Walt Disney World Swan Reserve Opens: Photos and Video of the New Resort

Hi everyone!

The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve opened to guests on November 3rd, 2021 and we attended the official ribbon cutting yesterday (November 12th). The event included tours of the common spaces and two suites. I’ll post more in-depth on the rooms soon, but here is an overall look from Friday in photos and video.

The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve is part of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort complex. It is a smaller boutique hotel with 349 guest rooms including 151 suites. For a comparison, the Walt Disney World Dolphin has 1514 guest rooms and the Walt Disney World Swan has 756.

Our video tour of the Swan Reserve includes part of the grand opening ceremony and the ribbon cutting at the end of the video.

Walt Disney World Resort President Jeff Vahle was one of the speakers. He said a few words about the partnership with the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort and then called up Mickey and Minnie, “the stars that began it all here at the Walt Disney World Resort”.

The ribbon cutting included an orange ribbon. The main theme of the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve is citrus.

The ribbon was cut and it was time for our tour.

Mickey and Minnie are at the desk on the way into the resort.

There is an escalator that leads guests up to the next floor.

Past this sitting area is a Disney desk.

The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve offers a lot of seating in the common areas. Besides citrus, I also noticed peacocks and general birds are a recurring theme.

Not all books in the common space are Disney books, but I noticed Winnie-the-Pooh and Cinderella with The Sleeping Beauty books here.

A peacock can be found nearby.

More seating is in the area with the lobby bar, Stir.

Stir serves cocktails and light bites, including “Chef’s selection of handcrafted salamis of Spain & Italy and a Soppressata, red onion torn mozzarella, San Marzano flatbread”.

The bar has a tropical feel to it.

The reception area is up here as well.

We passed by Grounds, which is a coffee shop/grab-and-go location.

Guests of the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve can use any of the pools at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin resorts. There is a fantastic feature pool – the Grotto pool – at the Dolphin. The Swan Reserve has a pool and outdoor bar for the many guests who will want to stay and relax here.

The Tangerine pool bar features signature drinks along with salads, burgers, and sandwiches. The signature cocktail is called the Tangerine Whip (Tangerine Elixir, Oat Milk, New Amsterdam Vodka, blended & frozen, garnished with an orange slice). The hanging pots look like oranges too.

Amare is the signature restaurant and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is in addition to many restaurants among the three resorts. The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin have some of the most highly rated restaurants at Walt Disney World, including Shula’s, Kimonos and Todd English’s bluezoo.

The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve says that, Amare, which means “to love”, is a casual upscale venue inspired by the tastes and cultures of the Mediterranean region.

In the morning, there is a breakfast buffet or guests can choose to order off the menu. For dinner, there are entrees like Grilled Mahi Mahi and Citron Chicken.

We toured a 2-bedroom suite that included a standard room as well as a junior suite.The Swan Reserve Traditional Room is 330 square feet. The views toward EPCOT from this suite are wonderful.

Here is a look out the window with Spaceship Earth in view.

There is a multi-page guide in the room that gives information on the resort and Walt Disney World. At the beginning of the guide, there is a page on “A Celebration of Citrus”. It is a history of the citrus industry in Florida, where more than 70% of the nation’s citrus supply is produced.

The pages also include restaurant information, like this page on Amare.

I looked out another window to see Characters in Flight in the distance. The Cirque du Soleil building can also be seen (Cirque du Soleil and Disney’s new “Drawn to Life” debuts on November 18th!)

The rooftop Vue ballroom is almost 4,000 square feet and can seat up to 160 guests. This location will be popular for weddings and meetings.

There are floor to ceiling windows that include views of EPCOT and more.

The Vue Terrace is about 1000 square feet. We have had the opportunity to enjoy this location both in the evening for fireworks and during the tour.

We watched “Harmonious” from the terrace a couple of weeks ago during a preview of the space.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin can be seen here along with Spaceship Earth in the center.

I will post a more detailed look at the rooms we toured in the next day or two. The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve offers a lot of needed space including guest rooms for the complex (convention season is especially busy at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin).  The Walt Disney World Swan Reserve is just a few minutes walk from the other two hotels.

EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are both walkable or there is a boat to either from the Walt Disney World Dolphin. And for those looking for great dining options, you don’t have to look farther but there is even more dining around the Walt Disney World BoardWalk and at EPCOT (a ticket and reservation are currently needed for the latter).