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

[SteveH]

@denman007 if you're booked with Disney give them a call see if you can book with the Swan still. I haven't switched right now but others here have and they should have some advice.

 

[Donald Duck888]

Does the Swan Reserve also have the same early entry and 7am LL perks that the Disney resorts and the Swan + Dolphin do? Also is it or the Swan or Dolphin considered a Deluxe resort so as to be able to use the extra evening hours?

Thanks.

 

[CBMom01]

Does the Swan Reserve also have the same early entry and 7am LL perks that the Disney resorts and the Swan + Dolphin do? Also is it or the Swan or Dolphin considered a Deluxe resort so as to be able to use the extra evening hours?

Thanks.

Yes

 

[JJ2017]

I'm coming back! So super excited. Just switched over from Coronado for Princess weekend to help make spectating easier for my friend who decided to join me last minute! Bonvoy members - has anyone had success being automatically upgraded with Platinum Elite status or have secured an upgrade using Suite Night Awards? We have never had luck in the past, just wondering if anything has changed since we were last there in 2019. Thanks!

 

[Tinkershell722]

Does the Swan Reserve also have the same early entry and 7am LL perks that the Disney resorts and the Swan + Dolphin do? Also is it or the Swan or Dolphin considered a Deluxe resort so as to be able to use the extra evening hours?

Thanks.

All the are considered deluxe for the extra evening hours.

 

[sghokie]

All the are considered deluxe for the extra evening hours.

From my experience, the Epcot after hours is not worth it, but the MK after hours is pretty good.
Things are so far apart in Epcot that you'll not really be able to do a lot during the 2 hours.
The MK after hours are good though.

 

[SteveH]

I'm coming back! So super excited. Just switched over from Coronado for Princess weekend to help make spectating easier for my friend who decided to join me last minute! Bonvoy members - has anyone had success being automatically upgraded with Platinum Elite status or have secured an upgrade using Suite Night Awards? We have never had luck in the past, just wondering if anything has changed since we were last there in 2019. Thanks!

It's really hit or miss from what I've read, you might have better luck at the Reserve. One Marriott group the general consensus is you won't be able to use the SNAs booking but you seem to stand a better chance asking when you check-in. The problem is like with using Bonvoy points is the hotel doesn't get fully paid but only a portion. As popular as S/D is they are going to try to sell the rooms vs give them out, thus why asking when you check-in seems to work better since if the room isn't booked its easier to get it with SNA.

 

[Dan Murphy]

A possible reason for the bus situation as it is at S/D/R.


Roles in culinary, housekeeping, custodial, and bus transportation remain challenging to fill. Disney is offering sign-on bonuses as high as $1500 for chef assistant roles, with numerous other positions offering $1000 bonuses.

 

[blrem]

I'm coming back! So super excited. Just switched over from Coronado for Princess weekend to help make spectating easier for my friend who decided to join me last minute! Bonvoy members - has anyone had success being automatically upgraded with Platinum Elite status or have secured an upgrade using Suite Night Awards? We have never had luck in the past, just wondering if anything has changed since we were last there in 2019. Thanks!

We were upgraded at the Swan in November of this year and currently (Dec). In November we were upgraded from a regular 2 queen room to a "resort view". This trip (here now) we were upgraded from a regular 2 queen room to a resort view with balcony! Each time they acknowledged my platinum membership and then offered the upgrade without me even asking. I find Marriott in general is very good about upgrades at most hotels and the Swan has been no exception. I did ask if it was possible to see the fireworks and was told very few rooms have that access at the Swan but still the check-in host took a minute to see if any were open - they were not. We are very happy with our balcony room and enjoy sitting out each night overlooking the holiday trees between the Swan and Dolphin and watching the light show to holiday music. Good luck!

 

[AussieFan8]

I just wanted to say I'm so thankful for all of the information here! My daughter and I absolutely love Wilderness Lodge and that is where we usually stay, but we're planning a trip for her 21st birthday next year during the holidays and I've decided I'm not willing to pay the crazy holiday rates again for Wilderness Lodge. So it will be our first time trying Swan/Dolphin - we will likely reserve a Dolphin room with a balcony. I'm worried we will miss Wilderness Lodge, but from what I can tell, the Dolphin is also very pretty at the holidays, and it will be nice to be able to walk to two parks! (We stayed at Beach Club once and loved that.) One of the things I love about Wilderness Lodge is sitting outside at breakfast and looking out over the lake. Are there good places to do that at or near the Dolphin? I'd also love to hear any thoughts about Dolphin at the holidays. My only other worry about switching to Dolphin is the issue people are having with Genie+ and their reservation dropping off. I sure hope that's fixed by next year!

