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

[SteveH]

You should still be able to get points on any out of pocket spending at the resort. Just may not be able to get points on the actual room fees.

Yeah might grab some food while I'm there, and maybe the front desk staff will drop some pixie dust and count things but I'm not counting on it though. If the AAA rate drops I may go with it as the points earned to add up as well as the number of nights.

 

[TeamSy]

We just returned from our stay at the swan. It was great! We definitely missed magical express, as the $140+tip car service was not ideal or nearly as magical. But we also spent a lot less staying here than we would elsewhere so i guess there’s that! We did not book direct as we were partnering with another program this time. What’s really funny is at check in our room was not ready. It was still before noon but we usually luck out with that sort of stuff. We were up since 230am with a cranky toddler so I asked for anything, even to be downgraded. We were pretty desperate. The lady behind the desk “really wanted us in the room we booked” and “did not want to downgrade us” lol. Ended up pulling out my Marriott status card to add the number to our reservation (since it wasn’t on there). she suddenly could check with her manager and what do you know they had a room lol. Magic! We had a king resort view which overlooked the boats to Epcot/HS. It was a really nice view. We had some issues with our room (phone didn’t work, lamp usb charger didn’t work, etc) but nothing major. They fixed the phone when I brought it to their attention but I didn’t ask for a new light or anything. The pool was really nice and we never had any issues with boat or bus service to the parks. Everything was very quick! It’s nice how they share with boardwalk, except for magic kingdom! That makes it a lot quicker! I did miss the subtle Mickey touches throughout, especially since we had a toddler with us, but as adults I found it wonderful and relaxing - a nice break from the parks! Would 100% choose this resort over any value or mod! We enjoyed the poolside food, and a few days we had breakfast delivered to our room which made it really easy to go enjoy the parks quickly! The bed was also really comfortable!!!! We really enjoyed our stay here!!

 

[helenb]

Just wanted to say that I rechecked my dates for early June and all but one of the days was down to 40,000 points (the last night was 50,000 points still). So i was able to cancel and rebook and save 30,000 points!

 

[shoreward]

We just returned from our stay at the swan. It was great! We had some issues with our room (phone didn’t work, lamp usb charger didn’t work, etc) but nothing major. They fixed the phone when I brought it to their attention but I didn’t ask for a new light or anything. enjoyed our stay here!!

I had a problem with the phone and lamp. When maintenance responded, they found that the electrical cords were not plugged into the outlet. That meant the phone was not charging, and it was why the lamp did not work. I was told that the housekeepers sometimes plug in the vacuum cleaner cord at the outlet and forget or neglect to plug the other cords back in. Nothing was broken, just not plugged in.

 

[TeamSy]

I had a problem with the phone and lamp. When maintenance responded, they found that the electrical cords were not plugged into the outlet. That meant the phone was not charging, and it was why the lamp did not work. I was told that the housekeepers sometimes plug in the vacuum cleaner cord at the outlet and forget or neglect to plug the other cords back in. Nothing was broken, just not plugged in.

No for us the phone worked just only on speaker, so they fixed that. The lamp worked just not the usb charging portion. It happens

 

[CJN]

The rates at the Swan just dropped about $100/night for the dates I’ve been stalking (March 20th-29th). So if anybody here has been wanting to book for spring break you might want to check it out now.

I’ll qualify this by saying I used the senior discount rate so YMMV.

 

[katherine52478]

Thanks for the tip. Amalone!

I appreciate the perspective, Jennypenny! It's nice to know that other people have made the jump from BC/YC. It feels like the magicband thing will be an annoyance, but probably one we can live with for the lower cost. At least our kids are teens now, so not being able to open our room door with the bands won't be as big a deal.

Hmmm... i was just going to take Uber from the airport/Universal. Is a car rental really easier/cheaper? The car rental we want is to drive to Miami to board a cruise ship.

