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

[michashell]

I have a question about walking from the Swan to DHS. I know that in the introduction of this board that it says "The walking path begins directly behind the Boardwalk's Atlantic Dance Hall and continues to the DHS Parking lot. This is about a 15 to 20 minute walk." Looking at google maps and map my run, it looks like there is another path that begins at the Swan and is parallel to the Boardwalk path. You could then pick up the Boardwalk path before the overpass (Buena Vista Dr). Is this correct? Or is the only walk to walk to DHS from the Swan is via the path that starts at the Boardwalk? Thanks!

 

[SteveH]

@michashell I'm pretty sure you wan walk down from the Swan and cross over at East Buena Vista Drive. At at least from Google Maps it shows a walking path. Hopefully somebody can confirm it.

 

[Tess]

@michashell I'm pretty sure you wan walk down from the Swan and cross over at East Buena Vista Drive. At at least from Google Maps it shows a walking path. Hopefully somebody can confirm it.

Yes, you can walk that way but it is more direct to begin the walk from behind Atlantic Dance.

 

[CarolinaBlue99]

Yes, you can walk that way but it is more direct to begin the walk from behind Atlantic Dance.

We walked it from behind Atlantic Dance, and it was really easy - both during the day and at night after the Star Wars fireworks show. We didn't try it the other way since the first way was so obvious. This was in March 2018, so I'm not sure if there's been any changes with construction.

 

[shoreward]

Costco has 4 day "Hot Buy" for Swan and Dolphin. Offer only valid 04/22/19-04/25/19. Offer includes the following extras:

• Upgrade to Swan Balcony Room (savings reflected in price)
• $100 Resort credit (per room, per stay)
• Kids ages 3-9 eat free (up to two children per room) from the children's menu at Garden Grove (breakfast, lunch and dinner) or Fresh Mediterranean Market (breakfast and lunch) restaurants with a paying adult
• 5-Day Disney Theme Park Tickets with Park Hopper®
• Daily resort fee
  
• All applicable taxes
• Disney FastPass + service available 60 days in advance

https://www.costcotravel.com/Vacation-Packages/Offers/FLAMCOSADWDW20190411HB

 

[SteveH]

@shoreward thanks that's a pretty decent deal with tickets and all. Hopefully I'll see a deal like that for next February

 

[chris benton]

Keep watching, SteveH. This deal is valid for travel up to end of Sept. They have offers that pop up like this from time to time. Sometimes, Costco has flight rebates that would qualify for this. I JUST missed an extra 300.00 flight rebate from United on a Swolphin pkg last fall by one day because we were trying to decide to commit. We waffled one day, and the flight rebate was sold. Big Costco travel fan here. No hidden fees, easy as pie. Prices are right in front of you, and you can modify a decent amt of stuff. Their rental car pricing grid is pretty nice too. Some things cannot be modified on the site, but their travel agents are pretty slick and helpful.

 

[SteveH]

Thanks @chris benton I agree. We used Costco Travel last year, easy to work with them. Price beat the best deal I could find on my own. I'm excited to stay at POFQ next year but I wouldn't turn down a deal to stay at Swan again, location is hard to beat for the price. We used them for renting our car to get from Swan to St. Pete, far below the others out there.

 

[Luisfba]

A question about S/D reservations, given it's a Marriott reservation and not a WDW resort.

I am planning a 5 day trip but unsure which 5 days (Sunday through Friday or Monday through Saturday).

I was thinking I could book a Sunday through Saturday reservation and then change it by dropping 1 day. I know that's something I cannot really do on the WDW resorts - as on the WDW resorts, if I change my length of stay (reduce days) - I pretty much have to book a new reservation (no option to change it). Thus, if sold out, I may not have the option to change to a shorter reservation. Does that hold true for S/D or am I able to change the length of stay for the room I have picked even if there are no other rooms left of the same type?

Also, another option is I can book one reservation and an extra day before and one after as two separate reservations. If I do that, will the hotel or Marriott be able to combine them later and/or at least guarantee I would stay in the same room?

Thanks

 

[SteveH]

@Luisfba
You're right it's an issue with Disney but it shouldn't (key word shouldn't) be at issue at SD. However, as none of us work there I'd suggest calling S/D direct, ask for in-house reservations. Don't call the toll free # as that will route you to the Marriott call center, use 407.934.4000 instead.

Same goes for your second question. However, just because you book another night doesn't mean that same room is available, this is probably more of an issue if it's close to your trip date or if occupancy is high. Again, the folks at S/D can give you details.

I think you stand a better chance of success dropping a day vs adding a day.

 

[jcvalenti]

They may not put the actual deposit charge through immediately. I have booked a couple of reservations recently in which the deposit wasn't charged in advance but it all reconciled on my room folio, and the entire room rate was charged at the time of the stay. I booked less than a few weeks out, however.

We just booked a 3 night stay in early October via marriott.com (using AAA rates). The site pretty clearly suggested that while the room was fully refundable until right near arrival date, that we would be charged almost the whole room charge up front. It's been 2 weeks and so far, nothing has hit my Credit Card - not even 1st night stay. Weird. The reservation is definitely in the system at Marriott, and linked right up with our MDE.

