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

[MarBee]

Sorry to ask this question, but I searched back a bunch of pages and can't find the in-house reservations (dolphin) telephone number. Am interested in pricing and availability for a two-room suite thanks to the awesome info learned here here and can't find that telephone number. If anyone has it handy, I'd appreciate it! Then, I'll need a miracle to convince my daughter to move from a pricey Christmas Boardwalk Inn stay to a dolphin stay with the rest of the family that will save us both $.

If it helps at all, we stayed at Dolphin in the Christmas season in 2019. I LOVE Disney at Christmas time and love being in the Disney bubble. I was actually anxious about staying at Dolphin because I was afraid it would kill my vibe, but I had a conference there so I was stuck.
It is now my absolute favorite resort to stay in for the holidays! I didn’t think anyone could do Christmas better than Disney, but the Dolphin certainly did!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

This is why it is great we are all different and have a board like this one where all the discussions can be had. What stresses you or causes you anxiety (what you label over-planning) may be exactly what I enjoy prior to a vacation and then because I over planned, I can have my fully relaxing vacation knowing I have covered everything I can cover and have answers to most of my questions whether I end up needing them or not. Some people just fly by the seat of their pants, others plan. Some worry about pool lines and others are interested in closet space. Everyone has their own areas that cause issue and, again, that is why it is great we can get together and help everyone out with the answers--to decrease their stress and anxiety even if just a little.

Agreed. And as it relates to planning our upcoming stays at Swan or Dolphin or any vacation, actually, studies show that we are happiest in our planning/anticipation stage of a vacation.

https://www.nathab.com/blog/anticipation-is-the-happiest-part-of-a-travel-journey/

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

We have two standard rooms booked at the Swan Reserve In November. Both rooms have 4 occupants each. My mother is interested in traveling with us, but getting a room for her alone is cost prohibitive. I am interested in upgrading one of standard room points certificates reservation to a suite which would sleep 5, with either cash or points. I recognize this may not even be possible.

I emailed resinfo@swandolphin.com and a reservation agent followed up with me. She was very knowledgeable about how things work at the Swan/Dophin when adding a parlor, etc. She was not knowledgeable about the new Swan Reserve and could not provide any information on upgrading. She suggested waiting for the resort to open in September and calling back then.

Obviously, with the planning required for a Disney vacation, I can't wait until just two months before our trip to know if my mother will be able to travel with us. Any ideas on how to make progress on this?

 

[emmabelle]

If I book a king room at the Dolphin through Hotwire will they try and give me a room with doubles? I can't deal with sleeping in a double with my husband.


We're currently booked at the Poly for five nights for $2700. We can stay at the Dolphin for seven nights for $1400. Two more nights and significantly cheaper. Something to think about.

 

[Scalemaster34]

If I book a king room at the Dolphin through Hotwire will they try and give me a room with doubles? I can't deal with sleeping in a double with my husband.


We're currently booked at the Poly for five nights for $2700. We can stay at the Dolphin for seven nights for $1400. Two more nights and significantly cheaper. Something to think about.

I've done "hot rates" at Dolphin several times in the past (S&D don't seem to be participating in hot rates now) and they always gave me the type I booked.... Never had a problem with the room. Did have to call to get the "real" reservation information for use with the Disney System to make Park Reservations and FastPasses (when those come back).

 

[Dave006]

If I book a king room at the Dolphin through Hotwire will they try and give me a room with doubles? I can't deal with sleeping in a double with my husband.

No if you book a King room you get a King room.

In a worst case situation you would get a room with 2 Double beds if for some reason all the King rooms are gone and your checking in after midnight.

Dave

 

[jbock]

If I book a king room at the Dolphin through Hotwire will they try and give me a room with doubles? I can't deal with sleeping in a double with my husband.


We're currently booked at the Poly for five nights for $2700. We can stay at the Dolphin for seven nights for $1400. Two more nights and significantly cheaper. Something to think about.

If it says "guaranteed bed type" messaging I wouldn't worry about it. I've never had a problem and if I did I am pretty confident that even if I did, it would be resolved w/ a chat with the manager, particularly if you're not checking in at midnight or anything like that. The Poly's great and all but to me that's way too much money not to just go w/ the Dolphin.

 

[Dave006]

I've done "hot rates" at Dolphin several times in the past (S&D don't seem to be participating in hot rates now) and they always gave me the type I booked....

The Swan has been booking full so no need to offer "Hot Rates" to fill rooms. The Dolphin has about 1500 rooms vs about 750 at the Swan.

Dave

 

[emmabelle]

No if you book a King room you get a King room.

In a worst case situation you would get a room with 2 Double beds if for some reason all the King rooms are gone and your checking in after midnight.

