The Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin are on-site motels close to EPCOT and Hollywood Studios which are Deluxe-caliber. This resort assessment options room images, ideas on facilities at each motels, worth for cash, and the way these resorts examine to Disney-owned lodging. (Up to date December 15, 2024.)
Reviewing the Swan and/or Dolphin is a tough proposition. One massive query is easy methods to categorize them? They’re operated by Marriott, however dubbed “Walt Disney World resorts” by advantage of their on-site location plus sure perks which are in any other case sometimes provided to friends of Disney-owned properties.
From a visitor profit perspective, the Swan & Dolphin are arguably handled higher than most Disney-owned motels now that Disney’s Magical Categorical has been retired. That’s as a result of, along with Early Entry, Swan & Dolphin friends are eligible for Prolonged Night Hours, whereas Worth and Average Resort friends aren’t.
Accordingly, I’m going to dub the Swan & Dolphin as “official unofficial Disney Resorts.” That mildly incoherent moniker precisely summarizes the association right here. You get nearly all the things on-site friends get and don’t actually lose something of worth regardless of the motels not being owned or operated by Walt Disney World.
There’s additionally the query of treating them as one single resort or two distinct motels. By way of high quality, service, and all significant assessment metrics, they’re akin to the Yacht & Seashore Membership, besides with none vital thematic variations. As such, it’s applicable to lump them collectively for the needs of this assessment.
With that mentioned, we do deal with the brand new Swan Reserve otherwise. That’s situated throughout the road from the opposite two motels, is a long time newer, has a a lot smaller footprint, and is substantively completely different. As such, its execs & cons differ. We’ve now stayed on the Swan Reserve a number of instances, and it’s our #1 resort of the trio. You may take a look at our Swan Reserve Resort Evaluation for more information, ideas, and a go searching.
The most important factor to know in case you’re planning a 2025 Walt Disney World trip is that the Swan & Dolphin Are Present process a $275 Million Transformation & Enlargement. This undertaking will final via 2026, so it impacts journeys for the subsequent two years, really.
On the plus facet, the hotelier is transforming all visitor rooms within the Walt Disney World Swan Resort. The brand new, fashionable designed visitor rooms within the Swan and Dolphin characteristic luxurious tile flooring in addition to new appointments. The reimagined rooms within the Walt Disney World Swan have now already debuted.
On the draw back, with building at all times comes issues concerning the influence on the visitor expertise, noise, and visible blight. Truthfully, we don’t count on a lot of that. This enlargement is being constructed on the far facet of the present conference heart, which is huge. Some visitor room views will overlook building, however that’s actually about it.
The precise draw back might be to parking. The floor lot scenario on the Swan & Dolphin is already pretty dire some dates, and this enlargement will substitute extra parking areas. Our sturdy recommendation if staying on the Swan & Dolphin is thus to not hire a automotive, and as an alternative use Uber, Lyft, or Mears Join as an alternative. If renting a automotive is important, take into account staying elsewhere.
One other replace is that friends of all three Swan & Dolphin Resorts are eligible for the on-site pre-arrival reserving home windows for Lightning Lane Multi Go, Single Go, and Premier Go. Forward of their go to, friends can even have the ability to buy and plan Lightning Lane passes, which permits friends to skip the standby line and be a part of a shorter line for choose sights and experiences.
Friends of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin will have the ability to buy these passes as much as 7 days upfront of their keep, similar to different on-site Deluxe Resort friends. It is a big benefit and, not like Early Entry, solely a handful of third get together motels at Walt Disney World will provide the 7+ day reserving window. Dolphin/Swan/Reserve are among the many uncommon few that do.
Learn our Information to Lightning Lane Multi-Go and Single Go at Walt Disney World for all the things you must learn about these new line-skipping methods.
Turning again to the common ‘ole Swan & Dolphin assessment, I received’t bore you with the historical past of how offers Michael Eisner made gave these motels their murky standing (you may learn DisneyWar for that) or the contrived, now deserted backstory of the design decisions of the motels. Suffice to say, the Swan & Dolphin are among the many most traditionally attention-grabbing of all of the motels at Walt Disney World, and the dimensions and scale of the motels has made them controversial and divisive amongst Disney followers.
Type is essentially within the eye of the beholder, however I’ve to confess that I’m not a lot of a Michael Graves (the architect for the motels) fan. To his credit score, he has a really distinct and “conversation-worthy” strategy that makes a lot of his buildings immediately identifiable, however I’ve at all times discovered them to have a chilly, impersonal look.
