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

[tony67]

Just finished a stay at the Swan and Swan Reserve.

If you have status I would highly recommend the Swan Reserve, obviously price may be a factor, but if its within $50 I would say stay at the Reserve. I am Titanium and of course YMMV depending on how busy they are.

The reserve really took great care of me. .I got an upgrade to an very nice suite with a view of Epcot and Disney fireworks (although I did not get to take advantage of it) - still a very nice room. Also no issues with a late checkout (only 2PM though). they also let me check in at 8Am and my room was ready - obviously that.

The breakfast voucher is good for continental breakfast for two in the restaurant or you can get room service.
I went to the restaurant and since it was just me they let you get the full buffet without an upcharge. Also got a cappuccino and a double espresso without issue. Service was excellent. I really like the hotel and will go back.
Bus picks you up at the hotel so that was nice. Its a charter Mears bus with very nice padded seats etc.. I did not like that they had a sign for tips. Also as many know if you go to the MK they drop you at the ticket center - so that is a disadvantage.

The walk to the Swan and boats etc.. is not too bad, but at the end of the day after doing 35k steps - its feels long.

The swan - I checked in at 7AM (well still at the reserve) and room was not ready - I came back at 2 and room still not ready - was told they were busy and it would be two hours. I asked if they were sure as I did not want to leave my bags and then get a call in 10 minutes that it was ready. She said - no it will be two hours. So I checked my bags and went to epcot on the boat... as I got to boardwalk I got the text my room was ready. So I went back to the hotel and checked in - the women would not even look at me or talk to me - very unprofessional - and had the other woman take care of me. No upgrade. Had to check back on a late check out and was finally able to get 1PM which is of no value at all. This is the problem with convention hotels, they don't care about status and will do the bare minimum. I checked the site and there were better rooms. I don't really use the rooms and I was on my own, so whatever. I was most annoyed about the wasted time back and forth when the room was ready in the first place. This is par for the course here - so I new what I was getting myself into - I should have stayed at the reserve - I will in future.

Breakfast at the swan is in the restaurant or the restaurant at the Dolphin. You get two continental or one full buffet. You cant get espresso or cappuccino though - that is extra as its a $30 credit. Service was excellent. Food could have been hotter, but they will make you a fresh omelet so that is nice.

The room at the Swan was refreshed - so had the vinyl planking floors and fresh paint. It was really just a very light refresh and the wear in the room was pretty obvious to me. Lots of fixtures are dated IMO. They have the vats of soap which I don't like at all. Also the body cream in the room had obviously been used and left by the previous guest, so general cleanliness is still an issue at the swan IMO . I won't rehash my very bad experience with a dirty robe several years ago - other than to say that they did comp my entire 5 night stay then so its all good.

In the end its worth staying at one of these properties just for the deluxe benefits of the late night - was able to get a lot done with the 6PM drop at Epcot. Not sure I would have ever been able to do Remy's without the late night at Epcot. Also getting a second Guardians and Tron was great - but it took almost all the time of the extended stay - I just made it to Remy's before they closed it off. I think they just call all the late night boarding groups at once.


Anyway - any specific questions let me know and Ill try and answer when I can.

 

[kylenne]

In the end its worth staying at one of these properties just for the deluxe benefits of the late night - was able to get a lot done with the 6PM drop at Epcot. Not sure I would have ever been able to do Remy's without the late night at Epcot. Also getting a second Guardians and Tron was great - but it took almost all the time of the extended stay - I just made it to Remy's before they closed it off. I think they just call all the late night boarding groups at once.

I had that VQ issue last May, our first trip since EEH has been a thing, and I learned on my Labor Day Dolphin trip that the trick with the EEH virtual queues (or even the 6pm ones for the MK holiday parties) is to be lightning quick to get one of the first BGs. I get my party set up beforehand and come 5:59 just start mashing the refresh button over and over (pulling down wastes valuable seconds). Granted I do have lifetime gamer fingers despite being 42 but I always get one of the first if not the first group with this method, and it always gets called really quick--usually within the first few minutes, and at that point the rides are walk ons because few people have been called. The higher your BG number the more time you'll spend waiting around to be called, because it takes time for people in the groups before yours to cycle through, and it kinda snowballs.

 

[dunalduck]

@tony67 Glad you loved the Swan Reserve. I will be in Dolphin in April. This is my first time booking directly with Marriott and my previous booking through Priceline didn't rewards my any status.

Do you know roughly how long Mears bus takes from Swan to Magic Kingdom? I was puzzled by MDE estimate of 47 mins. I imagine Mears buses go straight from Swan to MK TTC, without stopping at other Disney resorts. How could it be so slow, given the distance?