We alternate between the Dolphin and DVC villas (we have done BCV, BLT and Poly). We have a surplus of magicbands so we haven’t had any issues with tickets and I’m fine with carrying the key card with me for my hotel room. I’m Marriott Gold (my trip next week gets me to platinum ) so I do love the extra benefits of staying at the Dolphin.

We usually rent with a National for the trip from the airport to the hotel. It’s about $10 more than a Lyft but we stop at the store for drinks and supplies. We then return the car with the valet at check-in. We usually take a Lyft back to the airport so we can just be dropped off right at the terminal.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I’m Marriott Gold (my trip next week gets me to platinum

 

[Dan Murphy]

We just returned from our stay at the swan. It was great!

Welcome home. Thanks for the report.

 

[SteveH]

I recall this being an issue for some
Marriott fixes bug that added fees to reservations that included children

From the story, "
Since at least early 2019, the Marriott booking system has been charging extra person fees for children who are included on paid or award reservations to the tune of up to $100 per person, per day. This was not just the case at boutique or international properties where small room occupancy limits might be at play. Instead, these fees were being added to reservations at family-friendly, domestic hotels such as the Walt Disney World Swan..."

 

[katherine52478]

I recall this being an issue for some
Marriott fixes bug that added fees to reservations that included children

From the story, "
Since at least early 2019, the Marriott booking system has been charging extra person fees for children who are included on paid or award reservations to the tune of up to $100 per person, per day. This was not just the case at boutique or international properties where small room occupancy limits might be at play. Instead, these fees were being added to reservations at family-friendly, domestic hotels such as the Walt Disney World Swan..."

This just happened to me! We are checking into the Dolphin on 9/27. I booked an advance purchase member rate back in July so it’s all paid for. I booked it on the app for 3 people (myself, husband and 12 year old son). I checked my reservation a couple of days ago and saw they added an extra person fee of $100. I called the Marriott member line and the first rep I spoke with claimed it was a new policy as of 8/13/19. She then transferred me to a supervisor who claimed that the Dolphin charges for “anyone with a heartbeat in the room”. However, we had just been there in May with my son and we did not have this additional fee. They took down my info to escalate it with the hotel. Within an hour, I received a callback from someone at the Swolphin’s Guest Services area apologizing and reassuring me that they do not charge for children. She said that the app doesn’t differentiate by adult vs children and so it was showing as 3 adults on my account. She said she would add a note to my account to remove the extra person fee.

Next time, I’m booking on my laptop!

 

[BattyKoda]

Got back Saturday from our stay at the Swan and finally have a chance to write a review...

On the whole I really like the hotel. The location is awesome, the room was big, we Really enjoyed the Fountain at the Dolphin (Chicken noodle soup for sick DD; for the win!) and loved our view (we had booked standard, ended up overlooking the front entrance which also provided a view of the river, Boardwalk, and the back of Tower of Terror, which looked great at night. We could also see the fireworks from Epcot.

Buses were great... though, we did seem to end up taking the Boardwalk bus back more than once, we just didn't see one for them that often(when they shared it did list all three). This really wasn't an issue for us as we enjoyed the walk from the Boardwalk, but thought that I would mention it for others.

Staff, for the most part, was GREAT... especially the Bell station. They helped us twice when the front desk was very busy (once was light bulbs mentioned below).

Pool looked great, just never got to use it

There were some issues though... Our room is in major need of a refurb, particularly the bathroom... grout was missing, chalking around the tub/toilet was missing in a lot of places, a lot of chips in the tub and some major, poorly resurfaced water damage on one of the walls. A lot of the chrome (in bathroom and room itself) was pitted.

