swan or dolphin

[pcoleman]

Family of 3 my self, DH and DD age 8 planning a trip trip. We have been many times and have always stayed in luxury accommodations. Want to try either the swan or dolphin. Does anyone have an opinion on which we should choose? Until now we have stayed on monorail route now that DD is getting older thought we could try something else.

[kathymk616]

I have only stayed in the Dolphin recently as an adult (with my Mom), and we really enjoyed it. I don't know how much it differs from the Swan. Overall, the hotels are much less "Disney", though still very pretty and fun (with a GREAT pool). The Dolphin is probably bigger, and has more of the restaurants, but the 2 hotels are so close that it's not a big deal to walk from one to the other. I am pretty sure that the beds in the Swan are queens whereas they are only doubles in the Dolphin, but I may have that backward. Due to the great location and nice amenities/views of the hotel, I think it is a great choice, and for less money than the regular Disney resorts.

[Imakejessicarabbitjelous]

my friend works in the swan and dolphin and says it doesnt live up to the standards of a disney hotel

[buzznwoodysmom]

On our trip this past Feb. we stayed at 4 different resorts (yes, I know, we are crazy). The 4 resorts were Pop Centry, Wilderness Lodge, Shades of Green, and the Swan. I have to admit that the swan was by far the best resort out of the 4. The room was soooo much cleaner than the other 3 (with Wilderness Lodge being the worst--almost filthy). The location can't be beat and the beds were the most comfortable things I have even layed in. We will be staying at Cornonado Springs in a few days, but after that I think our next trip will be at the swan or dolphin. Once the new dinig plan kicks in in 2008 I don't think we'll ever do it again, we don't fly, therefor we don't need Magical Express, and we have never charged to our room and only once or twice have we sent packages back to our room. The only disney benefits we use, EMH and transportation, are still available at these resorts. I think you will be satisfied staying at either one. The location and the beds alone are enough to make me want to go back. The beds at Swan are queen and the beds at the Dolphin are double, that might make a difference.

[#1donaldfan]

The word we get on these are that they are very nice, but they are not up to Disney standards. They do have busses, however I'm not sure how often they depart and arrive. We love the Disney experience and once there, we want to be totally saturated by things Disney, so with that I would not choose either...sorry I didn't help you, but I'm sure you'll have a great time....:mickey:

[Hammer]

Just to clarify, you can send packages back to the Swan and Dolphin from the parks and Downtown Disney.

Personally, I like the Swan and Dolphin. No, they are not "in your face" Disney, but I like that. I think they are much more relaxing, but you know the parks are right outside your door. A couple of people here have commented that they do not think they are at Disney standards. In some cases, I think the Dolphin was of a higher standard. Because I can receive the teacher discount, I can get a hotel which gives me a more pampered experience at the same price as a moderate.

Now, they are not for everyone. If want a more "Disneyfied" experience, these are not the hotels for you.

[ResQRanger82]

We stayed at the Swan for a last-minute trip over the summer. It was very nice. I don't know of any significant differences between the Swan and Dolphin, other than they told us the the Swan was non-smoking and the Dolphin had smoking rooms. Overall, I have to say that if I had the choice, I would select a Disney resort. They add that "magic" factor only Disney can offer. Personally, price aside, I would stay at the Yacht or Beach Club in a heartbeat. But, to each their own!:mickey:

[buzznwoodysmom]

I have to agree completely with Hammer. I thought that the Swan hotel appeared to be at a higher standard than the other hotels we've stayed at. And not to be negative, but lately I don't think it takes very much to meet or excede the "Disney Standard". Thier standard is not what it used to be, in my opinion. Now perhaps if I were chooseing from one of the nicer deluxe resorts, like the Poly, GF, Yatch and Beach Club I would without a doubt choose those over the Swan/Dolphin, but if the choice was between Swan/Dolphin or a value or moderate I'd choose Swan/Dolphin in a heart beat. Especially for the location.

[anneb]

Both the Swan and the Dolphin are great hotels - my favorite places to stay at Disney. The Swan's rooms are a little bit larger, have a much larger bath (the Dolphin's bathroom is quite small, and two sinks (one inside the bath, and one in the dressing room). As someone else noted, the Swan has two queen beds, while the Dolphin has two doubles.
However, the Dolphin has much better (and many more) restaurants, a much nicer lobby, more rooms with balconies, and overall a more lively atmosphere. The Dolphin is almost twice as big as the Swan. They share a huge pool area and nice beach (the best pool area at Disney, at least for adults), and you can eat at either's hotel's restaurants and charge it to your room. It's hard to choose - the Swan gets the nod for just slightly nicer rooms (with the bigger beds and bath) and the most "calm and sedate" atmosphere, but the Dolphin is definitely my favorite, for the views, lobby, atmosphere and restaurants.

