Priceline Express Deals

[AlwaysInEars]

Hoping some things for March start popping up other than the 14% off CSR currently on Priceline, should be sometime this week hopefully?

 

[hes122]

I have an odd question. Why are the taxes/fees significantly more for Hotwire specials than what you'd pay by booking direct with Disney? A few bucks wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, but $60 for a 4 night stay doesn't really bring about any legitimate savings.

 

[Tom_E_D]

I have an odd question. Why are the taxes/fees significantly more for Hotwire specials than what you'd pay by booking direct with Disney? A few bucks wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, but $60 for a 4 night stay doesn't really bring about any legitimate savings.

The taxes are presumably the same. The fees are how Hotwire makes (more) money on the transaction. Hotwire keeps that fee for itself. I think it's very deceptive advertising to post the low room rate, then include a fee that you don't see until you get to the final price. But then the hotels themselves do this with their mandatory "resort fees." When making a Hotwire Hot rate or Priceline Express purchase, I would always try to compare the final price with what you can get elsewhere, not just the posted room rate.

 

[hes122]

When making a Hotwire Hot rate or Priceline Express purchase, I would always try to compare the final price with what you can get elsewhere, not just the posted room rate.

That's why I pulled out my spreadsheet to compare before I went ahead and purchased.

 

[JJTNY]

That's why I pulled out my spreadsheet to compare before I went ahead and purchased.

After watching these deals for a few years now, a good rule of thumb seems to be when you see the resellers say a hidden room is around 11% off, then it typically ends up being the same total cost (or more!) than Disney after their fees are added in.

And don't get me started on resort fees - that is just a scam all its own.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Sometimes you know just know it's a great deal. Two years ago I got POFQ for $91/night for 7 nights and $93/night for 3 more nights at the end of August. It was even a pool view room. I don't recall what rack rate was for that time but I'm sure I saved around $100/night...maybe more.

ETA: I just looked up rack rate for the 10 days I was there $266/weekday up to $295/weekend that's for pool view. Makes me wonder if I was not supposed to have a pool view room.

 

[Maadams]

I’m also looking at March and the CS ‘deal’ turned out to be only $10 less than booking through Disney, after all the fees.

 

[Animal]

I have an odd question. Why are the taxes/fees significantly more for Hotwire specials than what you'd pay by booking direct with Disney? A few bucks wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, but $60 for a 4 night stay doesn't really bring about any legitimate savings.

"Fees" are whatever Hotwire/Priceline say they are. It helps to read "fees" as "additional profit". The fees can easily erase a 15% "savings".

 

[jamy57]

Hi all,

I'm new to posting so please forgive me if I'm not following the correct protocol. We're planning a Disney World vacation to take the place of our canceled cruise(s) April 24th-30th. I've booked Grand Floridian that is 100% refundable but I've been looking at the Priceline Express deals because we don't have a strong preference of where we stay (as long as it's a Disney property) and who doesn't like saving $?! I was using the Priceline Express matcher (thank you to the creator!!) to help but I was wondering if anyone had additional input b/c the 2 deals I'm interested in seem like they might be for the same thing? One is 4 stars, 8+, 300 reviews which seems to be Animal Kingdom Lodge? And the other is 4.5 stars, 9+, no review numbers given, which according to the matcher could be Animal Kingdom Jambo or Grand Floridian? Is there any way either of these is not a Disney property? I only see the 4.5 star, 9+ property on a computer, not mobile.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Tom_E_D]

Hi all,

I'm new to posting so please forgive me if I'm not following the correct protocol. We're planning a Disney World vacation to take the place of our canceled cruise(s) April 24th-30th. I've booked Grand Floridian that is 100% refundable but I've been looking at the Priceline Express deals because we don't have a strong preference of where we stay (as long as it's a Disney property) and who doesn't like saving $?! I was using the Priceline Express matcher (thank you to the creator!!) to help but I was wondering if anyone had additional input b/c the 2 deals I'm interested in seem like they might be for the same thing? One is 4 stars, 8+, 300 reviews which seems to be Animal Kingdom Lodge? And the other is 4.5 stars, 9+, no review numbers given, which according to the matcher could be Animal Kingdom Jambo or Grand Floridian? Is there any way either of these is not a Disney property? I only see the 4.5 star, 9+ property on a computer, not mobile.

