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

[ww52]

As we approach our trip this week, the housekeeping thing has become a sore point for many people in our group.

It MAY be a lack of staff that MAY be a result of the stimulus as some speculate, where some people decide it's better to not work than to work. I realize that's a political statement and not an economic one, but I mean it in terms of simple economics by definition (a study of incentives)

That said, everyone in our group agrees on one thing - it's beyond the point where hotels can use the pandemic as a reason. It's an excuse now. The fact is, they are charging the SAME rates for less service. And there is no HEALTH reason for it.

We have for many years b*tched about "resort fees" that are mandatory. It's a blatant insult to our intelligence to say we're getting something for that fee that is mandatory anyway. But that's here to stay - they think they are being clever I guess - and maybe there ARE people that fall for it.

So I think it's likely they are at least considering adding a mandatory housekeeping fee eventually.

 

[SteveH]

@deltadisney there are ground floor "patio" rooms that are located near the pools, there are only a few. @armerida said she booked one in the 1300 section, ground floor. You can see her post here. I know there are other post, my google search it pulled up more posts. @Dan Murphy may recall too.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Are there any first floor room types that you can enter directly in the room from the outside? If so, what is the name of the room type and is this a specific request or just luck of the draw if you get the first floor? Thanks so much!

I would think you could request. The Swan does not have any first floor rooms but the Dolphin does have a decent number of them.

 

[sheri18]

Traveling next month with son and family. 7 total..kids age 3-12. Me, son and DIL
staying in 2 standard rooms at the Swan, I am trying to decide if I should switch to the Dolphin,
a family room with a connecting room...DS wants to stay at Swan, smaller and closer to BW The water taxi, HS. Trying to decide which one..TIA

 

[Meglen]

Traveling next month with son and family. 7 total..kids age 3-12. Me, son and DIL
staying in 2 standard rooms at the Swan, I am trying to decide if I should switch to the Dolphin,
a family room with a connecting room...DS wants to stay at Swan, smaller and closer to BW The water taxi, HS. Trying to decide which one..TIA

Its queen beds vs full (smaller than queen bigger than twin) other than that not enough different to really care imo

 

[MarBee]

Traveling next month with son and family. 7 total..kids age 3-12. Me, son and DIL
staying in 2 standard rooms at the Swan, I am trying to decide if I should switch to the Dolphin,
a family room with a connecting room...DS wants to stay at Swan, smaller and closer to BW The water taxi, HS. Trying to decide which one..TIA

My opinion is the rooms are a little better at the Swan but the hotel, lobby, restaurants, etc are better at the Dolphin. If they’re the same price I always go with Swan for the bigger beds and extra sink in the room since it takes about 2 mins to get from the Swan to anything in the Dolphin.
If I had 4 kids to juggle, I’d prob go with the Swan myself.

 

[flowergleam1211]

I stayed at the Dolphin with my two four year old children and I loved that we were so close to Picabu (we all love the food and value) and Fuel (Dole Whip and froyo!).

 

[lionsmom]

Quick question about room checks. I'm assuming that since the Dolphin is not a Disney owned property, they are not doing the security room checks like the Disney properties. Is this correct? We plan on taking nap breaks during the afternoons and I wanted to be prepared for this if it going on at the Swan and Dolphin resorts.

 

[SteveH]

@lionsmom, most major hotels do some type of room check, though I will say that S/D has not made it a big public thing. They are probably doing some screening and risk assessment for guests. During our stay we never had an issue. But you can ask when you check in. We always put the DND sign up and used the Swing bar door lock to secure our door.

 

[SteveH]

.... I loved that we were so close to Picabu (we all love the food and value) and Fuel (Dole Whip and froyo!).

Totally agree, we ate at Picabu every morning - great omelets, love the ability to build our own and have it might right there. Unlike the "baked omelets at POFQ that were ok but only 1 of 3 options, and agreed about Fuel that was a real nice treat to have the Froyo!

 

[Sparty5]

Traveling next month with son and family. 7 total..kids age 3-12. Me, son and DIL
staying in 2 standard rooms at the Swan, I am trying to decide if I should switch to the Dolphin,
a family room with a connecting room...DS wants to stay at Swan, smaller and closer to BW The water taxi, HS. Trying to decide which one..TIA

I've stayed at both. Swan has a little nicer rooms plus queen beds instead of doules. on the other hand we liked breakfast at the Dolphin much better. they are so close to each other location is a non issue in my opinion.

