Walt Disney World’s Swan and Dolphin Resort to Add New Tower

The owners of the Swan and Dolphin Hotels at Walt Disney World, New York-based Tishman real estate firm and MetLife Investment Management, have entered an agreement with Disney to add a third tower at the property.

The new 349-room, 14-story hotel will be built over the existing tennis courts. Construction is expected to begin this fall.

The new tower was designed to cater to the needs of meetings and groups, with more than 22,000 square feet of meeting space, including two ballrooms, 12 meeting rooms and a rooftop reception space that will provide views of the nightly Walt Disney World fireworks.

The hotel will also house a 75-seat restaurant, including a 50-seat lounge and bar area, as well as additional function space. Outside, there will be a 16,800-square-foot elevated deck with a fire pit and a 90-foot long pool.

This comes as the Walt Disney World Swan Hotel is completing its $3 million renovation, which was rolled out in phases in order to remain open. The project will update the two main lobbies, public spaces, and guestrooms. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.

When the new tower opens in 2020, the resort complex will have a total of more than 2,600 guest rooms and 350,000 square feet of meeting space.

There is a demand for additional rooms. Disney’s theme parks saw a bump in visitors last year, with Magic Kingdom welcoming 20.4 million guests, up 0.3 percent; Animal Kingdom jumped 15.3 percent to 12.5 million, thanks to the new Avatar-themed land; and Epcot saw 12.2 million, up 4.2 percent.