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

[jennib5426]

are the busses for Swan drop off and pick up at the same locations as all other WDW buses at parks or is it back with busses from off property hotels?

 

[armerida]

Curious if anyone who has stayed recently can comment on how crowded the lobbies/hallways feel, and if there have been long elevator wait times? I’ve heard of this issue at other resorts. We had booked for Pop in September but I’ve seen Priceline express deals that have me tempted..

Hi there! We’re here now and the lobby is quite empty and we have never seen anyone in our hallway. We are on the 12th floor and we did encounter something interesting with the elevators in the morning. On our way down, we stopped at 5 floors the last 2 days - all people waiting to go to the lobby. We had to apologize each time and continue down bc we are not comfortable sharing the elevator with others. Top floor seems ideal because you will not have to worry about a full elevator arriving. The elevators up from the lobby were busy on the weekend around 9:15, but we found if you wait till around 10, there is no wait. Also, I checked and the stairs for the main building floors 2-12 and the wings 2-7 are unlocked at the first floor.

 

[armerida]

are the busses for Swan drop off and pick up at the same locations as all other WDW buses at parks or is it back with busses from off property hotels?

Today our Animal Kingdom bus was the same as other onsite resorts; we were stop 23 right in the middle of the center “island” of bus stops. We haven’t bussed to the other parks yet but I believe Magic Kingdom will also use a regular stop. We did see that the HS and Epcot buses are Mears coaches and I think will drop with the charters at those parks. It took us 10 minutes to walk to Epcot and 13 to Hollywood.

 

[Anna Sofia]

Hi there! We’re here now and the lobby is quite empty and we have never seen anyone in our hallway. We are on the 12th floor and we did encounter something interesting with the elevators in the morning. On our way down, we stopped at 5 floors the last 2 days - all people waiting to go to the lobby. We had to apologize each time and continue down bc we are not comfortable sharing the elevator with others. Top floor seems ideal because you will not have to worry about a full elevator arriving. The elevators up from the lobby were busy on the weekend around 9:15, but we found if you wait till around 10, there is no wait. Also, I checked and the stairs for the main building floors 2-12 and the wings 2-7 are unlocked at the first floor.

Thank you so much for these details! I don’t blame you for not sharing the elevator space, I would feel uncomfortable. I hope you have a great rest of your trip!

 

[Dan Murphy]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1294932115230990338

https://twitter.com/x/status/1295078658437259266

https://twitter.com/x/status/1295077621215240193

 

[pepperandchips]

Not my best photography but I did catch a mears coach headed back to the Swan this weekend, in case anyone is curious about how they look!

(Not sure if you can tell but it said Hollywood Studios on the front)

 

[Dan Murphy]

More photos of The Cove, these from the ground.

https://www.wdwmagic.com/resorts/th...walt-disney-world-swan-and-dolphin-resort.htm

 

[Melindarella]

Morning!

When does the Dolphin open? Do they have a date yet? Called myself looking - but can't find the answer! Thanks in advance!

 

[shoreward]

Morning!

When does the Dolphin open? Do they have a date yet? Called myself looking - but can't find the answer! Thanks in advance!

The Dolphin is scheduled to reopen on 09/01/2020, according to
https://www.swandolphin.com/value-days/

 

[SteveH]

@shoreward I saw that too, I wonder how occupancy is doing at the Swan? As of a few minutes ago trying to book a room for the Dolphin said to call, so I wonder if they will still reopen 9/1 or if they will hold back until demand drives it? S/D set up allows for them to scale pretty well.

 

[shoreward]

@shoreward I saw that too, I wonder how occupancy is doing at the Swan? As of a few minutes ago trying to book a room for the Dolphin said to call, so I wonder if they will still reopen 9/1 or if they will hold back until demand drives it? S/D set up allows for them to scale pretty well.

I did a flexible date search on Marriott.com for September at the Dolphin and was quoted $103-$108 per night, + taxes and fees, for a Traditional room, checking in September 3. The rate was using Passholder discount. It took me to the payment page, where all I needed to do was confirm the booking, which I did not do.

 

[robinb]

Hi there! We’re here now and the lobby is quite empty and we have never seen anyone in our hallway. We are on the 12th floor and we did encounter something interesting with the elevators in the morning. On our way down, we stopped at 5 floors the last 2 days - all people waiting to go to the lobby. We had to apologize each time and continue down bc we are not comfortable sharing the elevator with others. Top floor seems ideal because you will not have to worry about a full elevator arriving. The elevators up from the lobby were busy on the weekend around 9:15, but we found if you wait till around 10, there is no wait. Also, I checked and the stairs for the main building floors 2-12 and the wings 2-7 are unlocked at the first floor.

Thanks for the live update!

Did the Swan mark their elevator floors in any way? I've read where some elevators have places to stand marked on the floor so people stand as far apart as possible. I understand not wanting to ride an elevator with others, but it must have been very frustrating for the other families to have an elevator arrive and not be able to get on it because it already has one family on it who doesn't want to share. There are ways to make sharing an elevator safer. An elevator ride is pretty quick and so people would not be exposed to the possible virus for long enough to become infected. I believe that the CDC says "close contact" for virus transmission is within 6 feet and 15 minutes or more.

 

[SteveH]

@shoreward thanks I just checked for the 1st. Hopefully the numbers are working in S/D's favor and they need the additional space of the Dolphin.

 

[pooh2001]

Do you think the Dolphin will upgrade the coffee markers from Mr. Coffee big pods than sold in grocery stores to
Keurig K-cup style - even the Keurig coffee machines with 1 serving size would be fine
I hope the S/D people read these threads

 

[Melindarella]

The Dolphin is scheduled to reopen on 09/01/2020, according to
https://www.swandolphin.com/value-days/

Thank you!

 

[SteveH]

Do you think the Dolphin will upgrade the coffee markers from Mr. Coffee big pods than sold in grocery stores to Keurig K-cup style

I wouldn't count on anything happening anytime soon, pretty sure they have agreements to serve the certain brand for a set time. I can't see S/D spending any money to make a change at this time. I don't think Disney has even make a major change from the Pods. One factor is the size between the pods vs K-Cups too, the K-Cups take up more storage space and garbage too.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Curious if anyone who has stayed recently can comment on how crowded the lobbies/hallways feel, and if there have been long elevator wait times? I’ve heard of this issue at other resorts. We had booked for Pop in September but I’ve seen Priceline express deals that have me tempted..

We had a short two night stay last week. The lobby was not crowded except around check in time (4-5 pm ish) and in the morning around 8-9 am we found. The elevators were not a problem for us except on Friday night around 9 pm. We waited in a very long line for the east elevator that extended past the entrance to Java. Many folks were frustrated and irritated that the stairs were not an option (only down access, not up). The line went quickly though. I suspect there was a back up due to people coming in from Hollywood Studios which closed at 8 pm. We stayed on the 2nd floor and rarely encountered anyone in the halls, although I did have a problem getting an elevator on Friday morning to go to the lobby as every one that stopped on our floor was already occupied so I gave up and used the stairs. It was right before HS was due to open so I suspect again that if you avoid high traffic times you will have no problems but if you don’t, pack your patience, lol.

 

[Erica Ladd]

Do we know for sure what Dolphin restaurants will open when/if the hotel does open on September 1st?

 

[Dave006]

Nope nothing official yet but many are watching and waiting for the update.

Dave

 

[SteveH]

@Erica Ladd @Dave006 and you know as soon as any news comes out you'll find it right here