Booking through Expedia

[TammyC]

Has anyone ever booked the code discount rooms through Expedia? I've noticed in the past that sometimes they have availability that Disney does not.

One other question.. do you have to list the names of every person in the room when you book with Expedia? I don't know yet if DH or my sister will be going on next trip. I know if I booked through Disney, I could always call them and make a change if needed, but sometimes I think they are a bit too "big brother" As long as I don't have more people than are allowed, or more than 2 adults in the room, it shouldn't matter.

 

[4greatboys]

We booked through Expedia in 2002 right before we were DVC members. We didnt use a code but did get the Fall discount package. The discount on our room was about 40% (they used to list the price your tickets were but I dont think they do any more).
It worked out but was a little difficult. We bought the package for dh, me and 2 olders sons. They did have a hard time with our 2 little ones though as they were under 3 and Expedia wanted to charge us for them and I know there is no charge at Disney. Plus Expedia is unclear about how many ppl can stay in a certain resort. They only wanted to book 4 ppl per room and not my 2 under 3. It did all work out but there were a few bumps.

 

[TammyC]

Thanks for the reply.

It doesn't relate to my situation, but can you have 6 in a room if 2 are under age 3? And if so, would the children who are free even need to be listed on the ressie?

 

[Martha7]

I could be mistaken, but doesn't Expedia charge your credit card for the entire hotel bill ahead of time? I had a ressie through Expedia for CSR for early April, and then I called CRO to see if I could get a room at CR with the winter discount, (BDP code, I think?) Anyway, since I got a good rate at the CR, I cancelled the Expedia ressie, and got a credit on my charge, minus a $25 cancellation fee, I believe.

 

[4greatboys]

Yes they charged my cc at the time. Staying in the resorts that have bedding for 5 like YC, Poly, Cr, Etc you can have 5 ppl in the room plus a child under 3. Just happens we had 2 under 3.

 

[glencoe]

I had a bad experience w/ expedia. First only 5 are allowed in a room, be careful even if two are infants. They might insist you get another room. Second, I had a big problem w/ our room and hotel. Construction was going on, and our room bathroom/toilet/shower never worked the whole stay, they came to fix it while we were at the parks etc. Never fixed, I took showers where the water went from ice to burning. On check out and after many complaints I was told I had to go through Expedia. Well all they did when I got home was offer a coupon for a trip at another time. yes they charge your card right away. There is no one to complain to, it is too easy to pass the buck w/ these services, be careful.

 

[lark]

I used expedia once; when I called WDW, room only code rates were not available, but expedia had the exact same rate everyone on these boards were claimaing to have gotten. (It was the recent "BAT" code last year; expedia had the exact same rate at the GF, but when I called WDW, they said no code could be used.)

I had no problem at all. Check in was great and we even got upgraded to lagoon view. The check in person treated me exactly the same as I've been treated when making a reservation through WDW and I don't even know if she knew how I made the ressie.

As others have noted, expedia does charge the entire amount at the time of booking. It's the same cancelation policy as WDW, though, except you get charged $25 if you cancel. One other problem is that you cannot put special requests on the reservation. Well, actually you can type them in, but you have no idea if and when they are being transferred to the resort. For us, the savings was several hundred dollars, so we didn't care.

 

[justKim]

We just used Expedia for our trip to the Contemporary last month over Christmas vacation. We did pay 100% in advance for their special rate, which was comparable to a WDW code rate, but - as with the previous poster - Disney had no availability left.

We requested in the comment section: nonsmoking room, crib, kingsized bed, North garden wing. When we checked in, the room was exactly that. No problems.

I was a little antsy about going through Expedia, so I called the resort directly the day before we left to make sure that they had our reservation and our requests and everything was fine. AP rates were cheaper, but we booked almost a month out and I was pleased with the outcome.

Good luck!

 

[lark]

One other thing to note, I imagine that WDW likes its arrangement with expedia or they wouldn't be doing it.

It gives them flexibility and it helps them sell rooms. I think expedia basically buys "options" on the rooms, which helps disney in all sorts of ways, because it aids their planning. Either they know the rooms are going to get sold, or they keep the option premium to offset the costs, even if expedia puts the room back to them. Hotels make money a lot of different ways, particuarly in non-busy times, by being able to close certain floors and thus budget their electricity, housekeeping, and other overhead expenses. (I have no idea if WDW does this or how they do, just that it's something the industry does.) Selling booking options are incredibly valuable in planning this all out.

Long winded post here, but the bottom line is that WDW has every reason to keep expedia customers happy; as much as if not more so than customers of any TA.

 

[tinkernelllec]

Does anyone have a current expedia discount code? TIA

 

[salmoneous]

I booked a room at the WL through Expedia. Didn't use a code or anything, but the rate was something like $175, when Disney was offering the same room for their rack rate of $199. Other than my name, I don't recall it even asking who was staying in the room. The clerk did ask when I checked in.

 

[mamacass]

I had checked into using Expedia because their rate would have saved me about $500 over Disney's price. However, upon further research I found out that on top of Expedia's rate, they were charging me something like an extra $75 in taxes, booking fees and an extra adult charge. Even though Disney charges for an extra adult it ended up being about the same price so I figured it would be easier to just go through Disney.

 

[lark]

Does anyone have a current expedia discount code? TIA

I'm pretty sure expedia doesn't use any special codes. I think the way it works is that when disney releases room-only codes that are available to the public, expedia is permitted under their arrangement with disney to offer their inventory at the same price, even if disney is sold out of the rooms.

So, when disney offers a room only code, you can often pull up the same rate by using expedia. It just shows up when you do the search, and usually has a special name like "fall rate," or something. For the reasons already noted, there is no real reason to do this unless disney itself is sold out at that rate. In fact, there are, as noted, lots of reasons not to go through expedia instead of disney unless you're getting the better rate.