Right now, I feel most of his work for Disney seems to be straight out of the Nineteen Nineties, however I can’t actually put my finger on why. Then once more, I’m not a critic of structure and actually do not know what I’m speaking about from the angle of structure as artwork–that is all merely my gut-level response to the design.
No matter all that, there are advantages of being official unofficial Disney Resorts. The 2 greatest of those are location and value. Apart from Shades of Inexperienced (additionally a resort with an attention-grabbing historical past and murky standing), no different resort that isn’t Disney-owned has nearly as good of a location because the Swan & Dolphin.
Positioned on Crescent Lake alongside BoardWalk Inn and Yacht & Seashore Membership, the Swan & Dolphin are inside strolling distance of each EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. With this prime piece of actual property, the Swan & Dolphin even have a greater location (in my estimation) than half of the Disney-owned motels at Walt Disney World.
Then there’s the value. At costs usually proper round $250/night time (together with the resort charge), these rooms are considerably cheaper than their counterparts on the BoardWalk Inn and Yacht & Seashore Membership.
Even accounting for a wonderful promotion, it will be tough for these Disney-owned motels to compete with the Swan & Dolphin by way of pricing, save for possibly 4 adults staying in a single room in the course of the “Free Eating” Deal. Even then, Swan & Dolphin might need the sting. For extra of an intensive face to face, see our Swan & Dolphin vs. Seashore Membership comparability.
Nonetheless, being that they don’t seem to be Disney-owned motels, there’s the unlucky facet of the pricing mannequin utilized by the Swan & Dolphin. Specifically, the non-optional resort charge.
That is one thing I’ve bemoaned in earlier resort opinions, so I received’t rehash the subject right here. Suffice to say, if you wish to know extra about why this apply must be abolished, see our Combat Again Towards Lodge Resort Charges put up.
Even with the irritating resort charge plus a possible charged for parking rolled into the precise “out the door” value on the Swan & Dolphin, it comes out to round $250/night time many nights.
We’ve priced out the Swan & Dolphin on different events and located it to be kind of costly than that, so your mileage might range. Nonetheless, that’s lower than half the price of different Crescent Lake resorts.
When you get inside these doorways, getting previous these domineering exteriors and irritating pricing, there’s really lots to love concerning the Swan & Dolphin. For us, this begins with Marriott.
We’re Marriott Bonvoy Members, have stayed at most of the chain’s different motels, and have discovered it to be a strong model with high quality service. We’re massive followers of Disney, however don’t assume resort administration is without doubt one of the firm’s sturdy fits. On this regard, Marriott has the sting.
One other space the place the Swan & Dolphin are sturdy is eating. Now we have not eaten at each restaurant in each motels, however the lineup is fairly staggering, and all over the place I’ve dined has been strong. (We’re massive followers of Todd English’s Bluezoo.)
From Shula’s Steakhouse to Il Mulino to Kimonos to Bluezoo to Backyard Grove and extra, these motels have a number of the finest eating on property. Whereas a few of these eating places could be dear, I really feel like their worth is often barely higher than different on-site areas.
For all of my feedback concerning the design decisions in these motels, I’ve to say that I don’t thoughts the interiors fairly a lot. They nonetheless are removed from my favourite, however I usually assume they’re “wonderful.”
It’s actually solely the exteriors that get me riled up, and even these do have some redeeming options. In the event you’re massive on theme, these motels most likely aren’t going to be for you, until you take into account postmodern design an ample substitute.
On this regard, the Swan & Dolphin are form of just like the Modern–fashionable design however in settings and with areas that distinguish them from extraordinary fashionable luxurious motels. Moderately this can be a profit or disadvantage relies upon upon your perspective.
For these questioning, in the event that they have been eligible, they’d have been #6 or #7 on my Walt Disney World Deluxe Resort Rankings, attributable to being akin to the Modern in model and site, gaining factors on worth, however dropping factors on theme.
Then there are the rooms. What you consider these rooms will largely be dictated by whenever you final stayed. My first go to to one of many rooms within the Dolphin was a number of years in the past, and it was dated and, frankly, in horrible situation. I used to be really a bit shocked, as I had heard this resort really useful by many mates, and I began to surprise if mentioned mates have been really blind.
The Swan & Dolphin simply wrapped up a $150 million, three-year renovation which included a redesign of all visitor rooms, full transformation of the Dolphin foyer and renovation of all assembly area, which completed its closing part late final 12 months.
