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

[aj24]

@shoreward posted these on August 6:


I hope the photos come through in the quote but if not you can go back to page 348

Thanks! Hard to tell, but looks like this part of the lobby is gearing up for heavy construction.

 

[vicb]

Me and my husband are going on a much overdue adult only trip in September. Have four nights at the Swan to enjoy Food and Wine Festival. We are flying in and always used Magical Express before, since that isn’t an option this time what do you guys recommend as the best way to get to and from the airport? Looking for options that aren’t too expensive but yet also provide a comfortable ride.

On our trip in May we used Lyft. We had to take Lyft premier or whatever they call it because we were four adults and luggage. It was much less than a town car. You can take regular Lyft for a reasonable rate. Just do the estimator: https://www.lyft.com/fare-estimate

We used Lyft also on site, Minnie van one time... all worked out just fine for us.

 

[vicb]

Who do you use to get to Dolphin. To/From MCO.

BUS?
UBER?
CAR SERVICE W/ GROCERY STOP.

How much do the varied choices cost?

Any recommendations for car service?

We used Lyft in May after many trips with Tiffany. So much cheaper even using the premium Lyft for four adults and luggage.

 

[Animal]

Though I can't view any history, reservations, nor SPG account balance, I can search for rates/availability. Checking for a Traditional room at the Swan, for the end of August, it's shocking to see a nightly rate of 50,000 points. The cash price starts in the low 200s and goes up from there.

Converting back to the old SPG system, that's the equivalent of about 16,667 Starwood points. I wonder what the upcharge will be for peak season, when the Swan used to book for 16,000 points, instead of the standard 12,000.

Between the devaluation of Starwood points and moving the Swan and Dolphin up to Cat 6, that's really a double-whammy!

I still love SD, but I have booked my last award stay there. I will book cash rates when they are reasonable. Low 200s is reasonable.

 

[vicb]

How long is the walk to the front of the park from the Dolphin? We don't have a ticket to be able to walk through International Gateway.

You can't walk to the front from Dolphin with out entering the park, you could take a Lyft or Uber.

 

[vicb]

Looks like this one.

https://wdwnt.com/2018/02/breaking-...new-350-room-hotel-rooftop-restaurant-lounge/

Hmmm wonder if this one will have emh privileges?

 

[vicb]

I'm sorry if this has been covered before but I searched and didn't see it - do the Minnie Vans run to Swan & Dolphin also? (We used them on our last trip, stayed on Disney property- and they were great, would like to use again if possible)

Yes they do! They started on my trip in early May which was great for us. We took one from Dolphin to HDDR.

 

[greg9x]

Also, you may want to double check on the bus service. I always stay at the Dolphin and last week I read that the buses were moved over to the Swan hotel for some reason that escapes me currently. You would need to catch each bus over at the Swan and I assume get off there, too. They also do not do buses to the parks there is a boat for. I wondered how they get around that with people who get seasick on boats? I don't know exactly how that works, but I know we always have people walking past that go into panic mode saying they can't ride a boat even for that 10 minutes because they get motion sickness on boats so I have wondered how they get past that with elderly/disabled who can't walk that far but don't have a motorized cart?

The buses were always available at the Dolphin last week when we took them. If there was a change to Swan only it was very temporary.

I would say the boats are as stable as the buses, know got rocked around more on the bus...if someone has that bad an issue would think it would be with both.

 

[shoreward]

I still love SD, but I have booked my last award stay there. I will book cash rates when they are reasonable. Low 200s is reasonable.

I have a number of Swan points bookings @12,000 points per night booked into July 2019 - the latest date that the system allowed, prior to the consolidation. When I looked at some of those reservations, today, the points values are now converted to 3X points. Talk about sticker shock!

It appears that you will not be alone in "jumping ship" on points stays at the Swan and Dolphin. The unknown is how many will elect to just not stay there at all, due to the changes.

 

[Animal]

I have a number of Swan points bookings @12,000 points per night booked into July 2019 - the latest date that the system allowed, prior to the consolidation. When I looked at some of those reservations, today, the points values are now converted to 3X points. Talk about sticker shock!

It appears that you will not be alone in "jumping ship" on points stays at the Swan and Dolphin. The unknown is how many will elect to just not stay there at all, due to the changes.

Timing was decent for me, as I burned through a pile of points for the last two and a half years with stays at SD. I got my Christmas reservation in just in time. The point changes simply follow the Marriott model, which appears to charge more points for leisure destinations and is only loosely linked to cash rates. There are still great deals to be had in big cities and whatnot; just not at SD. That’s ok! If you look hard and have flexible dates, you can score fantastic cash rates at the SD! Just save the points for that city vacation or that sweet category 2 Residence Inn in the town your college buddy is getting married in.

Yes, would be fascinating to see the data on number of point stays at SD before and after merger. And it’ll only take a recession to potentially drop SD a category. Plus there’s the off peak points rate, but I don’t know the dates that is offered.

 

[aj24]

We’re big SPG people, having done 15+ points stays at Swan over the years. There’s definitely something lopsided with the new merged points chart.

