Swan and dolphin???

[kimysbug]

I know they are not owned by Disney , and I'm worried staying there.

Besides no magical express
No using room key as park ticket
No room delivery of packages


What are the good and bad staying there.

I hear they have discounts for
Teachers
Nurses
Police officers
Firefighters
Is this true? Are there other discounts?

Which would you choose?

Are there different views?

If you stay there and NOT rent a car, how do you get there? Limo? Meers?

Thank you!!!

 

[TrentzMom]

I am also interested in hearing the answers to some of these questions. I am a teacher, and have looked into the discount. However, even with the discount you have to include parking fees and resort fees...it just doesn't sound like much of a deal to me. I guess the real advantage is it's cheaper than the other EP resorts and, after walking through the hotel last summer, it is very luxurious.

 

[Marthasor]

The Swan and Dolphin are fabulous! I stayed there last year using a combination of discounts and ended up with 3 nights for the cost of 1 night at the Boardwalk!

We used ****** Transportation to get to the resort - it was about $100 round trip plus tip, but Mears also runs a shared shuttle service. Yes, you need to add on the resort fee (and parking fee if you are bringing a car) to get your total price.

Swan and Dolphin have some fabulous restaurants and used Disney transportation (except ME).

We loved it - it was like staying Deluxe at mod prices. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there. Check out the Swan/Dolphin thread on the Dis Boards for more info and if you do stay, register for SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) - you get a free one category room upgrade if you are a member!

 

[Tege]

I know they are not owned by Disney , and I'm worried staying there.

Besides no magical express
No using room key as park ticket
No room delivery of packages

Thank you!!!

Actually you do get packages delivered to your resort. Also on weekends they have a charcater breakfast buffet at the Graden Grove restaurant. We will be staying there for the first time in October (using Starwoods pts so free) and plan to use T******Towncars for our travel to and from the hotel. I read some really great things about this service on DIS. They will also make one stop at a local grocery store for you.

It's a very pretty place and I'm hoping we enjoy it.

 

[kimysbug]

Thank you

We are thinking about it

 

[jade1]

Disney diehards but have filled in missing nights here and there, and extended stays at S&D and its been great.

We walked out of the Dolphin with our bags, they waved a a shuttle up (you can schedule ahead the night before if you want) and it was $65 plus tip to MCO for 5 of us. I would assume the same coming from MCO.

Plus ME is 3 hours early-we left at 2 hours and got to MCO in under 30 minutes. Still had time for sit down dinner at Outback near our gate.

The hotel was very nice, beds were great, room was clean. View below zoomed was awesome.

Having a food court was really nice-I think it was 24 hours even. Shula's was really good-spendy though.

Just being on the Boardwalk for $189 AAA was great, boats stop there as well to EPCOT and DHS.

Its moved ahead of all Disney Values and Mods for us, and many Deluxes (OKW, SSR, AKL) as we prefer the location.

 

[NancyIL]

Merchandise purchased at the theme parks is delivered to gift shops at the Swan and Dolphin, and not directly to your room.

There's a thread devoted to the Swan and Dolphin: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2904771. The Swan is my resort of choice.

 

[rteetz]

I know they are not owned by Disney , and I'm worried staying there.

Besides no magical express
No using room key as park ticket
No room delivery of packages

What are the good and bad staying there.

I hear they have discounts for
Teachers
Nurses
Police officers
Firefighters
Is this true? Are there other discounts?

Which would you choose?

Are there different views?

If you stay there and NOT rent a car, how do you get there? Limo? Meers?

Thank you!!!

We stayed there this past summer in 2012. We had a good time but we did experience some problems. You do have to find transportation to and from the airport we did the meers shuttle and you have to pay for both ways per person in your group we had one full tight van! They do have discounts for teachers and etc. the hotel in general doesn't have that disney feel if your looking for that and we were so we lost out on that. Our room was nice the view not so much, they do have different views we just had a standard. A standard got us the back side of the waterfall on the back of the hotel where we couldn't see much then. One more point about transportation definitely don't rent a car they charge for parking per day. They also charge you per day a resort fee for two bottles of water and it covers your wifi. You have to pay that fee! It's a convention hotel so watch out for large conventions we had a few during our stay they rented out the pool area and stuff which may it hard to get to the pool when we wanted. The pools weren't cleaned very often and most of the time ducks were swimming and pooping in the pools. Disney does have the buses to and from the parks that go to the hotels as well as boat transportation to Epcot and DHS. It's really a beautiful hotel but it just wasnt for us and we won't be staying there again. We are huge disney people and we want that disney feel the dolphin and swan don't give you that disney resort feel.

 

[Li Li]

We loved the Dolphin! Stayed in Sept. 2012. Booked through Costco which guaranteed a theme park view and 100.00 resort credit. Had a view of Epcot and DHS ToT. Loved all the different restaurant options between Swan/Dolphin and all the nearby Boardwalk restaurants. Loved being able to walk to Epcot or DHS.
Like others, we used a towncar from airport with complimentary grocery stop which was great. I agree that they had one event which closed the "beach" area for private party but no big deal to me. I guess that may be luck of the draw.