[tikiman]

We have stayed at both as recently as last July and I am not a big fan of either but if I had to choose between the two I would say the Swan.

The rooms in both were not in very good condition and transportation was the worst I have ever experienced at a Disney resort. I know people say it is in the middle of the magic being between Epcot and Disney Studios but the boat took forever. One night we got in line for the boat at the Studios and we could hear Fantazmic starting. Fantazmic finished up the minute the boat hit the dock so it took that long for the boat to come. Every day we heard people joke about how slow the boat was. The buses share with the Boardwalk, Swan, Dolhin, YC and BC and they all have different stops so that takes a while. Walking into Epcot takes a while and if it is hot or raining it makes the long walk even worse.

The only drawback to the Swan over the Dolphin I saw was that every time we get a room at the Swan it has no balcony and not even a window that opens. Also the pool is far from either the Swan or the Dolphin but it seemed even farther from the Swan.

I will say the staff is very friendly at the Swan but housekeeping was not even getting our room done before 5:00. We returned from the pool all wet and they would not even let us in the room. We had to sit in the lobby for 15 minutes for them to finish.

I myself prefer just about any Disney resort over the Swan or Dolphin but that is just my opinion and you can get better deals at those resorts.

[princessM0m]

Both hotels are nice. The Dolphin is a bit campier than the Swan. It's also important to note that the pool area is shared by both hotels, meaning that the Dolphin pool, which another poster said was nice, is also the Swan's pool. There is also a beach area (no swimming) and a playground area on the Swan side. It's also important to note that the boat transportation that services the Swan/Dolphin is the same boat that services the Boardwalk and Yacht/Beach club, so the issue would not be with Swan/Dolphin transportation but Disney transportation. While I'm sure delays happen, we use that boat system to get around from EPCOT to MGM and it's usually not that big of a problem. Whatever one you choose, you will be very close (walking distance) to the other for dining options, plus the Yacht/Beach club, the Boardwalk, EPCOT World Showcase, and MGM.

[DisneyDudet]

The Dolphin is much larger than the Swan. The entrance and lobby are much more elegant and larger, but if that means nothing to you, I'd take the Swan. The rooms are a little larger and we liked having the sinks separate, one in the bathroom and one out near the closet. The bathroom was larger than Disney bathrooms, I did realize that just now.

We never had a problem with transportation. We walked to MGM everytime we went. It is about a 15 min walk. Most of the time, we beat the boat, and every time there was not a boat waiting. We also walked to Epcot most times, except when there was a boat waiting for us or we were tired. We liked being able to walk with no crowds. Just leisure walking. The buses came very quickly. We never had to wait for more than 10 min. Waiting at the parks were not a problem either. We only waited a bit at AK in the middle of the day, but a driver that had no passengers waiting decided to make a special trip for us!

We stayed at the Swan last month, and it was VERY quiet. We never heard a single person or noise, except in the mornings when the boats started running, but we were up and ready by that time anyway! We and an ok view, but we had the teacher rate, so we didn't complain. In fact, our view turned out to be amazing, because we could see the MK fireworks in plain view! Down the hall, there was a view of SSE, so I'm sure you could stand out there and watch Illuminations. At the other end, there was a view of MGM, so I bet you could see Fantasmic!

We enjoyed our stay. The only thing we noticed is, that the A/C unit only comes on when you are in the room (notices movement) so it might be stuffy when you are coming in from the heat in the summer (felt like summer last month!!). It cools down rather quickly though.

You can ship packages to the store at the resort, just like all Disney resorts do. You can take advantage of EMH and Disney transportation. You cannot take advantage of DME or the Dining Plan, but we never use those, so that helps. If you plan on bringing a car, you DO have to pay for parking, but its cheaper than parking at Disney parks per day. If you are elligable for a discount (AAA, AP, Teacher, Nurse, Military, Govt Employee), it is just a little above a moderate in price, and that, right there, was enough to make us stay there. You have the same great benefits of location as Y&BC, and BWI, but at a MUCH lower rate.

Are they my favorite? No. My favorite is WL. Mom's is AKL. Dad's is BWI. We were VERY happy with it though, and if we can't get a discount at any other resort, we will probably be staying again.

