Walt Disney World Swan Reserve Dining Guide
If you stay at the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve, you’ll have several dining options at the hotel. Additionally, you’ll find numerous restaurants within walking distance (or a boat ride) in the surrounding Epcot Resorts Area. We’ve had a good deal of coverage of the Swan Reserve since it opened. It’s an incredibly convenient hotel, especially if you’ll enjoy a decent amount of time at Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. So, I wanted to create a dining guide specific to the resort to help you plan a few meals.
Swan Reserve Restaurants List
Here are the dining locations at the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve:
- Grounds
- Stir
- Tangerine
- Amare
Below, we’ll preview details for each location. It’s important to note that the Swan Reserve is owned and operated by Marriott. Therefore, the Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve do not participate in the Disney Dining Plan. So, if you’re staying at one of these resorts, you cannot purchase a dining plan.
You’ll also want to know that all of the resort’s dining options are on the third floor, which is dedicated to the hotel’s lobby, dining, and pool area.
Grounds
We’ll start with Grounds, the resort’s primary quick-service and grab-and-go location. It is located toward the back of the third floor near the elevators.
- Location: Third Floor
- Hours Sunday-Thursday: 6:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
- Hours Friday-Saturday: 6:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
- Check This Week’s Schedule
- Resorts Gal: Grounds at the Swan Reserve
To preview the menu for Grounds, download the Swan and Dolphin’s hotel app for the most up-to-date information. If you’re staying at the Swan, Dolphin, or Swan Reserve, you’ll likely need the app during your stay. You can place mobile pick-up orders from their app where applicable. (This is not the same as Disney’s mobile order service in the My Disney Experience app, but similar.)
I’m not a big fan of having another app on my phone, but we stay at the Swan and Dolphin hotels enough that I keep it downloaded and use it. It offers information you’ll want or need to reference throughout your trip.
We’ll take a quick look around inside Grounds.
You can expect a good selection of snacks and other grab-and-go items. For breakfast, you can order a few freshly prepared items. You might also notice a few sandwiches on display near the register. They are pretty popular. But from what I’ve been told, they are prepared elsewhere and delivered to the shop each morning. So you don’t have any options that you can customize. If you have picky eaters, you’ll do better to order something from the pool bar when it’s open.
Here’s a photo of what was available in the refrigerated case during our last stay. They have a decent selection of pre-made sandwiches, salads, fruit, and yogurts. We combined a few of these things with snacks to make a meal.
A pastry case offers croissants, Danishes, muffins, banana bread, brownies, and giant cookies. Some freshly squeezed juice options are toward the bottom of the cooler. Like its name, Grounds offers a specialty coffee and tea menu. This will be your go-to coffee stop at the resort if you prefer an upgrade from the complimentary options available in the room.
A small dining space is available inside the quick service.
Or, if the weather is pleasant, you might prefer to enjoy your meal outside.
However, the nearby lobby has ample tables and chairs if you want a more private area.
Stir
Stir is in the center of the Swan Reserve’s third-floor lobby. This is the resort’s formal lounge, where specialty cocktails and appetizers are served.
- Location: Third Floor
- Hours: 3:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. (Check Weekly Hours)
- Swan and Dolphin Site: Menu with Prices
You can easily make a meal out of the menu items. They have several appetizer options ranging from charcuterie to fried calamari. You might also order something from their flatbread menu or an entree item like a burger or grilled fish selection. Here are a few photos of the lounge in an open space comprising the lobby area.
Tangerine
Tangerine is the pool bar at the Swan Reserve. It sits opposite Stir on the exterior side. We had good luck ordering food from this location during our last stay, and I wish we’d been more aware of it sooner. They have a regular menu with appetizers, entrees, salads, and flatbreads. They also have a separate kids’ menu.
- Location: Pool Bar, Third Floor
- Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Check Weekly Schedule)
- Swan and Dolphin Site: Menu with Prices
Tangerine sits in a pretty outdoor space near the pool. Servers were available to wait on guests at the bar and those lounging around the pool. Here are a few photos.
