
Part of the fun of any visit to the Walt Disney World Resort in Central Florida is staying in one of the more than two dozen resort hotels on Disney World’s property, and the accommodations options are seemingly endless.
Disney World’s Proverbial Buffet of Resort Hotels
Disney World offers a variety of hotels and categorizes them as Value Resorts, Moderate Resorts, Deluxe Resorts, and Deluxe Villas. Some of the options for stays at the Central Florida Disney Parks are part of the Disney Vacation Club and are only available to Club members who have purchased, earned, or borrowed points to use on their stays.
Guests looking for a more budget-friendly option have choices like Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, Disney’s Pop Century Resort, and Disney’s All-Star Resorts.
On the opposite end of the price spectrum, Disney World also offers hotels with all the amenities guests could hope for in a resort hotel stay—all with a touch of Disney magic and close proximity to Disney World’s four theme parks—Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom—and Disney Springs.
Those resort hotels usually fall into the Deluxe Resorts category at the Florida parks and include Disney’s Riviera Resort, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney’s Beach Club Resort, Disney’s BoardWalk Inn, Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, and Disney’s Yacht Club Resort.
Guests choosing to stay in a Moderate or Deluxe Resort know that–generally speaking–the nightly rate during their stay will be higher than the nightly rate at one of Disney World’s Value Resorts. But this week, one Disney World fan got the surprise of his life when he began to look at nightly rates for a stay this month.
In fact, he noticed that the rate at one particular time this month increased by more than $2,000 per night from one date to the next, leaving him scratching his head and wondering what in the (Disney) World is going on that on those dates.
The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel
The Swan and Dolphin Hotel at Walt Disney World Resort opened its doors to guests in 1990 and quickly became a distinctive part of the resort’s landscape.
The hotel is owned by Tishman Hotel Corporation and MetLife, and The Walt Disney Company owns the land on which the resort hotel stands.
Architecturally striking, the hotel features two adjacent towers: the Swan, with its swan statues atop, and the Dolphin, with its large dolphin statues, both designed by renowned architect Michael Graves. While not directly owned by Disney, the Swan and Dolphin Hotel offers a premium experience within close proximity to Disney’s theme parks.
The Swan and Dolphin Hotel is known for its extensive amenities and luxurious accommodations. Guests can enjoy a wide range of dining options, including signature restaurants like Il Mulino, Shula’s Steak House, and Todd English’s Bluezoo.
The hotel also features various pools, a full-service spa, and recreational activities like golf and tennis.
The beautiful Swan and Dolphin Hotel is also famous for its excellent conference facilities, making it a popular choice for both vacationers and business travelers. Its convenient location near EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios also makes it a popular choice among guests seeking a blend of relaxation, fine dining, and Disney magic.

A Nightly Rate Increase of More Than 1200%?!
As Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort is considered a Disney World Deluxe Resort, most guests expect to pay a higher nightly rate than they would pay to stay at Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort, for example.
But for the guest who went online to begin planning his stay for later this month, the increase was phenomenal–and not in a positive way.
On Monday, Facebook user Erick Sirignano posted a screenshot to the Disney World Tips and Tricks group page on the social media platform, and the information in the screenshot was nothing short of shocking as it shows an increase in the nightly rate for a stay at the Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel of $2,090 from one night to the next.
He captioned his post, asking, “What’s going on this weekend?”
As seen in the screenshot, the nightly rate for September 19 is $164. But for a stay on the very next night, September 20, the rate is $2,254–an increase overnight of more than 1200%.
As of the time of this publication, it isn’t clear exactly where the information on the price increases came from. Upon researching the current nightly rates for a stay at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Hotel, this writer was unable to find similar pricing for identical dates this month, so here’s hoping it was simply a typo.
Group Members Chime In With Their Responses
That didn’t stop helpful–and sometimes humorous–members of the Facebook group quickly chimed in with answers to Sirignano’s question.
One member suggested that the apparent rate hike was in celebration of her birthday on September 21, mentioning the song “September” by the band Earth, Wind & Fire.
Another Disney World Tips and Tricks member suggested that the reason might have something to do with a long weekend at several schools across the U.S.:
I work for after school programs and a lot of schools across the country have a 3- or 4-day weekend this week for some reason.
A group member also cited Disney’s recent trend in price hikes and suggested the rate could be higher than the one shown in Sirignano’s screenshot.
Just Disney usual price gouging, probably a event they want your firstborn [child] for.
Other reasons suggested by group members included the possibility of the weekend in question also marking the beginning of Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, the annual Gartner Symposium, and a graduation commencement ceremony that weekend near Disney for Western Governor’s University (WGU), an online university that hosts commencement ceremonies at various locations in different states.
So . . . What’s the Reason For the Price Hike?
Here’s what we know for sure: Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party kicked off with select dates in mid-August, meaning that the weekend of September 20-21 is not the debut weekend for this year’s celebration.
In addition to that, graduation exercises for WGU are, in fact, taking place that weekend, but the commencement ceremony will be held at the North Hall of the Orange County Convention Center, not at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Hotel. The WGU Alumni Celebration will be held at the Regency Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Orlando.
So, in answer to Sirignano’s question, we simply don’t know why there would be such a price hike at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Hotel, and we weren’t able to find similar pricing on those dates.
Could it be the massive $2,000+ price hike was nothing more than a typo?