Walt Disney World SWAN, DOLPHIN & SWAN RESERVE RESORTS Information & Questions

[Dan Murphy]

That looks like the “Senior” rate. There is a special note about the resort fee.

‘Daily resort fee added to room rate-incl enhanced high-speed Internet in guest room and more. Fee USD 10 plus tax through Mar 31st 2020 and USD 30 plus tax starting Apr 1st 2020.’

Yes, that was the senior/AAA rate. Are they saying resort fee is $10, not $35? The standard rate is $117 plus tax and resort fee.

 

[shoreward]

Yes, that was the senior/AAA rate. Are they saying resort fee is $10, not $35? The standard rate is $117 plus tax and resort fee.

I cut and pasted from Marriott search engine’s payment page, noted as “Hotel Message,” but in summary of charges lists a $30 resort fee. Very confusing.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Very confusing.

For sure

 

[Thecouch]

I'm waiting on a priceline express deal to see if it will be refunded (star wars run weekend) . Sounds like by those links I might get one

 

[jennypenny]

I forgot about the Star Wars run. Has it been cancelled yet?

We were planning on trying to reschedule our Easter trip for mid-August, but I'm starting to think that the parks will be packed with everyone who's rescheduled spring trips. We'll see, but I wouldn't been too keen on august heat + xmas crowd levels. It would hurt, but we might choose to wait until next Easter.

 

[JJ2017]

I was planning on calling in house reservations soon to help with a December reservation. I wonder how staffed they are right now.

 

[disneycat321]

DH and I are currently considering a Christmas WDW trip Dec 19-28 of this year. We stayed at YC (got a great discount) for our last trip, July 2019, and completely fell in love with the Epcot resorts area. Well, YC, BC, and BW are so outrageously expensive for this coming Christmas that they aren't even an option, so we've now turned our thoughts to the Swan/Dolphin - probably the Dolphin because the rates are cheaper right now. We're a little hesitant because we've really wanted to always stay on property at WDW (we don't feel that way at DLR at all), but it seems like we'd still get most of what we care about (60 day FP+, buses, EMH). And staying in walking distance to 2 of the 4 parks would be especially amazing at such a crowded time of year.

Next comes my question. How is the bus service to and from the Dolphin? Are the buses super crowded? Is there lots of waiting, especially coming back to the parks? How is riding the buses for rope drop? I think the bus service for DS is shared with the other Epcot resorts, or it was when we went in July - is that always true?

Thanks!

 

[SamFaniam]

Next comes my question. How is the bus service to and from the Dolphin? Are the buses super crowded? Is there lots of waiting, especially coming back to the parks? How is riding the buses for rope drop? I think the bus service for DS is shared with the other Epcot resorts, or it was when we went in July - is that always true?

The buses are generally fine, although as I have found true at most of the deluxe resorts, not as reliable as the buses at the value and moderate resorts. During busier times, you may have a bus that is just going to the Swan and Dolphin. At other times the buses may be shared with the BWI, YC and BC.

 

[disneycat321]

The buses are generally fine, although as I have found true at most of the deluxe resorts, not as reliable as the buses at the value and moderate resorts. During busier times, you may have a bus that is just going to the Swan and Dolphin. At other times the buses may be shared with the BWI, YC and BC.

Thank you! As long as it's not worse than what we experienced at YC (which was fine for us - longest wait was from Typhoon Lagoon, which we won't be doing in Dec), we can deal.

Another question - is it normal for them to require a FULL prepayment? I've tried AAA rates and standard rates, and seems like they want to charge the full amount to my credit card. I'm not so sure I want to do that right now for something that's in 9 months and not set in stone yet...

We could book through Disney (that $200 down option is far more appealing), but it's only giving the 2 double beds room at the Dolphin (we'd want the king), and the Swan is a lot more expensive.

 

[SamFaniam]

Another question - is it normal for them to require a FULL prepayment? I've tried AAA rates and standard rates, and seems like they want to charge the full amount to my credit card. I'm not so sure I want to do that right now for something that's in 9 months and not set in stone yet...

They do offer those sort of pre-payment rates, but I wouldn’t do that so far out. When you’re looking at the website make sure you’re clicking on the options for standard rates.

 

[SteveH]

We never had a problem with the buses, some are shared with BW/Swan/Dolphin during slow time of the year. The plus is that if a you just missed a bus you can take a bus to BW or YC/BC and walk over too.

As far as full payment, you might check the dates, could be during the holiday times they want full payment. If you are a AAA member check prices, its usually cheaper also check the Costco Travel rates too.

 

[jennypenny]

Another question - is it normal for them to require a FULL prepayment? I've tried AAA rates and standard rates, and seems like they want to charge the full amount to my credit card.

