We are thinking of making a last minute trip to Disney in a couple of weeks.
Prices are about the same for either Sawn/Dolphin vs a Moderate Resort. We never do the dining plan so that is not an issue. No Magial Express or room charge at Swan. Swan is walking or boat to Epcot or Studios.
Loacation seems to be winning right now.
What say you?
Room charging isn't a big deal for me (use a lot of Disney gift cards and refill them during vacation), and especially with a shorter trip, not having package delivery isn't a big deal either.
The location is FANTASTIC, and they are served by regular Disney buses to the other parks, just like a moderate.
BUT, the no Magical Express is a decent deal breaker to me. You either have to get a town car, Mears bus, or rent a car. I don't know how much the first two run, but I'd also try to find out how OFTEN the Mears buses go as well as how many other stops they could make. You don't want to be stuck on a bus for a couple of hours waiting for more people to fill it and then stopping at 10 other hotels. And with a car rental, you will be charged for parking as a Swan/Dolphin guest at the hotel. I don't know if you drive to a park if you have to pay there also, or not.
My advice, make sure you run the numbers with the transportation/parking included - and that you're ok with the cost difference that introduces over the moderates.
Cathy
Location!! You can't beat being at an Epcot Resort....okay maybe on the monorail could beat it.
^Agree. Plus the Swan has Heavenly Beds - which are well, heavenly. They don't triple sheet at the moderates.
ETA: TinaMouse has done towncar to/from the airport several times and she might be able to give a recommendation.
“When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier.” - Roy Disney
Yes, like Scooby, I used Tiffany with GREAT success. Ask for Renata!Originally Posted by Barberella
Working hard for that next WDW trip! December 2013
Sorry, but I think the Swan and Dolphin are ugly and don't belong in the Boardwalk area with so much other classic architecture. No Magical Express. No extra Disney magic. Go Moderate.
Tifalfany Town Car are excellent have used them twice.
But the Swan if off site and off the magic to me.
I'm still running the numbers. I want to go so bad. I just have to make sure we can spare the $ for thr trip. We have some flight travel vouchers we need to use so it's really just room, tickets, and food etc.
We have only stayed at the Deluxe or DVC resorts. I am going home tonight to get final approval from the boss.
Thanks for the feedback.
Moderate! Moderate! Moderate! We stayed at the Dolphin (Swan's Sister) and hated it! It doesn't have the Disney magic. It wasn't clean, it was over-crowded with convention people, and it was so very typical, not extraordinary, like most Disney resorts. The location is great, no doubt, but the magic is missing. In my humble opinion, stay away from Swan and do a moderate.
1999 - Coronado Springs (1 night); 2003 - DL's Paradise Pier (5 nights); 2005 - All Star Music (7 nights); 2007 - POP Century (10 nights); 2008 - DL's Paradise Pier (5 nights); 2009 - POP Century (10 nights); 2010 - Dolphin (2 nights); 2011 - POP Century (7 nights); June 8-18, 2012 - POFQ (10 nights); next trip,June 18-22, 2013 - POFQ (5 nights). If I'm not at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, I'm not really happy.
With respect to petesimac, I have a very different opinion. We've stayed at POFQ, POR, AKL, WL, CB, GF, the Swan, and several off-site hotels. Other than AKL and GF (which aren't moderates anyway), I'd choose the Swan in a heartbeat over the moderates. Maybe it just wasn't crowded when we were there two years ago (although it was early August), but it didn't seem too big, too crowded, or unfriendly. And I really don't get the "no Disney magic" comments. It has the "standard" Disney gift shop, and the employees we dealt with were some of the friendliest we've met in WDW. I know that petesimac stayed at the Dolphin and not the Swan, and I remember reading out the issues you experienced, so maybe that's the difference. We walked through the Dolphin, and that seemed formal, stuffy, and overwhelming.
In contrast, we were at POFQ in April. On three days, our room wasn't serviced. On two of those days, calls to the front desk never resulted in mousekeeping fixing the problem. We requested (and received) an inflatable air mattress - after about 15 minutes it was deflated. Told the front desk in person the next morning, got back that night and it hadn't been replaced. Went back to the front desk on the way to dinner, and we returned to a new air mattress and a plastic bag full of linens next to it. Back to the front desk, where this time they gave us $100 cash (that one was odd - we didn't ask for any money, just wanted the problem fixed, and they literally gave us money out of the cash drawer). These problems were similar to what we experienced the previous year at WL. My point is that IMHO, people can have good or bad experiences at the same hotel, depending on lots of factors. But our experience at the Swan was fantastic. When we left POFQ in April, we told ourselves that when we go back, it'll be to AKL or the Swan. And unless you're staying at one of the much more expensive Cresent Lake Disney resorts or the MK monorail resorts, you can't beat being within walking distance of two parks.
I'd pick the Swan with absolutely no hesitation. I've never stayed there, but my boyfriend and I stayed for a week last October at the Dolphin and it was HEAVENLY! We used the Mears shuttle and got to the resort in record time.
John
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