New Event Space and Luxury Rooms Coming to Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin by Summer 2026

22 days ago in "Walt Disney World Swan Resort"

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Walt Disney World Dolphin Meeting Space Expansion 2024 Renderings

Posted: Tuesday October 29, 2024 6:00pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin is preparing to launch a $275 million overhaul, marking the most extensive transformation in the property's history.

This project will bring significant expansion and upgrades to the existing facilities, with particular focus on enhancing event spaces, guest rooms, and technology. Aimed at accommodating larger events and providing a refreshed guest experience, this ambitious renovation could position the Swan and Dolphin as a leading convention hub on the East Coast.

Walt Disney World Swan Resort

Expanded Event Space to Meet Modern Demands

The centerpiece of the Swan and Dolphin's overhaul is the addition of 120,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, bringing the property's total to 469,000 square feet across its three buildings: the Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve. This makes the Swan and Dolphin one of the largest convention hotel complexes in the region. Included in this expansion is a new two-story annex at the Dolphin, featuring a 41,000-square-foot multi-purpose area, a pre-function space, and an upper-level ballroom that can be divided as needed. The new building's design will echo the original Michael Graves aesthetic with a modern touch, blending natural light, water-themed accents, and wood finishes.

Walt Disney World Dolphin Meeting Space Expansion 2024 Renderings

The new ballroom and multi-functional areas are designed to meet the needs of today's large-scale events and allow for concurrent gatherings across floors. Enhanced with state-of-the-art event technology, the space will also accommodate outdoor setups, integrating infrastructure for temporary structures to offer even more flexibility for conventions and gatherings.

Refreshed Meeting Spaces Across the Swan and Dolphin

This transformation goes beyond adding space; the existing 333,000 square feet of meeting areas at the Swan and Dolphin will undergo a modernization that includes updated ballrooms, corridors, and breakout spaces. Completed work in the Dolphin's event areas features a fresh color scheme of whites, blues, grays, and natural wood, aligning with the hotel's coastal theming. The Swan's meeting areas are currently being revamped, with final updates scheduled for completion by summer 2025.

Upgraded Guest Rooms in the Swan

In parallel with the meeting space transformation, all guest rooms at the Swan are set to be renovated. Following the debut of the Swan Reserve in 2021, which introduced 349 new luxury rooms, this renovation will bring updated, modern interiors with luxury tile flooring and a contemporary design. The Swan's guest room transformation is expected to be complete by 2024, adding a fresh layer of comfort for convention attendees and vacationers alike.

Walt Disney World Resort Swan New Renovated Room 2024

A Timeline for Completion

The Swan and Dolphin's transformation project is scheduled to begin in November 2024, with construction anticipated to conclude by late summer 2026. With the enhancements, the property aims to attract larger conventions and meet the evolving needs of event organizers, who increasingly seek versatile, high-tech spaces.

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JMcMahonEsq17 hours ago

One of the last conventions I spoke at in Florida was at the Bonnett Creek JW Marriot. Great location for a convention. Large spaces, multiple rooms available, decent food. Absolutely amazing space/bar on the roof with great sightlines around Orlando. That being said, there is no way you could claim that the JW Marriot is "on property" in any functional sense of the phrase. There is no benefits to staying on that property related to the parks. There is no Disney Transporation that will bring you to the parks. You aren't walking to any of the parks. I guess you could try and cross the roads and try and make a run to Disney Springs, but at least from JW Marriot, its well over a mile or 2 from the property to the main road, which would make the walk to DS pretty problematic. So other any being in the Orlando area, I would find it a stretch to call any of those other hotels to be considered "on property" and certainly they are not comparable at all to either Disney owned hotels, or the Swan/Dolphin.

