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

[Best Aunt]

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?

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

It has been reported numerous times, in other threads, that the guards at the gates at some Disney hotels will not let cars in (including Uber/Lyft) unless the people have either a room reservation at that hotel, or a restaurant reservation at that hotel. This includes the Contemporary. People tried to get around this rule by doing a mobile order at the quick service restaurant at the Contemporary; Disney closed down that loophole.

It's possible that the guard would let you in, but if you're trying to get to MK as quickly and easily as possible, a Minnie Van makes a lot more sense.

If you want to get an idea of Minnie Van availability, you can always open the Lyft app at home, tell it your pick up spot is Swan and your drop off spot is Magic Kingdom, and see what the wait time is.

I used Minnie Van from BoardWalk to/from various theme parks at the end of October/early November in 2023 and I never had a long wait. OP, you said that you will be there in October. I'm not sure that October qualifies as "busy season." Easter, President's week in February, 4th of July, the week between Christmas and New Year's... those are what I think of as "busy season."

 

[pixiedust2u]

It has been reported numerous times, in other threads, that the guards at the gates at some Disney hotels will not let cars in (including Uber/Lyft) unless the people have either a room reservation at that hotel, or a restaurant reservation at that hotel. This includes the Contemporary. People tried to get around this rule by doing a mobile order at the quick service restaurant at the Contemporary; Disney closed down that loophole.

It's possible that the guard would let you in, but if you're trying to get to MK as quickly and easily as possible, a Minnie Van makes a lot more sense.

If you want to get an idea of Minnie Van availability, you can always open the Lyft app at home, tell it your pick up spot is Swan and your drop off spot is Magic Kingdom, and see what the wait time is.

I used Minnie Van from BoardWalk to/from various theme parks at the end of October/early November in 2023 and I never had a long wait. OP, you said that you will be there in October. I'm not sure that October qualifies as "busy season." Easter, President's week in February, 4th of July, the week between Christmas and New Year's... those are what I think of as "busy season."

Thank you for this update. I wonder if this is just in the morning for park opening/peak times Seems ridiculous that you wouldn’t be able to do quick service or shop at monorail resorts. Lots of guests like to explore monorail resorts for various reasons. I’d be livid if that was my intent and then got turned away.

OP I guess if your rope dropping to play it safe you could Minnie Van. Seems like yet another money grab from Disney. But on your way home you could def ride share from Contemporary. It takes about 10 minutes and was about 10-12$.

 

[maxiesmom]

Thank you for this update. I wonder if this is just in the morning for park opening/peak times Seems ridiculous that you wouldn’t be able to do quick service or shop at monorail resorts. Lots of guests like to explore monorail resorts for various reasons. I’d be livid if that was my intent and then got turned away.

The last few times I have visited a monorail resort they have asked for the dining reservation number. I'd guess that way too many people were using them as a drop off point, making it harder for the actual resort guests to get to that resort. They don't want to deal with a bunch of ride share drop offs holding up traffic and making things difficult.

 

[loves to dive]

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?

I slept on the sofa bed in one of the suite type rooms about a year ago. I actually found it pretty comfortable. I did not feel any of the hard rails one tends to feel on regular sofa beds. The mattress was pretty thick, the only thing that might bother some was it was firm. It worked for me since I have a bad back and my son actually wanted to sleep on it since he, too, have spine problems. My DIL seemed to think sleeping in the king bed with her MIL wasn't going to work though.

 

[kylenne]

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.

They can and have been turning people away. To put it bluntly you’ve been very fortunate with the gate guards if you’ve been able to do this in the last 3 years. The problem as always is people abusing policies. You can’t mobile order from Contempo Cafe anymore for example unless you’re staying at CR because so many people were mobile ordering a cup of coffee, then canceling the order once they got past the gate and walking to MK. I’m glad Disney is cracking down on this type of behavior because it’s very irritating as a monorail resort guest when you pay those prices to stay there but then this kind of thing is happening. If people legitimately want to visit, they are still free to do so on Disney transportation.

If you want to get around the TTC either walk to YC or BWI to catch the bus there. I rope dropped MK last Sept on my Dolphin stay from BWI

 

[SteveH]

@pixiedust2u its very much for real. Particularly in the morning hours, you will need an ADR to go to the CR/Poly/GF. If you are leaving via those resorts resorts is just fine, it's going to that the guards have been known to turn people away. Even many Ride Share drivers will ask if you have a reservation, we ran into this even coming from POFQ to CR for evening meals. This topic really has been discussed here countless times over this years on this forum.

With the rise of Ride Share even pre-Mini Vans the MK resorts were getting flooded by people, many off-site and others from Disney resorts wanting to skip the buses and trying to take a short cut to get to MK. The resort guest at those resorts were the ones being short changed, so they implemented ADR requirements, and that got abused by people booking the Contempo Cafe so they changed that too.

Similarly BC/YC/BW have implemented similar restrictions, mostly in the morning, trying to avoid those trying to enter through the International Gateway to get ahead in ride lines at the back of the park. People even recommend using the Swan now instead of those resorts.

For MK, while a few people might make it you risk being turned away and having to go to TTC. So best way to avoid TTC if need, is to walk to YC or BW, or use a MiniVan.

Of course its 100% up to you, some of us are just sharing so people don't get burned by this policy.

 

[AustinTink]

Thanks for the responses. As a Disney traveler with twenty-something trips under my belt, I’m not about breaking the rules and screwing other travelers. I was just asking for the fastest route that skips the TTC. Looks like that will be the Minnie Van… my original plan.

