The Swan - Best View and Dining

DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hello, I booked our next trip staying at The Swan. We've never stayed there before and have only seen it passing by. I was wondering if anyone who has stayed there before had opinions on any room requests I could make (as far as views go)? I've seen in photos one side has a Tower of Terror view. That would be pretty cool, but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best view. Is the higher up the better? I'm not sure what my choices are. When I booked online, there were no choices listed like the other resorts and when I called Disney, they told me I'd need to call the hotel to make room requests. I'd appreciate any thoughts on that.

Bonus question - dining recommendations appreciated too. We usually have one or two nice dinners. I saw they have a lot of great choices! What's the best out of Bluezoo, Shula's Steak House, and Il Mulino's (sp?). We enjoy seafood, steak and Italian, so any of those would work. We probably would only eat one dinner at our hotel.

Also, what's the best place for a good, leisurely breakfast at the hotel? (On check out day we like to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast before we go.)

Thank you!
 
DC0703

DC0703

Well-Known Member
We stayed here a few years back and got lucky with a balcony room at the Swan. I may have asked if we could have a balcony but can't recall. We were on the 5th or 6th floor - Higher is better here, since lower rooms would be more enclosed in the courtyards. I know there is no pre-book requests like the Disney hotels. We were faced away from Epcot but had a great view of the walkway between the Swan and Dolphin with the illuminated, color-changing palm trees, which was cool to watch. I enjoyed staying here and would again.

I do recall the beds were super comfortable, moreso than Disney hotels

We didn't eat on site, but the good thing is Boardwalk and Yacht/Beach are also nearby so a lot of dining options
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DC0703 said:
We stayed here a few years back and got lucky with a balcony room at the Swan. I may have asked if we could have a balcony but can't recall. We were on the 5th or 6th floor - Higher is better here, since lower rooms would be more enclosed in the courtyards. I know there is no pre-book requests like the Disney hotels. We were faced away from Epcot but had a great view of the walkway between the Swan and Dolphin with the illuminated, color-changing palm trees, which was cool to watch. I enjoyed staying here and would again.

I do recall the beds were super comfortable, moreso than Disney hotels

We didn't eat on site, but the good thing is Boardwalk and Yacht/Beach are also nearby so a lot of dining options
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It sounds really nice, thank you! I will call and request a higher up floor if possible. And we definitely plan to check out the Boardwalk. We’ve been there before, but it’s been years. 😁
 
Courtney6682

Courtney6682

Well-Known Member
DfromATX said:
Hello, I booked our next trip staying at The Swan. We've never stayed there before and have only seen it passing by. I was wondering if anyone who has stayed there before had opinions on any room requests I could make (as far as views go)? I've seen in photos one side has a Tower of Terror view. That would be pretty cool, but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best view. Is the higher up the better? I'm not sure what my choices are. When I booked online, there were no choices listed like the other resorts and when I called Disney, they told me I'd need to call the hotel to make room requests. I'd appreciate any thoughts on that.

Bonus question - dining recommendations appreciated too. We usually have one or two nice dinners. I saw they have a lot of great choices! What's the best out of Bluezoo, Shula's Steak House, and Il Mulino's (sp?). We enjoy seafood, steak and Italian, so any of those would work. We probably would only eat one dinner at our hotel.

Also, what's the best place for a good, leisurely breakfast at the hotel? (On check out day we like to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast before we go.)

Thank you!
Click to expand...
We stayed at the Swan for the first time this past May and LOVED it! We were on the 8th floor and had a theme park view. We had room service from Il Mulino one night and we’re not impressed, extremely over priced, pizza was awful! We did however, love walking to the Boardwalk which has Trattoria al Forno. We’ve eaten there a few times now and it’s a favorite of ours:)
9729562F-4179-4933-9D6A-1EF919B49EFF.jpeg
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Courtney6682 said:
We stayed at the Swan for the first time this past May and LOVED it! We were on the 8th floor and had a theme park view. We had room service from Il Mulino one night and we’re not impressed, extremely over priced, pizza was awful! We did however, love walking to the Boardwalk which has Trattoria al Forno. We’ve eaten there a few times now and it’s a favorite of ours:)View attachment 582912
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Did you request the room or did you just luck out?
 
