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

[Tomizgrl13]

Marriott uses dynamic pricing for their rooms, so it goes up and down based on availability. It *could* go down from the $250 you see right now, but it also *could* go much higher.

The price doesn't seem too high, and when people mention great value, it is in relation to other deluxe resorts. You are paying moderate prices for deluxe accommodations.

You could check what Costco Travel has as their rate for the day, but if you are not a member or know someone who is, the $60 membership fee would probably negate any savings. AP rates are usually the best. You cannot combine discounts (you can't do AP and AAA, for example).

My advice is if you really want to stay there, book the room and check the rate again every day or every few days. If it drops, you can easily modify your reservation to get the better rate.

Thanks! I went ahead and booked it this AM just in case. I know no matter what I'm staying at least 1 night. I guess Ill just continue to check the rate. My only worry now is they mentioned the rate could go up if I modify the reservation again, so I think that means if I cancel one of the nights, I might have to pay whatever the new rate is for Friday night, switch scares me a little, but I didn't really understand that until I got off the phone. Thanks for your help though!!

 

[Gitelfor]

Thanks! I went ahead and booked it this AM just in case. I know no matter what I'm staying at least 1 night. I guess Ill just continue to check the rate. My only worry now is they mentioned the rate could go up if I modify the reservation again, so I think that means if I cancel one of the nights, I might have to pay whatever the new rate is for Friday night, switch scares me a little, but I didn't really understand that until I got off the phone. Thanks for your help though!!

If unsure about the length of a stay, I find it a good idea to book the nights I'm sure about under one confirmation number and any nights that may not be set in stone under separate confirmation numbers. That provides the most flexibility for changes/cancellations.

 

[Chaitali]

I'll be staying at the Dolphin beginning this Friday for a week. Does anyone have any recent experience with the Dolphin busses? We'll probably walk over to the Beach/Yacht club to take their busses to MK but will likely use them for Disney Springs and Animal Kingdom.

We took the animal kingdom bus from the Swan yesterday. It was pretty smooth. We only waited about 10 minutes each time but that was probably luck. The signs say they come every 20-30 minutes. We took lyft back from the park just because we were tired and didn’t want to wait for the bus.

We did take the bus back from the magic kingdom to yacht club once and boardwalk once today. We just jumped on whichever bus came first. The walk back from either hotel is fine.

 

[hedberg1661]

I’ve read that some people bring their own bedding along.

IMO if this is an issue for folks then I think they really should consider not traveling. Especially now with the Delta Variant and COVID numbers in general spiking in FL and other locations around the country. Having just come back from the Swalphin I can say that I don't think 'everything' is sanitized. But the cleaning in my room was really good FWIW.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Some of the recent posts on this thread have needed to be cleaned up/removed, just FYI in case you see anything you posted missing.

General comment - if a post on some other part of the DIS has been removed, it’s generally best to not rehash it somewhere else. If whatever it is warranted being removed there, it probably means it’ll meet the same fate here.

Thanks all, always happy to answer any questions/concerns here or PM if needed.

 

[Raemama]

Hi there—does anyone know if the shuttles from Swan & Dolphin to the parks will load ECV? Thank you!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Hi there—does anyone know if the shuttles from Swan & Dolphin to the parks will load ECV? Thank you!

Yes they will.

 

[SteveH]

Hi there—does anyone know if the shuttles from Swan & Dolphin to the parks will load ECV? Thank you!

Dan is correct. Here are a couple of stories by Kelly Mack here on the DIS talking about the accessiblity at the resort and the first one talks about her using the bus at S/D to get to MK & AK
Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort Accessibility Review and
Traveling to Disney World: An Accessible Ground Transportation Failure

 

[orangecuse]

We just booked a Grotto Cabana for a full day for the middle of our trip. I am very excited! A few questions if anyone knows-

1. I assume we can come and go as we please throughout the day? This is our Epcot "morning" but we have only a few to dos over there (mainly just trying to rope drop Frozen for the kids). I dont think we plan to check in to the cabana until 12.

2. Is there any link/thread/sticky with people reporting experiences for the cabanas? My search didnt yield anything but I love reading about stuff ahead of time. If not and someone has done these feel free to share!

 

[SteveH]

2. Is there any link/thread/sticky with people reporting experiences for the cabanas? My search didnt yield anything but I love reading about stuff ahead of time. If not and someone has done these feel free to share!

Give this search a shot, fair amount of chat about it, but hopefully others that have been can chime too.

 

[CookieGVB]

Does the S/D have “preferred” ECV providers? Just wondering if it will be held by the bell stand staff, or I’ll have to meet the driver in the lobby. It’s been a few years since I’ve stayed at the S/D - really looking forward to staying again.

 

[luvallprincesses]

Now that Mears has released their pricing for airport transportation replacing Magical Express, does anyone know yet if S/D will be an option at the same price/options unlike ME was? I‘m assuming the luggage transfer is included?

