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

[mickey916]

Yeah good call, I planned on throwing some frozen uncrustables in my bag that should be thawed by the time we land to hold them over. I just wondered if we should stick to Swan/Dolphin or if we'd have better options walking over to Boardwalk area.

We loved our meal at the Fountain. Lots of kid friendly choices too.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Last time I stayed I noticed the resort fee included the Swan Boats which kinda looked like fun for children .

 

[Aaron Blanchette]

Does anyone know if the grotto pool waterfall is still shut down? Any idea when it will be up and running again?

 

[Dan Murphy]

Does anyone know if the grotto pool waterfall is still shut down? Any idea when it will be up and running again?

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...s-information-questions.3264274/post-64714926

Great location and the pools are fantastic. Literally 3 Huge pools side-by-side. Waterfall was working in big pool and really awesome. Very nice you could quick serve order using QR code on lounge chairs.

 

[MN96]

Hi All,

Forever ago (I think approx ten years ago) there were refillable mugs at Picabu, I believe they were marketed as forever refillable. I still have one of the five that my family bought at the time. Am I misremembering? If not, would they still be honored? More importantly, is there still a refillable mug offered if myself and my travel companion were seeking one? We are doing a split stay, at the tower at CSR heading to the Swan Reserve for the second half of the trip. We will likely get mugs at CSR, but wondering if we should plan to get mugs at Swolphin as well, if they still exist.

Thank you

 

[superchime]

Hi All,

Forever ago (I think approx ten years ago) there were refillable mugs at Picabu, I believe they were marketed as forever refillable. I still have one of the five that my family bought at the time. Am I misremembering? If not, would they still be honored? More importantly, is there still a refillable mug offered if myself and my travel companion were seeking one? We are doing a split stay, at the tower at CSR heading to the Swan Reserve for the second half of the trip. We will likely get mugs at CSR, but wondering if we should plan to get mugs at Swolphin as well, if they still exist.

Thank you

I don't know about refillable Picabu mugs but you can refill your CSR mugs at Yacht/Beach/Boardwalk. They'll be good for 14 days from your first day at CSR. It's a bit of a walk from Swan Reserve but just a thought.

 

[MammaMia 80s Kid]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...s-information-questions.3264274/post-64714926

Great location and the pools are fantastic. Literally 3 Huge pools side-by-side. Waterfall was working in big pool and really awesome. Very nice you could quick serve order using QR code on lounge chairs.

I’m calling to ask. .

 

[MammaMia 80s Kid]

I’m calling to ask. .

According to the person I spoke to, the construction on the waterfall is done; the waterfall is open!

 

[MammaMia 80s Kid]

Does anyone know if the grotto pool waterfall is still shut down? Any idea when it will be up and running again?

I just called and the person I spoke to said the construction on the waterfall is done; the waterfall at the Grotto pool is open! :-!

And somebody staying there today (4/9/23) just responded to my post asking this to say he/she just walked past it and it’s open with people in the chairs behind it .

 

[MarBee]

Have a free night award to burn and thinking of doing a night at the Swan. We are planning on getting a late flight out on our second day and having a pool day prior to leaving. Years ago we were able to do this and shower off in the gym showers (at least I believe it was the gym showers). Are we still able to do this? I know some facilities closed during Covid and wasn’t sure if this was one of the ones that haven’t reopened.

 

[PDXmouse]

So I booked a "flexible" rate at the Swan for our late June/early July trip. The last four dates of our 13 days at the hotel have dropped in price. (A few other days dropped as well, but not by a lot, so I was mostly focused on those last four days.) I called for an adjustment but they cannot give me one.

First they said they can't adjust the prices on certain days. Then they said that because the first weekend we are there the price has soared to $2000 a night (who will pay that for the Swan??) that I cannot just "drop" the last four days and rebook them because when I drop the last four nights the first 9 nights have to be rebooked at the current rate including the $2000/night weekend.

I asked why I had even bothered to pay $400 extra for the flexible rate? She said if I had booked in smaller increments of stays I could have canceled and rebooked those last four nights at the lower rate.