A $1400 /night room at the St Regis New York, or a $2000 /night over water villa at St Regis Maldives is currently 60k points.

A ~$200 room at a generic Fairfield or
Residence Inn in the Orlando area... 10-15k points.

A ~$200-300 room at the Swan or Dolphin... 50k points.

I hope in 2019 we’ll see Marriott introduce the “pointsavers” rewards to hopefully bring S/D to 40k points per night for certain timeframes. Or maybe a bump down in category level altogether if they observe a massive downtrend in points bookings (which might unfortunately be their goal).

 

[Dan Murphy]

$2000 /night over water villa at St Regis Maldives

 

[SteveH]

There’s definitely something lopsided with the new merged points chart.

100% agreed. I would love to know why this was done. I can only speculate that they had a skewed number of SPG free nights that was cutting into paid stays aka profit margin. I mean S/D is great but no way compares with a $2000/night room. My gut says things will change in couple of years, hopefully for the better but for the time being it is what it is.

 

[mrsdaly]

We’re big SPG people, having done 15+ points stays at Swan over the years. There’s definitely something lopsided with the new merged points chart.

A $1400 /night room at the St Regis New York, or a $2000 /night over water villa at St Regis Maldives is currently 60k points.

A ~$200 room at a generic Fairfield or
Residence Inn in the Orlando area... 10-15k points.

A ~$200-300 room at the Swan or Dolphin... 50k points.

I hope in 2019 we’ll see Marriott introduce the “pointsavers” rewards to hopefully bring S/D to 40k points per night for certain timeframes. Or maybe a bump down in category level altogether if they observe a massive downtrend in points bookings (which might unfortunately be their goal).

Beginning in 2019, they will introduce peak and offpeak, and supposedly offpeak is 40K/night for S&D but who knows how often that will be available. Those 60K rooms will bump way up starting in 2019, just a temporary period of 60k/night until the end of this year. I'm with you all here, this is my third points stay at S/D, I only started the points/miles hobby in late 2015, but it may be my last stay on points. With hotwire deals and decent cash rates it makes little sense to spend 50K night. That doesn't add up. I still think Swan and Dolphin are a good value compared to other Disney properties... but RIP "free" annual trips...

 

[shoreward]

The lowest SPG points rate for Swan and Dolphin that I can find is 40,000 points, and that rate is difficult to find; most dates are 50,000. You can search by "flexible date," which is slightly easier when dates are not fixed. This is based on my quick searches, so there may be something lower for dates I did not search.

Like the revenue rates, the points values may be based on demand and available room inventory.

 

[JJ2017]

I know this has been discussed, but I cannot pinpoint it. My husband will have Platinum status by the time we go to Dolphin in November. But I booked the hotel. Will we be guaranteed late check out?

 

[shoreward]

I know this has been discussed, but I cannot pinpoint it. My husband will have Platinum status by the time we go to Dolphin in November. But I booked the hotel. Will we be guaranteed late check out?

You will need to request at time of check-in. As the Dolphin is considered a resort, it's not obligated to provide late check-out. If they reject your request, ask again a day or two prior to check-out.

The latest comped check-out time I ever received at the Swan was 2:00 PM; that was with Gold status.

It all comes down to how many arrivals they have on your check-out date and how many rooms they need to turn.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I know this has been discussed, but I cannot pinpoint it. My husband will have Platinum status by the time we go to Dolphin in November. But I booked the hotel. Will we be guaranteed late check out?

I regularly get 1 o'clock late checkouts, lifetime gold But as shoreward said, not guaranteed I did get a few 4 o'clocks, but that was many years ago

 

[The Pluto People]

Hello! I hope someone has some insight on this: we have had the Starwood Am Ex for over 10 years. Every possible purchase was made on that card to allow us to accumulate points for stays at the Swan/Dolphin. We have stayed at these hotels 11 times on points. Now we have to consider another credit card. Should we get a Marriott credit card to accumulate points for Swan/Dolphin stays in the future? We know the points per room have gone way up. What would you Swan/Dolphin folks do? Thanks!

 

[NancyIL]

Hello! I hope someone has some insight on this: we have had the Starwood Am Ex for over 10 years. Every possible purchase was made on that card to allow us to accumulate points for stays at the Swan/Dolphin. We have stayed at these hotels 11 times on points. Now we have to consider another credit card. Should we get a Marriott credit card to accumulate points for Swan/Dolphin stays in the future? We know the points per room have gone way up. What would you Swan/Dolphin folks do? Thanks!

You don't have to consider a different credit card, as your points earned with the Starwood AMEX will go to the new Marriott-SPG-Ritz-Carlton program. (Your SPG point balance was multiplied by 3 on 8/18 to be equivalent to Marriott points.) However, a new card, whether Marriott or SPG branded, will give you bonus points after your initial spend. The thing to remember is that the basic SPG and Marriott cards give you only 2 points per $1 spent on non-Marriott spending, which is only 2/3 the value that you were earning prior to August 1st.

The Points Guy web site has a lot of info about credit cards: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-credit-cards-everyday-spending/