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

[Sabine W.]

They do go to the TTC and not the front of MK. I just walked to Yacht or BW and took their bus since it went directly to the front of the park.

I totally understand doing this and would 100% do this myself, but I just wonder what the cumulative effect will be if more Swan/Dolphin guests figure out that their own transport is inadequate. Are the Disney buses getting more crowded than they can handle because of this?

 

[hedberg1661]

I totally understand doing this and would 100% do this myself, but I just wonder what the cumulative effect will be if more Swan/Dolphin guests figure out that their own transport is inadequate. Are the Disney buses getting more crowded than they can handle because of this?

I haven't noticed it but I will say I typically don't rope drop MK.

 

[nwandless32]

I totally understand doing this and would 100% do this myself, but I just wonder what the cumulative effect will be if more Swan/Dolphin guests figure out that their own transport is inadequate. Are the Disney buses getting more crowded than they can handle because of this?

This could in theory happen but probably not that often. I think of it this way. If I pay for a Disney trip which is very expensive, I get access to all Disney transportation which includes skyliner, monorail, and buses.
Another scenario: If I am staying at the Poly and walk to the Grand for lunch and after get on the monorail to go to MK am I using the transportation at the Grand? Same reasoning for buses.

 

[SteveH]

I totally understand doing this and would 100% do this myself, but I just wonder what the cumulative effect will be if more Swan/Dolphin guests figure out that their own transport is inadequate. Are the Disney buses getting more crowded than they can handle because of this?

This discussion has come up often, I can't say I've read any issues with S/D guests using the Disney buses. There was a point early on that YC/BC had a sign up saying buses were for resort guests. But it wasn't the S/D guests they had issues with, it was the people exiting Epcot and getting on Disney Springs buses. But even those signs were short lived. That's partially because Disney actually promotes the free and open use of all Disney transportation for all guests. I posted about this previously, you can see the actual link to Disney's page that says, "All Guests have complimentary access to our network of monorails, buses and boats. If you would like to visit multiple parks, enjoy a nice dinner at one of the Disney Resort hotels or shop at Disney Springs, you can leave your car parked in the theme park lot and use our transportation network." You do bring up a good point, but since Oct 2020 there really has been nobody resporting that they've been asked for ID or turned away or in anyway frowned upon. I do expect that at some point Disney buses will be back, but none of us have any idea when that will be.

 

[Sabine W.]

Just wanted to clarify: I'm not opposed to the practice in any way. I would do it myself, if I were staying there. Just wondering if, given Disney's massive understaffing issues, this will become a growing problem for Crescent Lake resort guests.

 

[SteveH]

@Sabine W. I hear ya, but it hasn't been an issue so far so I don't think it would going forward. Really the only two routes it makes sense to use Disney are for MK & DS. For AK the S/D bus is as good if not better location wise.

 

[GreatLakes]

Quick MDE question regarding an upcoming stay at the Swan Reserve. I used my Marriott reservation number to add the stay to MDE and I can see it. What I can't do is add my wife or son, both of whom I have in my friends and family list (I even have my son in my account). How the heck do I add other guests to my stay?





I did confirm we are set up to share all plans:

 

[Tess]

Quick MDE question regarding an upcoming stay at the Swan Reserve. I used my Marriott reservation number to add the stay to MDE and I can see it. What I can't do is add my wife or son, both of whom I have in my friends and family list (I even have my son in my account). How the heck do I add other guests to my stay?

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I did confirm we are set up to share all plans:

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Be sure your reservation with Swan Reserve shows three guests, e.g., Main guest name + guest 2 and guest 3. Your screen shot shows only one guest. That information needs to go to Disney and you then assign the names through MDE for the guests at Swan Reserve. It may take 48-72 hours for that transmittal to Disney. Be sure to call in house reservations at Swan/Dolphin/Swan Reserve to have those two guests added.

 

[GreatLakes]

Be sure your reservation with Swan Reserve shows three guests, e.g., Main guest name + guest 2 and guest 3. Your screen shot shows only one guest. That information needs to go to Disney and you then assign the names through MDE for the guests at Swan Reserve. It may take 48-72 hours for that transmittal to Disney. Be sure to call in house reservations at Swan/Dolphin/Swan Reserve to have those two guests added.

That might be it. I only show me on the Marriott site. It appears I can't add them without "updating" the reservation which changes the price. I'll give them a call to just add the names. Thanks.

ETA: Originally they told me the rate would increase but after explaining that the room I booked has a maximum occupancy of 3 and I just wanted to add the names they put me on hold and got it taken care of. I will have to wait to see if it syncs with MDE but I wanted to throw this out to anyone else with the same problem.

The rate they wanted to change me to would have had me paying more per night than I am paying now for the entire 5 day trip.

