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

[Oscar Madison]

At the Swan now...the pool posted hours are 6AM-11PM, not 24 hours as I previously thought.
View attachment 524230

Awesome..thank you. 11p much better than the 9 at POP. Where did you grab this from?

 

[Oscar Madison]

For those that have stayed at both, do you prefer the CBR or Swan? Looks like I can get either for about the same price for my dates.

 

[Threehearts]

I thought I was following along well in this very informative post but...

My understanding was that the Dolphin would be available only over this Labor Day weekend and then close again. I saw on the official website this morning that the Dolphin is bookable for this entire coming week including next weekend. Did I miss something or is the availability to book actually correct.

Thanks so much. Threehearts

 

[vital]

For those that have stayed at both, do you prefer the CBR or Swan? Looks like I can get either for about the same price for my dates.

I like the Swan because of the location. Being able to walk to HS and EPCOT is a huge plus for me. Also having the Boardwalk just across a bridge is great also. I know it's not fully open right now, but hopefully more will open up soon.

My son is 21 now and has been going to WDW for years. He said last night he prefers Swan/Dolphin over AKL Savanna view because of the location and the beds. Of all things he remembers how comfortable the beds are. That was like 10 years ago. HAHA!!

CBR is a good resort also. I don't really think you can go wrong especially with the Skyliner. I'm afraid of heights/a little clausterphobic so that's not a draw for me , but others seem to enjoy it.

 

[Dave006]

I saw on the official website this morning that the Dolphin is bookable for this entire coming week including next weekend. Did I miss something or is the availability to book actually correct.

No that has been the plan since about Aug. 27.

The reservation system has no regular daily availability after Saturday, Sept. 12 (all checkouts on Sept. 13), the end of Labor Day week.

The reservation system indicates that the Dolphin is planning to open on weekends until Nov. 20 when the Dolphin is scheduled to be open on a regular daily schedule.

Dave

 

[Threehearts]

Thanks very much Dave006. Super helpful info.

 

[Dave006]

For those that have stayed at both, do you prefer the CBR or Swan? Looks like I can get either for about the same price for my dates.

The Swan hands down winner.

It is a much smaller resort at 750 rooms and has a great location, location, location. And if you really want to ride the Skyliner it is available at the International Gateway at Epcot and at HS.

Dave

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

I called to book the Swan for October today. I told the woman I spoke with that the site kept trying to charge me an additional fee for children. She said that in the future you simply need to put that you want to add two children to the reservation in the special requests box when making the reservation online. I didn't do that since I had her on the phone, but I thought someone else might find the information helpful.

I just realized I have been charged as well for my kids. In doing what you were told about special requests, how do you then link to MDE if you don't have your kids on the reservation?

 

[mercydisney]

The Swan has to send their reservations to Disney's MDE system before you can link, so there's often a delay. When we booked through Marriott (and Starwood before), it usually took at least a day before we could link it. When we recently booked through Disney, it took over 72 hours because Disney took 2 days to send the reservation over to the Swan, and then the Swan had to bounce the reservation back to MDE. I wouldn't get too worried until 72 hours has passed. Just keep trying periodically to link it.

IF i book through Priceline can I still link my ressie?
Thanx in advance

 

[armerida]

Awesome..thank you. 11p much better than the 9 at POP. Where did you grab this from?

From the gym this morning

 

[Dave006]

I just realized I have been charged as well for my kids. In doing what you were told about special requests, how do you then link to MDE if you don't have your kids on the reservation?

You need the number of adults & children properly listed on your Marriott reservation before it is linked to Disney. The actual names of additional adults or children are not required on your Marriott reservation just the correct numbers.

Since the Marriott web site keeps screwing this up, I would suggest you call the Swan directly at 407-934-4000 on Tuesday since tomorrow is a holiday. In-house reservations can update your information, correct the charges and send an update to Disney that you can verify in MDE.

Dave

 

[SMRT-1]

IF i book through Priceline can I still link my ressie?
Thanx in advance

I've never booked through Priceline, but you should be able to link any Swan/Dolphin reservation in MDE. One thing to note however is that many third-party confirmation numbers won't link, so you might need to call the Swan/Dolphin and get a confirmation number from them that you can use to link your reservation.

 

[armerida]

Hello and happy Labor Day weekend! Just a quick update - we were originally booked at Swan, then switched to Dolphin since we’ve never stayed before and were just at Swan a couple weeks ago. Well...we’re back at Swan!

I requested a Dolphin room in the 1300 section, ground floor with sliders by the pool, and got my request. However, we were not fans of the Dolphin; it is super busy over there right now, lots of people everywhere not distancing well, and the room was small and loud from the pool noise. There were dead bugs behind the window shades and the bathroom is terrible - you can’t open the door all the way and the separate vanity area is only big enough for one person. It felt dark and depressing.

I contacted our room controller and she graciously switched to a 5th floor balcony King room at Swan. So much better! It’s nice to have the comparison from our last room here which was a King Deluxe room. This one is smaller but still very nice, has the balcony, and while the bathroom is small, it has 2 separate sink/vanity areas, one in the bathroom and one right outside, versus our giant bathroom in the deluxe room which was lovely but no external vanity, so less practical.

Swan is noticeably busier than our August trip, but we haven’t had any issues with elevators (my biggest worry) and all the staircases are re-opened and even encouraged for use with ground markings. The pools at both resorts are busy! Pool bars are hopping. The restaurants seem very busy - we got back to the hotel around 10:45 last night and the lobby outside Il Mulino was full.

We’ve decided that the Swan is our favorite Disney resort and hope to stay here every time moving forward! If you have any questions that I can help with while here, please let me know

 

[wishinon3stars]

Looking forward to our stay at the swan in 2 weeks. what are the restaurants that are actually in the swan? And will any restaurants be open during the week in the Dolphin?

 

[Oscar Madison]

I like the Swan because of the location. Being able to walk to HS and EPCOT is a huge plus for me. Also having the Boardwalk just across a bridge is great also. I know it's not fully open right now, but hopefully more will open up soon.

My son is 21 now and has been going to WDW for years. He said last night he prefers Swan/Dolphin over AKL Savanna view because of the location and the beds. Of all things he remembers how comfortable the beds are. That was like 10 years ago. HAHA!!

CBR is a good resort also. I don't really think you can go wrong especially with the Skyliner. I'm afraid of heights/a little clausterphobic so that's not a draw for me , but others seem to enjoy it.

This really helps. Thank you. Having never stayed at Swan/Dolphin, with the price it may be a good time to try.
I'm also thinking with the way they gutted the Magical Express, it's not much incentive to pick CBR in my case with the similar price.
Thanks again!

 

[Oscar Madison]

Hello and happy Labor Day weekend! Just a quick update - we were originally booked at Swan, then switched to Dolphin since we’ve never stayed before and were just at Swan a couple weeks ago. Well...we’re back at Swan!

I requested a Dolphin room in the 1300 section, ground floor with sliders by the pool, and got my request. However, we were not fans of the Dolphin; it is super busy over there right now, lots of people everywhere not distancing well, and the room was small and loud from the pool noise. There were dead bugs behind the window shades and the bathroom is terrible - you can’t open the door all the way and the separate vanity area is only big enough for one person. It felt dark and depressing.

I contacted our room controller and she graciously switched to a 5th floor balcony King room at Swan. So much better! It’s nice to have the comparison from our last room here which was a King Deluxe room. This one is smaller but still very nice, has the balcony, and while the bathroom is small, it has 2 separate sink/vanity areas, one in the bathroom and one right outside, versus our giant bathroom in the deluxe room which was lovely but no external vanity, so less practical.

Swan is noticeably busier than our August trip, but we haven’t had any issues with elevators (my biggest worry) and all the staircases are re-opened and even encouraged for use with ground markings. The pools at both resorts are busy! Pool bars are hopping. The restaurants seem very busy - we got back to the hotel around 10:45 last night and the lobby outside Il Mulino was full.

We’ve decided that the Swan is our favorite Disney resort and hope to stay here every time moving forward! If you have any questions that I can help with while here, please let me know

Do they have any quick service like restaurants at the Swan? Do they make you mobile order like the Disney resorts?

Thanks

 

[SarahC97]

I just realized I have been charged as well for my kids. In doing what you were told about special requests, how do you then link to MDE if you don't have your kids on the reservation?

In your case, I'd just call. That way you can deal with it ASAP. From what I understand, they'll see the request to add the kids and place them on your reservation if you do it online through the special request box, but that probably has you waiting even longer to connect everything on MDE so you can make park reservations.

 

[SarahC97]

IF i book through Priceline can I still link my ressie?
Thanx in advance

You can. You'll get an email from PL that has the code you need to enter into MDE. It's really easy but it can take a while (a few days) to show up in the system to be able to link it since PL is a third party that it has to relay between the Swan and Disney.

 

[Dave006]

I requested a Dolphin room in the 1300 section, ground floor with sliders by the pool, and got my request. However, we were not fans of the Dolphin; it is super busy over there right now, lots of people everywhere not distancing well, and the room was small and loud from the pool noise.

Yes that is one of the key complaints about being in that area by the pool but you got to experience it so no need to repeat. On paper is seems to be a great location and at other times of the year (lower crowds) it works much better.

It is also a little hard to go back a standard room at the Swan after being in a King Deluxe room on the 12th floor but we find the 6th floor a good compromise. The 5th floor used to be the SPG floor back in the day. Labor Day weekend has a history of being very busy, right behind Memorial Day weekend and now we know it still is even in 2020.

Dave

 

[Dave006]

Do they have any quick service like restaurants at the Swan? Do they make you mobile order like the Disney resorts?

The QS type option is Fuel and is located in the Dolphin building on the 1st floor. And there is no mobile ordering. Another quick option would be Java for coffee, snacks and grab-n-go hot and cold offerings in the Swan building.

Fuel - hours (10-10 Friday) & 6 AM - 10 PM Sat / Sun)

Dave