before June 26 would be Friday, April 27. It is always exactly 60 physical days.

Dave

 

[RachelTori]

Hmmmm.... I've never used this in the previous two trips. I think I will print this email response out and bring it with me since it was quite affirmative and has a definite name attached with it.

It's always worked for me! What I would suggest is that you reply to the CM's email, thanking him/her for their attention to your requests. And if your trip is still a month or more out, send the CM a follow-up reply several weeks prior to your arrival, reiterating your requests and how much you're looking forward to your stay!

 

[Jen cook]

Sixty (60) days before June 26 would be Friday, April 27. It is always exactly 60 physical days.

Dave

THANK you! Hopefully my MDE is linked for correct dates by then. I appreciate your help!

 

[Jen cook]

It's always worked for me! What I would suggest is that you reply to the CM's email, thanking him/her for their attention to your requests. And if your trip is still a month or more out, send the CM a follow-up reply several weeks prior to your arrival, reiterating your requests and how much you're looking forward to your stay!

Does this trick work if you booked on a Costco package?

 

[RachelTori]

Does this trick work if you booked on a Costco package?

That I don't know, but I don't see why you couldn't use the Room Request form and contact Swan & Dolphin. As long as you provide them a reservation number they can find in their system, I don't see why it wouldn't work!

 

[Dave006]

Does this trick work if you booked on a Costco package?

Sure you can request anything but consider what room category that is included in your Costco package or any other discount or third party. For example if you are paying for the standard room then don't expect to request a resort view Alcove deluxe room with a full balcony and have your request(s) all met.

Dave

 

[Jen cook]

Sure you can request anything but consider what room category that is included in your Costco package or any other discount or third party. For example if you are paying for the standard room then don't expect to request a resort view Alcove deluxe room with a full balcony and have your request(s) all met.

Dave

Haha. Nope I won’t. We have a “resort” view room. So what would be a good request? We’ve never been to WDW so this is all new to me.

 

[JerseyJanice]

A resort view room generally means your room will overlook other parts of the resort like the concourse between the Swan and Dolphin, the pool or other resorts (Boardwalk or Yacht Club). I also think it means that you’re unlikely to overlook a parking lot, as those would be standard views, or Epcot, which is theme park view. I think that’s what it’s called or it could be simply Epcot view.

Resort view is a category that encompasses the bulk of the rooms. A concourse view is really nice IMO because they do a light show on it every night. My brother’s resort view room was of the Boardwalk and the canal where the boat goes to the Studios—beautiful view.

We’ve never had a bad view, but that could be because we usually get a suite. I’m thinking it’s possible that they don’t put suites in standard view areas of the buildings.

 

[vicb]

It's always worked for me! What I would suggest is that you reply to the CM's email, thanking him/her for their attention to your requests. And if your trip is still a month or more out, send the CM a follow-up reply several weeks prior to your arrival, reiterating your requests and how much you're looking forward to your stay!

I did do this already and said I appreciated the quick, affirmative reply and that my family was so excited about returning to the Dolphin.

 

[vicb]

Haha. Nope I won’t. We have a “resort” view room. So what would be a good request? We’ve never been to WDW so this is all new to me.

I requested our two rooms be either connecting or very near each other (had mentioned in earlier post that last trip they initially put us on different floors ) I also requested to be in the west wing of the hotel because it is closer to the pools and we plan to spend a couple of half days hanging out at the pool.

Thank you for taking the time to type all that out. I called and spoke with a dolphin supervisor and they told me they have to manually do it and it should be fixed in MDE by tomorrow at noon EST. I’m really hoping it is. But they told me the same thing two weeks ago.

Ok, I hope that does the trick for you. Let us know tomorrow. I know it is stressful when you are up against your FP window!

 

[mrsdaly]

It's always worked for me! What I would suggest is that you reply to the CM's email, thanking him/her for their attention to your requests. And if your trip is still a month or more out, send the CM a follow-up reply several weeks prior to your arrival, reiterating your requests and how much you're looking forward to your stay!

