Since my first visit to Walt Disney World in 1997 I’ve stayed at many Disney resorts from the Grand Floridian to the All Star Music and nearly everything in between. But one thing I’d never done was stayed at the Swan or Dolphin – the two hotels that are on property, in fact right in the middle of prime Disney property, but that aren’t run by the mouse. These two hotels offer nearly all the same perks as staying in a Disney resort (free transportation, extra magic hours, package delivery – just about everything except Magical Express). But again, they’re not run by Disney and I’m a very dedicated Disney fan. So would staying at the Dolphin stack up? I found out last month…
What I liked:
The hotel is beautiful. While it feels more like a typical high quality hotel than a Disney hotel, it’s still a classy but comfortable environment. The room was equally as nice. And, good news, the Swan and Dolphin recently announced a remodeling of all of their rooms. We stayed in one of the older rooms and had no complaints.
The amenities: Inside the room we loved the Starbucks coffee that’s provided, the fridge and the two bottles of water left in the room everyday. Outside was a huge pool that we enjoyed briefly before the cold got to us. There’s also a kiddle pool, a lap pool and a hot tub. These are all shared with the Swan though they have their own lap pool as well. There’s also a pretty good looking gym and kids club, but I didn’t try either. The Wifi in the room and around the hotel did not have an extra charge and was very good quality. We did plenty of streaming in our room without any trouble. There’s also a wired internet connection if you still need one of those.
The food: The food was very convenient. There’s the Picabu quick service which is open 24 hours with both hot food and grab and go. The Foundtain diner has burger fare plus great ice cream options and you can get it all to go which we did (something I wish the similar Beaches ‘n’ Cream allowed guests to do). We also tried the room service which was prompt and not as pricey as I would’ve expected. They did make a mistake on my pizza order but were very quick to bring a replacement. Between the Swan and Dolphin there are several other more expensive restaurants including Shula’s, Todd English’s bluezoom Kimonos and Il Mulino which we didn’t try out this trip (though we have eaten at and enjoyed Il Mulino several times in the past). There was also a flyer in the room letting us know dinner at the higher end restaurants included two hours of free childcare in the kids club.
The Service: For the most part the service was good. Our bags were brought up to the room quickly after we arrived. When we needed our car from the valet, it was brought very promptly despite it being a very busy time. I bought Rebekah a bottle of wine but we needed a corkscrew. Room service got one up to us within about 15 minutes at no charge. I also found the front desk staff extremely friendly. One of my favorite touches is their name badges, under their name they have what their passion is. So I talked to my front desk clerk about her passion – Theater and our bell hop about his – Baskerball. It’s a great ice breaker for people like me who like to talk to employees.
What I didn’t like so much
The Service: While the service, for the most part, was great (as mentioned above), it wasn’t up to the level I’m used to getting from Disney. That’s ok, they’re not Disney, but keep that in mind. There were a couple of poor service standouts – it took quite a while when I first arrived for a valet to acknowledge me. I understand they were busy, but it would be nice for someone to just say “we’ll be with you in a minute” so I at least know I’m in the right place. On another occasion I arrived back at my room just as the maid was about to clean it. I’m not sure what the normal etiquette there is (I told her I’d wait), but she didn’t say a word to me in response which just felt odd.
Resort Fee and Parking: There is a mandatory $25.88 (including tax) resort fee for each night. So remember to add that to the price of your room. Then there’s parking. Unlike the Disney-owned resorts, self parking is not free at the Swan and Dolphin. In fact, it costs $16 per day which isn’t cheap. If you’d prefer to valet it’s $22. What’s worse, that price applies to your guests as well. We have family in Florida that wanted to visit us at the hotel, and that’s where bad got even worse. When they arrived they weren’t allowed to self park. They were told it was full due to Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival. If they wanted to visit us they’d have to pay $22 for valet. Instead, they left. I called guest services to inquire and was told the info was correct – guests have to pay $16 to park to visit you and if self parking is full they have to pay $22 for valet. She did explain that those staying at the hotel would not have to pay the $22 if self parking was full, but visitors did. Over the course of this conversation the phone was very staticy (another complaint) forcing me to cut the conversation short. I explained to her that was the reason why I had to abruptly hang up and was hoping a manager would call back to make sure all my concerns were addressed. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
The Verdict
Given that the Swan and Dolphin are bonafide hotels, not motels like Disney’s moderate level resorts, and given their prime location a boat ride away from Epcot and Hollywood Studios, and given their price (even with the resort fee and parking) is quite a bit less than Disney’s deluxe resorts, I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again and recommend it, even for us die hard Disney fans.b
Below are a few pictures from the resort including the view from our room and a look and a room (not ours) that’s already been remodeled.
