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Priceline Hotel: Bidding assistance WDW resort 1/13-1/17


lynntalk
By lynntalk,
in

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I would like to try bidding on Priceline for a hotel room in WDW area, preferably inside the WDW resort, because I hear transportation to the parks is much better and faster than outside the resort. However, there's no way to know if our Priceline hotel would be inside the WDW resort or not.

We have a 3-year-old who will need to come back to the hotel for a nap in the afternoon, while my spouse stays in the Disney parks with our 9-year-old. So we don't want to spend hours riding a bus that stops at many hotels to and from the parks.

I'm willing to spend up to $100-$120 a night so I could bid on a resort level, but I'm afraid I would be booked into Mariott Orlando World Center, which does not provide transportation to the park.

I did find a room at Pop Century Hotel for only $84 a night on tripreservation.com, but Pop Century has double beds, which are a bit small for my tall husband.

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I have a lot of experience planning Disney trips. I suggest checking out www.mousesavers.com for Walt Disney World hotel discount codes, esp. good for military, annual passholders, Fla. and Canadian residents. I scanned it already, and you have already missed the deadline for the general public discount code. If none of these work, I suggest the Entertainment Book rate at the Swan/Dolphin hotels (imho, the best onsite digs) usu. about $150, plus get points on your Starwood (frequent guest for Westin, Sheraton) card. There, you get the heavenly bed and easy, fast boat transportation to Epcot and MGM, Disney buses everywhere else. If that fails, they have offered discounts for teachers and nurses, if you fit into one of those categories. You CANNOT get a hotel in Disney proper through HW or PL, only in Downtown Disney where the transportation to parks is not nearly as good. Hope this helps, and good luck!!

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Welcome to BetterBidding (both of you)!

Admittedly i'm not a Disney expert (but i know a thing or two about great rates at hotels)... aren't the Swan and Dolphin considered on-site at Disney? Both are available thru Priceline and Hotwire, although not likely for these dates as both hotels are sold-out during this complete stay.

Based upon your criteria of trying to avoid a specific hotel in the zone, Hotwire would typically be a great option... but unfortunately they show no hotels at 4* or above for these dates :) (which also points that this may be a difficult to win stay)

Given the insight above from homeschoolmom, before i suggest a strategy, are you willing to accept the risk of the Marriot World Center which you are hoping to avoid... as you won't be able to eliminate this property as a possibility (although chances are probably low since this hotel is showing a sold-out condition for 2 out of 4 nites of your stay (yes, we do see some priceline wins while the hotel is showing sold-out, but such a condition greatly decreases the chances)).

Let us know if you're willing to take the 'chances' outlined above and we'll then suggest a strategy for you to follow.

PS- is this president week/MLK holiday/some other school holiday and why we're seeing so many sold-out properties?

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Sorry, forgot about Swan/Dolphin on Hotwire. That would definitely be your best bet. I wouldn't chance it on PL, though, since there are so many different resorts you could end up with, and I gather you wouldn't want to risk not having the Disney transportation (I wouldn't either). Yes, it's MLK wkend. Thanks, thereuare; I was going to remain a lurker, but couldn't resist the Disney question.

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Ok, I did find this "resort listing" of 3 stars through Hotwire, as suggested, for $77 a night.

Can anyone tell what hotel/resort this is and whether it is on Disney property?

Walt Disney World Area: Selected amenities include: Resort, Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Kitchenette, Children's Activity Program, Laundry Facilities (self-service).

I also called Disney directly and they say everything is sold out for the MLK weekend (from Pop Century value hotels to the resorts including the Swan/Dolphin). The only thing available was $1,200 a night. I had no idea that MLK weekend would be so popular. They suggested I keep calling each day due to cancellations.

I can always stay off-site at a Holiday Inn with a kids suite for $99 through destinationorlando.com, but with my 3-year-old I would rather stay on Disney property.

Thanks for the suggestions.

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I would not trust Disney to tell me availability for Swan/ Dolphin as they are not owned by Disney and Disney doesn't book them. Call the Swan or Dolphin directly instead; ask specifically if they have the Entertainment Book rate avail. (You will need to plunk down about $20 for this unless you already have it, but I think that the hotel discounts are nationwide, so you can buy a local book to use at home and usu. the restaurant and movie coupons make it a great buy.) Another tip: Last time I checked, the Swan has queen-size beds (also closer to the Boardwalk-- your kids would love it at night- roving jugglers, musicians, etc.) while the Dolphin only has full (or double) size beds. Keep us posted on your progress!

Oh, bother! This will not matter for your dates, will it? Save it for another time, unless you luck into a cancellation... Have you found out when the rooms might come open, e.g. , the last date that people can cancel for Jan. 13 without incurring some sort of penalty? This is usu. a great help for trying to get into sold-out princess breakfasts, etc.

Sorry about the confusion, my family avoids public school holidays (that was pretty obvious, no?).

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Thanks for the suggestion of calling the Swan/Dolphin directly.

Unfortunately they were full on Jan. 13. I asked about Entertainment Book and government employee discounts and both had the same discounts. They had rooms only on Jan. 14 & 15 for $219 a night, and Jan. 16 & 17 for $169 a night. $219 a night is too steep, especially since we plan to spend little time there and having to switch hotels.

I keep calling the WDW toll free number and web site, but no cancellations. The only room they had available was $420 a night!

Do you have any recommendations for off-site hotels with frequent, good shuttle service? I'm willing to spend about $100 for off-site.

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Since this is proving to be a bit more difficult than expected, how does the Hawthorn Suites for $99 in LBV work? It's a half mile from Disney and their website states that they have shuttle service (i don't know the frequency). The last two REVIEWS are less than stellar, but the ones before that are very good.

You may also want to check HERE for other deals in the area.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Well, at this point, I'm thinking that the larger, more expensive resorts (Gaylord, etc., avail. on PL/HW) are probably going to have their own dedicated shuttles. From what I understand, a third-party shuttle service is usually shared by the less highly ranked lodgings. The other best option, I think, is for you to look at the Downtown Disney hotels. They do share the shuttles, and as with the resorts mentioned above, they park farther away from the gates of the parks; however, I do recall the shuttles running fairly often. You will find at least a few of these DD hotels also popping up on PL. Ergo, if it were me, AND I were absolutely stuck on going to Disney at this time, I would try to PL it. I also think a cancellable back-up should be made yesterday. ;0) P.S. Since you're on a strict budget, make sure to allow for resort and self-parking fees at the resorts, if you decide to bid for them (you'd have the same expense if you booked these conventionally anyway).

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We are stuck with visiting WDW on these dates (MLK weekend) due to a conference I'm attending in Miami later in the week.

We booked the kids suite at a Holiday Inn close to Disney. It was the last kids suite available and it has bunk beds for the kids in their own mini room (TV and themes like castle decorations) and a King-sized bed for us, fridge, microwave and coffee maker, and free full breakfast for all of us. Perfect for my daughter's naps. I think it will be much better than double beds. Plus it's cancellable, in case something opens up within WDW resorts.

It's unfortunate that WDW won't put people on a waiting list for a resort room. All I can do is keep calling and checking the web site.

Thanks for all the advice on this!

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