Thank you in advance!

There's no official protocol. I think you've provided sufficient information.

When I did a search for your dates and the Bonnet Creek and Disney Springs areas, I did not find the Express Deals that you described. Did you limit your search to those two areas? If not, are the Express Deals you cited at least described as being in one or the other of those areas. In doing a broader Orlando search, I found a 4* 8+ 300 reviews that's a condo in the Disney Maingate West area (possibly the Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort) and a 4.5* 9+ in the International Drive area (possibly Rosen Shingle Creek). Those are not on Disney property.

Also, you should not be finding Animal Kingdom Lodge available for an April booking. It's currently closed and not scheduled to reopen. Only the DVC villas there are open. So, that's a reason to question that one even if it is in Bonnet Creek. As for the 4.5* 9+ with an unstated number of reviews, I'd have doubts about it even if it was in Bonnet Creek. The unstated number of reviews could mean it's a newly-listed hotel that doesn't show up on the Priceline Express Resort Matcher just because it's so new. I'll admit that's unlikely, but it is possible.

Edit to add: Animal Kingdom Lodge and Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House are not the same thing. The Lodge is a basic hotel room. The Villas are DVC timeshare units that can be rented. The villas have additional amenities not found in the hotel rooms.

 

[jamy57]

There's no official protocol. I think you've provided sufficient information.

When I did a search for your dates and the Bonnet Creek and Disney Springs areas, I did not find the Express Deals that you described. Did you limit your search to those two areas? If not, are the Express Deals you cited at least described as being in one or the other of those areas. In doing a broader Orlando search, I found a 4* 8+ 300 reviews that's a condo in the Disney Maingate West area (possibly the Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Orange Lake Resort) and a 4.5* 9+ in the International Drive area (possibly Rosen Shingle Creek). Those are not on Disney property.

Also, you should not be finding Animal Kingdom Lodge available for an April booking. It's currently closed and not scheduled to reopen. Only the DVC villas there are open. So, that's a reason to question that one even if it is in Bonnet Creek. As for the 4.5* 9+ with an unstated number of reviews, I'd have doubts about it even if it was in Bonnet Creek. The unstated number of reviews could mean it's a newly-listed hotel that doesn't show up on the Priceline Express Resort Matcher just because it's so new. I'll admit that's unlikely, but it is possible.

Edit to add: Animal Kingdom Lodge and Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House are not the same thing. The Lodge is a basic hotel room. The Villas are DVC timeshare units that can be rented. The villas have additional amenities not found in the hotel rooms.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! Yes, both should be in Bonnet Creek. My search criteria was limited to properties with airport shuttle and Bonnet Creek & Disney Springs area. Both of the listings I described above say they're in Bonnet Creek. I'm not sure why they're not showing up for you? I just refreshed and they're both still there. I thought AKL was still closed which is why I'm fairly confused. The 4.5* unstated reviews property seems like it's the same property as the first as both are listing $431, down from $559. When I go to pick a room at 4* listing, it offers "room assigned at check in" for $431. When I go to pick rooms at 4.5* listing, it offers me "deluxe studio" for $431 or "room assigned at checkin" for $710.

So tempting to just go with one to find out what it is, but I'm not so sure that would be the smart thing to do.

 

[JJTNY]

...but I was wondering if anyone had additional input b/c the 2 deals I'm interested in seem like they might be for the same thing? One is 4 stars, 8+, 300 reviews which seems to be Animal Kingdom Lodge? And the other is 4.5 stars, 9+, no review numbers given, which according to the matcher could be Animal Kingdom Jambo or Grand Floridian? Is there any way either of these is not a Disney property? I only see the 4.5 star, 9+ property on a computer, not mobile.
Thank you in advance!

