The Walt Disney World Swan is a resort hotel designed by architect Michael Graves

Michael Graves

Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....

 located between Epcot

Epcot

Epcot is a theme park in the Walt Disney World Resort, located near Orlando, Florida. The park is dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely international culture and technological innovation. The second park built at the resort, it opened on October 1, 1982 and was initially named...

 and Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...

 behind Disney's BoardWalk Resort

Disney's BoardWalk Resort

Disney's BoardWalk Resort is a hotel and entertainment complex at the Walt Disney World Resort. First opened in 1996, the BoardWalk Resort lies alongside Crescent Lake and is situated between Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The resort is owned and operated by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts...

 and across from its sister resort, the Walt Disney World Dolphin

Walt Disney World Dolphin

The Walt Disney World Dolphin is a resort hotel designed by architect Michael Graves located between Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, next to Disney's BoardWalk Resort area...

. The Swan, which opened January 13, 1990 on Disney property, is not owned by the Walt Disney Company, but is instead owned by Tishman Hotel Corporation and operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a hospitality ownership and management organization, headquartered in White Plains, New York. One of the world's largest hotel companies, it owns, operates, franchises and manages hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties...

 under the Westin brand.

The Dolphin and Swan share similar elements, but each has a distinctive appearance. The Swan's main structure is a 12-story rectangular main structure with a gently arching top and two 7-story wings on the Dolphin side. The main structure is crowned with two, 47 feet (14.3 m) tall Swan statues. The colored facade

Facade

A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....

 is adorned with turquoise

Turquoise

Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...

 waves similar to the Dolphin's banana-leaf motif.

In 2008, The Walt Disney Swan Resort was awarded a One Palm Designation through the Florida Green Lodging Program established by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The Florida Green Lodging Program is a voluntary state initiative that provides the lodging industry with free technical assistance, encouraging hotels and motels to adopt cost-saving “green” practices that reduce waste, conserve natural resources and improve the bottom line.

Casual

• Java Bar - Continental snacks and coffee.
• Splash Terrace - Traditional and contemporary lunch fare, snacks and ice cream.
• Garden Grove - Disney character dining featured nightly and for breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays.

Fine

• Il Mulino New York Trattoria - Traditional Italian cuisine from the Abruzzo region of Italy, open for dinner.
• Kimonos - Japanese cuisine, open for dinner.

History

In the late 1980s, Disney saw that they were losing business to area hotels that catered to conventions and large meetings, so Michael Eisner

Michael Eisner

Michael Dammann Eisner is an American businessman. He was the chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 until 2005.-Early life:...

decided to build a convention-oriented hotel near Epcot. The Tishman Group, the contractor who was hired to build Epcot and who also had hotels in the nearby Disney hotel zone, claimed that the Epcot deal gave them exclusive rights to operate convention hotels on the Disney property. So Disney partnered with Tishman to develop the Swan and Dolphin complex. Eisner had used Graves for other company projects and wanted to continue to build striking, unique buildings.

Tishman owns the buildings, but has a 99-year lease on the land from Disney. Disney also receives a share of the hotel's revenues, and has a say in any design or architecture changes to the interior or exterior of the buildings.

Walt Disney World privileges

Swan guests have complimentary transportation to all Walt Disney World theme parks and attractions. Length-of-stay passes are available, as is package delivery from shops across the resort. Swan guests can also use Extra Magic Hours at certain theme parks on certain days. However, room charging (using hotel key as a credit card at Walt Disney World) is not available and hotel restaurants do not participate in any Disney dining plans or discounts. Also, guests staying at the Swan & Dolphin have parking, boat, and Walt Disney World Bus privileges.

External links

• Photo Gallery of Swan & Dolphin Hotel by Michael Graves
• Swan & Dolphin official website
• Walt Disney World Swan page at Westin Hotels website
• Swan Resort's page at Walt Disney World website