Orbitz vs Disney booking

[njsweetP]

Is there any advantage/disadvantage when booking thru either of these? I currently have a reservation thru Disney for January, but can save about $170 if I book thru Orbitz. Can I link an Orbitz reservation to My Disney Experience? Any thought/tips/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[1mama2three]

We have used both Disney & Orbitz to book our reservations, and I don't recall any major advantage/disadvantage that either one had...except that Orbitz was a lot cheaper at the time...we might have even gone through Ebates to book and gotten extra cash back (I can't remember on that one). Orbitz sent us our confirmation email, which lists its "locator" code and then down below it gives you the hotel reservation number. The hotel reservation number is the one I had to enter into My Disney Experience to book fastpasses, do online check-in, etc.

The only major difference between the two, is that it is beneficial to book with only 2 adults on the reservation, as they charge you more for additional people when you book through Orbitz. So, then we had to call Orbitz directly and add the additional children to the reservation. There was no additional charge at that time, because they defer to hotel policy and Disney doesn't charge for the extra people. I would absolutely book through Orbitz again, though, for the savings I had.

 

[seashoreCM]

As a general rule, booking through an online third party such as Expedia or Orbitz is less desirable. Making changes to your reservation tends to run into greater hassles.

It is not quite so bad a problem with room reservations compared with airplane flights since you don't have things like flight schedules changing out from under you. But still you yourself might need to or want to make a change.

 

[njsweetP]

Thanks for your reply 1mama2three! There are 4 of us going ( all adults over 18). Disney was charging me for the extra 2 in the room. So you're saying if I book thru Orbits for 2 adults then call to add on the
additional 2 I won't be charged? Also, how would that effect the number of magic bands, etc thru My Disney Experience?

 

[1mama2three]

I was specifically talking about children in regards to not costing extra through Disney...I apologize, as I didn't specify. They do charge extra for more than 2 adults...both Disney & Orbitz, although I'm not sure what each one charges. I'm sorry for the confusion on that.

 

[1mama2three]

Also, seashoreCM is correct. If your dates change, and you have booked through Orbitz, your only option is to cancel and rebook your new dates. There was no issue getting our money refunded, but if the discounts are no longer effective or rooms are no longer available, then you're out of luck.

 

[team weasel]

I currently have two trips booked through Orbitz and have booked several with them in the past. I typically book room only and buy my tickets at a later time, so the additional % off Orbitz offers works great for the way my family does Disney. As a PP mentioned, you receive two confirmation codes in your confirmation email: and Orbitz confirmation and the "Hotel Confirmation Number." Use the hotel confirmation number to link to MDE. It takes a few minutes for the two systems to sync up, but once that's done, it takes less than a minute to get your reservation linked. You order Magic Bands, FP+, dining, etc through MDE just as if you booked directly through them.

One major downside that I could see (if you prefer the room only approach) is that you have to pay for the entire reservation up front, where Disney gives you a bit more flexibility.

In addition, while I have never personally used ME, my friend who used it on our past trip (who booked through Orbitz) did mention that the process for getting that done was a little different. She said it wasn't anything major, just different. So keep that on your radar if you book through Orbitz.

I hope you have a great trip!!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have booked through Orbitz twice. The only disadvantage I find is that your entire stay must be paid in full at the time of booking. Also we can't book the dining plan. It wasn't so annoying last time because we were renting DVC points and the Orbitz-booked stay was only a 1-night add on stay at WL when I was later able to get more time off from work. So the dining plan went into effect the day we checked out of WL. No big deal for 3 of us regulars.

We're doing a long weekend in Dec and just recently invited our 16 yr old niece. (With ds18 away at college this gives ds15 a buddy to pal around with.) She hasn't been to WDW since she was 6 so we'd love to do some character meals or unique dining like Sci Fi at HS. I have a feeling any savings we enjoyed with Orbitz with be offset by cost of food. (A nice part about renting points is that you can buy the dp even if you don't buy tickets from Disney. They assume most DVC owners have an AP. Great for us renters who buy tickets from UCT.)

 

[njsweetP]

Thanks all for you replies! I decided to stick with my Disney reservation at this time. Just didn't want to mix things up and I like having everything 'together' in one place, so to speak.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Well, if that's your reason and you book room-only anyway, you're just throwing money away. Once I enter the confirmation # in MDE, and then enter tix from UCT, it all comes up together in MDE with nothing "looking" any different than if I bought it all directly from Disney.
I was a bit distrustful when I first tried them but it was only a 1 night add-on stay so I felt that was a good opportunity to try it. It was no different other than the good feeling of knowing I didn't pay full price or even Disney's discounted price.