At this point I'm stuck. This close to our trip during the busy season there aren't any great viable options.

But just so someone learns from my mistake... if you're booking for a longer stay, maybe don't pay for the flexible rate because it won't give you the ability to adjust your price if half the stay goes down in daily price, but a few of the days go way up. Or consider breaking your stay into smaller pieces so you can adjust if those few days go down... but then you might get stuck having to move rooms. I'm not sure what the right answer is here.

 

[SteveH]

@PDXmouse when you called did you call Swan director or did you get the 800 Marriott system? If you didn't call the local # for Swan try that and ask for In-House Reservations - see if they can assist you.

 

[Lewisc]

to $2000 a night (who will pay that for the Swan??)

That usually means the resort is sold out. You can't usually book that rate.

 

[PDXmouse]

@PDXmouse when you called did you call Swan director or did you get the 800 Marriott system? If you didn't call the local # for Swan try that and ask for In-House Reservations - see if they can assist you.

I called the Swan but asked for reservations so it is possible that I spoke to someone at a call center? I don't think so, but it's possible.

 

[Lewisc]

So I booked a "flexible" rate at the Swan for our late June/early July trip. The last four dates of our 13 days at the hotel have dropped in price. (A few other days dropped as well, but not by a lot, so I was mostly focused on those last four days.) I called for an adjustment but they cannot give me one.

First they said they can't adjust the prices on certain days. Then they said that because the first weekend we are there the price has soared to $2000 a night (who will pay that for the Swan??) that I cannot just "drop" the last four days and rebook them because when I drop the last four nights the first 9 nights have to be rebooked at the current rate including the $2000/night weekend.

I asked why I had even bothered to pay $400 extra for the flexible rate? She said if I had booked in smaller increments of stays I could have canceled and rebooked those last four nights at the lower rate.

At this point I'm stuck. This close to our trip during the busy season there aren't any great viable options.

But just so someone learns from my mistake... if you're booking for a longer stay, maybe don't pay for the flexible rate because it won't give you the ability to adjust your price if half the stay goes down in daily price, but a few of the days go way up. Or consider breaking your stay into smaller pieces so you can adjust if those few days go down... but then you might get stuck having to move rooms. I'm not sure what the right answer is here.

Not that rare. Southwest used to be that way. Booking a round trip ticket used to mean both legs were re-priced. You only got a price credit if the round trip fare went down.

Universal hotels are that way. Any change is priced like a new reservation. You lose your AP discount if AP are no longer available for new reservations for your dates.

Disney has that policy but CMs can usually put you on hold and get permission to override.

Flexible only means you can cancel, without penalty. Deposit will be refunded.

Hotels will link your reservations, as long as both reservations are for rooms in the same category. Biggest negative, you'll have to pay deposits for all reservations. Other issue, I don't think Disney combines your reservations for the 60 day + policy.


Call the Swan and ask for an exception.

 

[SteveH]

I called the Swan but asked for reservations so it is possible that I spoke to someone at a call center? I don't think so, but it's possible.

Sounds like you did it right, but possible it sent you over to the call center.

 

[Disneyhanna]

So I booked a "flexible" rate at the Swan for our late June/early July trip. The last four dates of our 13 days at the hotel have dropped in price. (A few other days dropped as well, but not by a lot, so I was mostly focused on those last four days.) I called for an adjustment but they cannot give me one.

First they said they can't adjust the prices on certain days. Then they said that because the first weekend we are there the price has soared to $2000 a night (who will pay that for the Swan??) that I cannot just "drop" the last four days and rebook them because when I drop the last four nights the first 9 nights have to be rebooked at the current rate including the $2000/night weekend.

I asked why I had even bothered to pay $400 extra for the flexible rate? She said if I had booked in smaller increments of stays I could have canceled and rebooked those last four nights at the lower rate.

At this point I'm stuck. This close to our trip during the busy season there aren't any great viable options.

