Walt Disney World Resort:Swan and Dolphin
Resort type: The Swan and Dolphin are 2 separate resorts owned by Westin. They are located on Walt Disney World property but are not operated by Disney.
Food options:
- Shula’s Steakhouse
- Fresh Mediterranean Market
- bluezoo
- The Fountain
- Picabu Buffeteria
- Garden Grove
- Kimonos
- Il Mulino New York Trattoria
- Splash Grill
- Room Service
Pools: 2 lap pools and the Grotto play area
Transportation: Buses to all the parks, you can walk to Epcot
Featured Reviews:
This review comes from my reader Chris…
Why did you choose this resort? It was an affordable option for the five of us and it looked like it would be a blast! It proved to be all the fun we had expected.
What were the resort rooms like? Were they big enough for your family? Did you find them to be acceptable? The most memorable part of the resort room was the bed. This resort has the nicest beds of any resort I’ve ever stayed at anywhere!! They are so comfortable that I had to make my family mad by waking them up to go to the parks-literally! I had even threatened to leave them there but that only made them happy. We had plenty of room for all of us for a week and we were fine with the arrangements. The view was also great and a quick walk to the Boardwalk, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios.
What were the amenities of the resort like? What was your favorite one? The Grotto was an awesome pool. The teens loved the waterfall area (and they could “hide” under it). There were also hammocks, a playground, and it is right across from Fantasia Gardens. The bad part of the amenities is that you have to pay extra for parking (per day) and you have a “resort fee”. There is also a refrigerator in the room but you will be charged for whatever you use there too, so watch out with little ones. One amenity that didn’t apply to us was the availability to rent a car or turn in one at the Dolphin.
What was the food court like? Any favorite foods? We only ate one meal at the resort due to timing, but the meal we had, breakfast, was great. The rest of the time we were just too busy! There are so many restaurants at these two resorts that we wanted to try so maybe next time we can do more of them.
How were the resort buses? What was your walk to the bus stop like? How were the resorts bus stops at the parks? How far was the walk to the gates? How crowded were the buses at any given time? The boat ride to EPCOT was great. It took a little longer than expected due to stopping at the Boardwalk on the way, but other than that, it was fine. The buses were a different story. They were always crowded and one time, we were so packed on the bus that the bus could not lift up. We had to let some people off the bus, the bus driver raised the bus, then the people got back on. Our walk to the boat was about 4 minutes and to the bus was about 7. We could have walked to EPCOT in about 15 minutes and Hollywood Studios in about 10.
Would you stay at this resort again? If not, please provide a reason. I would definitely stay in this resort again because of the fun we had and the things we enjoyed here like the pool and the closeness to the parks and Boardwalk area. Since you can’t have your room key “all-inclusive” and can’t have the dining plan when staying here, it would be on a limited basis when I didn’t want all of those options.
If you are military, you might consider staying at Shades of Green.
Learn more about the Walt Disney World Resorts and contact Destinations in Florida to help you book your perfect resort.
Debra says
We stayed at the Dolphin for the first half of our Disney World trip in Jan. Then left for a 3 day cruise on the Disney Dream and returned to stay a few more days at the Swan. Bell hop desk was great because they let me leave a couple of suitcases and stroller with them while we were on our cruise and then transferred them over to the Swan when we returned. We picked the Dolphin and Swan because my husband is a Starwood Platinum member and we were able to use points for our rooms. Also, my husband was very happy about being able to simply return our rental car with the bellhop.
Their rooms are great! Pretty standard resort room. There were 3 of us so we were never jostling for space. We were in a standard room at the Dolphin on the first floor with a queen bed and a fold out sofa bed. There was a mini fridge as well which we stocked with drinks but that never really got too cold. At the Swan, we were upgraded to a one bedroom suite and that was amazing! We had a great view of Epcot, a very large bedroom as well as a large sitting area with a fold out couch and dining room area.
Our favorite amenity was definitely the pool/beach area. With our 3 year old, we really couldn’t enjoy the pool much but he loved the sandy beach area with the hammocks and spraying seal. There was also a kiddie pool that he enjoyed tremendously.
Picabu had great counter service food and is open 24 hours. The character dinner at Garden Grove was actually disappointing for us. They were understaffed the night that we attended so it was about 10 minutes before we were even acknowledged by our server and we usually had to locate him for drink refills. We though it was quite expensive for the quality of food that is served (it tasted like cafeteria food), even with the fact that we used a Restaurant.com certificate. There were only 2 characters present (Tigger and I actually forgot the second one) and the dining area was fairly dark so our pictures did not come out well. Plus, the people who are usually there to mind the crowds around the characters weren’t doing such a great job. So even though the characters do visit every table, it was an incredibly slow process because you had a lot of interruptions from people and kids who would just walk up to them for pictures. Shula’s Steakhouse was fantastic! It is everything you would expect from a high end steakhouse. We were a little concerned because we walked in dressed very casual and after a long day of visiting Epcot and no one even batted an eye at us. The service and attention was great and just about everything on the menu is good. We will definitely be coming back to Shula’s. Il Mulino was also very good. Their pasta was cooked perfectly al dente and their mussels were amazing! Service was also beyond expectation. The Fountain has the best soft serve ice cream! It was very hard for us not to visit every day to get a cone.
