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

[Dan Murphy]

Happy anniversary! My husband and I are heading to the Dolphin on Saturday to celebrate our 26th anniversary.

Enjoy your anniversary also, and many more to too!!!!

 

[chris benton]

Ok, Swolphin friends, a hopefully not too "muddy" question for fellow food loving people. I'm trying to figure out a few new places to try for the fam. If you are a "foodie," this ping might interest you. I hope you can follow my ramblings:

My issue is, overpaying for bad quality. I'm not a snob. I know hotel prices and Disney prices are premium, and I have no issue paying that premium if the quality matches. Examples at Swolphin:
Kimonos - easily worth it. IMO, Kimonos is a great value.

Fountain - a tad overpriced, but factoring in the "hotel premium," it's probably at the lower end of decent value. The food is fine, but it's just a pinch overpriced for what it is. Kimonos is a better value, imo.

Garden Grove breakfast buffet - sigh, overpriced as well, even with the hotel premium, imo.

Picabu - from what we've tried, it's a pretty good value. I really wanna get one of those "family" dinners next time. The tacos and the burgers were pretty decent. If they would throw in some cheap rice and beans on a taco dinner, I'd say it was a great value.

Outside of Swolphin:

Flame Tree BBQ: Fantastic value, imo. Decent, but not great bbq, very fair price. For theme park food, fantastic value.
Pecos Bills: Just plain gross. Quality is a -43 on a scale of 1-10.
Mama Melrose: Not too shabby for all of the ppl they are feeding.
Ample Hills: I don't even pay attention to their prices. Unless they start charging 20 bux a scoop, I'm on board with the fam ordering whatever they want, because then I get to try more.
BOG Breakfast: Absolute joke, but as a PPO, we know what it's for.
Tangierine Cafe - kinda "meh" but it could be way worse, I guess.

Ok, so all of that babbling leads to this question:

If I have to be away from Swolphin for a meal, are there any places on property that offer a better value than Swolphin restaurants - especially at Epcot? For this year's trip, we are planning to do a lot more at Epcot - we'll have hoppers, so we can saunter over there any time.

We'll only be there for 6 nights, with 5 day park tickets, and we love to eat inbetween park fun.
Kimonos is a definite (if they were open for lunch, we'd probably go three times in six days)
Flame Tree is a definite
Tusker House is a definite (character meal, don't judge.)
Hoop De Doo is a definite - it is what it is - it's for fun for the kid - (well...and for the parents,too.)

I'm considering Teppan Edo - it's not grossly more expensive than our teppan-yaki joints at home, and it should be "fun for the kid."

I'm looking for three or four more places that can hold their own vs the apparent quality/value of the Swolphin restaurants. Uniqueness also holds a bit of value - such as Teppan Edo. We are from Chicago, so the WDW food quality is lost on us for the most part, which is another reason I ask. We can get a lot of better ethnic food for far less, so I seek the spots that are pumping out decent quality stuff for the price. I might settle into Il Mulino if the quality value is on par with Kimonos. I hope this makes sense to the food-o-philes out there. I don't mind paying, but, it better be worth it. We'll also have to consider the GG seafood buffet. We have a 9yr old who will crack crab legs and lobsters as easily as he will saddle up to a sushi bar and scarf down whatever's in front of him.

 

[Mom*3]

Trying to get ahead of any MDE issue before they start. We booked 2 rooms at the Swan last night on Priceline Express for a December trip. Yay!
I'm assuming their system only has 2 registered guests in each room, since Priceline only guarantees double occupancy. I need 4 (3 adults - 1 child) in one room and 3 (adults) in the other.
We received 2 - 9 digit hotel confirmation numbers from Priceline. Before I even try putting them into MDE, I thought we should get the number of guests confirmed. What is the best way to do this? My husband is an SPG member, with a low amount of points. Should he call Starwood first? Call the Swan directly first? Can the Swan add his SPG number to the reservation?
So excited to try the Swan, we've been to the Dolphin twice! And, our first December trip!
Thanks for any advice you might have!

 

[patty57]

@chrisbenton
Totally agree that the food quality usually doesn't merit WDW prices, but you have to eat so...
Biergarten is a fun experience. It's set up with large tables, so you will most likely be eating with other people. It's a buffet, with decent food. It's the atmosphere that makes it worthwhile (to me at least). There is an oom-pah band that plays, (I think hourly?), and the restaurant looks as though you are in a German village. Lunch is less than dinner, but I think has a few less dishes.

Restaurant Marrakesh is another fun atmosphere with decent food. Music and belly dancer.

