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Staying at a Deluxe Walt Disney World Resort offers guests the best overall vacation experience. Travelers enjoy special perks, including premium park proximity, access to Individual Lightning Lanes at 7a.m., and exclusive extra hours in the parks. A stay at one of these highest-tier resorts, however, runs between $700 and $3,500 per night. Luckily, Marriott Bonvoy owns three Deluxe Resorts in the Disney Swan and Dolphin collection, and you can book these with your Marriott points.
We’ll discuss the ins and outs of Marriott’s Swan, Swan Reserve, and Dolphin hotels in Orlando, as well as how to earn the Marriott points you need for booking these properties.
Page Contents
- Perks of the EPCOT Resort Area
- The Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel: Family Resort Closest to the Action
- The Walt Disney World Swan Hotel: Laid Back Elegance for Smaller Parties
- The Autograph Collection Swan Reserve Hotel: Adult Boutique Chic With a View
- Booking Swan and Dolphin Rooms: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Marriott Bonvoy Bookings: Using Free Night Awards or Points
- Transferring Points to Your Marriott Bonvoy Account From Chase or American Express
- The Hidden Costs of the Swan and Dolphin
- Deluxe Resort Perks You Won’t Receive at These Properties
- Bottom Line
Perks of the EPCOT Resort Area
All three Marriott Walt Disney World Deluxe Resorts sit in the EPCOT resort area. Staying within walking distance of both EPCOT and Hollywood Studios means maximizing your days in the parks. If you want to save your legs for the parks, take the Swan and Dolphin Friendship Boat to or from EPCOT and Hollywood Studios. For Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom, the hotels provide free buses to the parks.
Other entertainment just steps away includes Disney’s Boardwalk shops and restaurants, miniature golf, and other Disney Resorts: The Boardwalk, and Yacht Club, and Beach Club.
Amazingly, guests staying at any of these Marriott properties have access to amenities at all three. Let's break down the differences between the properties, then look at how to earn points to book the one that fits you the best.
The Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel: Family Resort Closest to the Action
Boasting a gorgeous lobby as well as multiple pools and restaurants, the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort is the largest of the three. This sprawling resort contains over 1500 rooms, 11 restaurants, the Mandara Spa, and plenty of event space. To make transportation a breeze, the Friendship Boats pick up and drop off guests right outside the Dolphin entrance, while buses out front can take you to other park entrances. All this and more makes the Dolphin the heartbeat of this complex.
Highest room occupancy for families
Interestingly, out of the three properties, only the Dolphin Resort allows five people to register in an award room. Registered guest allowance matters at these properties because of park access. Each guest must be registered to the room to scan into the theme parks for morning or evening extra hours. To accommodate the registered fifth person, either pay $35 per night for a rollaway bed or bring your own inflatable mattress or sleeping pad for the floor.
For award bookings, all three properties offer standard two-bed rooms or rooms with one king bed plus a sofa bed. What’s frustrating is that the standard two-bed rooms at the Dolphin include two double beds crowded into very small rooms. What does that mean? The only property that allows you to register five guests to a room booked with points also offers the least bed space.
The most comfortable way to sleep five people in a room on points would be to upgrade to a suite using points or cash. Prices vary; check with The Dolphin at the time of booking to see what upgrade options are available (you also can inquire about upgrade options upon checking in or use upgrade awards if you have Marriott Bonvoy elite status).
Of course, if you're flush with Marriott points, you also can request two connecting rooms. Bear in mind that Marriott, unlike Hilton, doesn't offer confirmed connecting rooms at the time booking.
The verdict: Big families and groups of friends wanting to take advantage of extra morning or evening hours should book this property.
The Walt Disney World Swan Hotel: Laid Back Elegance for Smaller Parties
About half the size of the Dolphin, you'll find the Swan right across the way. The Swan has its own, more secluded pool and eight restaurants.
While you can only register four guests per room at the Swan, you'll sleep more comfortably on queen beds (compared to the Dolphin's full-size beds). You can technically bring a sleeping pad and a fifth guest, but there's a catch: You’ll only be able to register four guests in your room. When you hit the parks for early or late exclusive hours, only four of you will be able to scan in.
The verdict: Families of four or less looking for a quiet pool and queen-sized beds will enjoy this property.
The Autograph Collection Swan Reserve Hotel: Adult Boutique Chic With a View
Across the street from the other two, the newest property in the collection is the swanky Swan Reserve. Park-facing rooms provide stunning views of the Swan, Dolphin, and EPCOT. Additionally, the Swan Reserve has four restaurants and a rooftop pool.
Like the Swan, two-bed rooms at The Swan Reserve offer queen-sized beds, but only for up to four people per room.
The verdict: Couples on an adults-only trip or those traveling on business will enjoy relaxing in this boutique option.
Booking Swan and Dolphin Rooms: A Step-by-Step Guide
Whether you're using Marriott Bonvoy points or free nights, the process for booking rooms at Swan and Dolphin properties will feel the same. At Marriott.com, enter Walt Disney World Swan, Dolpin, or Swan Reserve in the destination field, choose your date(s), enter the number of adults and children, and check the “Use Points/Awards” box.
On the next screen, click the “View Rates” button.
The next screen displays which rooms are available, with tabs for award or cash prices. Click on room or price details for more info, then choose “select” to move forward. Aat this point, Marriott will prompt you to sign into your account, if you haven't already.