Dave

I was reading some reviews on Expedia even though I have stayed at the Dolphin a few times. Someone commented that they had booked a king and the hotel said they were out and gave them doubles. I didn't know if that was a common occurrence or not.

 

[emmabelle]

I've done "hot rates" at Dolphin several times in the past (S&D don't seem to be participating in hot rates now) and they always gave me the type I booked.... Never had a problem with the room. Did have to call to get the "real" reservation information for use with the Disney System to make Park Reservations and FastPasses (when those come back).

I've seen the Swan for our dates too but we already have our first night at the Dolphin so I was trying to get that so we wouldn't have to move. Our plane lands at 7:30pm and the Poly wasn't available for that night anyways so I Hotwired the Dolphin for that night. I do stalk Hotwire multiple times a day.

 

[emmabelle]

this is the Swan, I spend wayyyy too much time researching this

 

[William B]

this is the Swan, I spend wayyyy too much time researching this

View attachment 578056

Do you mind me asking how you know? What are the tell tale signs that it is Swan?

 

[emmabelle]

Do you mind me asking how you know? What are the tell tale signs that it is Swan?

if you use the app they have a draw tool. It's easier to do it on a tablet, you just draw a tight circle around the Boardwalk area and the app finds you hotels within that circle. Make sure the circle is small because if you make it too big it will find the hotels in the Bonnet Creek area such as the JW Marriott and the Wyndham. Plus I always check out what the resort fee is, Swan and Dolphin is $39.

I ended up doing it and got the Dolphin so I'm all in for $1380 plus $275 in resort fees for 7 nights. I'm pleased with that.

 

[samara]

Can you ship packages to the Dolphin? Not groceries, but other packages? I have a gift I want for my son while we’re there but apparently with the vagaries of shipping these days it wouldn’t arrive to our house before we leave but would arrive at the Dolphin the day before we arrive.

 

[Gary2T]

Two questions:

Are the hot tubs open?

Have there been any updates to the mask rules here yet? The SD app is still listing masks required in all public areas of the hotel including pool areas. It references local and county ordinances that require masking in all public spaces.

 

[hdrolfe]

I am looking at booking a trip for maybe next April. I was looking at Swan and Dolphin, at packages through Disney. I am assuming the resort fees are on top of the price I'm seeing but I don't see anything that tells me this. I am sure I could save more by booking through somewhere else but I was hoping to book something refundable (including tickets) and either pay in CAD (obviously not the case here) or with Disney Giftcards as that saves me 3% over paying by credit card (exchange fees ). The price I'm seeing for Dolphin is between CSR & CBR so very reasonable for the location especially. If there are resort fees (that's per room yes?) then it's another $390 for the 10 night trip I am looking at, still reasonable price difference really but I just want to be prepared I guess?

Is the resort fee on top of what I pay when I book through Disney? Thanks.

 

[lionsmom]

I have a room booked at the Dolphin the week of July 12 that I reserved through the Marriott site a couple of weeks ago. I booked a AAA rate for $239 per night. I just checked the rates for that same week and now the same room is going for over $1100 per night. That seems crazy. Curiosity got the better of me so I started checking every week from now through the end of summer and that is the only week with crazy high rates. Every other week rooms are going for anywhere from $180 to around $300ish. Does anybody know if there is something going on there that week? I'm sure glad I locked in my rate when I did!

 

[LexiC123]

Two questions:

Are the hot tubs open?

Have there been any updates to the mask rules here yet? The SD app is still listing masks required in all public areas of the hotel including pool areas. It references local and county ordinances that require masking in all public spaces.

Here now. Hot tubs are open. Masks need to be worn inside hotels but you can remove them as soon as you’re outside. No masks at the pools.

 

[Tanooki]

I am looking at booking a trip for maybe next April. I was looking at Swan and Dolphin, at packages through Disney. I am assuming the resort fees are on top of the price I'm seeing but I don't see anything that tells me this. I am sure I could save more by booking through somewhere else but I was hoping to book something refundable (including tickets) and either pay in CAD (obviously not the case here) or with Disney Giftcards as that saves me 3% over paying by credit card (exchange fees ). The price I'm seeing for Dolphin is between CSR & CBR so very reasonable for the location especially. If there are resort fees (that's per room yes?) then it's another $390 for the 10 night trip I am looking at, still reasonable price difference really but I just want to be prepared I guess?

Is the resort fee on top of what I pay when I book through Disney? Thanks.

Wondering the same thing since we are considering Swan for next March, and we are in the same situation as we want to have something that can be cancelled without too much hassle. I think there should be a mention somewhere on the booking about the resort fees if we were to expect them, so I’m hoping they are included when you book a package through WDW website. I’ll be following your post for answers as well.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Apologies if already posted, but some recent construction pics I found interesting as I hadn’t seen any aerials in awhile.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1398431616574316547

https://twitter.com/x/status/1398433323840688128