 

[eeyore70disney]

Tried booking a room at Swan but nothing showed available, does anyone know if the S/D has limited availability (capacity) right now as well?? Our vacation is not until April.

 

[ckelly14]

I booked right away for next April so I haven't checked recently, but others have posted full resorts during that time. What dates?

 

[eeyore70disney]

April 1- April 10

 

[armerida]

Quick question about room checks. I'm assuming that since the Dolphin is not a Disney owned property, they are not doing the security room checks like the Disney properties. Is this correct? We plan on taking nap breaks during the afternoons and I wanted to be prepared for this if it going on at the Swan and Dolphin resorts.

No room checks in our many stays at Swan this year.

 

[mickey916]

April 1- April 10

Go directly to the Marriott Bonvoy site. There are rooms available for those dates at the Swan.

 

[SteveH]

Seems odd that April 1-10 is not showing on the Disney site but works fine for Marriott. The Dolphin does show up on the Disney site so it much just been a limited block of rooms at the Swan are booked, though my gut says more will be released at some point.

 

[loves to dive]

We just got back from the Dolphin. I was traveling with my two college age daughters, so we were looking for a little bit of extra space. I booked the "1 king bed, sofabed, premium deluxe suite, limited view" which ended up having an incredible view of Tower of Terror. There was plenty of space to spread out. In addition to the separate bedroom with a king size bed and desk, there was a large living area with a queen sofabed, chair, and dining table and chairs for 4. It was a beautiful room.

Video of the room:

I did the online check in through Marriott, but never got a text/key/alert, so I checked in through the regular line.

We walked to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios and park hopped to the Magic Kingdom. Returning from the MK, we took the bus to the Boardwalk and walked to the Dolphin. Since we had a car, we drove to Animal Kingdom to get there early. We did use Dolphin transportation to get to Disney Springs and it was a Mears bus that had seating like the Magical Express...very nice.

There was NO housekeeping service at all, but we asked for water bottles every day. I mean, if we're paying the resort fee, the least we can get was some water, right?

The night before we checked out, a very large group of teens, probably high school age, checked into the resort and made their presence known. I'm a high school teacher and have a very high tolerance to teenagers and children, in general, but this group was the most ill-behaved group I've ever experienced. (I've been at Disney/Dolphin with cheerleaders, dancers, band kids, and Brazilian chanting 15 year olds and they are angels compared to this brood.) The group was noisy, slamming doors and running up and down the hallways. Bless any regular guests in the hotel right now.

At 11:15, the fire alarm was pulled and an announcement was going off in the hotel about having to evacuate the building. The evacuation process was not good and the stairwells were full, complicated by the large number of children who thought the fire alarm was fun. I wonder how someone with mobility issues would leave the building in a fire emergency. We were on the west side, but walked around to the front of the building, thinking that it would be a better place to get information about when it was safe to re-enter the building. We were not outside for long, but no information was provided about the alarm, whether it was a false alarm, fire in a kitchen, etc...I really think that a mass text message or sign should have been posted to notify people about the situation.

In all, I love the Dolphin, but am looking forward to the return of housekeeping, especially for longer stays and am disappointed by the lack of communication during and after the building had to be evacuated.

Thank you for that video. We have that room booked for Sept (son, his SO and their what will be 5 month old baby girl at that time) and I couldn't find any recent videos out there. I was mostly interested in that living room/sink area as I will probably be sleeping there with them taking the bedroom.

 

[loves to dive]

Are there any first floor room types that you can enter directly in the room from the outside? If so, what is the name of the room type and is this a specific request or just luck of the draw if you get the first floor? Thanks so much!

I was in a first floor lake view room a few years ago. You have a sliding door that you can access from the outside, however, you really wouldn't want to leave that unlocked unless someone is in the room. I didn't really request the room so not sure how I got it. It only had a king bed in it and since I was solo that might be why they assigned it, or it might have been that I put a concierge email in requesting a balcony upgrade if possible. I enjoyed it but did have ducks wander into my room one day while I was sitting out there eating, that will teach me to close the door.

 

[blbrodger1]

Thank you for that video. We have that room booked for Sept (son, his SO and their what will be 5 month old baby girl at that time) and I couldn't find any recent videos out there. I was mostly interested in that living room/sink area as I will probably be sleeping there with them taking the bedroom.

You're welcome! It worked perfectly with my two adult daughters. Plenty of space and separation. Enjoy your trip.