Priceline Express Deals

Disney resort reservations dept caught wind of this thread and are adjusting pricing accordingly :rotfl: kidding, but perhaps increased bookings across the board at Disney (direct and third party) because of all the late-summer discounts offered played a part.

I was prowling Hotwire last night (when am I not? :teeth:) and saw a lot of stark price jumps around 12/1 AM PDT. But I've seen variation today when playing with dates. My theory is that if this is all Disney experimentation, they're pushing back on when they release the best offers to within a week or so of arrival, and making any past that only *slightly* better than rack rate. Over the last couple of weeks, it looked like booking around two weeks out was the sweet spot (e.g. POFQ for $98 rather than $176), but even that really caters more to the crowd of last-minute vacationers and seriously risk-averse people. I think some people, if they're looking on HW casually, will see *probably POFQ* for $170 about a month in advance -- definitely a discount over rack rate -- and book it immediately rather than wait. And then Disney doesn't have to slash deeper as dates draw nearer if there's less inventory (or none, as appears to have happened with GF for my dates).

Still, I'm glad I got CSR when I did, even if I can't get anyone to give me the damn hotel conf number :upsidedow

in other news, lots of "deals" (not nearly as nice as these deals were, but definitely something compared to rack rate) with the enchanted escape room-only offer, though they are dwindling too. still a Hotwire convert, but you know. more variety, peace of mind, ease, etc.

So, if I am totally risk averse and travel with a 13 month old (aka need transportation from airport, don't want to rent car/deal with care seat, etc) is it best that I just stick with the sure thing? Is anything on Hotwire pretty much a sure thing? My dates for August (check in 19th, checkout 21st) don't lead to anything that great. There is one priceline search that looks like coronado, but not being 110% scares the ceap out of me! I have an AP rate at POP already for a total of $225 for the 2 nights...not awesome, not horrible. We are going October 14-17 as well. Currently booked at Coronado. Should I just keep watching daily for those rates? I cannot even book a reservation at Coronado on the Disney site right now. I don't care if we are at Coronado, but an even better rate would be great :) I am looking for advice from a well versed person. I found this thread 2 days ago, and it has intrigued me ever since!!
 
So, if I am totally risk averse and travel with a 13 month old (aka need transportation from airport, don't want to rent car/deal with care seat, etc) is it best that I just stick with the sure thing? Is anything on Hotwire pretty much a sure thing? My dates for August (check in 19th, checkout 21st) don't lead to anything that great. There is one priceline search that looks like coronado, but not being 110% scares the ceap out of me! I have an AP rate at POP already for a total of $225 for the 2 nights...not awesome, not horrible. We are going October 14-17 as well. Currently booked at Coronado. Should I just keep watching daily for those rates? I cannot even book a reservation at Coronado on the Disney site right now. I don't care if we are at Coronado, but an even better rate would be great :) I am looking for advice from a well versed person. I found this thread 2 days ago, and it has intrigued me ever since!!

I'm not necessarily well versed in HW/PE, just someone who has spent 80% of my time learning/searching over the last few weeks :laughing: So while I have ideas about their pricing structure, I'm new to the wonderful land of opaque booking. The folks at betterbidding have more complete knowledge, though it is really community-driven by their users (so, some hotels we've seen on HW/PL are not on bb's "hotel list" and such). I recommend reading their Florida/Orlando forums and maybe posting, getting familiar with their "easyview" tool; their site mods appear very responsive in threads asking for help identifying. Also, their target audience is the moderately risk averse :)

So, if I am totally risk averse and travel with a 13 month old (aka need transportation from airport, don't want to rent car/deal with care seat, etc) is it best that I just stick with the sure thing? Is anything on Hotwire pretty much a sure thing?

If you are *totally* risk averse, opaque bookings will probably be stressful, which imo is hardly worth the potential savings. I think a lot of bookings on HW, Disney and otherwise, are pretty much a sure thing with enough research. BUT they can change star levels and reclassify zones at any time, so there's room for disappointment.

But if you are, say, 10% open to risk... it never hurts to shop around :hyper:

Book at a (refundable) price you can stomach, and check for price drops (daily if you can) until the cancellation window 5 days before arrival. I understand this is time-consuming, though, which is why it matters to make the original booking at a price you like.