PS: I also booked a 'fireworks view' in Dolphin but regretted. As you mentioned, it's probably no chance to view fireworks from hotel when most activities happen in park at night. I would have to skip MK fireworks in order to view EP fireworks from the hotel for once. Too late to change .

 

[tony67]

@tony67 Glad you loved the Swan Reserve. I will be in Dolphin in April. This is my first time booking directly with Marriott and my previous booking through Priceline didn't rewards my any status.

Do you know roughly how long Mears bus takes from Swan to Magic Kingdom? I was puzzled by MDE estimate of 47 mins. I imagine Mears buses go straight from Swan to MK TTC, without stopping at other Disney resorts. How could it be so slow, given the distance?

PS: I also booked a 'fireworks view' in Dolphin but regretted. As you mentioned, it's probably no chance to view fireworks from hotel when most activities happen in park at night. I would have to skip MK fireworks in order to view EP fireworks from the hotel for once. Too late to change .

From Swan its maybe 20 minutes at most to TTC, Then goes goes to all three hotels. Then there is getting onto the boat or monorail over to MK. So maybe that is way they say 47 minutes.

My recommendation is to walk over to boardwalk and get the bus from there - its going to be quicker.
I would take the bus from Swan Reserve, but never from Swan.
The other issue is there no screen telling you when the bus is coming, at boardwalk at least they tell you when the next bus is due.

Also coming back from Epcot I get get off at boardwalk and walk to swan - it is quicker than staying on the boat and going to Beach club then swan and Dolphin.

Did you book a non cancel rate? If not you always have 5 days before you go to cancel so its worth checking back on the Marriott site for better deals. If I ever go back to Disney I wont be booking that non cancel rate again. The prices at Swan, Dolphin and Reserve seem to change daily.
Just be sure to book you new room before you cancel as I have seen rate not be the same after going through booking - especially with points.

 

[dunalduck]

From Swan its maybe 20 minutes at most to TTC, Then goes goes to all three hotels. Then there is getting onto the boat or monorail over to MK. So maybe that is way they say 47 minutes.

My recommendation is to walk over to boardwalk and get the bus from there - its going to be quicker.
I would take the bus from Swan Reserve, but never from Swan.
The other issue is there no screen telling you when the bus is coming, at boardwalk at least they tell you when the next bus is due.

Also coming back from Epcot I get get off at boardwalk and walk to swan - it is quicker than staying on the boat and going to Beach club then swan and Dolphin.

Did you book a non cancel rate? If not you always have 5 days before you go to cancel so its worth checking back on the Marriott site for better deals. If I ever go back to Disney I wont be booking that non cancel rate again. The prices at Swan, Dolphin and Reserve seem to change daily.
Just be sure to book you new room before you cancel as I have seen rate not be the same after going through booking - especially with points.

Thank you @tony67 for your insight. Unfortunately, yes, I booked non-cancel rate as it was lowest at the moment. I have no idea whether the rate would be up or down or completely out. I booked in Jan when everything was sold out daily. I guess the news pushed me into panic booking mode .

A follow-up. Why do you say "I would take the bus from Swan Reserve, but never from Swan"? Swan Reserve for sure has better rooms but the bus?

 

[tony67]

Thank you @tony67 for your insight. Unfortunately, yes, I booked non-cancel rate as it was lowest at the moment. I have no idea whether the rate would be up or down or completely out. I booked in Jan when everything was sold out daily. I guess the news pushed me into panic booking mode .

A follow-up. Why do you say "I would take the bus from Swan Reserve, but never from Swan"? Swan Reserve for sure has better rooms but the bus?

The walk to boardwalk is a bit longer from Swan Reserve so not sure you save any time. Its the same bus and picks up at swan and Dolphin as well.

 

[maxiesmom]

The Swan does have screens telling you when the buses are coming. And I've never had any problem with them. If I am in a hurry to get to the Magic Kingdom I will use a minnie van. Otherwise the walk to the Boardwalk resort is pretty quick. If you have someone along who needs to use an elevator there is a small one inside that you have to use to get to where the buses are.

 

[dunalduck]

The Swan does have screens telling you when the buses are coming. And I've never had any problem with them. If I am in a hurry to get to the Magic Kingdom I will use a minnie van. Otherwise the walk to the Boardwalk resort is pretty quick. If you have someone along who needs to use an elevator there is a small one inside that you have to use to get to where the buses are.

I see. Thank you!

