Booking through Disney vs Orbitz

[jstouder]

I saw on Orbitz, Hotel, etc AKL standard room with the 30%fall discount. But when I go to the Disney site it's not available. I'm confused. Wouldn't Disney want to keep those for bookings? I would rather book directly through Disney.

Any suggestions

 

[pepperandchips]

I saw on Orbitz, Hotel, etc AKL standard room with the 30%fall discount. But when I go to the Disney site it's not available. I'm confused. Wouldn't Disney want to keep those for bookings? I would rather book directly through Disney. Any suggestions

I am not 100% certain but I think Disney may allocate a certain number of discounted rooms to Orbitz as it does for your more familiar travel agents. I've seen some travel agents advertising available discounted rooms in categories at resorts that have been long sold out from Disney. If you aren't comfortable booking through Orbitz I would look into whether one of the larger Disney-oriented travel agencies has the room and category you are looking for available.

I'd honestly give Orbitz a thought. You can find promo codes on the web for at least an additional 15% off the already reduced rates and right now Orbitz is running a promo to get an extra $60 in Orbucks with Disney bookings. This easily saved me a couple hundred bucks. If you use eBates, do so with your Orbitz booking. If you don't use eBates, use the Orbitz app for even more Orbucks.

Good luck!!!

 

[csss31399]

I was able to get the Disney fall discount plus an extra 15% on two Fort Wilderness cabins Oct. 11-18. It saved me quite a bit more to book via Orbitz.

 

[sugarbobbin]

I booked through Orbitz because of the same issue you had. Disney didn't have any standard deluxe hotel rooms discounted through the Late Fall offer. However, Orbitz did. I'm glad I did go through Orbitz because I saved an additional $140 with a coupon code. It ended up being even cheaper than Disney even if they offered the room.

Think about booking through Orbitz if it has the rooms you want at a price you want. Everyone on the disboards seems to have only good things to say booking through them, I have yet to have an issue with my reservation.

Downside with Orbitz is that you have to pay in full rather than putting a deposit down with Disney and paying it off 45 days before your arrival. But you get free cancelation, just like Disney, and it links with your MDE as soon as you booked.

 

[jimandami]

I agree with the others to consider an Orbitz booking. However, be aware that Orbitz charges a fee for more than 2 guests in a room (even children), so you should book just 2 adults. If you have children to add, simply call Orbitz and they can have them added for no additional charge.

 

[2girlsR2good]

Just ran through the math myself for our trip that I'd booked directly with Disney. Be aware that Orbitz doesn't add tax until the end. Canceling with Disney and re-booking at Orbitz would have saved me $24. Ours is a very short trip--just two nights. I decided the chance of something getting disconnected (FP+, dining, MNSSHP tix already tied in) wrong wasn't worth it. If we were going for longer, I would have changed my booking.

 

[Amanda999]

Count me in as an Orbitz for Disney rooms fan. Went to Pop in June for about $200 less v. Disney prices.

Be aware of these differences:
1. You have to book at orbitz with only 2 people (or 1). Then phone Orbitz to add your 3rd/4th child (if applicable). Orbitz will charge you the extra adult fee if you put in 3 people. Orbitz calls Disney while you are on hold and works it out. It was no problem, but did require a phone call. Orbitz customer service is FAR easier to get a hold of than Disney's.
2. You cannot modify the dates. If you need to add or subtract a day, you have to cancel and rebook. Thus, you could lose the promo code when you rebook if it expired.
3. A pro for Orbitz: it is MUCH easier to cancel a reservation. A couple of mouseclicks and that's it. I had the credit on my credit card within 24 hours!No long phone call necessary.

 

[babydoll65]

If you book a room with tickets thru orbitz, and free dining comes out will you still be able to apply it even though you didn't book thru Disney? We're thinking about going next Sept just not sure which would be better.

 

[aaarcher86]

If you book a room with tickets thru orbitz, and free dining comes out will you still be able to apply it even though you didn't book thru Disney? We're thinking about going next Sept just not sure which would be better.

No. Booking it through Orbitz is still booking it separately. It's not a Disney package.

FD also requires a full price room which you aren't booking through Orbitz. They were sold to a orbits for a discount.

 

[babydoll65]

No. Booking it through Orbitz is still booking it separately. It's not a Disney package.

FD also requires a full price room which you aren't booking through Orbitz. They were sold to a orbits for a discount.

Thanks, I had a feeling that was the case. Iv always booked thru Disney and like going off season so since our next trip will be in September, there's a good chance they will offer free dining. My sister in law and her family will be with us and I'm hoping to save her some money.

 

[herb102211]

Another Orbitz fan here! We always used to book through Disney but started booking through Orbitz within the last year since we always seemed to get 15% off codes. On our trip for October we ended up saving an additional $180 from the discount Disney was offering and $97 back in Orbucks. Definitely worth taking a look at!

 

[tehvalerie]

Reviving and oldish thread here... We're thinking about a last minute-ish trip for this November and being able to stack the Disney discount with 15% off at Orbitz is very enticing.