Not sure when you are going, but I enjoy some of the food booths at Epcot. They change with different events. Josh at easyWDW reviews the different food booths, which can be helpful.

I really enjoy Jiko. It's pricey, but the meals I have had there have been worth the money.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Trying to get ahead of any MDE issue before they start. We booked 2 rooms at the Swan last night on Priceline Express for a December trip. Yay!
I'm assuming their system only has 2 registered guests in each room, since Priceline only guarantees double occupancy. I need 4 (3 adults - 1 child) in one room and 3 (adults) in the other.
We received 2 - 9 digit hotel confirmation numbers from Priceline. Before I even try putting them into MDE, I thought we should get the number of guests confirmed. What is the best way to do this? My husband is an SPG member, with a low amount of points. Should he call Starwood first? Call the Swan directly first? Can the Swan add his SPG number to the reservation?
So excited to try the Swan, we've been to the Dolphin twice! And, our first December trip!
Thanks for any advice you might have!

I called the Swan direct to have my son added to ours.
(Of course MDE has since lost that reservation during this week’s meltdown But I have months before I need it so I’ll relink it when I know it’s working properly again.)

 

[Cinderumbrella]

@chris benton

Try Hollywood Brown Derby at lunch for good food. The pastrami BLT is delicious! They had a great ahi tuna appy too. All the food at Epcot is average to me so go for fun experiences (Biergarten, Teppan Edo).

 

[chris benton]

Don’t go through WDW yet. Call the resort and have them add him to your hotel reservation . Then in a couple days, refresh your plans to see if he shows up. If not, then call MDE IT and have them add him.

I waited for all of the "fanfare" to die down from the past few days. Called the Swan and they saw the issue pretty matter of fact-ly, added the kid. My reservation was missing from MDE today. I re-linked it, and was able to add the kid in like normal. Everything is still there - fp's adr's, etc. Hopefully we're all good. Gotta find the MB's and link em up next.

 

[Mom*3]

Thanks for the replies. Do you think that my 9-digit hotel confirmation numbers from Priceline will work in MDE? Or, does it need to be 12-digits?
I've read different number of digit requirements on several boards.
Thanks!

 

[SwanVT2]

Biergarten

Ok, Swolphin friends, a hopefully not too "muddy" question for fellow food loving people. I'm trying to figure out a few new places to try for the fam. If you are a "foodie," this ping might interest you. I hope you can follow my ramblings:

My issue is, overpaying for bad quality. I'm not a snob. I know hotel prices and Disney prices are premium, and I have no issue paying that premium if the quality matches. Examples at Swolphin:
Kimonos - easily worth it. IMO, Kimonos is a great value.

Fountain - a tad overpriced, but factoring in the "hotel premium," it's probably at the lower end of decent value. The food is fine, but it's just a pinch overpriced for what it is. Kimonos is a better value, imo.

Garden Grove breakfast buffet - sigh, overpriced as well, even with the hotel premium, imo.

Picabu - from what we've tried, it's a pretty good value. I really wanna get one of those "family" dinners next time. The tacos and the burgers were pretty decent. If they would throw in some cheap rice and beans on a taco dinner, I'd say it was a great value.

Outside of Swolphin:

Flame Tree BBQ: Fantastic value, imo. Decent, but not great bbq, very fair price. For theme park food, fantastic value.
Pecos Bills: Just plain gross. Quality is a -43 on a scale of 1-10.
Mama Melrose: Not too shabby for all of the ppl they are feeding.
Ample Hills: I don't even pay attention to their prices. Unless they start charging 20 bux a scoop, I'm on board with the fam ordering whatever they want, because then I get to try more.
BOG Breakfast: Absolute joke, but as a PPO, we know what it's for.
Tangierine Cafe - kinda "meh" but it could be way worse, I guess.

Ok, so all of that babbling leads to this question:

If I have to be away from Swolphin for a meal, are there any places on property that offer a better value than Swolphin restaurants - especially at Epcot? For this year's trip, we are planning to do a lot more at Epcot - we'll have hoppers, so we can saunter over there any time.

We'll only be there for 6 nights, with 5 day park tickets, and we love to eat inbetween park fun.
Kimonos is a definite (if they were open for lunch, we'd probably go three times in six days)
Flame Tree is a definite
Tusker House is a definite (character meal, don't judge.)
Hoop De Doo is a definite - it is what it is - it's for fun for the kid - (well...and for the parents,too.)

I'm considering Teppan Edo - it's not grossly more expensive than our teppan-yaki joints at home, and it should be "fun for the kid."