But just so someone learns from my mistake... if you're booking for a longer stay, maybe don't pay for the flexible rate because it won't give you the ability to adjust your price if half the stay goes down in daily price, but a few of the days go way up. Or consider breaking your stay into smaller pieces so you can adjust if those few days go down... but then you might get stuck having to move rooms. I'm not sure what the right answer is here.

I would not lose hope on a June/July trip. On my last couple of trips since November, every single trip has dropped to its lowest ever price within a week of the trip usually with more room types becoming available as well (cancellations). And I travelled over Thanksgiving, New Years, and Princess race weekend! You can modify your reservation directly online if you booked through Marriott, it generally allows you to modify to a lower price if available through the desktop site. It will have to be for your entire date range though, as far as I know flexible rates just mean you can cancel for full refund close to your check-in date instead of being non-refundable, and modify as well. The extra cost is for the refundable benefit, not necessarily meant for the ability to change your days if that makes sense. I've always booked a refundable rate since in my experience rates have gone down for 100% of my bookings, similar to airfare when you are booking pretty far in advance.

Edit: I would still 100% recommend the flexible rate to anyone especially for long stays since the only other options is generally non-refundable. I now see you have 13 days which will probably be harder to modify given it's for so many days. But keep looking because cancellations are always happening, just make sure you check your full date range to avoid disappointment since they can only rebook the entire stay!

 

[gottalovepluto]

So I booked a "flexible" rate at the Swan for our late June/early July trip. The last four dates of our 13 days at the hotel have dropped in price. (A few other days dropped as well, but not by a lot, so I was mostly focused on those last four days.) I called for an adjustment but they cannot give me one.

First they said they can't adjust the prices on certain days. Then they said that because the first weekend we are there the price has soared to $2000 a night (who will pay that for the Swan??) that I cannot just "drop" the last four days and rebook them because when I drop the last four nights the first 9 nights have to be rebooked at the current rate including the $2000/night weekend.

I asked why I had even bothered to pay $400 extra for the flexible rate? She said if I had booked in smaller increments of stays I could have canceled and rebooked those last four nights at the lower rate.

At this point I'm stuck. This close to our trip during the busy season there aren't any great viable options.

But just so someone learns from my mistake... if you're booking for a longer stay, maybe don't pay for the flexible rate because it won't give you the ability to adjust your price if half the stay goes down in daily price, but a few of the days go way up. Or consider breaking your stay into smaller pieces so you can adjust if those few days go down... but then you might get stuck having to move rooms. I'm not sure what the right answer is here.

“Flexible” simply means the ability to change it or cancel it. You don’t get to pick the lowest prices for each day from when you bought to the current moment and piece together the cheapest combo. You get to change to today’s prices or cancel.

You could have booked with smaller increments but you have to be willing to accept you could be kicked out of a room at check-out and have to check in to a new room at the designated time. Most people with a long stay don’t want to have to do that.

 

[Lewisc]

“Flexible” simply means the ability to change it or cancel it. You don’t get to pick the lowest prices for each day from when you bought to the current moment and piece together the cheapest combo. You get to change to today’s prices or cancel.

You could have booked with smaller increments but you have to be willing to accept you could be kicked out of a room at check-out and have to check in to a new room at the designated time. Most people with a long stay don’t want to have to do that.

I don't think most guests realize some hotel reservations are all or nothing.

Assume you need to drop a day or 2. Maybe a change in work, activities or flights. Without being granted an exception you night not be allowed to drop the first day if one of your nights is sold out. You're also subject to possible rate increases.

Hotels will frequently let you links consecutive reservations. Avoids having to change.

Whenever I book hotel before air I'll make sure my first night is flexible. Maybe a hotel ny the airport. Maybe one night at the Swan followed by 3 or 4 nights.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

For those who have stayed at the Reserve:
a) when you walk out of the lobby is the crosswalk to cross the street to the Swan right in front of you?
b) is it rather easy to cross? Meaning does the light change quickly enough/is there minimal traffic
c) where do you end up specifically when you land across the street? Which part of the Swan are you at?