Walt Disney World Swan
| Walt Disney World Swan | |
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| Location | Epcot Resort Area |
| Resort type | Deluxe Resort |
| Opened | January 13, 1990 |
| Theme | Entertainment Architecture |
| Areas | Main Building |
| Rooms | 756 |
| Green lodge | yes |
The Walt Disney World Swan is a resort hotel designed by architect Michael Graves located between Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios behind Disney's BoardWalk Resort and across from its sister resort, the Walt Disney World Dolphin. The Swan, which opened January 13, 1990 on Disney property, is a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company, Tishman Hotel Corporation, MetLife and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. The land the resort occupies is owned by the Walt Disney Company, while the buildings themselves are leased by Disney to the Tishman Hotel Corporation and MetLife and operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide under the Westin brand. The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin are a part of the Walt Disney Collection of resorts, because of this they are Disney branded and guests of the resort have access to special Disney benefits available to Disney Resort Hotel guests only.
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-foot (14 m) tall Swan statues. The colored facade is adorned with turquoise 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.
In the late 1980s, Disney saw that they were losing business to area hotels that catered to conventions and large meetings, so Michael Eisner 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.
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