I have to say though that Disney did no one any favors forcing Swolphin guests through the TTC. Either Disney considers Swolphin an on property resort or not. They are always in limbo status. Yes, I know it’s not owned by Disney but maybe Disney needs to buy it out at this point. It’s silly for an on property resort to not share all the same benefits.

 

[Dave006]

I have to say though that Disney did no one any favors forcing Swolphin guests through the TTC. Either Disney considers Swolphin an on property resort or not. They are always in limbo status. Yes, I know it’s not owned by Disney but maybe Disney needs to buy it out at this point. It’s silly for an on property resort to not share all the same benefits.

They are forced to use the TTC due to the use of Mears Buses just like all third party buses vs Disney buses.

We never got a definitive answer if Disney stopped Disney buses due to a driver shortage from using the Swan & Dolphin or if the S & D dropped the Disney buses due to cost at contract renewal time.

Dave

 

[SteveH]

@AustinTink - its very much an odd situation, SDR gets deluxe nights at the parks, but not the busing, yet they get boats. I really wish I knew what conversations were taking place during Covid when the busing deal ceased. Was it Disney or Tishman (owners of SDR) - with the lease that Tishman has I don't think Disney would want to buy it out, at least not for a while.

FYI using the Disney buses is totally legit, its even in their materials. Have a great trip!

 

[lotsohugginbear]

We've never been denied drop off at GF in the morning. We say breakfast reservation. If
questioned, we'd say we were joining the walk up wait list at GF Cafe.
We do this so we can get an iced coffee mobile order at Gaspy's to drink on the walkway to
MK.

 

[MarBee]

I slept on the sofa bed in one of the suite type rooms about a year ago. I actually found it pretty comfortable. I did not feel any of the hard rails one tends to feel on regular sofa beds. The mattress was pretty thick, the only thing that might bother some was it was firm. It worked for me since I have a bad back and my son actually wanted to sleep on it since he, too, have spine problems. My DIL seemed to think sleeping in the king bed with her MIL wasn't going to work though.

Thank you! Did two people share the bed? Trying to figure out if 2 teens will fit without wanting to smother each other

 

[loves to dive]

Thank you! Did two people share the bed? Trying to figure out if 2 teens will fit without wanting to smother each other

Nope, just one slightly small woman. I think it is a queen bed if that helps. It certainly seemed larger than a twin. But, hard for me to guess since I'm one of those sleep near the edge and don't move from that spot people.

 

[Bird003]

Anyone used a fire stick on tvs at swan or dolphin? Planning on staying for Christmas

 

[champagne&disney]

Anyone used a fire stick on tvs at swan or dolphin? Planning on staying for Christmas

Yes, it's easy since the remote has an input button! That's always the problem for me at hotels.

 

[AustinTink]

I’m seeing varying info about grocery delivery with some saying you have to be present to receive your order. What have you experiences been regarding grocery delivery?

Also, can anyone confirm that the coffee maker is or is not a Keurig?

 

[superchime]

I’m seeing varying info about grocery delivery with some saying you have to be present to receive your order. What have you experiences been regarding grocery delivery?

Also, can anyone confirm that the coffee maker is or is not a Keurig?

Coffee maker is not a Keurig. It's the little mesh bags (similar to a tea bag).

I had to be present for grocery delivery, but did not have to be there when I just had a case of water delivered. Not sure if you'd have to be there or not if all of the groceries were non-perishable. I think they just won't refrigerate things for you.

 

[SteveH]

@AustinTink you'll find info about the grocery delivery here at the bottom of the page and more info on this PDF which is linked just above the bottom of the page.

GROCERY DELIVERIES (Amazon, Instacart, Shipt, etc.):
Guests are encouraged to schedule grocery deliveries when they will be available to receive items from the
delivery driver. When guests are not present to receive deliveries from the delivery driver, grocery items will
be held at Bell Services until picked up or delivery is requested by the guest. Refrigeration is not provided.
The resort is not responsible for damaged or unusable perishable items.

This old thread from 2012 will show you what the pods look like for the coffee makes at Swan & Dolphin, note Reserve uses Keurig.

 

[AustinTink]

@AustinTink you'll find info about the grocery delivery here at the bottom of the page and more info on this PDF which is linked just above the bottom of the page.

GROCERY DELIVERIES (Amazon, Instacart, Shipt, etc.):
Guests are encouraged to schedule grocery deliveries when they will be available to receive items from the
delivery driver. When guests are not present to receive deliveries from the delivery driver, grocery items will
be held at Bell Services until picked up or delivery is requested by the guest. Refrigeration is not provided.
The resort is not responsible for damaged or unusable perishable items.

This old thread from 2012 will show you what the pods look like for the coffee makes at Swan & Dolphin, note Reserve uses Keurig.

Thanks a bunch! Just the info I needed. Bummer about the coffee makers. I like to make my lemon ginger tea with keurig pods. Guess I will just go the hot water/tea bag route.

 

[AustinTink]

So, I know you can’t use your Magic Band to open your hotel room door or to charge store/food purchases when staying at SDR. But, MDE will still function normally without a Disney hotel account linked? For example mobile food orders and express checkouts in the stores are completely separate from hotel bill in MDE, correct?

 

[Disneyhanna]

Rates have been really high the last couple weeks and finally dropped for our Thanksgiving trip, so I finally booked Dolphin. Less than $350/night including fees with the AP rate at Dolphin, can't complain! Swan and Reserve are still quite expensive.