This time, I stayed in a refurbished room on the Swan (all of which have been completed on the time of my keep) and it was glorious.
Excuse the picture high quality right here; I made the error of opening my blinds when taking the images, which actually tousled the white stability. You would possibly wish to take a look at the room images on the Swan & Dolphin web site, as my photographs handle to have an excessive amount of blue and an excessive amount of yellow/orange.
What they’ve achieved with the brand new rooms is very nice, from the model to the standard of the carpet, furnishings, and bedding. Usually, I avoid the PR copy that resort web sites use, however on this case, they hit the nail on the pinnacle with their description of the bedding: “Heavenly Mattress, that includes a pillow-top mattress, a white goose-down comforter, and 4 overstuffed pillows. You don’t simply sleep in it, you lose your self in it!”
Yeah, that’s about proper. In my expertise, this was palms down the perfect mattress I’ve “misplaced myself in” so far at Walt Disney World.
The loos are additionally very nice, with nice lighting within the mirrors, plus sinks each inside and outside the bathe room.
The bathe is a pleasant walk-in with first rate water stress.
Past the visitor rooms, there are an entire host of different facilities on the Swan & Dolphin, from the swimming pools to well being membership, tennis courts, jogging trails, spa, recreation room, watercraft leases, artwork gallery, and extra.
Even by Deluxe Resort requirements, it’s a reasonably strong lineup, and when including the superb eating to the equation, the Swan & Dolphin are very aggressive with different Deluxes on this regard.
Since first publishing this assessment, we’ve stayed within the Presidential Suite on the Dolphin, which was far and away the best resort room we’ve had at Walt Disney World.
It was gigantic, provided breathtaking luxurious, sprawling measurement, sensible design, and unbeatable views of Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios–just about all the things you may need. Even a grand piano!
If swimming pools are your factor, the Swan & Dolphin are for you. They’ve roughly 37 completely different swimming pools (okay, 5) with all the things from award-winning lap swimming pools to a lovely grotto pool with rockwork and a waterfall that overlooks a white sand seashore. There are poolside eating places, kiddie swimming pools, whirlpools, and extra.
I didn’t take a look at any of the swimming pools throughout my go to for this assessment, however I went again and was capable of take a dip within the grotto pool throughout a newer keep. Wow. I feel that is by far the perfect of the bunch. The Swan & Dolphin are proper up there with Yacht & Seashore Membership for the crown of finest swimming pools at Walt Disney World.
Oh, and bear in mind the Swan Boats within the Magic Kingdom? In all probability not until you visited previous to 1983, however in case you do, the closest you will get to taking a cruise in a swan boat at Walt Disney World nowadays is renting one on the Swan & Dolphin.
The Swan Boats within the Magic Kingdom are earlier than my time, however throughout my subsequent keep on the Swan or Dolphin, I’m undoubtedly giving certainly one of these a strive. A neat novelty, for positive.
Total, the Swan & Dolphin motels are going to be serve a selected subset of Walt Disney World friends very properly, and one other subset not so properly. In case you are a conventioneer or somebody who desires a respite from the continuous inundation of Disney whenever you head again to your resort–however with out sacrificing location–these motels are undoubtedly for you. In the event you’re a household searching for one thing with an immersive theme or that can enchantment to your youngsters, there are most likely higher choices at Walt Disney World for you.
I cease wanting saying “undoubtedly” there as a result of the Swan & Dolphin nonetheless is perhaps good choices, particularly in case you’re searching for a luxurious expertise, glorious facilities, or shut proximity to the parks at a lower cost level (and who is aware of, possibly your youngsters might be drawn to the “pyramids” of those motels–I used to be as a toddler!). Whereas the resort charges do bug me, the actual fact stays that costs listed here are considerably higher than comparable Disney-owned motels even with added prices factored in, and the facilities give nearly each Disney-owned resort a run for its cash.
Unsure which Walt Disney World resort is best for you? Try our Walt Disney World Lodge Critiques web page, which affords quick-hit capsule opinions of the strengths and weaknesses of each Walt Disney World resort, plus hyperlinks to our opinions and picture pages for each resort we have now reviewed. On the lookout for complete Walt Disney World trip ideas? Make sure that to learn our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information.
Your Ideas
Do you just like the look of the Swan & Dolphin or are they not your model? Have you ever stayed the Swan or Dolphin post-refurbishment? Pre-refurbishment? Planning on staying right here sometime? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of those motels? Any questions we may help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even whenever you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