For the most part the room was clean but we did find a band-aide on the bathroom floor (kind of hidden, though I saw it without really looking for anything) and one of the duvets was NASTY (I will spare you the details). The duvet was a pretty bad issue as we didn't notice it until the next morning (we got in pretty late - so yes, our fault for not catching it) and our DD ended up being sick for the first two days so she ended up spending a lot of that time in bed (illness was not Disney related)... we called housekeeping and after a VERY long wait my wife gave up and just took it down to the front desk... strangely enough housekeeping showed up about ten minutes later. Annoying that we (well, she) had to go to those lengths to get it addressed.

Funny the phone was mentioned earlier in this thread, as we also had a problem with ours... couldn't get the handset to work (it was charged), they ended up replacing it. Two bulbs also went out while we were there (one in the bathroom, one on the lamp). Not a huge deal, but added to the kind of run down feel that we experienced.

As I started with, overall I really enjoyed the hotel... BUT, it's really hard for me to fully recommend it as our room was in such desperate need of a refurb. I wouldn't pay full price, but, if the price is right, I'd still take it (sorry, but at the moment that's the best I could do).

 

[Bmath]

This just happened to me! We are checking into the Dolphin on 9/27. I booked an advance purchase member rate back in July so it’s all paid for. I booked it on the app for 3 people (myself, husband and 12 year old son). I checked my reservation a couple of days ago and saw they added an extra person fee of $100. I called the Marriott member line and the first rep I spoke with claimed it was a new policy as of 8/13/19. She then transferred me to a supervisor who claimed that the Dolphin charges for “anyone with a heartbeat in the room”. However, we had just been there in May with my son and we did not have this additional fee. They took down my info to escalate it with the hotel. Within an hour, I received a callback from someone at the Swolphin’s Guest Services area apologizing and reassuring me that they do not charge for children. She said that the app doesn’t differentiate by adult vs children and so it was showing as 3 adults on my account. She said she would add a note to my account to remove the extra person fee.

Next time, I’m booking on my laptop!

Wow. I was just reviewing my reservation for the end of October and I have $375 additional person fee. I just figured it was another unavoidable feee. I am going to make sure it’s removed when I go.

 

[Bmath]

Does anyone know if Swolphin does any Halloween night events like the Disney Deluxe resorts. Last year we stayed at YC and on Halloween night they had a costume parade and games and candy to hand out. Trying to figure out how to not disappoint my kids that they don’t get real trick or treating two years in a row.

 

[SteveH]

Wow. I was just reviewing my reservation for the end of October and I have $375 additional person fee. I just figured it was another unavoidable feee. I am going to make sure it’s removed when I go.

I'd give S/D a call direct, 407.934.4000 to see if they can fix it now. Reference the article above if needed, they should know about the issue and be able to fix it or at least put a note on your file.

 

[katherine52478]

Wow. I was just reviewing my reservation for the end of October and I have $375 additional person fee. I just figured it was another unavoidable feee. I am going to make sure it’s removed when I go.

I would suggest calling and asking for the person I spoke with at the hotel. Don’t ask for the front desk or reservations because they will probably send you to the call center.

edit: I had put in her name but I edited it to remove it so she wasn’t called for everyone’s issues! PM me for her name!

 

[SteveH]

Trying to figure out how to not disappoint my kids that they don’t get real trick or treating two years in a row.

From their website Holidays at Swan/Dolphin
Kids have a great time at our Walt Disney World resort on Halloween. We invite everyone to join us out by the pool and white sand beach to participate in many festive activities including a campfire complete with S' more making kits! Put on you best costume and trick-or treat around all the outlets at our resort. Collect stamps as you go for a special surprise! You're sure to have a howling good time!

Just remind them they are at DISNEY! And not scrounging for candy. We took our kids over Christmas they only got a couple of small gifts that year, they didn't think twice about it, they knew the trip was their big present.

 

[huey578]

What time does the Friendship Boats start running now that DHS opens at 6:00am?

 

[BattyKoda]

What time does the Friendship Boats start running now that DHS opens at 6:00am?

Currently they start at 4:30 for DHS.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Currently they start at 4:30 for DHS.