Comped18 hours ago

In general that list includes everything from Rosen Inn LBV to the good neighbor hotels around Disney Springs, to the luxury hotels like JW and Waldorf Astoria (all of which are physically on Disney property and count when discussing what hotels are on property, although not every one gets the same level of benefits). In terms of meeting space, you've got places like the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace with 160,000 ft² of event space, not to be confused with the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista also on property, which has 84,000 ft². The Waldorf has 60,000 ft²+. The JW Marriott has over 50,000 ft², the Drury with close to that amount, a couple of Wyndhams with a bunch of event space, and many more. Absolutely right. It's not competitive versus an off-site competitor, never mind some of the on-site hotels that are cheaper especially for smaller to mid-sized events. What's funny is that Disney could really make it work if they wanted to but just don't want to bother with the effort because they can sell their rooms to tourists and keep the event spaces for whatever clients they currently have. It's weird because it's clearly a huge investment opportunity if they really wanted to do it but they leave it on the table. I know of at least one major convention coming next year to Orlando that went with Shingle Creek over Disney because of the money, despite very much being interested in having the convention at Disney because many members of the organization probably would have stayed a few extra days for Disney and Epic, and brought their families too - so there would have been additional convention passes sold for attendees who wouldn't have thought about coming otherwise. But the money was simply too good off property. Among others. Coronado has a bunch but it is not as competitive as one might expect.

LSLS21 hours ago

I'm assuming they are including Waldorf, Wyndham Bonnet Creek, and Four Seasons, who all have meeting spaces (though I don't think any are close to Swan/Dolphin size, but I know very little about convention spaces). Also worth mentioning Coronado has a lot of convention space (though not third party).

drkarcher221 day ago

It would be nice if they brought back character dining to Garden Grove to go along with the expansion. It was always cheaper than the other CD restaurants and you

monothingie1 day ago

The only thing I can think of, is that they can’t be competitive. I’ve been to several trade shows and corporate expos in central Florida and none have been on property. The main reason given is that others offer more for less and if people really want to visit Disney on their own time, then that’s why the events usually end on a Friday. It seems Disney would rather leave the rooms for leisure guests than put them out at a wholesale rate for convention attendees. Which is why the contemporary convention center just doesn’t work. At the same time the Coronado convention center is sucking wind because even though it has the capacity (rooms) it still isn’t competitive compared to a similarly equipped offsite venue.

monorail811 day ago

That property has parking issues with the current facilities. They need to add a parking garage to their list of things to do.

JMcMahonEsq1 day ago

What do you mean quite a few third party hotels on property? Other than swan and dolphin, what other non Disney hotels are “on property?”

Jambo Dad1 day ago

More phone-based fun for the Disney traveler!

Comped1 day ago

It's not their core business but they sure could make more money at it if they tried at all to expand clientele and upgrade the facilities to anything approaching the standard of their competitors even on property. There are quite a few third party hotels on property that offer convention and meeting space that exceed Disney in terms of amenities or capabilities, and that's money Disney isn't getting which they easily could...

JoeCamel1 day ago

If a conventioneer is in the convention they are not in the parks spending so they take rooms that could be better ROI but they still want whatever revenue conventions can bring. In other words the money is nice but not their core business.

Comped1 day ago

Most people don't realize that places like Rosen Shingle Creek, World Center Marriott, Gaylord Palms, all have more convention and meeting space than Disney does outside of S&D. Rosen alone has half a million square feet just at Shingle Creek, not including any of his other properties around Orlando. This renovation will still not overtake that property in terms of square footage of event space, but it will firmly put Disney's largest hotel in terms of meeting space, Coronado Springs, at about half of S&D. And both of those are a fraction of the convention center, not including all the hotels attached to it which have their own meeting and event spaces. I'm not sure if the reason why Disney hasn't put a big emphasis on their own hotel convention business is because they know they get business from mid sized clients every year and they just don't want to bother with expanding given they will never land the most lucrative contracts because they require spase or features that Disney doesn't have. I remember during my undergrad event/convention class, this was a topic of discussion for a guest speaker from Visit Orlando, who noted that unless Disney gave people a really good deal, most preferred to save money and stay off-site because the spaces were generally better and prices were lower.

Alice a1 day ago

So we do a lot of buying shows (retail) every year and, post pandemic, they are getting smaller and shorter as, reportedly, buyers preferred the online options that were offered during the pandemic. Even shows in destination cities like New Orleans and Orlando with perks like Mardi Gras events and exclusive park access has not been the draw it was in the past. I’m guessing this is just our industry (hardware) and not everyone’s, since clearly business is booming enough that they’re building more space?

monothingie1 day ago

I'm actually kind of surprised that Disney has not leaned in more on the whole convention center gig and are seemingly ceding this to Marriott. Boardwalk, Yacht/Beach, Grand Floridian are basically large meeting/ball rooms. Coronado and Contemporary are much larger spaces, but each have their own set of problems. Swalphon has got the right formula. More and larger modern facilities, hotels rooms to support the hosted conferences, and close access to two parks.