I also think that making requests via social media - FB message for example - is very helpful. The reason being that the social media team is usually on the ball with ensuring that those that interact with their social media pages are happy customers. You don't want an unhappy customer who is also active on your social media page.

 

[Jen cook]

Thank you all for your help with my linking hotel and a Costco package. Yesterday I called dolphin and spoke with Sandy. She was very understanding and had to type in our situation to a manager and the manager would have to manually fix it for us and it would take 24 hours. This morning I linked the reservation # she gave me (DOLPHIN SPECIFIC, not Costco conf #) and praise Jesus it worked! Now I can reserve FP on Friday! THANK YOU for your help!!!!!!!

 

[Lou'sMommy]

Thank you for taking the time to type all that out. I called and spoke with a dolphin supervisor and they told me they have to manually do it and it should be fixed in MDE by tomorrow at noon EST. I’m really hoping it is. But they told me the same thing two weeks ago.

I wanted to let you know that I had a similar situation this spring. It is our first time staying at the Swan and we booked a nice package through Costco. I booked on Feb 23 and was not able to link in MDE until March 15. I spoke with the Swan and Dolphin team, Disney, Disney tech support and Costco multiple times. I'm sure at first I didn't wait long enough - only 3 days, but it still seemed like a very long wait. Everyone I spoke with was pleasant and concerned, but no one was ever able to tell me exactly what was going on. The folks on this board helped me keep my sanity until it finally worked. I had made a couple of changes to my reservation (extended by a day and added two tickets) so maybe that was a reason for the delay? In any case, I was super relieved when I tried one day and it finally worked. I hope you are able to link yours very soon!

 

[fivikse]

I booked through Costco and at first it wouldn't link. I called Costco and the representative there knew exactly what the issue was and had to give me a separate confirmation # that wasn't on my email. She resolved it very quickly. (This was probably 3 or 4 days after booking - I can't remember exactly). The new conf # linked immediately. I haven't tried to book FP yet, so no clue there.

 

[pepperandchips]

To add my experience to the chorus, I booked the hotwire hot rate deal a few weeks ago when available. Finally got around to calling the Dolphin for my Dolphin confirmation number yesterday - the first time, after holding a few minutes, the agent who answered the phone apparently could not hear me and hung up on me. Called back, waited again, was told that the agent's computer was down, she transferred me, held again, connected directly to Dolphin agent who also told me entire network was down. I was kinda irritated and gave up for the day.

Called this morning, wait on hold was much shorter, the agent who assisted me knew exactly what I was talking about and confirmed the right number of people in each room to ensure we had a smooth fastpass booking experience. Both room reservations easily linked to MDE, less than 5 minutes to complete everything.

Hope everyone else gets a smooth process linking as well!

 

[hsmamato2]

Thank you all for your help with my linking hotel and a Costco package. Yesterday I called dolphin and spoke with Sandy. She was very understanding and had to type in our situation to a manager and the manager would have to manually fix it for us and it would take 24 hours. This morning I linked the reservation # she gave me (DOLPHIN SPECIFIC, not Costco conf #) and praise Jesus it worked! Now I can reserve FP on Friday! THANK YOU for your help!!!!!!!

I feel your relief, we had similiar issues with 2 out of 4 res. a while back and it's frustrating!

 

[hsmamato2]

Fyi on room requests - we just got back from 8 nights our room was WAAAAAAY down at the east end on 8th floor. We had requested a resort view(booked standard on points) and it was worth that walk from elevators! great view of both Mk and Epcot fireworks. Our fam group had 4 res total, 3 of us asked at checkin about a 'nice' view...3 of us got one! The 4th didn't ask and got the back view..... I love Dolphin!IMHO if they have availability when you check in,and you ask real nice, they try to give you what you ask for.