You have hotels booked at discounted rates, so you're already on the right track -- I say no harm in continuing to check. If I were risk-averse, I would stick to Hotwire because of the location and amenities features. Priceline has Disney hotels over a range of zones and I feel their listings are harder to decipher. (Betterbidding takes some guesswork out of Priceline, but still.) HW right now *nearly* guarantees onsite resort if you narrow choices to Bonnet Creek - airport shuttle - free parking - free internet and make sure there's no resort fee, inspect the "bed choice" carefully, think over the "last person booking this got" blurb, etc. That said, nothing is guaranteed with opaque booking except for the listed amenities, so with some googling, you can be more certain of the choice. Plus, with hotels that list the resort fee, a lot are pretty damn specific (like the Swan and Dolphin's odd-numbered fee).

As for whether you should invest time checking? I just searched for your Aug date on HW (using 1 adult) and you're right, nothing spectacular. I see Pop for $97/night before tax but it's more than $225 once tax is added. If you're happy with your current reservation, I would just keep it. Not worth the hassle if Pop goes down to $83-87/night (not guaranteed anyway).

If you're looking for a deal to maybe "upgrade" over Pop, you might find CSR at an attractive rate, and that resort is pretty easy to identify unless HW sees this and changes the amenities list. :laughing: It's hard to say because that's a weekend and there's likely to be higher occupancy already... I personally think it is likely to see drops because of the refurbishment and current posted rates when booking direct and transparent (Expedia, etc). Ditto other places, like POFQ or YC, but the valuation of hassle would be my prime concern.

We are going October 14-17 as well. Currently booked at Coronado. Should I just keep watching daily for those rates? I cannot even book a reservation at Coronado on the Disney site right now. I don't care if we are at Coronado, but an even better rate would be great :)

For the October dates, I wonder what their pricing will look like. People have been saying summer is now the "slow" season at Disney, which seems kind of true based on the discounts offered this summer. Then, for the fall, we've seen a lot of hotels not have much availability, and discount rates aren't as attractive... so far. I think it will depend on how the rest of August and September play out. Still, never hurts to check. I really doubt they will release deep discounts more than a week or two out, though, so I wouldn't spend time checking until mid-September. Just doesn't make much business sense to sell at such steep discounts any sooner than necessary.
 


8/19-8/21---I have POP booked, and it is too late to change at this point....but I have an upcoming trip coming in October 14-17 that I have Coronado booked. I have an "agency rate" booked at Coronado for 3 nights for $524.00 which I don't think is horrible, but I am trying to learn the ins & outs of this before doing anything for sure for that trip.
It says Coronado for me. "
Book soon! The last person got the Disney's Coronado Springs Resort"
 
I ended up biting the bullet & making the priceline reservation I was referencing above after I saw on better bidding someone else did it. For $210 after taxes & fees we will be staying at Coronado Springs and not POP ($250 Disney AP rate for the two nights). I am thrilled. I linked my reservation to MDE immediately, and I just called the Disney Wholesale Department who easily added the 2 kids, since the original reservation is for 2 adults. :yay:
 
For the October dates, I wonder what their pricing will look like. People have been saying summer is now the "slow" season at Disney, which seems kind of true based on the discounts offered this summer. Then, for the fall, we've seen a lot of hotels not have much availability, and discount rates aren't as attractive... so far. I think it will depend on how the rest of August and September play out. Still, never hurts to check. I really doubt they will release deep discounts more than a week or two out, though, so I wouldn't spend time checking until mid-September. Just doesn't make much business sense to sell at such steep discounts any sooner than necessary.
I'm going in October and currently have Coronado booked for $169/night (room only discount which is hilarious to me, because I couldn't find anything with my AP or UOC discounts). But, I'm checking hotwire every day for my dates, just in case. Currently there is nothing (something that I think is GF for $450/night so no thanks) but fingers crossed that something shows up a week or two out.
 


I ended up biting the bullet & making the priceline reservation I was referencing above after I saw on better bidding someone else did it. For $210 after taxes & fees we will be staying at Coronado Springs and not POP ($250 Disney AP rate for the two nights). I am thrilled. I linked my reservation to MDE immediately, and I just called the Disney Wholesale Department who easily added the 2 kids, since the original reservation is for 2 adults. :yay:
Was there a special number to call for wholesale booking? When I called the main reservation number last week for my stay they had to go into the hotel (YC) system to find my reservation to get me my Disney reservation number. That was on my second call. Also they could not put my wife name on room even though it was for 2 adults, I had to do that at the resort.
 
are the fees with a Hotwire booking though the roof? I'm currently paying $271 a night (with an AP discount) for a total of $1221. On Hotwire a room that is $228 a night comes out to $1282. Seems like there are a lot of extra fees?
 
