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

[JerseyJanice]

I just got The Swan for $96 a night on Hotwire! July 4th to 7th! Even with taxes and fees it ends up being $152 a night which is a pretty good price.

FYI it showed up with 2000+ tripadvisor reviews, 90% recommended favorite(36 reviews)

Congratulations! You will love it, especially the ability to walk back to your room after fireworks in Epcot on the 4th.

 

[Bebella]

Has anyone found it easy to get 5 point harness car seat and booster seats for kids using the sedan/SUV options for transfer between MCO and Swolphin?

 

[JerseyJanice]

Can anyone give an idea of price of round trip transfer options and price from MCO to Swolphin? We'll have one kid needing a 5 point harness car seat and another in at least a booster seat.

Best price we found ($80 round trip with 2 car seats) was from FL Tours which was recommended on the Transportation forum here.

You might want to pop over there for more ideas.

 

[momto4obkids]

Congratulations! You will love it, especially the ability to walk back to your room after fireworks in Epcot on the 4th.

We stayed there last Thanksgiving for the first two nights of our vacation on the same hotwire deal and absolutely loved the location and the beds!

I've been checking for a deal again and it finally popped up!

Oh yes, I'm going to love not having to wait for a bus after the fireworks.

 

[CJN]

2 questions-

2. On the online reservation summary- does it indicate anywhere if you have a balcony room? I can't remember if we booked it or not. It is the king deluxe alcove room if that matter.

Yes, it shows on my summary under the room description. I also have a king alcove room booked and had to specify that I wanted balcony.

 

[vicb]

Don’t laugh. They gave us a whole case of water in September.

My nephew did a towncar grocery stop the day before I got there. The supermarket they hit was sold out of water because it was right after Irma. He told the housekeeper that happened, and she gifted us with a case of bottled water.

Our experiences with all the staff there have been amazing. They are one of the many reasons why it’s such a great resort.

Wow that's great! I think we are going to use Lyft instead of town car service which will save us some time and $$ but giving up our grocery stop. I think we can get the fresh items we need from the hotel grab and go (bananas, yogurt...), we will bring our own granola bars in suitcases but water is an issue in the heat. It is so expensive in park. Glad to know we will for sure get atleast 1 free per day per person and I'm a good daily tipper of housekeeping so maybe I can request two extra bottles in each room and that would about do what we need.

Are there water bottle refill stations in the parks? It has been 4 years since my last trip.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Wow that's great! I think we are going to use Lyft instead of town car service which will save us some time and $$ but giving up our grocery stop. I think we can get the fresh items we need from the hotel grab and go (bananas, yogurt...), we will bring our own granola bars in suitcases but water is an issue in the heat. It is so expensive in park. Glad to know we will for sure get atleast 1 free per day per person and I'm a good daily tipper of housekeeping so maybe I can request two extra bottles in each room and that would about do what we need.

Are there water bottle refill stations in the parks? It has been 4 years since my last trip.

I haven’t noticed any bottle refills, but you can get ice water from any QS just asking for it.

If I may make a suggestion, take a walk to the Speedway across from the Boardwalk. It has a decent convenience store where you can buy cases of water and beer plus snacks and packaged baked goods for breakfast.

Buy what you need and call an Uber/Lyft for a ride back to the resort. It’s a not long walk, but would be difficult carrying cases of beer and water.

If all you need is water though, for a $10 tip, they will give you as much as you want.

 

[hsmamato2]

Here now. I love this place. Got a nice corner room with Epcot view(yay!) and it's lovely as always here. Amazon prime now was a MAJOR fail...... we had a big 3 family order..... followed the steps,even noted on order I'd meet in lobby,as read here. Nope. Got the text they were nearby,and to wait for notification they got here. 30 mins later got a text they were here, we went up one floor immediately,searched lobby and drive for 15 minutes.... nothing. Argh. We finally tracked our order,the driver had just dropped it at the business center,where you're charged by the POUND for delivery. Ack. Why he did this I have no idea. We placed a call to Amazon prime now,and they came thru to help(why I'm loyal to amazon,great service) so it worked out,we still had to pay te hotel almost $100 for our stuff but got a refund on the cost to mitigate that. (Whew) I don't think I'll try that again.

 

[SteveH]

Amazon prime now was a MAJOR fail

Are you talking Amazon Prime or Prime Now? If just Prime that's normal since its going to the address. If Prime Now, I had some issues with the driver not speaking/reading/understanding English. But the driver did contact the supervisor or called me and routed me, as per my original directions to go to the SWAN not the Dolphin where she was waiting. You might contact Prime Now about the error and what it cost you though. It's not S/D fault, it's the driver.

 

[greg9x]

Thank you! Does your reservation display correctly? Underneath the reservation number, I see the following message, "We are experiencing difficulties requesting additional details about this reservation. Please try again later". I assumed that was normal, but just wanted to verify. Thank you!

See the same... assume it's just because the reservation is from 3rd party so Disney doesn't have the details. As long as they have the reservation itself all should be good.