Hi, I'm the one that wrote the resort matcher on Google sheets. I was writing this as Tom responded - his info is very good, please ignore any duplication of info I have below, didn't feel like rewriting everthing.
Definitely double check you are sticking to Bonnet Creek and Disney Springs just in case.

Also, big caveat: these days you HAVE to compare the all in costs after taxes and fees on Priceline or Hotwire to the current Disney direct discounts. A lot of non-refundable hidden deals after February are the same price or more than Disney's current discounts.

When it comes to finding some of these deals, looks like Priceline is up to some old games again: I'm seeing slightly different results in Chrome vs Firefox desktop browser, so I tried digging around a bit. I'm also finding some deals only as additional pop ups when you visit a non-Disney deal in results.

I just tried search those dates (4/24-4/30) on Priceline and I'm not seeing a 4* 8-guest resort with 300 reviews at all. I'd be very surprised if AK Lodge was on Priceline Express: as far as I know the main lodge has not had an opening date announced. If you search Disney's own site for those dates only Kidani shows up. If you have a link to the deal itself I'd be glad to take a look.

(Priceline has AK Lodge (4* 8), AK Lodge Kidani Villas, (4* 7) and AK Lodge Jambo (4.5* 9) as 3 different listings. Kidani is the only one open.)

Fishing around, I see some weirdness I can't figure out so far - and that's saying something, as I've looked at a LOT of these deals.

There's a 4* 8-guest deal for $431 that pops up when you visit the non-Disney 4* 8-guest deal in search results. Since there are so many 4*8 resorts, without a number of reviews you have to weigh several factors to exclude some resorts.

Long story short: I'd probably narrow down the possibilities on that deal for Beach Club Villas, Boardwalk Villas, or Contemporary. BW Villas is very rare, never saw it listed with Fitness Center as amenity, so I'd say that's a long shot. BC Villas is almost as rare, but has appeared with Fitness, so slightly more likely. Contemporary has appeared with Fitness normally, think this is the most likely of the these 3 resorts - but something still feels off on these deals, so I'm not going to say I'm very sure about any of them.

The description for the room in the HTML code is "Room with Standard View" which doesn't feel very Villa-y. Also, the room descriptions for the CR are different than that kind of description, so I'm scratching my head.

Here's some notes on a screen capture from my matcher in case it helps.


I see a 4.5* 9-guest deal out there for (also) $431. Since Jambo is not open, only other possibility is Grand Flo for that. BUT.... the hidden deal room options on that are Deluxe Studio ($431) or Room Assigned at Check In ($710). As far as I know, the Deluxe Studio category is only in the Villas at Grand Flo (Am I correct anyone?), but Priceline doesn't have a separate listing for the Villas there like it does at other resorts with DVC. So, I can't do an apples to apples comparison of direct Disney pricing on that, I just see points per night on their site.

In the HTML code of the booking page for the $710 room, the roomDescription field has it as "Room with Standard View" so not sure what that is: Disney doesn't use that sort of phrase for Grand Flo rooms - more like Main Building Standard room, or Outer Building Club Room, etc. (FWIW, Outer Building Garden View is going for $524 per night at Disney's site for those dates.)

After all - that was a much deeper dive than I usually have to do with deals. In most cases I can pick out the 1 or maybe 2 most likely very quickly. I'm wondering if Priceline is in the midst of some listing changes - it hasn't happened for awhile and we're probably overdue.

 

[JJTNY]

So tempting to just go with one to find out what it is, but I'm not so sure that would be the smart thing to do.

Ah, After I posted my last long-winded reply I thought I should mention a good technique to flush out resorts: If you've ever booked a resort on Priceline before and then see it later when logged into the same account, Priceline Express will often give you a "You've Booked Here Before!" hint on the results or booking page.