 

[Li Li]

Sorry, also package delivery to resort gift shop was easy and convenient! Separate tickets from room key actually helped us for some reason because they were strangely funneling all Disney resort people into one long, backed up line and we went straight to the entrance. But this was pre-magic band testing!

 

[L&Lfan]

Stayed at the Dolphin for seven nights in October 2011 and we had a blast. We had an "Illuminations" view where we could see most of the fireworks. The beds are glorious!

 

[NancyIL]

I don't need Disney decor to get the "Disney feel" when I stay at the Swan or Dolphin. I walk out the front door and I KNOW I am at Disney World.

One thing I don't see mentioned often is that Starwood Preferred Guest members earn points for their hotel stay, at a minimum of 2 points per dollar spent (excluding taxes). You can also earn 500 points (or a $5 F&B credit) for each night you make a green choice and refuse housekeeping (up to 3 nights in a row, then repeat). You can use SPG points for free hotel nights, or they can be transferred to an airline's frequent-flyer program - usually on a 1:1 basis. I don't fly enough to earn a lot of FF miles. However, between my Starwood American Express card and my Starwood hotel stays - I have added quite a few miles to my airline's FF program.

From the Swan and Dolphins FAQ:

The resort service fee at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort has been increased to $17 +tax from April 1 2013. The service fee includes:

Unlimited domestic long distance and local calls
Unlimited access to the resorts health club facilities
In room high-speed Internet access
2 bottles of water daily

As a Gold Starwood member, one of my amenity options is free internet. Since that is part of the daily resort fee - I don't pay the resort fee!

Last summer my 2 kids and I used a town car service between the airport and the Swan for about the same price as 3 people on Mears, and the town car was much more efficient. Another option is a one-way car rental from the airport to the Dolphin (and the reverse) with National, Alamo, or Enterprise.

 

[jperrot1]

We stayed at the Swan 2 years ago. I felt every moment we were in Disney, but my wife didn't get the Disney feeling from the Hotel. We did their character dinner and we all thought it was great! Rooms were upscale to me. We always enjoyed walking around the Epcot Resort area. I really like walking over to Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club. I think their ice cream is the best in the world. The AAA discount was better than the teacher and corporation discounts, and it was about the same price as a moderate with a discount. So, you're getting a deluxe for a moderate price. Don't forget to factor in the daily resort fee (and parking fee if you have a car). You'll have use of a fitness room which is important to me. The pool is fabulous.

 

[Babsy]

We LOVE the Swan and Dolphin !! Great value and location for the price of a moderate! We definitely feel that we are in Disney while we are there. Perhaps the over the top theming isn't always necessary for us. (Although I do love WDW resorts.) We love the comfortable beds and that you can book guaranteed connecting rooms and fireworks views. Disney usually comes through, but the uncertainty of connecting rooms worries me when they are needed. Plus, a pool view is not the same as watching Epcot fireworks from your balcony. With Disney you may be lucky or you may not be lucky. With the Swan/Dolphin you can be sure!

As for transportation - we find that the Swan Dolphin works fine for us. The savings staying at this resort more than offsets the cost of a shuttle or even a towncar/limo service. Finally ME is not always convenient.
We actually are staying in WDW resorts in Nov and are NOT using ME. We are arriving late with little ones at MCO and are leaving in the wee hours of the morning. An extra couple of hours sleep each way is worth the cost of a limo service for us!!

If you decide to try the Swan and Dolphin, it is very likely that you will be impressed. It isn't for everyone, but nothing is. Look at some pics online to see if it appeals to you.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[kimysbug]

I brink it's time to try them

 

[Robbi]

OP, if you want to stay deluxe and pay mod prices, then the S/D are great Even with the parking fees/resort fees, they're cheaper with the discounts.

17 Restaurants and Lounges plus all of Epcot restaurants
Heavenly beds
Tv choices- we like to kick back with room service and a movie.
Walk to both Epcot and DHS or take the Friendship boats
If a theme park view is wanted, you can book it, however, walk out the door and you see the Boardwalk, Beach/Yacht Club.
Both have nice gift shops.
Package delivery to resort gift shop.
Disney bus service
EMH

 

[Arsenal1982]

I'm curious about the Dolphin. I've stayed there several times and have always had a good time. Yes, there is absolutely zero Disney ambiance, but once you walk outside, there is.

I guess my question is this: Why is the Trip Advisor ranking so low for this property? It seems everyone on this thread had a good experience and I have too, yet the ranking is low (lowest ranked hotel in Disney World) according to TA.

 

[binkblum]

We are DVC members yet we are staying at the Dolphin with a 2 year old and 6 month old. We are used to the full kitchen, laundry machines, etc. Am I nervous because we aren't going "home" this trip?