Do hotel prices go up or down as date get closer?

[teach1abc]

So, we are around 2 weeks away from our trip to Disney. We are currently booked at Park Vue for around $600 for 3 nights in a suite. I have been checking the Disney website hoping prices for onsite would come down. Prices at the GC have been around $1300-1400 for the same three nights. It seems like every week for the last several weeks, the prices have been coming down around $100/week. It is now under $1100. Just wondering if anyone knows if prices tend to go down more as the dates get closer or goes up since it is a last minute booking. Would LOVE to stay onsite but not for that big of a price difference!!

Also, are the prices the same whether you check online vs call?

 

[wvnative]

Unfortunately I can't help you with the on the site hotels. I do know the ones on Harbor have been going up as we get closer to our trip.

 

[Laurawill]

It's always a gamble and it depends on how many reservations the hotel has. For our dates next week the prices have been creeping up pretty steadily for the past 2 months. At one point right after the current discounts were announced I could have gotten 4 nights at PP concierge for about $700 and I decided to think about it for a couple days then the rate was gone. Now PP is sold out and we are staying across the street. So you might get lucky but I wouldn't count on prices continuing to decrease either.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

I think Laurawill has it right. I have found at DLR properties that the prices are LOWEST when they first announce the low prices. This usually happens 3 months or so prior. They stay like that until they sell out of their rooms at that lower price, and then they slowly start creeping higher.

The only variation in this is when you see an "all sold out" in some of the rooms. That is your chance to start checking expedia.com or hotels.com or Orbitz.com. These are wholesalers of hotel rooms, and they buy the unsold rooms at a discount. Sometimes you can get your room at DLR at a lower rate about 3 weeks prior to travel. I have done this a few times, but it is very hit and miss.