Priceline Hotel: Disney Area

[BobL3357]

Hello, everyone,

My family (me, my wife, and three children ages 16, 12, 9) are going to visit the Disney area from July 28-August 1. We hope to bid on Priceline for a good hotel at a good price. Does anyone have any suggestions? We would like a 3* or better if possible.

Thanks,

Bob L.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

First thing you should do is make sure you understand re-bidding, which is explained HERE. This is probably the most important 'tip' with Priceline as it allows you to usually bid again without waiting the required 72 hours.(you have 5 re-bid opportunities when bidding for 3* hotels in this region, feel free to PM or email me the zones you think are re-bid zones in order to confirm you go it right).

You should then look at the Disney World Vicinity map according to Priceline (go to Priceline, input Orlando and your dates and click 'Area Details' next to Disney World Vicinity). Keep in mind that Priceline can give you a hotel anywhere in the shaded region (so it's likley you won't be 'on site'). If you're comfortable with a hotel anywhere within the shaded region, this is how i'd proceed:

Select Walt Disney World Vicinity and 3* bid:

Bid $32, if rejected add rebid zone and....

Bid $35, if rejected add rebid zone and....

Bid $38, if rejected add rebid zone and....

Bid $40, if rejected add rebid zone and....

Bid $43, if rejected add rebid zone and....

Bid $45

If any of the above is above your budget, reply with your top price and i'll slightly adjust the prices accordingly.

If the above is way below the prices you expected to pay, you can always opt to go for a Resort class hotel (i'll post an appropriate strategy) OR there is a 4* on Hotwire during your dates for $62 that matches the amenities associated with the Wyndham Palace Resort and Spa (of course, no guarantees as there can be another hotel in the area we don't yet know about with the same amenities and star rating).

Feel free to post any questions you have regarding the above.

It's appreciated if you started your Priceline/Hotwire purchase using the links or textbox at SavingsBarn.com

Go Blue!!

[bturner13]

With 5 people to accomodate, I'd bid on 2 rooms, right BigBlue? :)

[thereuare]

Definately good advice for comfort's sake.

I think this area is more accomodating to families than most (due to the 'typical' DIS visitor), but it depends upon one's tolerance for risk and comfort. The reason i first checked Hotwire was to see if any Suite hotels were offered, figuring that might be the best of both worlds.

Bob, how many rooms do you usually reserve when traveling with your family of 5?

[bturner13]

We have had this same situation occur to us before. We solved it by dividing out the kids and their friends and having my wife in one room and me in another room. That solved our safety & comfort issues. A sleeping mat comes in quite handy for a kid or 2 :) !

[WillTravel]

All the rooms we have had near Disneyland (opposite coast, of course!) in about four different hotels would only comfortably fit four sleeping people, unless one was a baby. These were all non-Priceline and all less than 3* - but otherwise they were quite spacious. Maybe it would have been possible to shoehorn in a rollaway, but it would have been a tight squeeze.

[LWOLSON]

Bob,

I would advise you to bid on a resort in the Disney World Vicinity. We have stayed at 3 resorts, all in the Downtown Disney area and all thru Priceline bids. The most we paid was $69 for The Swan. We have also stayed at the WDW Hilton twice for $61 each time. We enjoyed all three stays very much and received upgrades at Hilton for being Hilton Honors members. At both of these resorts we enjoyed early admission and e-ride ticket priveleges. I think the WDW Wyndham Palace(we will being staying there next month for Priceline bid of $62) also has these priveleges(not 100% sure about early admission, but they do sell e-ride tickets). There are at least 2 other resorts(Gaylord Palms and Marriott Orlando World Center) that come up occasionally that are not located in Downtown Disney area and do not have early admission or e-ride priveleges.. A friend of ours stayed at Gaylord Palms thru priceline and loved it. We stayed at Marriott World Center with a non-priceline rate over a year ago and thought it was very nice.