So, I tested out this trick: Probably best using a "fresh" unused on Priceline account: If you suspect a hidden deal is for the CR, for example but aren't feeling super sure about it, then book a REFUNDABLE room at the CR for some time out in the future. Then, while still logged in to the account you used to book that refundable deal, go back into the Priceline Express results and check out the deal you are trying to identify and look for the "You've booked Here Before!" hint.

Assuming it is a fresh account you haven't used to book other resorts, if you get it that hint then your guess is correct. Assuming you now feel strong about the guess, you can book the hidden deal, then go back and cancel the refundable one.

Disclaimer: As I said, I have tried this and it has worked in the past, but Priceline can change things at any time, so caveat emptor.

 

[Tom_E_D]

Hi, I'm the one that wrote the resort matcher on Google sheets. I was writing this as Tom responded - his info is very good, please ignore any duplication of info I have below, didn't feel like rewriting everthing.
Definitely double check you are sticking to Bonnet Creek and Disney Springs just in case.

Also, big caveat: these days you HAVE to compare the all in costs after taxes and fees on Priceline or Hotwire to the current Disney direct discounts. A lot of non-refundable hidden deals after February are the same price or more than Disney's current discounts.

When it comes to finding some of these deals, looks like Priceline is up to some old games again: I'm seeing slightly different results in Chrome vs Firefox desktop browser, so I tried digging around a bit. I'm also finding some deals only as additional pop ups when you visit a non-Disney deal in results.

I just tried search those dates (4/24-4/30) on Priceline and I'm not seeing a 4* 8-guest resort with 300 reviews at all. I'd be very surprised if AK Lodge was on Priceline Express: as far as I know the main lodge has not had an opening date announced. If you search Disney's own site for those dates only Kidani shows up. If you have a link to the deal itself I'd be glad to take a look.

(Priceline has AK Lodge (4* 8), AK Lodge Kidani Villas, (4* 7) and AK Lodge Jambo (4.5* 9) as 3 different listings. Kidani is the only one open.)

Fishing around, I see some weirdness I can't figure out so far - and that's saying something, as I've looked at a LOT of these deals.

There's a 4* 8-guest deal for $431 that pops up when you visit the non-Disney 4* 8-guest deal in search results. Since there are so many 4*8 resorts, without a number of reviews you have to weigh several factors to exclude some resorts.

Long story short: I'd probably narrow down the possibilities on that deal for Beach Club Villas, Boardwalk Villas, or Contemporary. BW Villas is very rare, never saw it listed with Fitness Center as amenity, so I'd say that's a long shot. BC Villas is almost as rare, but has appeared with Fitness, so slightly more likely. Contemporary has appeared with Fitness normally, think this is the most likely of the these 3 resorts - but something still feels off on these deals, so I'm not going to say I'm very sure about any of them.

The description for the room in the HTML code is "Room with Standard View" which doesn't feel very Villa-y. Also, the room descriptions for the CR are different than that kind of description, so I'm scratching my head.

Here's some notes on a screen capture from my matcher in case it helps.
View attachment 554440

I see a 4.5* 9-guest deal out there for (also) $431. Since Jambo is not open, only other possibility is Grand Flo for that. BUT.... the hidden deal room options on that are Deluxe Studio ($431) or Room Assigned at Check In ($710). As far as I know, the Deluxe Studio category is only in the Villas at Grand Flo (Am I correct anyone?), but Priceline doesn't have a separate listing for the Villas there like it does at other resorts with DVC. So, I can't do an apples to apples comparison of direct Disney pricing on that, I just see points per night on their site.

In the HTML code of the booking page for the $710 room, the roomDescription field has it as "Room with Standard View" so not sure what that is: Disney doesn't use that sort of phrase for Grand Flo rooms - more like Main Building Standard room, or Outer Building Club Room, etc. (FWIW, Outer Building Garden View is going for $524 per night at Disney's site for those dates.)

