Experiences with the Swan Reserve hotel at DW?

[shaynaatl]

Our first DisneyWorld trip will be this Oct (kids are 8 and 5). We originally booked the Contemporary, which is pricey at $850/night.

I've discovered I have employee rate access at the Swan Reserve hotel, which I understand is considered an on-property resort. This would be $350 a night, and we are going for 5 nights.

I know the Swan Reserve isn't very convenient to Magic Kingdom (which is the main focus of this trip). But doesn't it make sense to save the $$$? Would anyone here stick with the Contemporary at that price premium?

Thanks!

[keweenawlove]

I'd consider staying at the Swan reserve and Lyft/Uber to MK as a compromise. You'd still come out way ahead moneywise without having to deal with the bueses.

We just got back from the Dolphin and they share the complex with the Swans. The Dolphin pool was really nice for kids - my daughter loved the waterslide. The bus to MK was a pain. You have a take a different company's bus to the transportation area, then take the monorail. We ended up just taking the Boardwalk's buses which were about half a mile away but the process was much easier.

[mrsslocombe]

I'd put up with a lot to save $2,500 lol. The Swan is fine. It's bland but I think the Contemporary is bland too. It's nice that you can walk to HS and Epcot (or take the boat). Also $350 as a corporate rate seems high, I've seen it offered for under $300 sometimes on Hotels.com, so I would just keep an eye out.

The MK access is the only "downside" but I'd either take a Lyft or walk to one of the nearby hotels for better transpo. Lyft will only take your to TTC though, which is annoying so you might be better off just walking to the Boardwalk.

I love the mini-golf course at the Swan.

[sent]

I've stayed at both (well regular Swan, not the Swan Reserve). I love that you can walk to MK from the Contemporary. I love that you can walk to Epcot and HS from Swan. But for $2500, the MMM in me would say to stay at Swan. My husband would say we should stay at Contemporary because he always picks the more expensive thing no matter what the thing is. Our favorite restaurant is California Grill so we love that too about the Contemporary. And the kids love the monorail. My 4 year old DS was a real pain to drag to and from the shuttle schedule on our most recent trip when we stayed at a different on-property-but-not-Disney-owned hotel. Walking to the parks is so much easier with the kids. OK the more I type, the more I'm leaning toward Contemporary. I'd probably justify it by saying we don't really go anywhere, COVID, YOLO, magic, memories, Disney take all my money.

[nsl]

The only thing I know about the Swan Reserve is that when I was staying at the Dolphin last month (which shares buses/ownership with the Swan) all of the bus drivers were going out of their way to avoid having to go there. If nobody onboard needed to go there, they wouldn't make the stop. No idea what the deal was, but if I'd been waiting at the Reserve for a bus I would have been pissed to know that the drivers were purposely skipping that stop.