Ever get a Disney resort on a Priceline bid?

[j2thomason]

This is probably a crazy question, but has anyone ever won a Disney resort when bidding on Priceline?

My husband is planning on getting my daughter and me annual passes for Christmas. We live 10 hours away. We normally go to Disney 1-2 times a year. We always stay on site at either a value or moderate resort. Although I think it is WAY more magical to stay on site, I want to go more often since we will have APs. This may mean giving up some of the magic of staying on site, so we can go more often and stay longer.

I've been looking & pricing hotels. So far, it looks like my best bet would be to use Priceline and bid for our hotel stay. I know Priceline has Disney resorts listed on their site. I was wondering if they are part of the bidding process...does anyone know? Is it possible to perhaps win a bid at a Disney resort. Just curious. I know it would be a miracle if we got it. I am basically just curious if it has ever happened.

I'm definitely open to advice from anyone else who has any Priceline experience.

 

[Legendteri]

I have never heard of a being able to do opaque bidding on a Disney Hotel. I mean maybe through an express deal or through their website. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I imagine it is incredibly rare.

I have heard that the swan and dolphin were on priceline bidding a few years ago, but not since.

The best website I have found for priceline / hotwire is betterbidding.com. It really helps one make educated guesses on what hotel you are getting. I use it every time I use Hotwire or Priceline and my guesses have been right.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I think people maybe got Swan/Dolphin.

Check on Betterbidding.com website, under Orlando forum, for both Priceline and Hotwire.

 

[Straitlover]

I remember several years ago (2004-2006?) you could occasionally get one of the values when bidding; this was before they added the buy it now where you see the hotel. Now that business is better, they don't need to put any of the Disney owned resorts on PL for bid.

 

[JandJ]

When we were passholders (had to give them up in 2011 when I started back to school for my doctorate - no time to play anymore ) we used Priceline and always said 3-4 star in the Disney area and we got the DD hotels almost every time. Never got a Disney resort. One time we got the Embassy Suites which is sort of across the street from DD, behind the restaurants and shopping area. It was one of the nicest places we've stayed off site - free, hot, cooked to order breakfast and manager's reception - yum! All of these hotels also have buses but with APs you can park at any park for no extra charge. What a nice Christmas gift!

 

[Robinrs]

Back when we used to go I used Priceline about 10 times and never got a resort hotel. The Swan/Dolphin USED to come up WAY back when under 4 stars, (ex. this is from 2001! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=126303 )

Priceline does offer the resorts in their non-bidding area, though.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Years ago I think I got the Swan a couple of times using biddingfortravel and priceline.

 

[j2thomason]

Thanks for your input! I think I'm going to gamble and give it a try. I know that staying onsite (especially the week after Christmas), is just not in the budget. When I actually book it, I will post again on the thread to let everyone know what hotel I won.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Thanks for your input! I think I'm going to gamble and give it a try. I know that staying onsite (especially the week after Christmas), is just not in the budget. When I actually book it, I will post again on the thread to let everyone know what hotel I won.

If you really want to be onsite, why not rent dvc points and get a studio at one of the resorts? Mid-week at somewhere like OKW can't be much more than a Priceline bid.