Sans Souci

Sans Souci

Well-Known Member
This is just a single experience, but we ate at Il Mulino last week and it was such a disappointment. My husband had the Chicken Fra Diavolo and was an oily mess with only a few pieces of chicken and a lot of sausage. I had Rigatoni con Funghi. It actually tasted quite good and the pasta was perfectly al dente, but there were (no exaggeration) 4 mushroom pieces in it. We'd eaten here a couple of times in previous years and always enjoyed it. The service was great. Our server was taking care of 5 other tables and he looked harried, we enjoyed the apps, the dinners were meh at best. I think this is another place hobbled by covid--hopefully temporarily.

Garden Grove has tasty breakfasts. I had room service from there twice--yummy banana pancakes. But, if you're not averse to a bit of walking, Trattoria al Forno has really good breakfasts, too. We tried it once and ended up making an another breakfast ADR, because we enjoyed it so much.
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sans Souci said:
This is just a single experience, but we ate at Il Mulino last week and it was such a disappointment. My husband had the Chicken Fra Diavolo and was an oily mess with only a few pieces of chicken and a lot of sausage. I had Rigatoni con Funghi. It actually tasted quite good and the pasta was perfectly al dente, but there were (no exaggeration) 4 mushroom pieces in it. We'd eaten here a couple of times in previous years and always enjoyed it. The service was great. Our server was taking care of 5 other tables and he looked harried, we enjoyed the apps, the dinners were meh at best. I think this is another place hobbled by covid--hopefully temporarily.

Garden Grove has tasty breakfasts. I had room service from there twice--yummy banana pancakes. But, if you're not averse to a bit of walking, Trattoria al Forno has really good breakfasts, too. We tried it once and ended up making an another breakfast ADR, because we enjoyed it so much.
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Usually on our departure days we like to have a nice, leisurely breakfast before heading to the airport. Garden Grove was on my list. Where is Trattoria al Forno? Any other recommendations for a good breakfast?
 
Sans Souci

Sans Souci

Well-Known Member
DfromATX said:
Usually on our departure days we like to have a nice, leisurely breakfast before heading to the airport. Garden Grove was on my list. Where is Trattoria al Forno? Any other recommendations for a good breakfast?
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It's on the Boardwalk, but we really enjoyed it. It's about a 10 minute stroll, you could take a boat if you had time. I have never eaten there, but you might want to check out Fresh at the Dolphin. It's a buffet.
 
networkpro

networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
DfromATX said:
Hello, I booked our next trip staying at The Swan. We've never stayed there before and have only seen it passing by. I was wondering if anyone who has stayed there before had opinions on any room requests I could make (as far as views go)? I've seen in photos one side has a Tower of Terror view. That would be pretty cool, but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean it's the best view. Is the higher up the better? I'm not sure what my choices are. When I booked online, there were no choices listed like the other resorts and when I called Disney, they told me I'd need to call the hotel to make room requests. I'd appreciate any thoughts on that.

Bonus question - dining recommendations appreciated too. We usually have one or two nice dinners. I saw they have a lot of great choices! What's the best out of Bluezoo, Shula's Steak House, and Il Mulino's (sp?). We enjoy seafood, steak and Italian, so any of those would work. We probably would only eat one dinner at our hotel.

Also, what's the best place for a good, leisurely breakfast at the hotel? (On check out day we like to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast before we go.)

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Depends on your tastes... I'm a sucker for Steckerlfisch for an entree at Bluezoo.
 
B

BASS

Well-Known Member
Bluezoo has always been fantastic. I have not been since covid, but prior to covid, we had routinely gone each and every trip for years and it was always an exceptional meal. The oysters are remarkably fresh, the wine list is extensive, appetizers are great, and its an "adult-ish" environment (which is a welcome change from the park).

As far as Shula's, it's a steakhouse. If you don't have good steak options at home, then by all means. Otherwise, I'd skip it and aim for something different. Hopefully, Flying Fish reopens b/c that would be another great choice on the boardwalk just minutes from Swan/Dolphin.
 