If you book through Marriott's website, it's set up now so that you have to prepay the whole thing. If you call to make your reservation, you only have to pay a one night deposit, even with discounted rates. I'm not sure if you'll have trouble getting through right now to book, but it's worth trying.

The bus service at S/D is no different than BW/BC/YC (we've stayed at all three). The only caveat to that is if you stay at the Dolphin, it's obviously larger so you'll find a bigger crowd waiting for busses, especially in the morning. Some people walk over to the Swan to catch the bus for that reason. Up to you whether that's worth it. If it were me, I'd probably walk over to the YC since that bus stop generally seems the least crowded of the five resorts.

 

[SteveH]

@jennypenny interesting, seems to be a fairly new change. I'll need to explore a bit later on, I see they did make a few site changes too. AAA members now need to input their numbers. But you can filter room requests by bed type, resort view and balcony options. But fully prepaying for room, deal breaker for me. I won't be letting them sit on my money, earning interest, and risking their future financial stability. Looks like another bad call by Marriott, just another way to Bonvoy their members.

 

[SamFaniam]

This total pre-payment would seem to indicate to me that they don’t really want reservations made for the future.

 

[SMRT-1]

I booked my backup dates directly through Marriott yesterday (just in case Costco doesn't let me move my existing May reservation). I did the standard, refundable Bonvoy member rate, and the website listed the amount to be charged as about 4 days worth (out of a 10-day stay) - so not the full amount, but more than one night.

It hasn't hit my card yet, but when it does, I'll report back with the amount they actually charged me.

 

[IFlossU]

Hi! Wanted to provide a data point. I booked a fully refundable Swan room rate directly through Marriott on February 29th. At that point, NO WHERE did I read I had to prepay anything. I’m pretty fanatic about reading the fine print. Well imagine my surprise when 4 days later a $300 charge posted to my credit card. I immediately called the Swan directly and was informed a 1 night deposit was required to hold the reservation. In reaction I canceled the reservation mostly out of frustration. I really don’t believe it stated that when I made the reservation. We aren’t even going until late September. Since then when looking at the rates I see it’s now clearly stated not only a deposit, but the entire rate is due at the time of booking. Ultimately IF we can go in September, in light of current events, I’m not thrilled about giving them the full amount on a refundable room rate. I’ve never stayed at a hotel that required it.

 

[SteveH]

I did some digging, this is not implemented across all Marriott properties, but would appear many "tourist" destinations require either a full or 2 night payment. I looked at Swan, Sheraton Sand Key, Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa and they all stated, "We will need a credit card prepayment to reserve your room." I checked dates for Dec 20-26 and July 12-18.

I also checked SpringHill Suites Flamingo Crossing and Sheraton Park Hotel at Anaheim Resort, they both came back with, "We will need a credit card number to reserve your room."

So there is some inconsistency but appears to be a cash grab.

IMHO they could be doing this as they are bleeding cash due to the Covid-19 and looking to use YOUR money to help them out. Hey if they offered me a great rate I'd consider it, but I checked both Standard and AAA rates and the policy was the same.

Bonvoyed again!

I’ve never stayed at a hotel that required it.

The credit card hit for 1 night isn't completely unusual, but full reservation up front is at least when it's direct through the hotel.

 

[pepperandchips]

I booked two Marriott reservations this week for a trip I am hoping materializes at the end of July for Disneyland - Westin LAX and JW Marriott Anaheim. Neither required even one night’s payment - both are reserved with a credit card. I wouldn’t have booked the JW if I had to prepay - that’s too much cash to tie up in uncertain times. I hope Swolphin reconsiders this policy as well - otherwise, if I’m going to prepay the whole rate, I’m more likely to book through a booking engine where I can use at least use a coupon code.

 

[SMRT-1]

When we stayed at the Swan in 2016 (when it was still managed by Starwood), we were charged a one night deposit to book the fully-refundable rate, so that's been standard for a while, but requiring a full payment on the refundable rate is definitely unusual.

 

[Dave006]

Well Marriott made it official with an announcement of what their plan is for the next 60-90 days to survive.

Twitter link to video message:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1240639160148529160

Marriott announced that it would furlough two-thirds of its workforce due to economic pressures from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The current plan is for the furlough to begin in April, with the hope to bring the employees back on board as the pandemic threat fades and global travel resumes again, but that is not guaranteed.

The furlough will include two-thirds of the 4,000 employees at Marriott’s headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland and two-thirds of the 174,000 employees around the world, according to a report by Fox News.

The furloughed employees will be paid only 20 percent of their regular salary, and even non-furloughed employees are facing significantly reduced pay and work hours.

Source: https://www.mediaite.com/news/marri...than-9-11-and-2009-financial-crisis-combined/

Dave