 

[CJN]

I thought I’d post this because we don’t often have info here for specific rooms. We‘re just back from an eleven night stay at the Swan. I’d booked a two queen balcony room and requested a high floor with a view towards Epcot. We‘ve booked the same category before and usually ended up with a view of the courtyard, facing Dolphin, so we were really crossing our fingers this time.

Maybe this theory is wrong but I’ve always assumed the longer the stay, the harder it is to get a room request so expectations were courtyard again. Instead, we got exactly what we’d asked for. We could see the upper half of Spaceship Earth and the upper part of Epcot fireworks. The picture below (screen capture from a video) really doesn’t do it justice. But the even bigger surprise was being able to see MK fireworks. We didn’t even know that was possible until hearing them at 11pm one night and realizing it was the Christmas party after hours fireworks. I didn’t take any video of those - just enjoyed them in the moment. And I can’t believe this but apparently I didn’t take any daytime pics from the balcony ::slaps forehead::

Anway, this is from room #636:

 

[AprilsZoo]

I’ve actually had experience with a similar situation. On my last trip to Disney in Sep ‘19 I wanted to arrive a night earlier than my on-site reservation. I tried to book the Wyndham Bonnet Creek but they were full. I hopped over to Hotwire and booked their secret deal. Low and behold we got the Wyndham. Fast forward a week or so and we arrived around 9PM. I go inside to checkin and they don’t have our reservation; they’re also completely sold out. I had to call HW to get them to figure it out. They finally got us a room but they rebooked for only 2 adults and didn’t include the 2 kids. The hotel was completely out of double rooms. They worked their magic and put us in a 1-bedroom with sleeper sofa and full kitchen. We really only needed a place to sleep. We didn’t finally get into that room until 1AM. Now I tend to trust hotel websites that say they’re sold out.

The thing is that resellers like Hotwire have blocks of rooms they are pulling from… so when the hotel website says sold out, the blocked rooms may actually still be vacant… they are “sold out” from the perspective of already being committed to the reseller.

It can go the other way ‘round too. When I went to DL a couple mos ago, virtually all the hotels around Anaheim had very limited availability thru the discounters (Hotwire, Priceline, etc) but direct booking via the hotel/motel or chain website often showed a much better selection of rooms.

 

[buzz1fan]

We have room only next weekend at pop- I think I can still cancel and dolphin is now cheaper- want to change but worried about the genie plus problems. Overall would it be a simple change? We have already paid for the genie. We will want to purchase ILL at star wars at 7

 

[CJN]

We have room only next weekend at pop- I think I can still cancel and dolphin is now cheaper- want to change but worried about the genie plus problems. Overall would it be a simple change? We have already paid for the genie. We will want to purchase ILL at star wars at 7

Our Swan reservation disappeared from MDE two days before our trip. I re-entered the reservation # and it showed right back up again and stayed there over all eleven days of the trip. We had no trouble doing any of the 7am bookings.

 

[buzz1fan]

We made the change so last minute- but it worked. Now I’m debating to add a hopper and if so would be able to take part in Epcot late hours.

 

[Eastern]

We made the change so last minute- but it worked. Now I’m debating to add a hopper and if so would be able to take part in Epcot late hours.

I try to figure out how many times we would likely hop. Next trip, 4 days, no hoppers. If you are unsure just wait until you get there as you can add hopper once you get to the parks.

Also, if I would only hop once or twice, I probably wouldn't get it as you are paying around $90 per ticket to be able to hop.

 

[Lsdolphin]

I remember that wonderful express bus thing where you could hop back and forth from the inside of one park to another totally bypassing the front entrances....best trip EVER!!!

 

[buzz1fan]

I’m leaning not to hopping. Main reason was to go to Epcot for later hours but I’d be pretty disappointed if we didn’t get to do all.

 

[Meglen]

I’m leaning not to hopping. Main reason was to go to Epcot for later hours but I’d be pretty disappointed if we didn’t get to do all.

I wouldnt get hopper jsut to do the evening hours. if you want to walk over at night after an other park day that would be a reason to hop since you can walk over.

 

[CBMom01]

I’m leaning not to hopping. Main reason was to go to Epcot for later hours but I’d be pretty disappointed if we didn’t get to do all.

My main reason for hoppers has always been access to Epcot in the evenings.