 

[hsmamato2]

It's prime now,and I did call. They agreed the driver was the issue. I don't blame the dolphin employee they were just doing their job. That's why Amazon rocks, the great customer service! The man on phone said they'd deal with the driver error later on. So it all worked out but it just a bit stressful after a plane trip and before a good lunch!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Here now. I love this place. Got a nice corner room with Epcot view(yay!) and it's lovely as always here. Amazon prime now was a MAJOR fail...... we had a big 3 family order..... followed the steps,even noted on order I'd meet in lobby,as read here. Nope. Got the text they were nearby,and to wait for notification they got here. 30 mins later got a text they were here, we went up one floor immediately,searched lobby and drive for 15 minutes.... nothing. Argh. We finally tracked our order,the driver had just dropped it at the business center,where you're charged by the POUND for delivery. Ack. Why he did this I have no idea. We placed a call to Amazon prime now,and they came thru to help(why I'm loyal to amazon,great service) so it worked out,we still had to pay te hotel almost $100 for our stuff but got a refund on the cost to mitigate that. (Whew) I don't think I'll try that again.

Well that's was a bummer. Glad it worked out though. Enjoy your stay.

 

[Best Aunt]

1. Minnie Vans work at Swan/Dolphin right?

If you don't have the minnie vans on your lyft app already, no. But if you previously stayed at a hotel which participated in the minnie van program, they will reapear in the lyft app on your phone if you return to disney. But will minnie vans pick up and drop off at swan/dolphin? Not sure - property is disney owned but not operated.

If I may make a suggestion, take a walk to the Speedway across from the Boardwalk. It has a decent convenience store where you can buy cases of water and beer plus snacks and packaged baked goods for breakfast.

Buy what you need and call an Uber/Lyft for a ride back to the resort. It’s a not long walk, but would be difficult carrying cases of beer and water.

People who stay at the boardwalk take an empty suitcase with wheels to the Speedway so they don't have to carry their purchases back to the hotel.

 

[Dan Murphy]

but giving up our grocery stop.

I think Lyft will make a stop, as long as you pay for the time. Not sure, but would think so.

 

[vicb]

I haven’t noticed any bottle refills, but you can get ice water from any QS just asking for it.

If I may make a suggestion, take a walk to the Speedway across from the Boardwalk. It has a decent convenience store where you can buy cases of water and beer plus snacks and packaged baked goods for breakfast.

Buy what you need and call an Uber/Lyft for a ride back to the resort. It’s a not long walk, but would be difficult carrying cases of beer and water.

If all you need is water though, for a $10 tip, they will give you as much as you want.

Good idea! I have been to that Speedway once several years back when we arrived too late for a traditional grocery stop, we did a midnight run there.

 

[vicb]

I think Lyft will make a stop, as long as you pay for the time. Not sure, but would think so.

Thought I read they don't... we can always ask.

 

[vicb]

If you don't have the minnie vans on your lyft app already, no. But if you previously stayed at a hotel which participated in the minnie van program, they will reapear in the lyft app on your phone if you return to disney. But will minnie vans pick up and drop off at swan/dolphin? Not sure - property is disney owned but not operated.

I've been reading a bunch on the transportation board about S/D and Minnie Vans. My understanding (which may be faulty because I'm finding it a bit confusing) is that what you say is correct about having stayed at another participating resort previously that will be available in your app but if not then no. Minnie Vans are not currently being offered to S/D guests but they do drop off and pick up there. I had tried to figure out if I could just walk over to the BWI or YC/BC stand in the lobby and activate Minnie Vans in my Lyft app and the consensus seemed to be you had to be a guest of that resort and be given a code. However atleast one person said that worked for them so I may try it on my arrival night when we are walking back from Epcot. I would love to be able to take a Minnie Van to HDDR since it drops directly at Pioneer Hall. Otherwise we will take Lyft and then the internal bus to Pioneer Hall (taking the boat to MK after for eve emh ).

 

[JerseyJanice]

From what I can gather, the biggest reason you might want a Minnie Van versus Uber or Lyft is the ability of getting two car seats. The other big reason is that a ride to the Magic Kingdom via Minnie Van would get you dropped off at the resort bus stops versus the TTC.

IDK if that works in reverse. IOW, you would be picked up at the resort bus stops instead at the TTC.

Beyond these two things and a polka dot wrap, I would expect that Uber or Lyft costs less than Minnie Van.

 

[sjlogghe]

Headed to Disney at the end of the week! My bf and I are staying on property, but his family is staying at Swan. We have a couple days where we would like to go visit them - our off day to swim, dinner at the BW, etc. We have our own car to get there - are we going to have a problem getting in and parking there? Not overnight, but just for the day??

 

[pepperandchips]

Headed to Disney at the end of the week! My bf and I are staying on property, but his family is staying at Swan. We have a couple days where we would like to go visit them - our off day to swim, dinner at the BW, etc. We have our own car to get there - are we going to have a problem getting in and parking there? Not overnight, but just for the day??

Will they also have a car? If so, get them to ask for an extra key for you guys so you can use their in/out privileges they will already be paying for in their parking charge. If they don't have a vehicle and aren't paying a nightly resort parking fee, you'll need to pay the visitor rate each time you exit the lot. I think it's around $22, can't remember exactly.