After all - that was a much deeper dive than I usually have to do with deals. In most cases I can pick out the 1 or maybe 2 most likely very quickly. I'm wondering if Priceline is in the midst of some listing changes - it hasn't happened for awhile and we're probably overdue.

The Deluxe Studio room category is available at various DVC resorts, including both AKV resorts, not just at VGF.

 

[jamy57]

Ah, After I posted my last long-winded reply I thought I should mention a good technique to flush out resorts: If you've ever booked a resort on Priceline before and then see it later when logged into the same account, Priceline Express will often give you a "You've Booked Here Before!" hint on the results or booking page.

So, I tested out this trick: Probably best using a "fresh" unused on Priceline account: If you suspect a hidden deal is for the CR, for example but aren't feeling super sure about it, then book a REFUNDABLE room at the CR for some time out in the future. Then, while still logged in to the account you used to book that refundable deal, go back into the Priceline Express results and check out the deal you are trying to identify and look for the "You've booked Here Before!" hint.

Assuming it is a fresh account you haven't used to book other resorts, if you get it that hint then your guess is correct. Assuming you now feel strong about the guess, you can book the hidden deal, then go back and cancel the refundable one.

Disclaimer: As I said, I have tried this and it has worked in the past, but Priceline can change things at any time, so caveat emptor.

Thank you for all your information as well! Now I *really* want to know what these rooms are. My husband is probably going to think I'm insane but maybe I will try to book a refundable room and see if I get any hints.

Is there a way to link my search results so you can see what I'm seeing? I keep getting a message that I can't post because it's spam/including something not allowed

 

[JJTNY]

The Deluxe Studio room category is available at various DVC resorts, including both AKV resorts, not just at VGF.

Thanks! I wrote that poorly - I meant I was thinking it was only in the GF Villas and not the "regular" GF.

 

[JJTNY]

Thank you for all your information as well! Now I *really* want to know what these rooms are. My husband is probably going to think I'm insane but maybe I will try to book a refundable room and see if I get any hints.

Is there a way to link my search results so you can see what I'm seeing? I keep getting a message that I can't post because it's spam/including something not allowed

Oh, you may not have posted enough messages yet for the forum software to allow you to post links yet.
I wonder if it will allow you to post the link in a DM to me? Here's my profile page.

 

[Tom_E_D]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! Yes, both should be in Bonnet Creek. My search criteria was limited to properties with airport shuttle and Bonnet Creek & Disney Springs area. Both of the listings I described above say they're in Bonnet Creek. I'm not sure why they're not showing up for you? I just refreshed and they're both still there. I thought AKL was still closed which is why I'm fairly confused. The 4.5* unstated reviews property seems like it's the same property as the first as both are listing $431, down from $559. When I go to pick a room at 4* listing, it offers "room assigned at check in" for $431. When I go to pick rooms at 4.5* listing, it offers me "deluxe studio" for $431 or "room assigned at checkin" for $710.

So tempting to just go with one to find out what it is, but I'm not so sure that would be the smart thing to do.

You might want to look into the pros and cons of a DVC deluxe studio vs. whatever hotel room at Grand Floridian you already have booked before booking a Priceline Express deal. Priceline Express deals are generally non-cancelable and non-refundable!

 

[jamy57]

You might want to look into the pros and cons of a DVC deluxe studio vs. whatever hotel room at Grand Floridian you already have booked before booking a Priceline Express deal. Priceline Express deals are generally non-cancelable and non-refundable!

I'll have to look at the differences in more detail. We're fairly new to Disney World so we don't have anything to compare to/any expectations so far, which is why I'd be open to almost any resort.

 

[jamy57]

Sorry JJTNY, I've tried to reply to your message but any response keeps getting flagged as spam. I evidently can't message anyone yet. Maybe this works? just type in the regular .com with this attached (sorry, being vague bc of the bots)
/relax/in/3000003349/from/20210424/to/20210430/rooms/1/sopq?amenities=AIRSHUTTL&clusters=910054926&vrid=abc1f4ffd53019ccb1f5a815796ad866