 

[stitchfan18]

I have a room booked on points that I'm trying to add a connecting room to. The lady I talked to at the S/D reservation number said they can't guarantee connecting rooms when one is booked on points, but they would make a note on both reservations. I'm a little leary of this since the 2nd room would be for the kids, and we're planning this trip during marathon weekend, when I assume the hotels are all pretty full. Has anyone booked a second room with cash and connected it to a points reservation?

 

[SteveH]

@stitchfan18 this is a downside to using points. Your option is to book with cash, then they should be able to guarantee it. If you talked to the actual hotel and not the Marriott call center I'd take them at their word. You may want to verify that they would guarantee connecting rooms with cash. Generally I think most hotels (Disney for example) try to give those rooms to groups with traveling families.

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

Definitely not. If you want a balcony, it’s best to book that room category. Balconies are very limited.

 

[amw]

I have a room booked on points that I'm trying to add a connecting room to. The lady I talked to at the S/D reservation number said they can't guarantee connecting rooms when one is booked on points, but they would make a note on both reservations. I'm a little leary of this since the 2nd room would be for the kids, and we're planning this trip during marathon weekend, when I assume the hotels are all pretty full. Has anyone booked a second room with cash and connected it to a points reservation?

Were you speaking to in-house reservations? I had to cancel due to lockdowns, but in the past I had booked one room on points & had in-house reservations connect the room to an alcove room for an additional fee. I believe at the time it was an extra $250/night taxes in. The benefit was not only the guaranteed connection — but I would only be charged one room service fee charge per day instead of 2. Of course, that’s only if there are alcove rooms available for your dates.

They should be able to give you those options with in-house reservations. I don’t think they can connect 2 rooms both on points though.

 

[Saad]

can we rent life jackets, floaters etc for the kids to use while swimming? How does this work?

 

[Gitelfor]

can we rent life jackets, floaters etc for the kids to use while swimming? How does this work?

Dolphin pool amenities and rentals

 

[JulieODC]

We arrive today!! We made a last minute swap for the 1st 3 days of trip to SR, before switching over to the Dolphin.

It’s been 2 days and the old reservation hasn’t yet dropped off MDE, and I have been unable to link my new reservation. Am I better off calling S/D in-house, WDW, or waiting until I arrive in person to get help with fixing it?

 

[Saad]

Dolphin pool amenities and rentals

Thanks. I see life vests are there but wondering if they are readily available for use for kids or it’s hit or miss?

 

[Saad]

We arrive today!! We made a last minute swap for the 1st 3 days of trip to SR, before switching over to the Dolphin.

It’s been 2 days and the old reservation hasn’t yet dropped off MDE, and I have been unable to link my new reservation. Am I better off calling S/D in-house, WDW, or waiting until I arrive in person to get help with fixing it?

Call hotel directly. They will fix and deal with MDE. We had a similar issue where our guests # was not lining up to MDE. 24 hours later. Everything got fixed.

 

[Tigerlily125]

Alcove Room at the Dolphin

I had a King Alcove Room at the Dolphin. This is the 2nd time I've had this room type in the last year and both rooms were slightly different. This room was in the EAST Tower and just on the other side of the elevators which I loved (Room number ended in "063" if that is helpful.

As a reminder, the Alcove Rooms can connect up to two additional rooms on each side with the Alcove room in the middle. All rooms are listed as "limited view".

"Living" Area of the Room

Note the connecting Door. There was a pull out sofa (I didn't open it), two chairs, large ottoman/coffee table, chest, tv, basic fridge

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Bedroom area of Alcove Room.

Note the connecting door, there was only one nightstand and the desk/chair was next to the window.

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VIEW from East Tower Room ending in "063" -

note that while I could hear fireworks from Epcot there was no view except a very rare peek at higher ones.

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Bathroom of Alcove Room

My room had 2 sinks, one in with the toilet/shower and one outside. Note that the room I had in May had a Tub and only one sink.

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Entry area:

This room also had TWO closets. One regular size closet and one coat size closet. The room I had in May only had one closet.
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Coffee Station:

You can see the coffee stand there on the left of the photo above. There is a small filter/pod coffee maker (not Keurig) and housekeeping did drop off additional coffee twice during my stay with Starbucks Pikes blend.

EDITED to Add:
Found photos of the coffee equipment and an interior photo of the fridge from a previous trip:

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For reference, here are my photos from May 2021 - this room was in the WEST Tower and felt like it was MILES away from the elevator: https://www.disboards.com/threads/w...tion-questions.3264274/page-756#post-63220883

This is so helpful -- thank you for posting! One question -- was there a freezer section at the top of the fridge where I could fit an ice pack?

 

[Tigerlily125]

TexaninTheMidwest posted this a few days ago.

thank you! for some reason it didn't come up when I searched posts still hard to tell if there is a freezer section up top though. I just want to keep an ice pack cold for bringing to the parks