We did not run into any issues with the bus stops or boats, probably because of the time of year that we were there. The stops for the bus and boats were all just short walks from the resorts. In fact, I guess my only complaint would be that fact that our rooms were so close to the boat stop that you could hear it going from your room.
Will we stay at these resorts again? Yes, in fact, we will be next January. We were very happy with our stay at the Swan and Dolphin.
Denise says
* Why did you choose this resort?
We stayed here in Feb. 2011. We chose this hotel because I had a business conference at the hotel. So if you have to combine business with a vacation…what better to do it then with a Disney vacation.
* What were the resort rooms like? Were they big enough for your family? Did you find them to be acceptable? The rooms were nice and spacious; however they had more of a hotel resort feel rather than a unique Disney theme touch to them.
* What were the amenities of the resort like? What was your favorite one? The best amenity was to able to walk to the Boardwalk. It is such a pleasant stroll to walk on the boardwalk.
* What was the food court like? Any favorite foods? We made character dinning reservation through 1-407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) at the Garden Grove at the Swan Hotel for my family of three. We were assured when making the reservations that the Garden Grove character dinning that they Garden Grove was on the Disney Dinning Pan. Imagine my disappointment to find the Garden Groove did not accept the Disney Dinning nor did our family have enough time to make reservations elsewhere for the Disney Dinning/Dinner that night. Not only we were disappointed (and quite upset) but another family came in with the same situation (called the Dining Number, assured the Garden Grove was on the dining plan, came all the way over from Pop Century to the Swan Hotel, and they too found out the Garden Grove did not take the dinning plan nor did this family have time to made alternative dinner reservations).
* How were the resort buses? What was your walk to the bus stop like? How were the resorts bus stops at the parks? How far was the walk to the gates? How crowded were the buses at any given time?
We had no problem with bus service or waiting in line. I think it is because so many of the hotel guests are there on business so they are not waiting in line to go to the theme parks.
* Would you stay at this resort again? If not, please provide a reason. I would only stay here again if my business or conference were physically at the hotel; thus, making my work schedule convenient to stay at the hotel. Otherwise, I would not stay here again. When I go to Disney I want to be immersed in the Disney flavor and themes. The Swan and Dolphin are superior hotels but really lack in the Disney flavor and themes. The Swan and Dolphin lack of Disney participation is evident in not being a part of the Disney Dining Plan :-( Come on Swan and Dolphin, you have a character meet and greet restaurant that is not involved in the Dinning Plan -shame.
Denise says
* Why did you choose this resort?
We stayed here in Feb. 2011. We chose this hotel because I had a business conference at the hotel. So if you have to combine business with a vacation…what better to do it then with a Disney vacation.
* What were the resort rooms like? Were they big enough for your family? Did you find them to be acceptable? The rooms were nice and spacious; however they had more of a hotel resort feel rather than a unique Disney theme touch to them.
* What were the amenities of the resort like? What was your favorite one? The best amenity was to able to walk to the Boardwalk. It is such a pleasant stroll to walk on the boardwalk.
* What was the food court like? Any favorite foods? We made character dinning reservation through 1-407-WDW-DINE (407-939-3463) at the Garden Grove at the Swan Hotel for my family of three. We were assured when making the reservations that the Garden Grove character dinning that they Garden Grove was on the Disney Dinning Pan. Imagine my disappointment to find the Garden Groove did not accept the Disney Dinning nor did our family have enough time to make reservations elsewhere for the Disney Dinning/Dinner that night. Not only we were disappointed (and quite upset) but another family came in with the same situation (called the Dining Number, assured the Garden Grove was on the dining plan, came all the way over from Pop Century to the Swan Hotel, and they too found out the Garden Grove did not take the dinning plan nor did this family have time to made alternative dinner reservations).
* How were the resort buses? What was your walk to the bus stop like? How were the resorts bus stops at the parks? How far was the walk to the gates? How crowded were the buses at any given time?
We had no problem with bus service or waiting in line. I think it is because so many of the hotel guests are there on business so they are not waiting in line to go to the theme parks.
* Would you stay at this resort again? If not, please provide a reason. I would only stay here again if my business or conference were physically at the hotel; thus, making my work schedule convenient to stay at the hotel. Otherwise, I would not stay here again. When I go to Disney I want to be immersed in the Disney flavor and themes. The Swan and Dolphin are superior hotels but really lack in the Disney flavor and themes. The Swan and Dolphin lack of Disney participation is evident in not being a part of the Disney Dining Plan :-( Come on Swan and Dolphin, you have a character meet and greet restaurant that is not involved in the Dinning Plan -shame.
Julie says
Both times I stayed here were arranged with my Dad’s work, but he picked the hotels because they had good rates for the room sizes and choices. The 2nd time we went, we stayed in adjoining rooms with a little connecting suite. It was super spacious for the price. We had tons of room, even just in a regular room. We didn’t make use of that many of the amenities, but I loved the little soda shop restaurant The Fountain, both for a quick meal and just to get a sundae or milkshake. While this amenity isn’t specifically associated with the resort, I loved its proximity to the Fantasia miniature golf. The buses seemed a little slow compared to the boats, but I don’t remember them being very crowded, at least on the way to the parks. I loved the boat rides, even with stopping at the other resorts. While the decor of the hotels is not my favorite, they are still really nice resorts, so I would definitely consider staying there again.