 

[jcconn]

I know that check out is at 11 and that you can pay extra for late check out. But my question is can you leave bags at the front desk? Our flight leaves at 3pm so I know I could stay in the parks until 12 but is there a place a could put my bag with out paying for late check out?

 

[hedberg1661]

I know that check out is at 11 and that you can pay extra for late check out. But my question is can you leave bags at the front desk? Our flight leaves at 3pm so I know I could stay in the parks until 12 but is there a place a could put my bag with out paying for late check out?

Yep you can leave your bags at bell services. Most any hotel anywhere will do that nowadays.

 

[SteveH]

I know that check out is at 11 and that you can pay extra for late check out. But my question is can you leave bags at the front desk? Our flight leaves at 3pm so I know I could stay in the parks until 12 but is there a place a could put my bag with out paying for late check out?

Yes Bell Services can do that for you, just take your bags down stairs when you check out and leave them with Bell Services.

 

[pattyw]

We just booked a 3 night stay in early October via marriott.com (using AAA rates). The site pretty clearly suggested that while the room was fully refundable until right near arrival date, that we would be charged almost the whole room charge up front. It's been 2 weeks and so far, nothing has hit my Credit Card - not even 1st night stay. Weird. The reservation is definitely in the system at Marriott, and linked right up with our MDE.

Same here- I booked the AAA rate on the Marriott website yesterday, too and haven't seen even a pending charge on my credit card (Marriott card). Usually a deposit shows up as a pending charge almost immediately. I guess I won't worry if I don't see a charge- yours has been two weeks and nothing.

 

[JJ2017]

p

We have a 2 night stay in about 2 weeks at Dolphin. I am platinum for probably the first and last time and have been debating trying the suite upgrade certificates. I really have zero plans for them right now so I feel like, why not?

please report back if it was successful. we are going to try for this in november, but we have a special room configuration (alcove connected to double standard) and i am worried that an upgrade might mess with our reservation.

 

[amalone1013]

p

please report back if it was successful. we are going to try for this in november, but we have a special room configuration (alcove connected to double standard) and i am worried that an upgrade might mess with our reservation.

We ended up getting upgraded. I got to pick from a list and went with all of the fireworks view room options and got an email that we are getting a double room with a balcony fireworks view.

 

[JJ2017]

We ended up getting upgraded. I got to pick from a list and went with all of the fireworks view room options and got an email that we are getting a double room with a balcony fireworks view.

Lucky you! At what point in time before your trip did you apply for the Suite Night Award? I just want to be able to "deny" the upgrade if it doesn't give us the two separated rooms with true separate sleeping spaces.

 

[jennypenny]

Back from our Easter trip. It was much less crowded than we expected (maybe a fluke?). I wasn't able to get much out of the staff about Bonvoy-related changes. 'Everything's the same, but better' yada yada. They screwed up our parking bill and it's still not fixed (only had a car for one night and they charged us parking for all nights of our trip). Pro tip -- don't charge the parking to your room in a similar situation because it automatically charges for every night, use your CC.

Rented a car both ways which is easy. Got a Titanium upgrade to a balcony room facing the walkway between the resorts. We hadn't requested an upgrade, mostly because we didn't hear from the concierge before our trip. We normally get an email a few days before so I'm hoping they were just too busy and they are not doing away with that step. It's been very helpful in the past.

Someone asked for a picture of the breakfast voucher. You can find it here https://www.flickr.com/photos/108113208@N06/40746462223/ .

Housekeeping was better than usual. Garden Grove was less interested than usual in helping me find gluten free items. Picabu is better (more diligent) with GF if that's an issue for you. The new lobby looks great, can't wait for the new coffee shop and gift shop to open. Still don't understand why you can't get coffee in every disney hotel before 6am lol.

Misc: Had a lovely afternoon watching soccer in ESPN. Tried the Nomad Lounge in AK and it was as good as advertised. Had a great meal at Raglan Road (note: even with a ressie you can wait 30 minutes for a table, but still worth it). Had a fun lunch in Germany, although the family seated with us was a little put off that they had to share a table with us and fled as soon as they were done eating. I thought it was funny since it's very hard to maintain personal space in a place like Disney that's wall to wall people, but whatever.

For GF people ... The stand just outside the restaurant in Germany has GF beer now, as does ESPN. Both restaurants are easy with plenty of options. Also good for GF ... American pavilion in Epcot, Raglan Road, Boardwalk Bakery, Picabu, England (R & C only, not available at Yorkshire), and almost anywhere in AK (FTBBQ was very disappointing quality-wise this trip however).

We're headed back at the end of June. It's our 30th anniversary this year and we went to WDW on our honeymoon, so we decided to treat ourselves to annual passes and take a few trips down with points/miles/etc. We'll be going again in the fall around our actual anniversary and then again the week after easter next year before our passes expire.

 

[jerseyjersey]

Experienced Swan/Dolphin guests, is it typical to announce full beach and pool closures at the last second? We walked into the lobby this morning to a sign that the entire beach area would be closed today, and all pools (save the Dolphin lap pool) will be closed for the entire day tomorrow. Tomorrow was our pool day (no FP scheduled), so this is really putting a crimp in our plans. I’m guessing having the entire contents of both resorts at one lap pool will be less than ideal.