As I explained previously in my trip report, my husband and I stayed for one night at the Dolphin using Marriott Rewards Points at the beginning of our 9 night Disney World trip. Though the points (52,000 points for Wednesday night, March 19th) covered the room cost (including tax), it did not cover the Swan & Dolphin Resort’s Daily Resort Service Package Fee of $50 ($56.25 with tax). NOTE: Just one year earlier (April 2024) this fee was $40 plus tax per night when we stayed at the Swan.
Here is what is provided with this Service Package, which you can not opt out of:
Something I noticed missing from this list is that they provide bottles of Dasani water in the rooms.
In comparison to the Disney-owned resorts, the wi-fi internet, nightly movies and transportation to the parks are all provided by them without an extra charge. So though the Swan & Dolphin Resort room rates are much less than the nearby Disney resorts (Boardwalk and Yacht & Beach Club), don’t forget to add on this extra nightly charge when comparing. Also note that the Swan & Dolphin no longer use Disney buses like they used to. They have their own buses now which transport guests to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney Springs. And keep in mind, in the case of Magic Kingdom, their buses drop guests off at the Transportation & Ticket Center and you must take the monorail or boat to get to the park. So this eats up more of your precious morning time when you are trying to get to Magic Kingdom for Early Park Opening. However, if you plan to spend most of your park time at Epcot and/or Hollywood Studios then transportation should not be an issue here. Just like the nearby Disney resorts, you can take a boat or walk to both of these parks.
Below is a photo of one of the Friendship boats that travels between the International Gateway entrance of Epcot and Hollywood Studios, with three stops at the Boardwalk, Yacht & Beach Club, and the Swan & Dolphin (in that order). Keep in mind though that the route runs in reverse for the trip back to Epcot from Hollywood Studios, so the Swan & Dolphin dock would be the boat’s first stop.
I think the boats take about 30 – 45 minutes (or more if you have to wait for a boat) to make this route between the parks. So if you are able, it’s generally faster to walk to either Epcot or Hollywood Studios from the Swan & Dolphin. But the boat is a great option for tired feet.
Also note that the Friendship boats don’t start running in the morning until one hour before whichever park opens first, Epcot or Hollywood Studios. So if you are trying to beat the crowds for Early Entry at these parks, it is probably better to hoof it.
And speaking of Early Entry, note that Swan & Dolphin Resort guests have the same Early Theme Park Entry privilege as Disney Resort guests and also have the Extended Evening Hours benefit that is available to Disney Deluxe Resorts & Villas guests.
As you can see, they also have the benefit of being able to park at the Disney Theme Parks for free , same as the Disney-owned Resort guests. However, unlike Disney Resort guests, their guests are charged a nightly fee to park at their hotels. This year that charge was $38 per night ($40.47 with tax), which was an increase from last year when we paid $36 ($38.34 with tax) at the Swan.
Ok, let’s move on now to our stay at the Dolphin, starting with our arrival and check-in, which unfortunately did not go very smoothly. Having stayed at the Swan last year, I still had the Marriott Bonvoy app on my phone and had used it to do their online check in advance of our trip. However, when we arrived at the hotel at about 4:00 (their check-in time) I had still not received our room assignment. But more inconvenient than that was that their guest parking lot was completely full and arriving guests were instructed to unload their luggage and then drive over to the Swan where they still had parking available. So my husband dropped me off along with the small amount of luggage we needed for our one night stay and left for the Swan while I made my way to the Lobby desk to check in a second time. Unfortunately I discovered that the Dolphin was hosting a large convention beginning that day and there was a long line of guests waiting to check in. So now I understood why their large Guest Parking lot was completely full. Anyway, my husband drove to the Swan, parked the car and took his time walking back from the Swan to the Dolphin hotel and still was able to join me in line before it was my turn to check in. Ugh!
But I kept telling myself that this was a free room, or mostly free other than the $96.72 in fees, so I should cut them some slack here, lol. So anyway, we were assigned Room #3199, which I was told was in their West Wing. We proceeded to the West Wing elevators but when we got on the elevator we noticed there was no button for the 3rd floor. So we got off of the elevator and split up to try and figure out how to get to our room. Don was the first to discover that the hotel’s lobby is on the 3rd floor so the entrance to the hallway for the West Wing rooms on that floor was located past the elevators and was not well marked. I wish we had been told that by the person who checked us in. But I guess I didn’t ask so she didn’t tell.
We walked down some long hallways then in search of our room. First this one, which seemed to be just a connecting hallway to the West Wing rooms…
And then this one…
At the end of this hallway we found our room, #3199. Before opening the door I again reminded myself that this was a free room so lower my expectations.
I was therefore pleasantly surprised to open the door and find this large, very nice room…
As you can see, we had a King size bed with a nightstand on each side, which is nice to have. We also had two windows, one large one in the bedroom area and the other, a smaller one, on the left of the short hallway which led to the bathroom area.
On the right of this hallway was a large closet area.
Next was this area outside of the bathroom…
I love it when hotel rooms have this separate area where someone can do their hair and/or makeup, etc. without tying up the bathroom. I liked having the storage shelf underneath where you could store what you needed to do your hair, makeup, etc. without taking up space on the bathroom counter. I also liked that this area was mostly hidden behind a wall, allowing for more privacy if desired. The only thing that would have made this area even better would have been for it to have a sink. But I will take this over what we had in the other two rooms of our trip.
Anyway, it was in this area that you could find the single serve coffeemaker, ice bucket and the complimentary bottles of Dasani water…
I can’t remember for sure but I think there were another two bottles in the mini-fridge, which was located in the cabinet underneath the tv in the bedroom.
The bathroom was a good size, with a large counter and one sink…
As you can see, they do not have individual size hand soap, lotions body wash, shampoo, etc. These complimentary toiletries were all in dispensers, located either in the shower…
Or on the bathroom counter or nearby shelf…
However, they did have a individual size bottle of mouthwash, a mending kit and maybe a bar of soap up on the shelf.
We did not have a bathtub or tub/shower combo in our bathroom, but the shower was fine and more importantly, the shower head had good water pressure…
And that just leaves the view. Again, being a free room, I was pretty much expecting to have a parking lot view. So I was really pleased to look out our windows and see this view…
We could see water!!! Anytime you can see water at a Disney hotel (whether it be a pool, lake, pond, or oversized puddle, lol), it comes at a premium price. So I was thrilled with our “free” room view. Oh, but in case you were wondering, this room did not have a balcony. But that’s no big deal for us.
So overall my thoughts regarding the Dolphin are mixed. I like it’s location, since Epcot is my favorite park, and I like that the room rates are much less than those of their neighbor hotels, which are owned by Disney. I also like that I could use my Marriott Rewards points to stay there. However, I don’t like the Resort fees that you are forced to pay and having to pay to park your car there. It was especially a bummer when we had to park our car in the lot of another hotel and still had to pay. I also don’t like that the Dolphin is a big convention hotel, so for that reason I would probably choose the smaller and quieter Swan hotel over the Dolphin, if deciding between the two. Also a plus for the Swan over the Dolphin is that their standard rooms have two queen size beds. We were lucky to get a room with a King size bed because the standard rooms at the Dolphin have two full size beds. But all that said, I have to give props to the Dolphin for allowing us to stay in what seemed to be an oversized room with a lovely view while using Rewards points. And again, I loved the configuration of that room. It was probably our favorite room of this trip so I wish we could have stayed there for more than one night. But sadly, tomorrow we would be moving on to another hotel room…one that would pale in comparison.
Taste of Disney 