Decided to go back to WDW in late August with my 2 DD’s. I am a teacher and thinking of staying at the Swan. Price is a little less then the moderates. What is everyone’s opinion on going the Swan route instead of CSR or either Port Orlean’s? The transfer doesn’t bother me. looking at the rest of the factors??? LMK.
Excited to be coming back 
Although I’ve never stayed at either of those resorts, I think the big draw to the Swan (for me) is how it is within walking distance of HS and a boatride (or long walk) from Epcot while CSR and Port Orleans require a bus. Swan being a tower also makes it less of a distance to walk to transportation.
We stayed at the Swan this past Thanksgiving using SPG points. The location is great for walking to either Epcot or HS. You have most of the benefits of a Disney Hotel including WDW transportation and 60-day fastpass+. You don’t get Magical Express and when you make dining reservations, I found that you do not get the 180 days + your length of trip window. The online system would only let me make reservations 180-days out from each date, so I had to get online multiple days, if that make sense. The hotel rooms were a little dated/worn, but the Westin beds are very comfortable. I would stay again because the location.
I stayed at POFQ last May and Dolphin 2 weeks ago, and I really liked them both. Dolphin wins hands down for the location (it is actually longer to walk to HS - 1 mile, and only 0.6 or 0.7 miles to the Int’l gateway, depending on whether you walk the Boardwalk or Beach Club side). Boat may be faster to HS, but you will beat the boat to Epcot every time because of the two other stops on the way. Because it is a convention hotel, the lobby was always pretty busy, and the pools are spectacular, but not themed in any way. I love the pools at both PO resorts for their theming, and you are squarely inside the Disney bubble (no Mickey towel arrangements with the Swan). The location at PO means it’s harder to take advantage of other resort dining, whereas a whole bunch of good restaurants are within a short walk from the Swan, and they have some really good restaurants in their own right.
Price-wise, remember you will be paying a resort fee and parking, if you need it, at the Swan. The resort fee does include unlimited bottle water (I asked for a bunch each day from the front desk), so that’s one option. Has all EMH privileges, but you won’t get MBs. Dining was annoying because it wasn’t 180+10 when I booked, it was 180 only. Hopefully that has changed, since you will get the regular FP 60 day window.
With my parent’s military discount, we are booked at POR for this November… got super spoiled on this last trip with my husband, since he often stays at SPG properties when he travels for work and we were able to pay for our entire Dolphin stay with points.
Thank you so much for your replies. So you don’t get the magic bracelets? A little confused by this. How do you make your fast pass plus’ etc?
Magicbands are just a way to carry your FP and ticket information - if you don’t have one, you would use your plastic ticket card for everything. If you have MBs linked to your family from a previous trip, you can use those again, or buy them for $12 each from pretty much any big store on property. You just won’t get new ones as a part of your Swan stay because you don’t use the bands to open your hotel room door.
Great. Thanks. Will decide inside next week. Really like the idea of walking to epcot and hws. And to boardwalk. Just nervous about jumping away from Disney owned properties. We have had great times at Csr and cbr.
I’m a big fan of Swolphin. Don’'t forget the awesome pools. If you close the park at Epcot you’ll be in your room WITH an ice cream from Ample Hills before most people are getting on a bus or are at their car. Epcot and Boardwalk are pretty much at the Swan’s back door. If you plan on doing Epcot or DHS, the location is awesome considering the price of the other Deluxes in the Epcot area. DHS is walkable, but the boat is nice because there are no stops between DHS and Swan, so if you catch the boat from swan to dhs, or dhs back to swan, no stops. The walk from swan to epcot is like an EASY 10 minutes. Don’t bother with the boat. I remember planning my trip, and going through my options for getting to Epcot for an 8am emh. I called Swan and asked if the boats would be running that early. The rep let out a little giggle, and said, “no, no, you just WALK to Epcot.” Also, if you are a Costco Exec member, I hope you’ve priced out their Swan package. I think all of the Swan rooms are renovated now, so you don’t have to worry about that. Dolphin might still be in process of renovations.
Price, pools, proximity…Swan for the win!
Ok. Making the call. Thank you for all the help. Booking a 2 queen room with balcony for the third week of August at the Swan. A few final questions.
Do they take room request and if so what should I request? Facing one of the parks ?
Will they charge me for grocery delivery and has anyone ever made a stop on way from airport to swan for a few things if so where ?
Can I buy magic bands else where before the trip and load them at the hotel for our rides ? My girls are older but still want to magic it up while there.
Thanks again… excited.
You can make a request sure. They know the best rooms at the desk. If you do a search for best rooms for fireworks views from the swan hotel, there are well known WDW planning sites that will hook you up with suggestions.
We got in late, so our car driver brought us to “The Walgreens” on the way. I guess it is “the walgreens” on the way from mco to epcot area resorts. Most car services/taxis are WELL aware that disneygoers might be interested in stopping en route. Just ask the driver where they suggest. If you are there during business hours, you’ll have more options. Ask the desk about grocery delivery to get the real scoop unless someone here knows the deets. Also, there is a walkable gas station from Swolphin. I didn’t go, but I routinely saw ppl bringing back goods from there.
You can order bands from the disney store online, and link them to your account before you leave. It’s easy. You just enter a special number from the band into a field on your mde account, and you are set. adr’s and fastpasses, photopass, memory maker (if you choose) will automatically be linked. IF you don’t have time, or don’t get around to it, you can buy them at many gift shops throught wdw. IIRC, they have a shop that sells them at Swolphin - only takes a sec to link them. You can ask the cm at the Swolphin disney desk to verify they are all set before you go.
Huge help. Thank you for all the insight. Now it just needs to stop snowing here !!!