 

[tony67]

The Swan does have screens telling you when the buses are coming. And I've never had any problem with them. If I am in a hurry to get to the Magic Kingdom I will use a minnie van. Otherwise the walk to the Boardwalk resort is pretty quick. If you have someone along who needs to use an elevator there is a small one inside that you have to use to get to where the buses are.

HMM, I did not see any screens with the time at the swan like I did at boardwalk - I did see where they listed there was buses , but no next arrival times. The screens were off to the left of the area - but again no arrival times for next bus.

There was nothing like this at all at Swan Reserve unless I totally missed it.

 

[AustinTink]

First time staying at the Swan since about 2010. Lots of changes needless to say and I’m trying my best to catch up.

The whole bus thing worries me. We’re an impatient lot and having to do the TTC plus ferry/monorail is a bummer.

I’m thinking we will just use the Minnie Vans to and from MK. The question is, have you all had any issues securing a Minnie Van during busy season? We will be there in October.

 

[champagne&disney]

First time staying at the Swan since about 2010. Lots of changes needless to say and I’m trying my best to catch up.

The whole bus thing worries me. We’re an impatient lot and having to do the TTC plus ferry/monorail is a bummer.

I’m thinking we will just use the Minnie Vans to and from MK. The question is, have you all had any issues securing a Minnie Van during busy season? We will be there in October.

They run 35-ish or so during peak times. Just check the app and order early because it can take 10-15 minutes to get to you sometimes. So I monitor like a hawk while I am finishing getting ready and request appropriately.

 

[AustinTink]

They run 35-ish or so during peak times. Just check the app and order early because it can take 10-15 minutes to get to you sometimes. So I monitor like a hawk while I am finishing getting ready and request appropriately.

We used it last year a couple of times. Totally worth the money. I know there are only X amount of Minnie Vans. You haven’t had an issue securing a ride?

 

[champagne&disney]

We used it last year a couple of times. Totally worth the money. I know there are only X amount of Minnie Vans. You haven’t had an issue securing a ride?

I have never had a problem! Just had to be patient and wait for other rides to be completed.

 

[pixiedust2u]

First time staying at the Swan since about 2010. Lots of changes needless to say and I’m trying my best to catch up.

The whole bus thing worries me. We’re an impatient lot and having to do the TTC plus ferry/monorail is a bummer.

I’m thinking we will just use the Minnie Vans to and from MK. The question is, have you all had any issues securing a Minnie Van during busy season? We will be there in October.

Do you need car seats?

 

[AustinTink]

Do you need car seats?

No. We are all adults.

 

[pixiedust2u]

No. We are all adults.

We’ve never had a problem getting an Uber or Lyft, even during the holidays or spring break peak times. It’s often a lot less than a minivan. For access to MK we request drop off at one of the monorail resorts vs TTC. On way back to swan we’ve always monorails or walked to contemporary and then Uber back to swan.

 

[AustinTink]

We’ve never had a problem getting an Uber or Lyft, even during the holidays or spring break peak times. It’s often a lot less than a minivan. For access to MK we request drop off at one of the monorail resorts vs TTC. On way back to swan we’ve always monorails or walked to contemporary and then Uber back to swan.

That’s a good idea to Uber to a monorail resort. What is your general travel time the complete the route from Swolphin to MK via a monorail resort.

Edited to add: how long is the walk to MK from the Contemporary?

 

[MarBee]

Thinking of booking a King room (no view) at the Dolphin that has a sofa bed. Can anyone share how large/comfy the sofa beds are? Would two teens be okay to share it or would it be tight?

 

[dunalduck]

We’ve never had a problem getting an Uber or Lyft, even during the holidays or spring break peak times. It’s often a lot less than a minivan. For access to MK we request drop off at one of the monorail resorts vs TTC. On way back to swan we’ve always monorails or walked to contemporary and then Uber back to swan.

I heard they forbid rideshare from dropping off customers at monorail resorts. It sounds absurd though.

 

[pixiedust2u]

I heard they forbid rideshare from dropping off customers at monorail resorts. It sounds absurd though.

Hm really? I wonder if that’s new…? We haven’t had a problem doing that in the past. This past trip we monrailed from EP to Contemporary because we were hopping. But we Ubured back to Swan from contemporary. The ride was 10 minutes. So I would plan about 15 minutes?

so what if you want to go to Contemporary to shop and have breakfast at contemporary cafe? They say no? I doubt this. I think it’s how you phrase it at the gate. “Good morning, we are grabbing breakfast at contemporary cafe and doing some shopping in the monorail resorts” I can’t fathom them turning you away.