Was there a special number to call for wholesale booking? When I called the main reservation number last week for my stay they had to go into the hotel (YC) system to find my reservation to get me my Disney reservation number. That was on my second call. Also they could not put my wife name on room even though it was for 2 adults, I had to do that at the resort.

When I called they transferred me there. Just ask for Wholesale Reservation Dept. He was able to add the 2 kids and as soon as we hung up, I went in and changed the dummy people he added on MDE immediately. It was actually a seamless process.
 
I'm going in October and currently have Coronado booked for $169/night (room only discount which is hilarious to me, because I couldn't find anything with my AP or UOC discounts). But, I'm checking hotwire every day for my dates, just in case. Currently there is nothing (something that I think is GF for $450/night so no thanks) but fingers crossed that something shows up a week or two out.

We are booked Oct 14-17 paying $174.00/night for Coronado using an agency rate. I have been waiting for AP Discounts to come out too. So far, nothing for those dates. I will be checking everyday as well, but the inventory seems to be slim picking thus far.
 
I've been looking at all the 3rd party sites and I don't know if it's a glitch or what but they are all adding a crazy amount of taxes and fees per night. The fees on an $1100ish reservation are over $500. What????


$285 per night plus $126 per night in taxes? This can't be right?
 
I've been looking at all the 3rd party sites and I don't know if it's a glitch or what but they are all adding a crazy amount of tax per night. The taxes on an $1100ish reservation are over $500. What????

I paid $37.98 in taxes & fees for the 2 nights. Are you sure they aren't adding in a nightly resort fee too??
 
They are all Disney resort hotels

it seems to be the deluxe level hotels, when I tried CSR the taxes were what they should be. It seems the sites are adding what should be the tax for the whole four nights as a nightly tax.
 
They are all Disney resort hotels

it seems to be the deluxe level hotels, when I tried CSR the taxes were what they should be. It seems the sites are adding what should be the tax for the whole four nights as a nightly tax.

EWWW...well that is a problem!
 
I was looking because last night Cheaptickets had the Yacht Club for $243 but it wouldn't let me book it. I'm guessing it was no longer available. We're staying at BWV but if I could save some more I would. (I want to be in the Epcot resort area for F&W.) I could get the Dolphin for $300 less but I don't think I could do a double bed for four nights. That's asking a little too much from me. :rotfl::rotfl:
 
I was looking because last night Cheaptickets had the Yacht Club for $243 but it wouldn't let me book it. I'm guessing it was no longer available. We're staying at BWV but if I could save some more I would. (I want to be in the Epcot resort area for F&W.) I could get the Dolphin for $300 less but I don't think I could do a double bed for four nights. That's asking a little too much from me. :rotfl::rotfl:
Do you know if you use points to stay at Swan/Dolphin if you have to still pay parking and resort fees?
 
It was $925 for four nights with resort fees included. Not too bad.

I am a Starwood member but don't have enough points to do anything so not sure about that?
 
on the crazy high taxes and fees, I started seeing this on hotwire yesterday, too. tested in different browsers and incognito/private windows -- saw a lot of fluctuation, like $50/nt extra taxes+fees and $90/nt extra taxes+fees on the same selection and dates.

kind of hopeful it's a temporary glitch, but worried it's service fee inflation -- maybe HW motivated, or implemented because Disney's charging a new fee for opaque bookings that HW needs to recoup. I signed up for Starwood yesterday and booked a great (refundable) rate, so I shall be at the Swan my last night, unless YC pulls through sans $80/nt taxes and fees :laughing:
 
I noticed the high taxes on Orbitz the last few days too! They even had a separate "hotel fee" in addition to the already high taxes and fees line item. For ASSp, there was an additional $150 PER NIGHT fee. :rotfl2: I also saw that on certain values Orbitz was automatically adding the dining plan, so that increased the taxes and fees too. I am getting so annoyed with these 3rd party sites lately. Can't I just get a room without too much hassle?

Sorry for the rant. Back to Hotwire/Priceline. I keep checking everyday for my dates too and it seemed like the choices are getting pretty weird. I saw one yesterday that was $330 for the "last person who booked got Pop Century" on HW. :confused3
 

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