It's your money and your vacation. Do what works for you.

 

[Divslp]

My last two WDW stays have been through orbitz. You save a nice amount that you can spend elsewhere on the trip or in your pocket. Room only discount+additional 15% off+redeeming orbucks is a deal that is hard to pass up. Then you just link the reservation in MDE. The only added hassle is calling orbitz to add kids (last time took 10-20 minutes because of long hold times with Disney) and manually registering for magical express.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I have booked thru orbitz twice and other than calling to add the kids for free it is no different than booking thru Disney. I have done room only both times. Saved over $700 both times. Like others said, if you need to make a change you have to cancel and rebook which has the potential to cause an issue.

I think now the max discount on a lot of their promo codes is $150, which is a bummer!

 

[kkendle]

We booked through Orbitz for the first time this trip. I was also hesitant at first. It worked out fine..I immediately booked the reservation to MDE with no problem. The differences I could tell were that the confirmation that appears on the MDE is different that if you book through Disney. Not a big deal as it doesn't affect anything..just when I called Disney a couple of time and gave the confirmation number, they knew I had booked elsewhere. We also did not receive luggage tags or the coupons that you normally get when you book a package through Disney. Also, no big deal to us as we never used them. I did try and add a child through the Disney website and was told that because I booked through Orbitz, I would have to go through them to add the person to the reservation. We didn't end up adding the person after all so not sure how that would have worked. We saved about $110 and thought it was worth it...will pay for one sit down meal for 2 of us and possibly another counter service or a couple of snacks.

 

[potterfanatic]

Thank you guys for this thread! I checked everything out and ended up booking with orbitz today and saved an additional $168! I'm so happy the orbitz price ended up coming in at $60 less than my ultimate goal price of under $200 a night (after taxes) for POR! Thanks guys!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Here is a link to fill out MDE yourself.
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/airport-transportation-reservation/?bhcp=1

It even allows for different members of your party to arrive/depart on different flights. Just be sure to click on "add a person" or something like that. Don't assume your whole party is scheduled just because you entered the first person listed on the reservation. If you later need to make changes, just pay attention to where it asks, "Have you submitted this form in the past for this reservation?" (or something like that) If I'm making changes I just resubmit the form and answer yes to that question. They email you confirmation so you know they got it.

Also when adding children, I prefer to use online chat with Orbitz. I had an awful phone experience where the agent just wanted me to rebook with the kids added and tried to say the price has gone up when, in reality, it was adding their extra charges for 3 or more in a room. Also her English was awful I felt like I was calling some remote village in India or Sri Lanka. I find the chat agents are fluent in English.
With the chat, I just make sure I do it while Disney has hours and say something like, "In the past, I've stayed on hold while the Orbitz agent calls Disney to verify there's no extra charges." So that seems to solve any issues of them not being sure what to do. Then before "hanging up" with the chat people, I quick log into DME and make sure I can see them. Once they spelled a name wrong and MDE gave me an error like it didn't recognize her. I was glad the chat agent was still there and was still holding with Disney. Got it all straightened out.
When it comes to Disney, there are just sooo many other things I'd rather spend money on than extra $ for the same hotel room.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I compared the pricing of Orbitz vs WDW and Orbitz was $40 cheaper and I booked using Ebates and got $8 in cash back.

 

[minniebeth]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I was able to get some good information from this thread. We've never used a 3rd party to book Disney before (other than AAA). I was looking at Orbitz for a resort reservation for one night, as our flights for our upcoming trip went way up before I could book them. Basically, by changing our flights a day earlier, we can save $500. With the current promo code I found a value resort for approx. $98 including tax.

So one quick question~~ once you link the resort reservation, will you be able to order Magic Bands off your MDE account?

 

[SimplyGoofy]

@minniebeth Yes, once you link your Orbitz reservation to MDE, it will allow you to order and customize magic bands. I used Orbitz for three reservations in May, and other than a very unique situation (one member of the party only being present for two days of the reservation), the whole process was VERY easy. I would be happy to do it again!

Also, it may have been mentioned before... you'll want to enter the "Hotel Confirmation Number" (a six-digit letter/number combination) NOT the much longer "Orbitz Confirmation Number" into MDE. MDE will not recognize the Orbitz number.

 

[minniebeth]

Thanks so much, SimplyGoofy! I did that tonight and it could not have been easier!

 

[C-CMom]

Related question, please... i will need 2 rooms at Pop which I plan to ask to be connecting (which I do understand is not guaranteed). Is there any added problem with an original Orbitz reservation for this? Anyone had success with this? Do I ask Orbitz or Disney to add request to the reservation?

THANKS to all!