This is the pool for the Swan Reserve, which is a fun but no-thrills recreational area. Guests of the Swan Reserve have access to the Grotto Pool across the street at the Swan and Dolphin. So, if you plan to spend an entire day at the pool, we recommend doing so at the Grotto Pool.
Related: Preview the Grotto Pool at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin
I spent an afternoon at the pool during our first stay at the Swan Reserve and ordered a chicken fingers kids’ meal. I’m not sure if this is the size of a standard order or if they felt generous, but it was served piping hot and more than enough food.
Amare
Since the Swan Reserve opened, Amare has transitioned into serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Initially, it was the resort’s signature dining restaurant and was only open at night. However, now it’s also open for breakfast and dinner.
- Location: Third Floor (near elevators)
- Hours Breakfast: 7:00 to 11:00 a.m.
- Hours Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
- Hours Dinner: 5:00 to 11:00 p.m.
- Swan and Dolphin Site: Menu with Prices
- Resorts Gal: Amare Breakfast Review
We’ve enjoyed breakfast at Amare once so far and enjoyed it. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend planning at least one meal here during your stay. Here are a few photos of the restaurant’s interior.
A breakfast buffet is available. We surveyed the buffet during our last stay and felt it was of reasonable value. Of course, as you know, hotel breakfasts (at nicer hotels) are always expensive, no matter where you go. That said, sometimes it’s nice to enjoy a lazy, more leisurely breakfast at the hotel instead of scarfing down a pastry on your way to the park.
They even had Mickey-shaped waffles.
I ordered a cappuccino, which, for me, is a splurge.
Here is a photo of a freshly prepared waffle with a side of homemade chicken sausage. When available, I almost always order off an a la carte menu, as it’s typically more reasonable in pricing. So you might walk through and check out the buffet and compare it to the menu before deciding.
Dining Near the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
As mentioned earlier, guests of the Swan Reserve are within walking distance of the Swan and Dolphin Hotels and the other Epcot Area Resorts. For more restaurants, you might like to browse the following dining guides.
- Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Restaurants: Disney’s Swan and Dolphin have numerous restaurants like Rosa Mexicano, Bourbon Steak, Todd English’s bluezoo, Il Mulino, and Kimonos. These restaurants are only a short walk from the Swan Reserve.
- Disney’s Boardwalk Restaurants Guide: Disney’s Boardwalk sits across the bridge from the Swan and Dolphin Hotel. Many guests enjoy taking advantage of the things to do at the Boardwalk, including dining. You’ll find everything from corn dogs to signature dining at this popular destination.
- Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club Restaurants Guide: Disney’s Beach and Yacht Club are home to some of our favorite lounges, Crews Cup, and Martha’s Vineyard. We also eat at the Ale and Compass more than at any other restaurant at Walt Disney World. (Don’t miss the chocolate waffles for breakfast!)
*If you don’t want to walk to the Boardwalk, Beach, or Yacht Club, you can take a Friendship boat from the Swan and Dolphin to either hotel.
Final Thoughts
We hope you found this dining guide for Disney’s Swan Reserve helpful in planning. For more on our coverage of Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Hotels, you might like the following:
- Disney’s Swan Reserve Review
- Swan Reserve Room Tour (Photos + Video)
- Transportation Options at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin
More Planning
Resorts Gal specializes in Disney World Resorts, Characters, and Dining. Explore our resources, including our Disney World Resorts Guide. It provides an overview of everything you need to know about the Disney Resort Hotels. For dining, our Disney World Dining Guide is an excellent place to start. Our Disney World Transportation Guide is a wonderful resource for planning your routes. It’s one of our most popular resources. If you plan to meet characters in the parks, we have an updated list of Disney World Characters. It includes every available character meet-and-greet in the parks and where to find rare characters throughout the year. Lastly, our Disney Parks Guide provides a complete overview of all four theme parks and water parks.
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