Non-DVC Disney Accommodation Advice Requested!!

This is my opinion....
I feel like the Dolphin lobby is busier than the Swan, probably because of the lobby size and bar. The back exit out of Dolphin has escalators from the Lobby Level to Ground level, making it inconvenient for scooters. Both have good restaurants to eat, it depends on your food preferences.

I have stayed at the Swan & Dolphin many times and Find the more I stay , the more I really like this option.
I think I prefer the Swan .
Be sure to ask about AAA , Senior , WDW AP discount or try DVC discount , teachers, nurse … at Swan & Dolphin. 
I think last year we had AAA for New Years Eve discount . 

Make sure you check for discounts. Swan & Dolphin gives discounts for all types of groups, like teachers, first responders, etc.

Out of curiosity, does anyone happen to know what a discounted rate for OKW studio would be? I typed it into Google and places like Priceline are showing $293 and stuff like that.

I arbitrarily put in the first week of December and it moved it to a 1-bedroom and showed $600-something a night. Yikes!

I am a little late to the game, but the Swan and the Dolphin were my resorts of choice always for quite a number of years. We do visit often. I personally still prefer Swan over the Dolphin. The swan is just smaller and more quiet but the rooms feel larger. I get that the lobby in the Dolphin is more opulent now than it used to be, I find it almost too much and too busy. I do think the Dolphin has better food, but the walkway between the two makes that almost non-starter for me. Especially since my favorite restaurants are on the ground level by the entrance closest to the Swan.

So, we've booked the Swan! I'm excited to stay there after so many of you have chimed in to say that you've stayed there and like it.

Senior discount ended up being the best rate for us. AP would have been better but I'm letting it lapse for a bit. The '25% off the second room' offer mandates that the first room be booked at full price, so that ended up being more overall than two rooms at the senior discount. AAA did have a better rate if we were willing to pay in-full up-front, nonrefundable; it wasn't enough savings to sacrifice the flexibility if we ever needed to cancel.

I did contact DVC Member Services, and they had more availability than I was expecting. All of these were mentioned as having availability for 6-nights in 2 studios in late-January (which I know isn't a great time to travel but also it's low points so I wondered if maybe it would be popular with DVC-ers): BLT (lake or standard), new Poly Tower, Grand Floridian, SSR, AK (standard or savannah). There may have been others, but I didn't have the nerve to ask for more because once we heard that the cheapest (SSR, which mom didn't want anyway) was above the Swan, we decided to just go for the Swan. I could post the rates she quoted, if anyone is interested (and if that's allowed?).