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

We had to leave and it was still being assembled. The head might have been in two different pieces, saw something like a chimney piece and a black piece. Kind of like putting a puzzle together. He was sitting on a chair. So I really couldn't tell and maybe more pieces were coming. This was from around noon to 3 pm. Definitely a work in progress. Somehow maybe I wish I didn't see it, you know it felt like it took away a little of the magic lol.
 
Last edited:
Please help us. We read on the Walt Disney World FAQ that we would not be charged parking as we are coming from the UK before the end of this year. However after speaking to a member of the guest reservations @ Dolphin today on the phone and upscaling it to her supervisor we were told we would be charged.
 
@michala they are correct, the Swan/Dolphin has had a parking charge for years as well as a resort fee. Keep in mind that S/D is not owned or run by Disney it is completely separate. You get some of the same perks, but you don't get all of them.
 
We just got back from a 5 night stay at the Dolphin and Wow! It was awesome! DH and I stayed there ten years ago pre-kids. We stayed at the Swan in 2017.
I will say that I was super nervous about staying there because since the Marriott takeover we haven’t had much luck with Sheratons. I was also reading TripAdvisor reviews, and a lot of them were scathing. I was actually almost dreading the stay.
I was there for a work conference and booked the no view plain room. I was upgraded to a view of Hollywood Studios in the West wing. It was an excellent location- close to pool, dining, buses, etc. The room was surprisingly spacious and clean (I’m super super nitpicky about cleanliness!) We had one issue with a stained shower curtain and they fixed it right away.
I waived housekeeping (opted for the points but I haven’t seen them yet), but I used the Bonvoy app to ask for towels and sheets a couple of times. It was so easy and efficient!
We only ate at Picabu but the nachos were amazing! It was pricey but not more so than any other area resort restaurant, and I would say that the quality was better than the Disney resort quick services. The people who worked there too were so friendly and welcoming!
The pool was huge yet nice and relaxing!
They had Christmas music playing and it was so fun and festive! My heart was full of Christmas Spirit!
The location can not be beat! We wound up scrapping some fast passes and plans to hang out on the boardwalk and explore the lobbies of the neighboring hotels. That is not our typical touring style at all, so it says a lot about the location that we didn’t that. So fun and relaxing! The friendship boats are super easy and the drivers on there were entertaining.

A few imperfections I’ll note...none of these are cause not to stay there by any means, just figured I’d list what would make it absolute perfection...
-The WiFi was spotty especially in the conference facilities which I found surprising
- the full sized beds were a bit to get used to
- some of the signage isn’t great so it was easy to get lost
- the bathroom door is a pain like most hotels. You had to bathe with it open in order to be able to get in and out and of the shower
Again, none of these are true “Cons” to the resort. Just imperfections that I noted.

Overall, I was so happy with our stay and can’t wait to go back! I’m having major withdrawal now back at work.

I even got a message from lost and found that we left something in the room (idk what it is yet), but I thought that was such a thoughtful touch!
We also just got back from a 5 night stay at the Dolphin. Me and my wife had a beautiful time.
 


Small footprint, yes. But how high is it going to go?
From the photos I've seen it appears to be a 10 story building, the Swan is 12 and I think the Dolphin is to, though looks taller.
The-Cove-FP.jpg
 


From the photos I've seen it appears to be a 10 story building, the Swan is 12 and I think the Dolphin is to, though looks taller.
The-Cove-FP.jpg


Thanks for the info. I hadn't heard how many floors it was going to be. So yeah, I'm surprised by the small size also.
 
@dansdad you bet and who knows if 10 is correct or not. At 349 rooms its about half the size of the Swan at 758 and Dolphin at 1509. My gut says its going to be more of an Executive Conference hotel, not meant for huge groups like S/D. The article I read says this will give them some 2,600 rooms between the three. I'm curious how accomdating they will be to tourists, walking to DHS or Epcot isn't bad, but will they have Disney buses or will guests walk to the Swan. Hmmm time will tell.
 
Ten to twelve floors seems reasonable. I doubt it will be any taller than the Swan. It's likely that Disney set pretty strict height requirements due to sight lines for Epcot & DHS (Disney has architecture and design approval as part of their agreement to lease the land to the Tishman Group)
 
We are just back from a five night stay at Dolphin as well!

Room:
Ended up on fifth floor, east wing with a balcony, on one of the wings that juts out. Even though we were close to the big tower, we had a nice west-facing view of the walkway to the boat and could see the Tower of Terror and HS nightly fireworks. Sun was hot on the balcony in the PM. We had booked a king room, but took a double since it was ready for early checkin. This was perfectly fine for us, 2 adults, and toddler in a crib near the door and bathroom.

Boats and buses:
Never had to wait long for a boat! We walked to HS once, and beat the boat by a hair at a very leisurely pace. Walked to EPCOT and always beat it. 🙂
MK bus line in the mornings was not our friend. 8:15 for 9am opening. Picks up at Swan first. We weren’t serious ripe droppers this trip, but used Uber one day instead of bus.

