Swan Reserve…any good deets?

[Blinkyrob]

There isn’t much info on here about the Swan Reserve. We are booked for a two BR suite in October for an adults trip and if anyone has any good info or recommendations I’d welcome it!

So far the best advice I’ve seen is to walk over to the Yacht Club bus station for direct service to MK main gate!

We like the look of the resort and being able to get the 2br lodging was huge on our budget especially considering that there were zero options for our travel window through DVC rentals and knowing how new the resort is and its contemporary (not capitalized ) feel seems like a great fit for our first empty nestish trip. It’s a celebratory trip for us and our daughter along with her boyfriend to celebrate both of their graduations from college and to be working in their chosen fields. Also as a bonus they live in Tampa now (we are in PA) so we will get to apply resident ticket discounts when they are announced later this year. Also it will be his birthday when we travel so I’ve already had our Disney planner add that into our booking notes for any extra magic that might add .

Thanks for reading!

 

[tanc]

There isn’t much info on here about the Swan Reserve. We are booked for a two BR suite in October for an adults trip and if anyone has any good info or recommendations I’d welcome it!

So far the best advice I’ve seen is to walk over to the Yacht Club bus station for direct service to MK main gate!

We like the look of the resort and being able to get the 2br lodging was huge on our budget especially considering that there were zero options for our travel window through DVC rentals and knowing how new the resort is and its contemporary (not capitalized ) feel seems like a great fit for our first empty nestish trip. It’s a celebratory trip for us and our daughter along with her boyfriend to celebrate both of their graduations from college and to be working in their chosen fields. Also as a bonus they live in Tampa now (we are in PA) so we will get to apply resident ticket discounts when they are announced later this year. Also it will be his birthday when we travel so I’ve already had our Disney planner add that into our booking notes for any extra magic that might add .

Thanks for reading!

I stayed there last year and loved it, I honestly believe it's easily my favorite deluxe hotel. It's not crowded, it was quiet, the rooms are spacious and kept very nice. Great price, the location is super convenient, and having all boardwalk resorts in your backyard. The Amare restaurant was delicious when I had dinner there, and their breakfast was nice too.

Amare is obviously pricey though, the coffee shop in the hotel is honestly nothing to write home about, they do sell mickey waffles but they weren't really fresh or anything. Honestly I'd recommend trying to find something on the boardwalk or eating at the park instead.

Probably the worst thing about the hotel is the resort fee AND you have to pay to park, it's quite expensive too. at like $40 a night.

You can walk and use the bus or take the minnie vans to it, the latter might not the most cost effective solution but for me, time is money. I walked to Hollywood Studios and Epcot with ease though, I highly recommend that method over any other.

Honestly, not renting a car for the swan reserve and using the car funds towards minnie vans felt a lot more justifiable for me. The other parks you can use uber or use the skyliner and walk back, so it's not a big deal. But for AK, MK, and Disney Springs I absolutely did not regret using minnie vans.

 

[Blinkyrob]

I stayed there last year and loved it, I honestly believe it's easily my favorite deluxe hotel. It's not crowded, it was quiet, the rooms are spacious and kept very nice. Great price, the location is super convenient, and having all boardwalk resorts in your backyard. The Amare restaurant was delicious when I had dinner there, and their breakfast was nice too.

Amare is obviously pricey though, the coffee shop in the hotel is honestly nothing to write home about, they do sell mickey waffles but they weren't really fresh or anything. Honestly I'd recommend trying to find something on the boardwalk or eating at the park instead.

Probably the worst thing about the hotel is the resort fee AND you have to pay to park, it's quite expensive too. at like $40 a night.

You can walk and use the bus or take the minnie vans to it, the latter might not the most cost effective solution but for me, time is money. I walked to Hollywood Studios and Epcot with ease though, I highly recommend that method over any other.

Honestly, not renting a car for the swan reserve and using the car funds towards minnie vans felt a lot more justifiable for me. The other parks you can use uber or use the skyliner and walk back, so it's not a big deal. But for AK, MK, and Disney Springs I absolutely did not regret using minnie vans.

I’m curious why use the Minnie vans and to where if there are busses at the resort or available at the Yacht Club station.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I've stayed there a few times, including a suite. I like the rooms very much.

I usually have a car at WDW, so we walked to HS/Epcot, and the walk is easy. I drove everywhere else, so I can't help with any info about the buses.

I don't often do room service, but for breakfast on your AK day it is a nice convenience. At SW, we were able to have breakfast delivered at 6:30am, and the food/coffee were excellent! The waffle even arrived crispy! I filled out a request the night before, and it was delivered at the scheduled time.

