News Swan and Dolphin Tower Expansion - The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve

[Robbiem]

No. Pre-Eisner, Disney sold the rights to new hotel building to the Tishman Corp. Tishman was the primary contractor on Epcot (which was woefully over budget around this same time). Eisner saw the potential for the hotel biz and quickly greenlit the Grand Floridian and started working on an ambitious expansion. Tishman understandably sued. Swan and Dolphin were the consolation prize in the settlement. Tishman could own and build them on prime Disney real estate but Eisner got to pick the design so it wasn’t some boring, basic, bland tower (like, say, the Cove)

this is interesting. The swan and dolphin are so different from anything else I wonder if Disney would have built and operated them themselves or if the design was because of the Tishman deal - just different enough to not be bland but not in direct competition with the themed Disney resorts? Hotel New York in Paris was a similar hotel by the same architect but a bit more of a defined theme

 

[Piebald]

I don’t realize it was this tall. Wow.

Just saw it the other day and its huge.

 

[WDWtraveler]

Photo update as of Thursday, August 27, 2020. Here are a couple of views of the Swan and Dolphin Tower Expansion at The Cove and how it appears on the existing Disney landscape and horizon.

Here is the view from the Beach Club Resort beach (beach fence in the foreground).

Here is the view from the bridge over the canal to the Swan and Dolphin boat dock area.

Finally, here is a close-up of the roof top observation area. The main roof top observation areas is at a 45 degree angle to offer good views of both Epcot and Magic Kingdom fireworks shows.

 

[wdwmagic]

Some views from the Skyliner

The Cove construction viewed from Skyliner - August 28 2020

The Cove construction viewed from Skyliner - August 28 2020

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[UNCgolf]

Yuck.

 

[Epcot82Guy]

There was just so much potential here. That roof could have had an interesting shell or wave-like motif. Clad the sides in the oranges from the main building. Something to make it have some whimsy and relation to the other buildings. They stick out - but they have the unique charm. This is the worst of both worlds. Kinda like a large blue box I know not too far away....

 

[WEDway Inc & Company LLC]

“The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve”

 

[lazyboy97o]

There was just so much potential here. That roof could have had an interesting shell or wave-like motif. Clad the sides in the oranges from the main building. Something to make it have some whimsy and relation to the other buildings. They stick out - but they have the unique charm. This is the worst of both worlds. Kinda like a large blue box I know not too far away....

You don’t like the slightly angled roof up top? Or the slightly larger, angled rooms that don’t seem to read from a distance?

How often do we think they’ll bother to clean the top of those rooms that bump out a little?

 

[Epcot82Guy]

You don’t like the slightly angled roof up top? Or the slightly larger, angled rooms that don’t seem to read from a distance?

How often do we think they’ll bother to clean the top of those rooms that bump out a little?

True architectural innovation. The future is indeed here today!

 

[GimpYancIent]

True architectural innovation. The future is indeed here today!

BARF

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Here's a little bombshell.

"The new hotel coming to the Swan and Dolphin complex, previously announced as The Cove, has been officially renamed The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve, per Jeffrey Davidson, Director of Creative Marketing at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort."

Eww.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Here's a little bombshell.

"The new hotel coming to the Swan and Dolphin complex, previously announced as The Cove, has been officially renamed The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve, per Jeffrey Davidson, Director of Creative Marketing at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort."

Eww.

I think I’ve finally figured it out. This whole thing is some sort of weird bet where an executive has to make as many bad decisions as possible and stay employed.

 

[WEDway Inc & Company LLC]

Here's a little bombshell.

"The new hotel coming to the Swan and Dolphin complex, previously announced as The Cove, has been officially renamed The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve, per Jeffrey Davidson, Director of Creative Marketing at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort."

Eww.

Now it’s ruining the balance between the Swan and Dolphin

 

[GimpYancIent]

Now it’s ruining the balance between the Swan and Dolphin

There was a balance?

 

[Tha Realest]

Yikes. Given the tectonic changes happening in the corporate world and the convenience of Zoom meetings, I’d really hate to be putting the finishing touches on a new complex with a bunch of convention space.

 

[Notes from Neverland]

Wow, if that's the new name ... that's just terrible.

 

[_caleb]

"The new hotel coming to the Swan and Dolphin complex, previously announced as The Cove, has been officially renamed The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve, per Jeffrey Davidson, Director of Creative Marketing at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort."

Sounds like a cheap McMansion housing tract in the suburbs.

 

[CJR]

Goodness, I have trouble believing that people will stay here and act boastful about it.

They'll probably just say they're staying at "the Swan and Dolphin" to create the illusion that they are staying at some place decent.

Can't believe people get paid to come up with these ideas and approve them.

 

[_caleb]

Please let this be one of those examples of Disney testing an idea by “leaking” it to fans and then changing course based on the negative feedback...

 

[MisterPenguin]

By "Swan Reserve" they mean "Swan Mausoleum."