Our experience with a toddler here.:
I don’t think I’d bring him back for a long stay here until he’s older. I prefer the Disney hotel playgrounds and grounds where there is space to play outside without getting all sandy, and the playground at swan/dolphin is too tall for a two year old to play freely on. (Too cold for the pool for us this time around.)
I brought in and cleaned the balcony table, which gave him a nice kid-sized table to use. It tucked under the desk when not in use.
He’s ~36” and slept comfortably in the crib, which we tucked in the entryway near the bathroom.

Getting around:
As a previous poster mentioned, it is easy to get lost in the Dolphin! Whoever designed it didn’t make it user friendly, and there’s no interior map provided. This was our second stay, and we are still figuring it out. A few tips (some mentioned in this thread before):
-take any elevator down to 1 to reach the boats easily
-west wing more convenient to pool, laundry, buses, quick service
-escalator near Picabu goes up to buses
-path behind pool to buses
-cut through the back of Fuel from lobby to go out to buses
-from East elevator, turn towards the spa and follow hallway to lobby for quicker path to escalators

Food:
Picabu for breakfast and paid $9 for a waffle with a AAA discount. That included their silly 10% service fee.
Fuel for carry out lunch, included a really good chef salad and PBJ bagel about $14, with AAA discount.
Fountain for dinner. Food was very good! soup, kids meal, BLT chicken sandwich & banana split. We walked up and were seated immediately. $45, w AAA discount.

Overall, a very good stay. Aside from our need for more small-kid-friendly space. We had a great price from Hotwire, and as you all know, that location can’t be beat.
 
Last edited:
Hello all! I’m sorry if this has been asked and answered but I didn’t see it in the thread. Does anyone know if five people (three adults and two small kids) can stay in one room at the Swan and/or Dolphin? Thanks!
 
Hello all! I’m sorry if this has been asked and answered but I didn’t see it in the thread. Does anyone know if five people (three adults and two small kids) can stay in one room at the Swan and/or Dolphin? Thanks!
The maximum occupancy at the Swan is 4. The Dolphin rooms have 2 double beds plus you could get a roll away I think. By little kids do you mean infants, toddlers etc?
 
Well here is my trip review of the Swan from 11/20-25.
Our room was not ready but we arrived really early. My off-site wheelchair was waiting and available from bell services.

I cashed in some of dh ff points for the room and we had to pay the resort fees. It's getting really hard to find room availability at the Swan using the points. The Dolphin usually has rooms but it's hard for me to navigate there.

Our room was on the 7th floor, East Wing, Resort view, no balcony. You can really hear through the walls. Mama potty and mama was heard alot and I am sure they enjoyed ds and I telling dh to go in the lobby to do work.

I like the remodeled space with the gift shop and Java Bar. Really didn't see anyone at Chill. How does this spot stay open? I missed the character breakfast on the week end. Ds was so happy he could get Mickey waffles at the Java Bar to go. There were three in a little white box. Dh said the coffee at Fuel was coffee flavored water and Java's was much better. The blueberry muffin at the Boardwalk bakery was much better than Java.

No problems with busses or boats.
There was a convention group of medically fragile kids when we were there. Ds, the nurse, of course says I could help them etc. He saw one child and explained equipment he saw at bell services. Hmm, guess that part of him is never on vacation. I heard some guy said they had 6 busses for them early in the morning. Don't know how much of that was true.

We spent 3 days at Food and Wine, did the Christmas party, checked out Star Wars and the gondolas. We usually go later so we missed the Candlelight Processional but the weather was great.

Only problems were one day we didn't get water bottles and they took forever to find our luggage when we were leaving. You already read my chocolate Santa comments.

Overall it was a good stay.
 
Thanks so much! I have a ten year old and a six year old, so we can squeeze!

It's more of a fire/occupancy issue. I would suggest grabbing a Double premium at the Dolphin. Two double beds and then a pullout sofa bed and a little extra room.
 
Upgrade question:

Received an email from the Dolphin on my upcoming reservation about Upgrading my stay. I clicked on the Upgrade link for curiosity's sake but just takes me to a screen that says Available Upgrades space and then my booking confirmation. Nothing to click/add/etc. Assuming this means there is nothing and this is an autogenerated email? Not sure what I could upgrade to as I have a King premium studio but I wouldn't turn down a full 1 bed :)
 
Hi. Planning on booking the dolphin for the week after Easter. Never stayed there before. Some questions:

Any suggestions for room locations to request? We have a 10 year old and 6 year old.

This will be our first time not renting a car. How is the bus service?

Any recommendations on the best way to get to dolphin from airport?
 
During the early summer how crowded does the pool at S/D get? Last early June we were at YC/BC and the pool was a zoo (even early in the day)
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top