I'm looking for three or four more places that can hold their own vs the apparent quality/value of the Swolphin restaurants. Uniqueness also holds a bit of value - such as Teppan Edo. We are from Chicago, so the WDW food quality is lost on us for the most part, which is another reason I ask. We can get a lot of better ethnic food for far less, so I seek the spots that are pumping out decent quality stuff for the price. I might settle into Il Mulino if the quality value is on par with Kimonos. I hope this makes sense to the food-o-philes out there. I don't mind paying, but, it better be worth it. We'll also have to consider the GG seafood buffet. We have a 9yr old who will crack crab legs and lobsters as easily as he will saddle up to a sushi bar and scarf down whatever's in front of him.

Biergarten!

 

[SwanVT2]

Biergarten

Ok, Swolphin friends, a hopefully not too "muddy" question for fellow food loving people. I'm trying to figure out a few new places to try for the fam. If you are a "foodie," this ping might interest you. I hope you can follow my ramblings:

My issue is, overpaying for bad quality. I'm not a snob. I know hotel prices and Disney prices are premium, and I have no issue paying that premium if the quality matches. Examples at Swolphin:
Kimonos - easily worth it. IMO, Kimonos is a great value.

Fountain - a tad overpriced, but factoring in the "hotel premium," it's probably at the lower end of decent value. The food is fine, but it's just a pinch overpriced for what it is. Kimonos is a better value, imo.

Garden Grove breakfast buffet - sigh, overpriced as well, even with the hotel premium, imo.

Picabu - from what we've tried, it's a pretty good value. I really wanna get one of those "family" dinners next time. The tacos and the burgers were pretty decent. If they would throw in some cheap rice and beans on a taco dinner, I'd say it was a great value.

Outside of Swolphin:

Flame Tree BBQ: Fantastic value, imo. Decent, but not great bbq, very fair price. For theme park food, fantastic value.
Pecos Bills: Just plain gross. Quality is a -43 on a scale of 1-10.
Mama Melrose: Not too shabby for all of the ppl they are feeding.
Ample Hills: I don't even pay attention to their prices. Unless they start charging 20 bux a scoop, I'm on board with the fam ordering whatever they want, because then I get to try more.
BOG Breakfast: Absolute joke, but as a PPO, we know what it's for.
Tangierine Cafe - kinda "meh" but it could be way worse, I guess.

Ok, so all of that babbling leads to this question:

If I have to be away from Swolphin for a meal, are there any places on property that offer a better value than Swolphin restaurants - especially at Epcot? For this year's trip, we are planning to do a lot more at Epcot - we'll have hoppers, so we can saunter over there any time.

We'll only be there for 6 nights, with 5 day park tickets, and we love to eat inbetween park fun.
Kimonos is a definite (if they were open for lunch, we'd probably go three times in six days)
Flame Tree is a definite
Tusker House is a definite (character meal, don't judge.)
Hoop De Doo is a definite - it is what it is - it's for fun for the kid - (well...and for the parents,too.)

I'm considering Teppan Edo - it's not grossly more expensive than our teppan-yaki joints at home, and it should be "fun for the kid."

I'm looking for three or four more places that can hold their own vs the apparent quality/value of the Swolphin restaurants. Uniqueness also holds a bit of value - such as Teppan Edo. We are from Chicago, so the WDW food quality is lost on us for the most part, which is another reason I ask. We can get a lot of better ethnic food for far less, so I seek the spots that are pumping out decent quality stuff for the price. I might settle into Il Mulino if the quality value is on par with Kimonos. I hope this makes sense to the food-o-philes out there. I don't mind paying, but, it better be worth it. We'll also have to consider the GG seafood buffet. We have a 9yr old who will crack crab legs and lobsters as easily as he will saddle up to a sushi bar and scarf down whatever's in front of him.

Biergarten!

 

[Tess]

Thanks for the replies. Do you think that my 9-digit hotel confirmation numbers from Priceline will work in MDE? Or, does it need to be 12-digits?
I've read different number of digit requirements on several boards.
Thanks!

I could be wrong because I have never stayed at Swolphin with Priceline (although we have used a conference reservation and the number from the conference would not work--had to get the number from Dolphin guest services), but I believe you need to get the confirmation number from Swolphin to link. They will probably need to add the correct number of guests as well so you can link with Friends/Family on MDE.

 

[chris benton]

Biergarten?!?!?
Just goes to show ya...
I always thought BIergarten wouldn't be for me - not a major fan of salty sausages or pickled stuff (just my thought of what German food would entail)
I youtubed a review, and if we were able to see the guy playing the bells, that might be worth it by itself!