Your Marriott points and Free Nights will now display, and you can choose which way you'd like to book your room by toggling between the choices under “Redemption options.” You'll also have the option to change the credit card on file and decline Allianz travel insurance.
Before hitting the “Book now” button, scroll down to the bottom of the page and take note of the cancellation policy. Also, review the redemption option to make sure everything is correct.
Once you book, your credit card will be charged for the resort fee for the duration of your stay. Marriott will send you an email with a confirmation number, as well as an option to click through and modify or cancel the stay.
As you can see from this booking, Marriott rooms can be booked with Free Night Awards, points, or a combination of the two. You'll also notice that Marriott doesn't waive resort fees on award stays, even though many of its competitors do.
Let's look at different ways to earn both Free Night Awards and points from Marriott Bonvoy.
Marriott Bonvoy Bookings: Using Free Night Awards or Points
Earning Marriott Bonvoy 50,000-point free night awards
Several Marriott Bonvoy credit cards offer a way to get Free Night Awards worth up to 50,000 points per night:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy® American Express® Card and Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Card: Earn a Free Night Award worth up to 50,000 points after spending $15,000 on eligible purchases on your card in a calendar year. Certain hotels have resort fees.
Gold Elite status perks
The gold status offered with the Marriott Bonvoy Business Card and Marriott Bonvoy Bevy Card gives you access to the lobby of the Dolphin's Mandara Spa and may qualify for you for an upgrade to a preferred room at check-in.
Booking with 35,000-point free night awards
Both the Marriott Boundless and Marriott Bonvoy Business Card offer an anniversary Free Night Award worth up to 35,000 points each year that you keep your card and pay the annual fee, starting on the first anniversary from account opening. Additionally, Marriott Bonvoy offers the ability to add up to 15,000 points to any of your free night awards, helping you use them at a higher redemption rate. These 35,000-point awards could be used for up to 50,000 points in this way.
Once in a while, you'll see an award rate low enough to use a Free Night Award at the Swan and Dolphin:
Booking rules for 50,000-point free night awards
Before we look at booking with 50K Free Night Awards, be advised that a few rules that apply to them. First of all, they expire 12 months after you earn them, so use them or lose them. Secondly, you can top them off with up to 15k Marriott points, increasing their potential value to 65K per night. Third, you cannot combine them with Marriott points to take advantage of Marriott’s fifth night free on redemption stays. Finally, these awards cannot be transferred between accounts.
Because the cost of an award room at these hotels ranges from 45,000 to 85,000 points per night, you won't be able to use 50k Free Night Awards at peak times around holidays. Finding consecutive nights to use the awards takes work but isn't impossible. Remember, you can top off the awards with 15,000 additional Marriott points, so look for rooms costing 65,000 points or less if you have 50k award certificates.
Related: How To Use Marriott Boundless Free Night Certificates
The benefit of booking with points rather than free night rewards
One benefit of points comes with the booking flexibility they offer over Marriott free night certificates. In addition, points allow you to take advantage of Marriott's fifth night free on award stays. Because of that bonus, you'll always get the most value from Marriott Bonvoy by booking a points stay in five-night increments.
Transferring Points to Your Marriott Bonvoy Account From Chase or American Express
Aside from credit card welcome bonuses, other ways to earn Marriott points for your stay at the Swan and Dolphin include:
- Spending on your Marriott credit cards
- Staying at Marriott hotels
- Referring others to join Marriott Bonvoy or open Marriott cards using your referral link
- Transferring points to Marriott from Chase or American Express
Because of the high potential value of flexible points like Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards, we don't recommend transferring enough points for an entire Walt Disney World stay. If all you need are a few points to top off your Free Night Rewards or ensure you get your fifth night free, however, transferring the extra points you need might be worth your while.
Related: Ways To Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points Without Staying at a Hotel
The Hidden Costs of the Swan and Dolphin
One drawback to staying at these Deluxe Resorts is the additional resort and parking fees. Unlike Hyatt and Hilton, Marriott does not waive resort fees on awards stays. Accordingly, you'll pay $45 in resort taxes and fees plus a $36 parking fee per night at the Dolphin, Swan, or Swan Reserve.
Because you're on property with access to free Disney transportation, you could consider ride-sharing to the hotels to save yourself the parking fees. But there's no way around the resort fee. All things considered, paying only $45–$81 per night plus points to stay on Walt Disney World property is a deal you won't find anywhere else.
Deluxe Resort Perks You Won’t Receive at These Properties
Unfortunately, unlike Official Deluxe Walt Disney World Resorts, you won’t be able to charge park purchases back to your room. When you charge park purchases to rooms at official properties, they code as “travel” on your credit card statement. That makes your park charges eligible for bonus categories on several credit cards, as well as the ability to offset the charges on Capital One cards. At the very least, you’ll earn more points using a card in the parks offering 2- or 3x on travel purchases.
Additionally, these Marriott Disney World Resorts use non-Disney buses for transport to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. That means you won't be dropped off directly at Magic Kingdom. Instead, the bus will drop you at the Ticket and Transportation Center, where you’ll have to go through security and take the Monorail or the Ferry to Magic Kingdom.
Bottom Line
If you've been looking for a way to use points to stay on property at Walt Disney World, you've found it. For as low as a $45-per-night resort tax and fee, you'll be steps away from two of the four parks and a short bus ride to the others, thanks to the ability to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points at Dolphin and Swan hotels near Disney World..
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