We also got some food from the QS location. It was decent enough, though not a huge menu. I've stayed/dined at SR/S/D a number of times, but not recently. The S/D restaurants used to offer a AAA discount, but I'm not sure if that is still the case.

The SR has a basic pool; not that exciting. You can also use the grotto pool area which has a fun water slide, though I haven't been there recently. You also get the extra PM park hours for deluxe hotel guests.

 

[tanc]

I’m curious why use the Minnie vans and to where if there are busses at the resort or available at the Yacht Club station.

Swan and Dolphin offer bus service but there's next to no reason to use it. The MK one drops you off at TTC, meaning that basically you must walk to the Yacht club/boardwalk hotel to use the real Disney busses. It was nice walking to HS and Epcot but they still are quite far, they're like 20 - 30 minute walks. Please note that the Swan Reserve is also the furthest hotel on the Boardwalk property.

I merely used Minnie Vans because I didn't want to deal with the bus schedule and take 1 hour+ to get to like the polynesian for example.

 

[Kkar]

I've stayed there a few times, including a suite. I like the rooms very much.

I usually have a car at WDW, so we walked to HS/Epcot, and the walk is easy. I drove everywhere else, so I can't help with any info about the buses.

I don't often do room service, but for breakfast on your AK day it is a nice convenience. At SW, we were able to have breakfast delivered at 6:30am, and the food/coffee were excellent! The waffle even arrived crispy! I filled out a request the night before, and it was delivered at the scheduled time.

We also got some food from the QS location. It was decent enough, though not a huge menu. I've stayed/dined at SR/S/D a number of times, but not recently. The S/D restaurants used to offer a AAA discount, but I'm not sure if that is still the case.

The SR has a basic pool; not that exciting. You can also use the grotto pool area which has a fun water slide, though I haven't been there recently. You also get the extra PM park hours for deluxe hotel guests.

We were there in April and most restaurants had the AAA discount.

 

[MisterPenguin]

So far the best advice I’ve seen is to walk over to the Yacht Club bus station for direct service to MK main gate!

You can pick up the direct bus from DHS to MK main gate by going just 300 feet further than going through Y&B pretending you're rich.

 

[Blinkyrob]

You can pick up the direct bus from DHS to MK main gate by going just 300 feet further than going through Y&B pretending you're rich.

No need to go through Yacht Club…we’ve stayed at Beach club before and are by no means rich

 

[wdwfan22]

You can pick up the direct bus from DHS to MK main gate by going just 300 feet further than going through Y&B pretending you're rich.

I hope they close this loop hole. As someone who is paying to stay at Yacht Club we don’t need outsiders on the already crowded bus.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I hope they close this loop hole. As someone who is paying to stay at Yacht Club we don’t need outsiders on the already crowded bus.

If the Swolphin ever goes back to Disney buses, then it will most likely go back to being on the Boardwalk, Dolphin, Beach loop merging those Swolphinites back into the Crescent Lakers.

 

[Blinkyrob]

I hope they close this loop hole. As someone who is paying to stay at Yacht Club we don’t need outsiders on the already crowded bus.

Swan and dolphin are deluxe resorts sanctioned and recognized by Disney…sorry but I just don’t see the issue but I guess maybe “outsiders” have to sit at the back of the bus

 

[wdwfan22]

Swan and dolphin are deluxe resorts sanctioned and recognized by Disney…sorry but I just don’t see the issue but I guess maybe “outsiders” have to sit at the back of the bus

They are not Disney resort Guests. Swan/Dolphin didn't want to pay to continue using Disney busses. Why should Swan/Dolphin Guests be using Disney Resort busses. You can laugh all you want, but anybody paying for Yacht/Beach club doesn't want non Guests taking us space.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I've been a frequent guest of the YC/BC/Bwk/S/D/SR.

I don't care if someone staying at any of them hops on a bus or boat for any of the others.

(Personally though, I usually walk to Epcot, walk or take the boat to HS, and drive/rideshare to MK/HS.)

I would think it strange though if I couldn't take WDW transportation over to one of the Skyliner hotels for a QS meal as another option. WDW food isn't all that great, but the Skyliner's kinda fun.

 

[Vacationeer]

Swolphin chips in for the boats, no longer chips in for BC/BW buses.

Disney should pay for Swolphin guests and not make DVC dues split those costs.

Marriot should pay but I guess they didn’t want to. Marriot figured Disney would’t disrupt guest experience by intervening? Disney shouldn’t make DVC dues cover part of it.

Obviously there was some cost involved. From what I understand Marriot chose not to continue that bus contract. Whatever that contract cost now gets split between the hotel side and DVC. Not really DVC owners responsibility.

Marriot decided to operate their own shuttles over paying Disney to share the buses.

Unless I’m misunderstanding something?