 

[pepperandchips]

If I have to be away from Swolphin for a meal, are there any places on property that offer a better value than Swolphin restaurants - especially at Epcot?

I can't think of any but I've been burned so perhaps it's that I'm gun-shy. Would never return to San Angel Inn (inside Mexico pavilion) and it would take a lot to persuade me to drop the $$$ on La Hacienda de San Angel (waterside). Food was okay to bad at both places and prices are high. Le Cellier food was delicious but we had it on our one and only dining plan experience - couldn't justify it otherwise unless we were just having appetizers as meals.

That said, I agree with other posters that sometimes I'll swallow the value issue in favor of a fun experience. We've always enjoyed the pizza at Via Napoli (but find anything other than pizza to be mediocre and/or a rip off). For breakfast, especially coming in through IG, we love Les Halles boulangerie in the France pavilion. It's fun to try all their sandwiches and snacks during the quiet breakfast hours when the sunlight glows on the building facades. Most guests don't know it's even open as the rest of WS doesn't open until 11 so it's nice to enjoy a quiet pavilion with yummy sandwiches in the $5-8 range. We love the bacon roll and the poulet au pistou.

I might settle into Il Mulino if the quality value is on par with Kimonos.

I'm an Il Mulino evangelist, as I think it's the best Italian at WDW. You can order half portions of most dishes (unadvertised, ask your server) which is still plenty of food and keeps us from tossing out leftovers later in the trip. Their meatballs are heavenly and the rigatoni con funghi is one of my favorite dishes anywhere. I haven't had kimonos yet so I can't compare, but I would gladly go to Il Mulino if it was in my home city. That's about the highest praise I can think of.

 

[chris benton]

Everything in pepperandchips' previous post.

Ahem...

YAAAASSSSSS!
This is just awesome Intel. I owe you one! I'll freakin stick with Swolphin restaurants where I can, but I know there's quality out there. That Il mulino intel is awesome!

 

[jennab]

Had anyone used the kids club at the Dolphin? Looking for opinions and reviews!

 

[Babsy]

Anyone stayed in a 2 bedroom suite at the Dolphin?

Considering it for a short stay in Dec instead of just booking two rooms that may, or may not, have a connecting door. I am interested in if there are thermostats in each bedroom, what the layout is like, number of bathrooms, options re views, etc.

Any opinions or pictures welcomed!!

Thank you everyone!

 

[Donald Duck888]

Would never return to San Angel Inn (inside Mexico pavilion)

I agree went there this past summer and could barely eat what i ordered. They took the only thing i really liked off the menu so i figured i would try something new. well now i know not to try that again.

Also on a semi related note we were dissapointed in Rose and Crown this last trip too. Used to love their Fish and Chips but this last time they were no where near as good. Perhaps it was the change from Cod to Tilapia that i read they had made.

I'm an Il Mulino evangelist

We almost went there this past trip, think i may have to try it this upcoming January.

Now i just need to decide whether we stay at Swan/Dolphin or pay a few hundred more to sty at a Disney owned property.

 

[pepperandchips]

My phone isn't cooperating with quotes this morning @Donald Duck888 but that is disappointing to hear about Rose & Crown! We still haven't eaten there... as I alluded to with my response to Chris, there are certain experiences which seem so fun that I can look past on the cost, pub food is not one of them but we do love popping in for a beverage.

We have the luxury of being in driving distance so the "official" WDW hotels don't have much added benefit for us, especially as childless adults. I like Disney theming but I prefer the heavenly beds to in-room theming. And, since we rarely need Magical Express, Swan/Dolphin's value pulls us in again and again.

We are trying the Towneplace Suites at Flamingo Crossings on our October trip. I know I'll miss the proximity to Epcot but at less than $67 per night all in (no parking fee, no resort fee), we're testing our feet in the broader Marriott waters...

 

[Babsy]

Had anyone used the kids club at the Dolphin? Looking for opinions and reviews!

My DGD's (ages 7 and 5) love Camp Dolphin. DS and DDIL use it almost every trip to WDW. (every time when staying at Dolphin)

 

[jennab]

My DGD's (ages 7 and 5) love Camp Dolphin. DS and DDIL use it almost every trip to WDW. (every time when staying at Dolphin)

Thanks for the response! We are staying at Boardwalk Villas and want to do a date night in Epcot but the new Pixar kid club at CR seems more like a pain so was thinking the Dolphin one would be much more convenient! What did your kids like about it? Our son will be almost 7 at the time.