I got lucky!

[Charlottetn]

Just had to share my good luck! I found out last week that I needed to take my son to Orlando to finalize his school plans (he starts there in Nov.) so we planned a last minute trip for Oct. 17 - 20. Well, there were no passholder rates available at the last minute so I thought I would take a chance on Priceline. I bid $77 for a 4-star hotel in the Disney area and would you believe we got the Dolphin! I'm so excited! Thanks for all of your great tips!

 

[KathyR]

That is a GREAT rate!!! Congratulations!!! Have a great trip

 

[ubetiski]

Awesome. We just took a chance as well and got the Swan for 10/24-10/27 for $80 a night. We are very excited.

 

[Debi]

What a great rate! Congratulations!

 

[Charlottetn]

That's great ubetiski! Have a great trip!

 

[maciec]

When you went through all of the choices did you select RESORT or 4 star?

 

[ubetiski]

I selected Resort. I started at $80 and it was accepted right away. The only place I really did not want was the Hilton. I was paying $99 a night with an AP rate at FOFQ so I figured I'd take a chance. Very excited.

 

[Charlottetn]

I just selected 4 star hotel which I had read would get you the Hyatt Orlando World Center, Wyndham Palace, Swan or Dolphin. If the selection has changed I'm not aware of it. I figured we would be happy with any of these but was glad to get the Dolphin! My initial bid was $60 which was declined, but they said they would resubmit a bid if I was willing to increase by $17. I thought that would still be a great deal so I went for it and it was accepted immediately.

 

[disboo]

Congratualtions! What school is your son going to?

 

[Jodi1980]

When you get a list of resorts that accepted your bid, do you have to say yes? I would only want to accept a hotel on the WDW property - is this possible?

 

[Gillian]

Other hotels that have come up on priceline in the 4*/resort categories are the Marriott Orlando World Center & the Hilton. I really liked the Hilton & I've heard the Marriott is nice too.

If you want to stay on property, DON'T BID THROUGH PRICELINE!!

You do NOT get to say yes or no to anything once you submit your bid.

 

[jewelray]

I have a question about that too - I just tried to find out what type of hotel I could get for May 2003 but the sytem asked for my cc information and it said that you didn't get an option to choose which one you wanted and that there are no refunds. Does anyone have any advice on this? Is this the way priceline works? I've never used it before. Thanks.

 

[Gillian]

It's not hard to use priceline, but it is a little confusing to figure out how to get the best deal. It takes patience and research. We love it, but we are totally flexible (everywhere except WDW) and love the savings!

www.biddingfortravel.com is essential. There is a forum for orlando where other people post their winning bids. In this section there is also a list of hotels that others have won, with reviews.

The most important thing is to print out & read the hotel faq. Here is a link to the faq section

http://pub109.ezboard.com/fpricelineandexpediabiddinghotels

and the FAQ itself:
http://pub109.ezboard.com/fpricelineandexpediabiddinghotels.showMessage?topicID=2.topic

hope that helps!

 

[MJames41]

Congratulations! You did get lucky. I used Priceline for our 2000 trip, and I never will again. Got the Marriott World Conference Center. It was a disaster. Oh the hotel is nice, but:

- Washers and Dryers broke down the first night we were there. Had tickets to the Candlelight Processional, but no clothes to wear. Called them 4 times, they finally sent someone to help at 6 (we were reserved for 6:15).
- Promised free shuttle to Disney in May (when we made the reservations). November 1, they changed the policy. Shuttle now cost $7 roundtrip, and would go 4 times in morning and 4 times at night.
- Took a cap to go around the corner to dinner. By the time we were able to exit their drive, I believe the cab was up to $2.10. And it was the only entrance/exit they had.

The people were very friendly, but that resort is for people who want to get away. I will never stay offsite again for a Disney vacation.

 

[Gillian]

It's really best to plan on having a car when using priceline. Personally, I always like to have a car at any offsite (or onsite) hotel! I just like the freedom Disney transportation has problems, and offsite shuttles are usually much worse.

 

[jewelray]

Thank you I'm going to check it out soon!

 

[Charlottetn]

disboo-

My son will be starting school in November at Full Sail in Winter Park. He will be doing their Game Design program.

As far as picking the resort you want on Priceline, you don't. When they submit your bid they just come back and tell you which one you got. So this only works if you know which hotels might pop up and are ok with any of them. I actually wasn't aware that the Hilton was one of the possibilities myself but would have been ok with it also. But truth be told, I REALLY wanted the Dolphin or Swan.