Swan Dolphin.....

[sbryant24]

Love staying in the Boardwalk Area. Was looking at booking Swan Dolphin over Boardwalk. Appears to be around $4-500 cheaper booking through Costco Travel vs through Disney. Is there something that's not included with the Costco package that is with Disney? What am I missing?

 

[Weather_Lady]

I don't know anything about Costco packages, but if you're talking about a "room only" reservation for the same room category (or a package with the exact same tickets, etc.), and so long as booking through Costco Travel would get you a Disney reservation number that you can immediately link to your My Disney Experience Account (just as you'd get if you booked directly through Disney), there's really nothing to be gained by booking direct. (*Caveat: Review payment timelines and cancellation policies carefully, as it's possible that they are more stringent with Costco than with Disney. That's the only potential downside that comes to mind.)

 

[MisterPenguin]

Love staying in the Boardwalk Area. Was looking at booking Swan Dolphin over Boardwalk. Appears to be around $4-500 cheaper booking through Costco Travel vs through Disney. Is there something that's not included with the Costco package that is with Disney? What am I missing?

CostCo's a great deal. I don't do it because I have an AP and thus, have already paid park entry.

CostCo, I understand, includes the resort fee, but, I'd check on that.

There is a parking fee if you have a car/rental that everyone has to pay for.

Swolphin's infrastructure is not fully connected to Disney. Once you book, it will take about two days for your reservation to hit the Disney web site (My Disney Experience) at which point you can book FastPasses at 60 days. If that doesn't happen automatically, call guest services.

With Swolphin, there's no MagicBand, charging back to your room, or airport transportation. Otherwise, it's just like being in the Disney bubble with Disney transportation to the parks and Disney Springs.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I don't know about Costco, but it's not uncommon to see a huge price difference between the Swolphin and the Epcot area resorts. Last time we stayed at the Swan, it was $350 a night cheaper than the cheapest Disney owned Epcot area resort. We were staying for 8 nights, so it was a huge savings...even with the parking fee and and the resort fee. The only thing we missed was being able to use our Magic Bands (bought our own) for our room key and charging, but that ended up saving us some more $ because you have to present your Disney Visa if you want to get the discount.

 

[danlb_2000]

CostCo's a great deal. I don't do it because I have an AP and thus, have already paid park entry.

CostCo, I understand, includes the resort fee, but, I'd check on that.

There is a parking fee if you have a car/rental that everyone has to pay for.

Swolphin's infrastructure is not fully connected to Disney. Once you book, it will take about two days for your reservation to hit the Disney web site (My Disney Experience) at which point you can book FastPasses at 60 days. If that doesn't happen automatically, call guest services.

With Swolphin, there's no MagicBand, charging back to your room, or airport transportation. Otherwise, it's just like being in the Disney bubble with Disney transportation to the parks and Disney Springs.

… to clarify, no FREE MagicBand, you can still purchase and use one for park entry and fastpasses. Also, no Magical Express and no dining plan.