 

[Seoulbro]

Now that Mears has released their pricing for airport transportation replacing Magical Express, does anyone know yet if S/D will be an option at the same price/options unlike ME was? I‘m assuming the luggage transfer is included?

Just plugged our dates in for the Dolphin on the website. $128 for 4 adults with 4 bags. Round Trip.

 

[SteveH]

Does the S/D have “preferred” ECV providers? Just wondering if it will be held by the bell stand staff, or I’ll have to meet the driver in the lobby. It’s been a few years since I’ve stayed at the S/D - really looking forward to staying again.

I've not heard of any, the only one I'm aware of is Mears. If you have the S/D/R App click on I'm on Property, then lower right corner it has Text Us! That might be good question to go direct to S/D about.

Now that Mears has released their pricing for airport transportation replacing Magical Express, does anyone know yet if S/D will be an option at the same price/options unlike ME was? I‘m assuming the luggage transfer is included?

Both the Swan & Dolphin are currently showing up and bookable. I did a test run for 2 people, 2 bags was 64 for the Standard and $200 for the Premium. If I were going Premium I think I'd use a town car for that price though.

 

[ljcrochet]

Hi there—does anyone know if the shuttles from Swan & Dolphin to the parks will load ECV? Thank you!

As long as it is a regular bus they will load the EVC, issue could be that some of the buses are coach style buses and the EVC has to go in the under storage of the bus where it may or may not fit.

Does the S/D have “preferred” ECV providers? Just wondering if it will be held by the bell stand staff, or I’ll have to meet the driver in the lobby.

I used Gold Mobility in June. It was dropped off at bell services at the swan. All the EVC and strollers were just lined up. In fact it almost seemed that anyone could just walk up and drive off in one especially since the key was in the basket.

We had no issues taking the bus to animal kingdom, but getting back was crazy. It was a non accessible coach bus. The EVC had to go in the under part. My husband had to unscrew the fan, till the seat all the forward. It barely made it in.

 

[decerbod]

Called reserve today asking if the pool and restaurants would be open 9/1 when I have a booking. Reservation agent indicated they would have more of a sense next week, three weeks out.

 

[georgina]

Called reserve today asking if the pool and restaurants would be open 9/1 when I have a booking. Reservation agent indicated they would have more of a sense next week, three weeks out.

Not very comforting! Please report back on your experiences.

 

[jimrpa]

Titanium check out time is 4 PM.

From the program rules:
Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout, subject to availability at resort and convention hotels.

Lifetime Titanium here and I’ve stayed at Swan/Dolphin for years. I think I’ve actually gotten a 4:00 PM checkout ONCE (back when I was Starwood Platinum with My24).

 

[jimrpa]

@Tomizgrl13 I think you’ve gotten some great advice. As mentioned the pricing for that time of year is actually pretty good for S/D/R. Once you hit mid-Nov till early January the resort gets busy and prices go up, following the dynamic pricing. The Reserve is nearly sold out and close to $600/night. So with that said I don’t think you’re going to find a lower price at S/D/R. However, it is possible. There could be a convention at the hotel at that time and it may return rooms. Just keep checking.

I checked the AAA rates for all thee, your rates are better then AAA so I think you’ve got about the best rate you can... at this time.

The Disney properties around Crescent Lake are all showing no availability.

I see rooms over at SpringHill Suites/Flamingo Crossing for $130 night, but you’ll need to either uber back and forth or have a car, if you go to S/D/R with your car then you’ll be paying their non-guest rate $29 each in/out but it’s good for the whole day so you might not need to pay again for Disney parks at $25/day.

About the lowest on-Disney price right now is at All-Star Movies at $158, you’d have the same parking cost at S/D/R but not the Disney Parks cost just the daily Disney resort parking of $15/day.

All that said, you’ve got some choices if you want to stay off site, just be aware of the added costs. Still you could stay at SpringHill for about $160/day going to Dolphin each day to meet everyone and heading out for a day of fun.

Another thing you can do: if you look at rates and see they’ve dropped, either call Marriott reservations or the properties reservations line directly and ask them to change your reservation to the lower rate. They’ll do this without a problem. One thing to be careful about - make sure it’s the same type of rate. You may be switching to a more restrictive rate, or to a rate you’re not eligible for. Generally, with these properties, rates usually don’t go down as you get closer to your stay date, especially if you’re staying during a busy season. Oh, and if you’ve booked through a third party or an opaque mechanism (Hotwire/Priceline/whatever) all bets are off. You’re stuck with whatever rate you have at Marriott won’t touch your reservation.

 

[Hisgirl]

Does the Swan/Dolphin still give a voucher for breakfast to platinum marriott members? Last time we were there, Feb 2020, we were able to eat at the Garden grove buffet for an upcharge of $8 each with that voucher.