HouCuseChickie

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
We stayed there around Christmas in 2017. Our view was similar to the one above with TOT, although, we were a few floors lower. Still, we could see fireworks from our room as well as some of Boardwalk. During that trip, my brother had an Epcot view and my parents could see AK from their room.

We haven't dined at any of the restaurants, but my parents have stayed there quite a few times and have eaten several places. They've said good things about Il Mulino, but they also haven't been in a few years. I think Bluezoo was their most recent thing in that area and they really liked it. My mom liked Kimonos for sushi, but felt the portions were on the small side. I've also heard people contradict that and say they were average. LOL We've always skipped Shula's because we both have locations where we live and we try to pick things unique to Disney when we go there. What's funny, we never go to Shula's at home because there are better places locally to get top notch steak.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
Courtney6682 said:
We stayed at the Swan for the first time this past May and LOVED it! We were on the 8th floor and had a theme park view. We had room service from Il Mulino one night and we’re not impressed, extremely over priced, pizza was awful! We did however, love walking to the Boardwalk which has Trattoria al Forno. We’ve eaten there a few times now and it’s a favorite of ours:)View attachment 582912
Click to expand...
What a hideous building. Is that the best they can do? ;)
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sans Souci said:
It's on the Boardwalk, but we really enjoyed it. It's about a 10 minute stroll, you could take a boat if you had time. I have never eaten there, but you might want to check out Fresh at the Dolphin. It's a buffet.
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Since we just booked our flights (yay!), I got back online and made my list of where to eat. On our arrival day, we plan to eat at The Fountain for lunch (at the Dolphin), then our plan was to walk to the Boardwalk anyway, so it would be perfect to eat at Trattoria al Forno for dinner!

We generally don't eat at the hotel except for arrival and departure day, but I might have to have a backup plan if we can't get 'Ohana reservations on our MK day, so in that case, maybe we'll eat at the Shulu's.

It's not looking good for 'Ohana's in case anyone else was looking. They are completely booked (as far as I could tell) for the next 60 days. But of course that's through October so maybe by the time we go in January it'll die down some.
 
tpoly88

tpoly88

Well-Known Member
my wife and i stay at the Swan/dolphin all the time. the Swan was a westin so it has the heavenly beds that are very comfortable. The top floors were for SPG gold members so if you have marriott points tell the desk your request and they should be able to hook you up. eating at the Swan, we always go to Il Mulino but recently they are understaffed and food took a little long to come out. our poor waiter was exhausted from doing 7 tables. food is usually pretty good but hit or miss and its not like the one in NYC. Bluezoo is always mixed and i avoid going there now, too many low level experiences to pay that money. Shulas is good, we sit by the bar a lot but its dark and i think the Yachtsman steak house is just as good and has a more airy feel if that is important to you. quick service food is at the dolphin, they only have a coffee bar at swann. ive never eaten there but the sushi place i heard is good in the swam. Trattoria al Forno for breakfast was good, ate there twice and was good both times plus its a nice short walk from the swan. dining in Disney lately is tough as a lot of places are closed or limited in capacity due to staffing, as a result it seems like all the places are in the same boat.
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
tpoly88 said:
my wife and i stay at the Swan/dolphin all the time. the Swan was a westin so it has the heavenly beds that are very comfortable. The top floors were for SPG gold members so if you have marriott points tell the desk your request and they should be able to hook you up. eating at the Swan, we always go to Il Mulino but recently they are understaffed and food took a little long to come out. our poor waiter was exhausted from doing 7 tables. food is usually pretty good but hit or miss and its not like the one in NYC. Bluezoo is always mixed and i avoid going there now, too many low level experiences to pay that money. Shulas is good, we sit by the bar a lot but its dark and i think the Yachtsman steak house is just as good and has a more airy feel if that is important to you. quick service food is at the dolphin, they only have a coffee bar at swann. ive never eaten there but the sushi place i heard is good in the swam. Trattoria al Forno for breakfast was good, ate there twice and was good both times plus its a nice short walk from the swan. dining in Disney lately is tough as a lot of places are closed or limited in capacity due to staffing, as a result it seems like all the places are in the same boat.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info!
 

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