Walt Disney World Swan And Dolphin Resort

The room was clean with no problems, and we had two beds, a balcony, and a view of Crescent lake. Check-in was quick even with lots of people arriving at once, and service was great. The location is the biggest draw: buses to disney, a short walk to Boardwalk, and a quick ferry to Epcot. The restaurants at the Swan and the other two hotels were really good, they never miss. I enjoyed staying at The Swan and would go back.

The luggage staff were incredibly polite and helpful. Rooms are clean, fairly standard rather than fancy, and the beds and pillows are very soft. The Dolphin is also a pretty long walk from the boardwalk, so be ready for that. My issue was the billing. They didn’t charge the full stay at check-in, then charged me multiple times and too much for parking, so they had to refund me. When I brought it up, the valet office staff were pretty rude. Self-parking is very limited, so expect to pay those outrageous valet prices.

The place felt calm and welcoming, and it was clean with excellent service. We loved the access to HS and Epcot, and my family would stay again. I only wish the rooms had more decoration and the bathroom had towel racks. With four of us, including one child with cheer makeup to manage, we had nowhere to hang the face cloths.

The buses were the worst part of my stay. Swan/Dolphin uses Mears, and they were never on time. On the night Magic Kingdom closed, the bus only went to the ticketing center, unlike Disney buses that drop off at the entrance. After taking the monorail there, I waited over an hour at the bus stop. I called the clueless front desk at Swan three times for an update and got excuses about traffic and delays. Near 1am, I finally split an Uber with others who were also waiting. The next day I tried the bus to Disney Springs, hoping it would be different. It arrived at Swan 15 minutes later than the ETA on the pickup screen. Coming back, I waited over an hour in the rain with several other people. The driver said he’d seen the other buses go by and explained that Mears Coach buses were picking people up too, something the hotel should have told us. The regular buses have the resort logo and name, while the Mears Coach buses are a different color and just say “Coach.” Their front displays didn’t say “Swan/Dolphin,” so there was no way to know they were going to the resort. This was my first stay at Swan/Dolphin, and it’ll be my last. They’re the only non-Disney operated hotels at Disney World, and I can see why Disney may have felt opening one on its property was a mistake. If you stay at one of these run-down, half-ass resorts, walk the boardwalk to Disney’s Boardwalk Inn and catch a real Disney shuttle to avoid Mears. The place may have been nice and cutting edge when it opened in 1990, but by today’s standards it’s a slum, and the customer service is abysmal. I’ve had a much better time at Disney budget hotels like All Star Movies and Pop Century, and those even have free parking. Swan/Dolphin charges $40 a day. I’ll never stay again.