[big blue and hairy]

The word we get on these are that they are very nice, but they are not up to Disney standards. They do have busses, however I'm not sure how often they depart and arrive. We love the Disney experience and once there, we want to be totally saturated by things Disney, so with that I would not choose either...sorry I didn't help you, but I'm sure you'll have a great time....:mickey:

The Swan & Dolphin have the same bus service as Y & B and BW, so its as often as their busses run. DW and I stayed at the Swan and we were very impressed. If you get one of the deals that gets you a much better rate than a Disney Deluxe, go for it. We loved it.

:sulley:

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I prefer the Dolphin, mostly because all the action is at that hotel. The grotto pool is closer to the Dolphin (there are a total of 3 pools) and there are more restaurants in the Dolphin. Both of these hotels have the best, most comfortable beds I've ever slept in.
You can walk to Epcot in about 5-10 minutes and to MGM in about 15 minutes.
You can't beat the location for the price either.
You can charge to your room in either of the hotels. You cannot charge in the parks though. You can have your packages sent to the hotel gift shop. You can use all internal Disney transportation, but not Magical Express. They don't participate in the Dining plan, but they do have their own refillable mugs.
You'll be happy in either hotel.

[Tigerinvestigator]

We have stayed at both resorts and I would say the Dolphin is better with kids, and the Swan is better for couples or adults. As you can see in my signature, we have stayed at almost every resort at WDW and I would rank the Swan/Dolphin right up there above the moderates and just below the monorail resorts and Yacht and Beach Club. We are staying at the Dolphin in December. For $149 you cannot beat it on property. The busses are the same as Yacht Beach and Boardwalk, but we love the boat and walking to Epcot and even MGM. You will not be disappointed with either and the Heavenly beds are simply the best beds on property!:thumbsup:

[Jeff]

I have never stayed at Dolphin but have at the Swan many times. We love the Swan and find it compares very favorably with "Disney" hotels. Of other deluxe we have stayed at we rank the Swan our 2nd , only behind the Poly but above the BWI, BC, Contemp, and AKL. Much of its appeal is location but the beds are fantastic and the staff is great. In fact, we have found the service to be better than many of the WDW hotels we have stayed at.

[DisneyGiant]

We chose the Swan because we heard they had queen beds - the Dolphin had full size beds.

The Swan & Dolphin are deluxe resorts - and are very close to Epcot & MGM - if you can get one of the deals- $149\night teacher rate - its a bargain compared to the Disney deluxes.

The Concierge was there for the whole hotel, and I found them extremely helpful. I thought the restaurants there were slightly more expensive than the parks and resorts.

The pool was AWESOME - it was huge. The kids LOVED it. And the atmosphere by the pool is more "resorty" than at the Disney pools.....

I think you'll have a good time with your selection of resorts.

Enjoy!

[Disney_Barbie]

We too adore the swan/dolphin. Well I shouldn't say that we've never officially stayed in dolphin. But we prefer the Swan over any "disney" hotel we've ever stayed in.

[Rikkikika]

Family of 3 my self, DH and DD age 8 planning a trip trip. We have been many times and have always stayed in luxury accommodations. Want to try either the swan or dolphin. Does anyone have an opinion on which we should choose? Until now we have stayed on monorail route now that DD is getting older thought we could try something else.

I'd recommend the Dolphin over the Swan, :thumbsup: I am a meeting planner and recently brought a large group to the Dolphin this past May. Both properties are not "in your face" Disney - which is why I generally use them for corporate meetings. A lot of my clients also bring their families along on their business trips and this concluded conference was no exception. The feedback I got from my attendees listed a lot of positives in regards to The Dolphin. The Dolphin has lots of restaurants on site ( I believe there are 12 combined Swan/Dolphin) and they also offer "Camp Dolphin" for the kids which is nice if you and your DH want to do dinner etc. Both the Swan and Dolphin use the Disney Transportation System - Bus and Friendship Boats to EPCOT etc. They run pretty regularly - every 15-30 min depending on volume. The rooms are clean, and the Heavenly Beds are fantastic - you'll find them in most Starwood properties like Westin etc. Definitely check out the Mandara Spa at the Dolphin if you choose to stay there - was one of the best spas I've ever been to!:cloud9: I'm still on cloud 9 and can't wait for my Hot Stone Massage in January!

[pox24]

Hated it. Not the same as a Disney owned resort.:ack: