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

[Dave006]

Trying to decide if I should jump on the Hotwire deal for Dolphin now for a trip in early September (after Labor Day), or hold out for Swan's price to come down? Right now I have a reservation at POFQ but would prefer to stay in the Epcot area. $82/night (plus $32/night resort fee) seems like close to best it can be for Dolphin (maybe $10 or so less per night at the lowest). Does anyone know about Swan's prices -- right now it's $212/night plus resort fee on Priceline Express (I think). Does it ever come down to around $150 on Priceline or Hotwire? Thank you!

The Swan does appear on Hotwire as a Hot Rate from time to time. For example as recently as yesterday the Swan was available as a Hot Deal starting at $135 for the week of May 20-26. It is no longer available. The $212 price you mentioned for the Swan is a common low price at the Swan: AAA, FLA Resident, Non-refundable rate direct from Swandolphin.com site.

Don't expect the rates to go down for the Swan in September but you can keep checking. Again, the Hotwire Hot Rate's are used to fill extra space and the number of rooms is usually limited. The Dolphin appears more often than the Swan since it has about double the rooms of the Swan.

Dave

 

[Derry Wade]

The Swan does appear on Hotwire as a Hot Rate from time to time. For example as recently as yesterday the Swan was available as a Hot Deal starting at $135 for the week of May 20-26. It is no longer available. The $212 price you mentioned for the Swan is a common low price at the Swan: AAA, FLA Resident, Non-refundable rate direct from Swandolphin.com site.

Don't expect the rates to go down for the Swan in September but you can keep checking. Again, the Hotwire Hot Rate's are used to fill extra space and the number of rooms is usually limited. The Dolphin appears more often than the Swan since it has about double the rooms of the Swan.

Dave

Thank you so much! I just missed the Dolphin hot rate on Hotwire - will keep checking

 

[Dave006]

The Dolphin still has rates starting at $71 in Sept. Try shifting your dates 1 day earlier or 1 day later for your date range. The other thing to try is to add a day or drop a day to see if you can get a Hot Rate for most of your dates.

Examples: Sept 9 - 15 -Dolphin starts at $74 for a Hot Rate. Sept 16 -22 - Dolphin starts at $71 for a Hot Rate.

Dave

 

[Dan Murphy]

is there even a pool bar at Dolphin?

https://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/cabana/index.html

https://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/splash/index.html

ETA---menus

http://allears.net/dining/menu/cabana-bar-and-beach-club/lunch-dinner

http://allears.net/dining/menu/splash-terrace/all-day

 

[hedberg1661]

https://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/cabana/index.html

https://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/splash/index.html

One of the best around.

 

[pepperandchips]

Just found out my brother and his awesome family are going to Disney for their first trip and staying at the Dolphin. We will be in WDW at same time (staying at AKV) and were curious.... Would we be able to visit them at the Dolphin pool bar if we are not staying at Dolphin (we would not swim). They have a little one who would be enjoying the pool while the adults hang out for a bit.

Maybe a better Q- is there even a pool bar at Dolphin? We have never toured it! We could always just hang out at Epcot instead.... hmmmm... decisions!

One of the best around.

Was replying just to say that it is a very nice pool bar, and see I have been beaten to it a couple times. We love relaxing there.

 

[BlueFairy]

Just found out my brother and his awesome family are going to Disney for their first trip and staying at the Dolphin. We will be in WDW at same time (staying at AKV) and were curious.... Would we be able to visit them at the Dolphin pool bar if we are not staying at Dolphin (we would not swim). They have a little one who would be enjoying the pool while the adults hang out for a bit.

Maybe a better Q- is there even a pool bar at Dolphin? We have never toured it! We could always just hang out at Epcot instead.... hmmmm... decisions!

2 pool bars - 1 at Swan, 1 at Dolphin, with lots of pools in between. Arriving from Studios, Epcot or the Epcot resorts for a visit is easy and puts you on the pool deck. Arriving by bus, you walk through the hotel interior (and down an escalator at Dolphin). Arriving by car you will be charged a hefty parking fee. There are lots of business patrons at the pool bars in addition to families. The Dolphin has a lap pool right next to pool bar seating. You will be unobtrusive and a visit is a breeze.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Thank you all! So very helpful. Looking at these Swan/Dolphin pics REALLY makes me want to book another trip just to try them out!

 

[MarBee]

Question for you Hotwire experts- I fear I have waited too long. My $75/night disappeared.
Now there is a 4 star hotel in bonnet creek area with 5500 TripAdvisor reviews, 90%recommended (309 reviews). There is a $32 fee. Is this Dolphin? (Or even Swan?)
It’s $91/night in August.
I know I can just book one night and double check, but I’m being cheap and don’t want to drop $91 on a hotel I won’t stay at. (Looking to stay in Boardwalk area only as there are a bunch of family members gathering there for this trip.)
Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[tex1989]

I took a look at Hot Wire for September and used the verification process (number of stars and number of reviews) and saw the Swan for $70 a night on a Hot Deal. We already have AoA for the week we are going so I was just looking to see how this worked. What interested me more was the fact that they had the Swan listed at $187 a night for a straight up reservation. So even with the $32 a night resort fee that was $219 a night and when we stay at POFQ we will pay on average $250 a night. When I looked at the Starwood site for the same room they had it at $309 a night plus the resort fee. Am I seeing all of this correctly? I mean if I can get Swan for $219 a night for seven nights then I know where I am booking my next WDW stay at.

 

[momto4obkids]

Question for you Hotwire experts- I fear I have waited too long. My $75/night disappeared.
Now there is a 4 star hotel in bonnet creek area with 5500 TripAdvisor reviews, 90%recommended (309 reviews). There is a $32 fee. Is this Dolphin? (Or even Swan?)
It’s $91/night in August.
I know I can just book one night and double check, but I’m being cheap and don’t want to drop $91 on a hotel I won’t stay at. (Looking to stay in Boardwalk area only as there are a bunch of family members gathering there for this trip.)
Thanks in advance for any help!

That's not the Swan or Dolphin, it's Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek when it comes up with 5500 reviews.

 

[Dave006]

.... Am I seeing all of this correctly? I mean if I can get Swan for $219 a night for seven nights then I know where I am booking my next WDW stay at.

Yes the pricing is correct in all your examples. The $70 "No Name" Hot Rate requires "some risk" as the hotel name is not listed until after you purchase and you can't cancel to get a refund. The $219 ($185 + $32 resort fee) is also real but you know the name of the hotel. The hotel's web site price of $309 is the normal hotel discounted price when not using a third party.

These different prices for the same "room" is just like trying to buy a seat on an airline. There are dozens & dozens of sites and the same seat / flight combination can have upwards of 50 different prices per day. The airline web site will almost always have the highest price!

Note: the Hot Rate risk can be reduced to less than 1% by checking carefully to see if everything matches the information provided earlier in this thread.


Dave

 

[Dave006]

Question for you Hotwire experts- I fear I have waited too long. My $75/night disappeared. Now there is a 4 star hotel in bonnet creek area with 5500 TripAdvisor reviews, 90%recommended (309 reviews). There is a $32 fee. Is this Dolphin? (Or even Swan?)...

First keep checking back and you may have to adjust your days slightly, try adding a day or removing a day or shifting your dates one day earlier or later. While there are only a limited number of rooms at the highly discounted rate, they can come and go in the list several times a day. The inventory is very volatile on Hotwire and other third party sites.

Also you did not verify "all" the key items to know that offered hotel was not the Swan / Dolphin. You must verify all the indicators or you risk getting another hotel like @momto4obkids indicated above. Your hotel would have been the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort, Bonnet Creek as it has the 5500 TripAdvisor reviews / a bunk bed option and a $32 resort fee.

For the hotel with 5500 TripAdvisor reviews, if you check the bed choice you would have found that 2 Queens & a bunk bed was an option. The Dolphin only has Full beds and King beds listed on the Hotwire site. The Swan only has Queen / King bed options.

Note: at some point the TripAdvisor review counts may change but for now use 5051 for the Dolphin and 4908 for the Swan. Also scroll down the list and see if the Swan / Dolphin are listed by "name" at a much higher price. Most times you can verify right on the same web page by scrolling down to verify the TripAdvisor review counts.

Dave

 

[gopack]

Is a teacher rate still offered at the Swan/Dolphin? If so, do you know how much of a discount is offered? Thanks!

 

[mrsdaly]

Good to hear. And I agree. If they have separate buses for the Epcot area resorts, and we see the BW or YC/BC bus there, we will just hop on. Thanks!

YUP! We do this all the time.. It's good to have good knowledge of your closeness to other resorts... one time we stayed at Pop (before we started staying on points at S/D and being EPCOT AREA or bust... hahahaha!) and picked up an AOA bus because POP had just left. Worked out because of our location within Pop was right across the bridge from AOA.

 

[Dave006]

Is a teacher rate still offered at the Swan/Dolphin? If so, do you know how much of a discount is offered? Thanks!

Yes a teacher and school support staff rate is still being offered. The rate(s) vary by season, a sample stay next month at the Swan is $223 for a Traditional Queen room. The same room is $231 in August. Here is the teacher / school support staff web page where you can search or call to check for your specific dates.

Link: https://swandolphin.com/offers/teachers.html

Note: Booking directly with the hotel does not always provide you the lowest price, please check multiple sources: Travel agents, Priceline / Expedia / Hotwire web sites are good examples.

Dave

 

[gopack]

Yes a teacher and school support staff rate is still being offered. The rate(s) vary by season, a sample stay next month at the Swan is $223 for a Traditional Queen room. The same room is $231 in August. Here is the teacher / school support staff web page where you can search or call to check for your specific dates.

Link: https://swandolphin.com/offers/teachers.html

Note: Booking directly with the hotel does not always provide you the lowest price, please check multiple sources: Travel agents, Priceline / Expedia / Hotwire web sites are good examples.

Dave

Dave, thank you so much for the link to the teacher rates and for the tip about checking other rate sources! I appreciate it!!

 

[amalone1013]

YUP! We do this all the time.. It's good to have good knowledge of your closeness to other resorts... one time we stayed at Pop (before we started staying on points at S/D and being EPCOT AREA or bust... hahahaha!) and picked up an AOA bus because POP had just left. Worked out because of our location within Pop was right across the bridge from AOA.

We did that in December. End of the night at Epcot, the Pop line was 4-5 times as long as AOA, so we hopped in that line. Made it on the second bus. I bet half of that bus walked across the bridge with us to Pop!

 

[mrsdaly]

We did that in December. End of the night at Epcot, the Pop line was 4-5 times as long as AOA, so we hopped in that line. Made it on the second bus. I bet half of that bus walked across the bridge with us to Pop!

Pop lines, IMO, have been THE WORST I have seen anywhere. They get a lot of busses, though, but even during off off peak times, the bus lines are so long.

 

[SteveH]

Dave, thank you so much for the link to the teacher rates and for the tip about checking other rate sources! I appreciate it!!

IMHO the teacher rates really are no big deal. We found better rates through AAA and CostcoTravel, but right now the current deal with Hotwire has been amazing of course that's for September when kids to back to school and so do teachers. My wife is a teacher too so major holidays are the only times that work, but she doesn't want to fight those crowds or heat either.