If price was the same and your 2 choices were Swan or Dolphin, which would you pick from a Liner’s perspective?
I know the Swan has Queen beds and Dolphin has double beds, but lets assume you’re staying in a King room. Is one in a better position for walking to HS/Ep? Does the Swan’s smaller lobby seem more manageable after a long day at the parks? I’m splitting hairs here, looking for pros/cons to give to my husband. THANKS!
I picked Swan bc it looks slightly closer. And I liked the theming slightly better.
There might have once been a liner that measured beds at both resorts and found they were the same size…
Ha! 
I picked Swan mostly due to the smaller size, so assuming that means a little quieter and less hectic. Would have been perfectly happy with Dolphin though if Swan wasn’t available.
I have stayed at both and didn’t find one better or worse than the other. I would probably go with Swan just because it is a bit closer walk to HS and Epcot.
and Swan actually has a swan statue…please explain to me why Dolphin has a statue of a fish and not a dolphin?
It is very confusing but it is a fish
So why isn’t the hotel called the Dolphinfish…lol
I like the Swan better. The elevator banks are less hectic and confusing. And I don’t like going up that escalator at the Dolphin every time I go in and out walking to the parks.
Because the Dolphinfish got its name because it was originally confused for being an actual Dolphin!
Dolphins do not have scales? I don’t get the scales still?!? No sailor who ever saw a dolphin described them as not having scales?
I love tidbits like this. THANKS!
@Tall_Paul1 I switched to Swan!! Now our trips really are twins.
Consider this though. There was an actual Dolphin, name appropriately so. But in the day before we had photographs, all people could go by were descriptions. So, if a sailor saw a dolphin, it was because they recognized one based on verbal descriptions, or other sailors pointing them out, etc. But then you, as a sailor, get back to port and describe a dolphin you saw to someone. Large, maybe 7 ft in length, with a large dorsal fin, etc. The key components to the description of an actual dolphin would, in fact, match the mahi-mahi.
So you’re a sailor, and you see a mahi-mahi in the water from a distance. It is large, maybe 7 ft in length, with a large dorsal fin, etc. So you call it a dolphin. And the name passes along to others, who now start calling an actual mahi-mahi a “dolphin”, and artist depictions match some mixture of the two, etc.
Eventually, it is known that they aren’t the same thing. But the mahi-mahi, now also called a “dolphin” incorrectly, is called a “dolphinfish”. See? But the hotel is named after the representation of the “dolphin” exemplified by the old, incorrect depiction of something was actually a dolphinfish.
I’ll be dissenter and say I prefer the Dolphin over the Swan. I have stayed at both - for room accommodations they are very similar like others have reported. My primary reason is that the Dolphin has the “grab and go” breakfast place which was perfect for my family to pick-up something before going to the parks in AM. Swan did not - only sit down places, so you would have to walk to the Dolphin for “grab and go”.
I’ve stayed at both.
I would lean towards Dolphin, and the only reason would be because I know which bank of rooms to stay in to be closest to the pool complex.
If I had no interest in pools, I would choose Swan.
We go to the pools every day, sometimes twice per day. We stay in the Dolphin rooms with the patios that face the Swan pond specifically because it’s just steps to the pool, and also there is a walkway to the bus stop.
The pros for Swan, in my eyes, were the better bathrooms, and the shared Disney Bus picked and dropped off at Swan first, and the hotel was smaller.
For us, the pool is the more important deciding point. GRANTED, if you get a room at Dolphin that is far away from the pools, then you might have to walk just as far, or maybe further than a Swan room. I just know that staying at Swan, after 3 days or so, if you’re going to the pool complex AND touring parks all day - the steps to the pool complex start weighing on you. It’s not a FAR walk, but when you add in all of the other walking? Going to the pool complex started to get old pretty quick. We found the perfect Dolphin rooms for us: King room with sofabed, right next to the pools. We’d never take the double beds.
If we weren’t such pool people, for the same price, we’d pick Swan all day, though.
P.S. if you like sushi, make it a point to try Kimonos. Also, make it a point to try sub sandwiches at either of the grab n go spots. These are all hidden gems (many people would say that all of the restaurants at Swolphin are hidden gems - hopefully they’ll all be open when you go.)
This is great info, thank you! We are going in December, so the pools won’t be a huge factor for us. But we are going again next summer, so if we look at Swan and Dolphin I will definitely remember this.
IMO - if the pools don’t matter, go with Swan.
Less people (usually,) quieter (usually,) first pickup and dropoff for busses (lately, the busses are getting a lot of chatter, perhaps they can no longer use the Disney Bus system - please do NOT quote me on that, check for yourself.)
You’ll have a bit of a shorter walk to EP, HS, and the Boardwalk, too.
I really like both hotels, no big issue with either. I wouldn’t stay in a room with the double beds, so that’s not a factor for me.
Swan has a new grab n go named “Java” which I think has similar offerings of sandwiches, salads and treats. I’d assume they have the same stuff as Fuel.
But, I’ve been quoted many times as saying Fuel was an absolute hidden gem in Wally world. Their sub sandwiches were flippin great.