When you book through Orbitz, do you receive Magic Bands and are you able to book FP+ and dining reservations just as you would if you'd booked through Disney? I'm assuming there's some way to link the Orbitz reservation with my MDE account?

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Orbitz is a third party broker. Disney will unload some rooms on a broker and the broker sells them for whatever they wish. They will often add an extra discount on top of whatever discount Disney would give, so they can sell their rooms. However, at that point you are no longer booking through Disney. Therefore you cannot book a package reservation and you are not eligible for package add-ons like the dining plan. Which means no free dining. That has to be a package reservation booked through Disney. But you can easily cancel the Orbitz reservation and rebook through Disney if you think you will get a better deal.

The other issue some have is paying the entire amount up front, even though it can be cancelled and refunded based on Disney's rules for room-only reservations (up to 5 days before arrival).

When you book through Orbitz, do you receive Magic Bands and are you able to book FP+ and dining reservations just as you would if you'd booked through Disney? I'm assuming there's some way to link the Orbitz reservation with my MDE account?

Yes. You can link an Orbitz reservation to MDX using the "hotel confirmation number" (not the Orbitz reference number). This is usually a 6 digit code using both numbers and letters. It'll work for MDX but if you want to book a FP for Be Our Guest lunch (which is not the same as an ADR for dinner) you will need to call Orbitz and have them get you the 12 digit Disney reference number.

You can even sign yourself up for Magical Express if you do it online.

Biggest issue with third party brokers appears to be that their rules are different from Disney's regarding persons under 18 in the room. If you book a room for 4 it will behave as if all of them are over 18 (meaning they will charge you the extra adult fee on 2 of the guests). I don't book for kids, but some get around that by booking for the adults and then calling Orbitz to have them add the children via Disney.

 

[bltman]

Biggest issue with third party brokers appears to be that their rules are different from Disney's regarding persons under 18 in the room. If you book a room for 4 it will behave as if all of them are over 18 (meaning they will charge you the extra adult fee on 2 of the guests). I don't book for kids, but some get around that by booking for the adults and then calling Orbitz to have them add the children via Disney.

This is an Orbitz / Cheaptickets glitch and not a third party broker issue. Hotels.com/expedia.com, and Travelocity.com have no problems handling children on the reservation.

 

[SweetieinVT]

Does anyone have any idea when third party sites might start showing rooms in 2015? There are none available on any of the third party sites I've checked, and I have looked at several dates between January and April to make sure it wasn't just my dates.

 

[emmabelle]

Does anyone have any idea when third party sites might start showing rooms in 2015? There are none available on any of the third party sites I've checked, and I have looked at several dates between January and April to make sure it wasn't just my dates.

I wish they would load those dates too. I know in the beginning of November of last year I was able to book January. I'm hoping for sooner than that though.

 

[tehvalerie]

Okay here's another Orbitz/MB question. I think we're going to book our room through Orbitz, but we only want a 1-day park hopper (we're doing to get Christmas party tickets and a 1-day hopper for 1.5 days in the parks) and they don't sell those on Orbitz. So if we book our room on Orbitz, link it to MDE and then buy our park and party tickets straight from Disney, will we still be set for MBs and FP+? I'm sure I'm overthinking this but I tend to be a little paranoid when we do something different. Thanks in advance!

 

[pmcminn]

Does anyone know how to get the address changed under my resort reservation? When booking through Orbitz I have read from other people that the address Disney has for your reservation is the Orbitz address. (which is true). Who do I call to have that address changed to my home address so my magic bands will come to my home and NOT Orbitz in Chicago. I just called ORBITZ and Disney and neither seemed to know what to do. THANK YOU!

 

[tehvalerie]

Okay here's another Orbitz/MB question. I think we're going to book our room through Orbitz, but we only want a 1-day park hopper (we're doing to get Christmas party tickets and a 1-day hopper for 1.5 days in the parks) and they don't sell those on Orbitz. So if we book our room on Orbitz, link it to MDE and then buy our park and party tickets straight from Disney, will we still be set for MBs and FP+? I'm sure I'm overthinking this but I tend to be a little paranoid when we do something different. Thanks in advance!

I'll answer my own question in case anyone else was wondering the same thing. We booked just our hotel through Orbitz and once I put our hotel confirmation number (the six-character code, it was in our Orbitz confirmation email) in MDE we were all set. Now we just have to buy our tickets and book FP+! We'll be there in just 64 days, definitely the most spontaneous Disney trip we've eve done.

 

[pmcminn]

I'll answer my own question in case anyone else was wondering the same thing. We booked just our hotel through Orbitz and once I put our hotel confirmation number (the six-character code, it was in our Orbitz confirmation email) in MDE we were all set. Now we just have to buy our tickets and book FP+! We'll be there in just 64 days, definitely the most spontaneous Disney trip we've eve done. [/Q



Have you figured out how to change the address that Disney has for you to you home address (instead of ORBITZ address) for Magic bands?