The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort is a hotel (two really) that my family stays at frequently. There is something about hearing the fountains and the boat horn and sniffing the cozy vanilla smell that immediately makes me feel at peace. 
In fact, until we joined the Disney Vacation Club it was the only place we stayed initially for two main reasons.
First, the Swan and Dolphin have the unique quality of being the only non Disney hotel still located on Disney property. Due to this, guests have most (but not all) of the benefits of a Disney hotel (extra magic hours, transportation to parks, and character dining to name a few), but guests also get to redeem points or get points for their stay because the hotel is a Starwood Property (which just happens to be our favorite hotel collection, so there’s no way we would’ve turned a blind eye to these two hotels).
The second aspect of the property that drives us to return is its location. It is situated within a scenic and easy 15 minute stroll to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios. The walk to Epcot takes us past The Boardwalk area, so we have easy access to all the amenities there (the hotel restaurants, the restaurants, bars, ice cream shops, bakeries, etc), and when we get to Epcot the path terminates at the entrance found quietly placed between France and England in the World Showcase. This lack of line is of significant benefit when we are there for Food and Wine or the International Flower and Garden Festival. It also makes it quite easy to just slip over to Epcot for dinner after a day at another park.
All in all, staying at the Swan and Dolphin was a fairly easy decision for us before we had children. Since kids, we still come back about once a year, but it is not our go to anymore. While the hotel is clearly a part of the world of Disney, it is also distinct in how distant from Disney it can at times feel. The hotels have quite large convention centers that are usually booked. This means that rather than having a family vibe, they often have a corporate vibe with groups of adults running from one meeting to another and signs and tables situated throughout the lobby (at least of The Dolphin). It seems the lobby is less a 
place to gather with a family than it is to be a meeting place of members of a larger visiting convention. When weaving our way through the throngs of convention goers, it feels as though we, as a family, accidentally stumbled into a meeting we were not supposed to be at. It is less than welcoming. In the Dolphin (our preferred property), the bar can become full of people mingling, and since the bar is located in the hallway of the lobby at the top of the escalators leading to the main entrance to the walkways and amenities, it is impossible to navigate at times.
I think the aspect of the hotel that keeps it from being Child Friendly can best be summed up by our last visit. We were at the Dolphin during Hurricane Matthew and the closure of the parks. We asked the concierge if there were any special activities they had set up for the day to keep kids occupied, and they told us the Children’s Center would be open, as it usually is on rainy days. This small collection of rooms, tucked into the back corner of the hotel was the only amenity set up for children on a day when all children were confined to the hotel. (Disney properties, on the other hand, went so far as to bring the 
characters into the hotels so children could visit with them while stuck indoors.) Additionally, while the hotel has some great activities like S’mores and parent’s Date Night, they do little to advertise these services and parents must go out in search of them (we chanced upon them listed on an electronic poster when wandering the hotel during the Hurricane). In the five years we had been frequenting the property with children, this information was never verbally discussed with us. In summation, the hotel has much to offer, but don’t be fooled into thinking that because it is on Disney property, it is the equivalent of staying at a Disney hotel.
| Pros | Cons |
| Access to Magic Hours | Convention center can create chaotic, crowded, corporate atmosphere |
| Indoor ice ceam parlor | Concierge service is not always knowledgeable |
| Kid friendly eating options | Guest Services are slow, often requiring multiple calls (ex: we waited 10 hours for a crib) |
| Large, interesting pool with kid friendly depths | Check in can be time consuming and rooms are not always ready “on time” (3 pm check in time) |
| Life vests for pool | Balconies not in all rooms (always a nice place to escape with a grown up once your trapped in the room because of sleeping children) |
| Easy walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios | No transportation to/from the airport (no Magical Express of other Disney properites) |
| Transportation to the parks (bus, boat, and walk) | Parking lot gets filled quickly so finding a spot can prove difficult even if it is paid for, and the valet service can get quite backed up |
| Fireworks visible from both Epcot and Hollywood Studios (from room depending on room, but always somewhere outdoors) | Camp Dolphin is small with limited space and not always available |
| S’mores by the beach six evenings a week | Disney dining reservations can only be made at exactly 180 days out rather than 180 days plus the duration of your stay |
| Swan boat rentals | There are no linked Magic Bands for your park ticket, room key, or charges |
| Two complimentary hours of child care while dining at one of their signature restaurants or during a 75 minute spa treatment | |
| Character dining at Garden Grove | |
| Camp Dolphin: supervised activity center for children ages 4-12 (open nightly 5:30-midnight; call for reservations) | |
| Park tickets can be purchased on site |
Of note, the rooms are undergoing renovations.
Note: Hotels are based on a four level scale: Child Centered, Child Friendly, Child Accommodating, Unsuitable. A Child Centered hotel is a hotel in which the child’s comfort, happiness, etc. is paramount. A Child Friendly hotel has those implements in place to create a fun atmosphere for the child, though it is not the apparent mission of the hotel to continuously do so. A Child Accommodating hotel is that hotel where it will assist the parents in making the child comfortable at the parent’s request only. An Unsuitable hotel is a hotel that has no accommodations suitable for a child or the cons of the hotel make the hotel dangerous for the well-being of the child.
Three Kids and a Car 