Priceline for the 4 star hotels

[goredwings]

Heres my deal, i want the Hilton WDW but the cheapest i can find it for is $95. I was wondering if i was assured of getting it off priceine? I know many people get but if so can you please tell me what to type in if i do go ahead and try it?

 

[CarolA]

No, there is NO way you can be assured of the Hilton.

THere are 4 or 5 Resort hotels that routinely come up on Priceline for the WDW area. You could get any or none of them. If you must have the Hilton DO NOT use Priceline.

 

[cnmiranda]

If you bid $60 you will most likely get the Hilton OR Wyndham Palace. But, like the above poster said, there is no guarantee. I would definitely NOT bid higher than $65 as there are a whole new bunch of resorts that come into play around &70. Still, it's a gamble. You may want to check biddingfortravel.com & see if anyone got the Hilton for your dates but you're still taking a 50/50 chance.

 

[DVC California]

Hi goredwings -

While CarolA is correct that there is no way to guarantee winning a particular hotel, there are ways to increase you odds against getting the other resorts (i'll get into this in a minute.)

First off - do yourself a favor and visit Sheryl M's BiddingForTravel.com site. There is wealth of information on Priceline and many people post their winning bids so others may benefit. Start with the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding hotel bidding. This will answer many technical questions, as well as provide insight to rebidding.

Next research what the rates are at each hotel listed for the zone you will be bidding on. This will help indicate availability of rooms at each hotel. If you are pulling $95.00 for the Hilton, that sounds like the "Government" rate. That may be showing up regardless of regular availability. If the standard Hilton rate is around $116, then you should have a fair chance that it will be available on Priceline.

Okay, back to "limiting" yourself to the Hilton. Although there are 5+ resorts that you could win through Priceline, each hotel usually has a different threshold for winning bids. This is good because the Hilton usually has has the lowest rates ($60/nt) of all the "Resort" levels that have historically been won in the WDW zone. Of course that is based on past bids during normal volume periods.

Historical Priceline rates -

Hilton - $60.00
Wyndham Palace - $62.00 (up to $81 at times)
Swan/Dolphin - $69.00
Marriott Orlando World Center (MOWC) - $74.00
Gaylord Palms - $83.00

So...If you bid $60.00 for a Resort hotel in the WDW zone, and the Hilton has made availability to Priceline for your travel dates, there is a fairly good chance that you will the Hilton.

But...If your $60.00 bid is denied, there is probably no Priceline availabilty at the Hilton. If you decide to rebid and raise your bid to $65.00, you do not increase your chances of getting the Hilton. On the contrary, you will increase your chances of getting the Wyndham!

That's why it's impossible to target a specific hotel, especially the higher tiered ones. You have to get by all the lower threshold hotels before you get to a Swan or the Gaylord.

And to add another variable into the mix, Priceline's access to inventory changes constantly. A $60.00 failed bid today, may be accepted next week. Or next month. Or never if it is a very busy period.

Go ahead and book a cancelable reservation at the Hilton to guarantee yourself a place to stay. If you would like to knock 30% off that, do a solo bid of $60.00 and cross your fingers. If you get it, "Congratulations!" If you don't, try again next week. Do not raise your bid unless you are willing to stay at another resort!

HTH, Steve

 

[goredwings]

Thanks everyone for all your help. This cleared things up much more, and it was the government rate and I did book that. The main thing that I am concerned about is transportation. Whatever hotel I stay at I want to be transported to Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Typhoon Lagoon on what ever times I want. Do any of the other hotels that I may get on priceline have this kind of transportation?

 

[jtopicz1]

I believe all the Priceline resort hotels in the WDW Vicinity area offer transportation to the parks. Most have their own shuttles that run every half hour or so. Some share busses with other hotels in the area.

Jim

 

[jeffreyml]

We just bid on Priceline and received the hilton for $60 dollars from 4/13-4/20. This was a last minute vacation and we already had reservations at another hotel. We thoght we would try priceline and see if we could get a better hotel at a reasonible price. It worked out great for us.

 

[jtopicz1]

The Hilton seems to come up by far the most for Resorts in the WDW Vicinity area. $60 seems to be the hit price on it as well. Not a bad deal at all for a Downtown Disney hotel!

Jim

 

[CarolA]

All of the resort hotels provide transporation to the parks. However, it is not always free. I am pretty sure the Marriott World Center and Gaylord charge for transport.

 

[cnmiranda]

My parents just stayed at the Gaylord Palms this weekend, there is a $10 resort fee which includes 2 bottles of water, 2 bottles of OJ, transportation to WDW parks, 20 mins of local calls, and parking.

Wyndham Palace and the Hilton have both been recenty accepted at the rates of $70 and $69. Hilton has turned up for $65 in May. Last year at this time the majority of $60 accepted rates at this time were at the Wyndham Palace, although Hilton is the only hotel that has been coming up at $60 recently that can still change at any time. The dollar amount still can't guarantee a specific hotel

 

[DVC California]

Hi goredwings-

So what did you end up doing? Did you try Priceline, Hotwire, or kept your orig ressies?

Enquiring minds want to know!

 

[goredwings]

Hi, I did end up keeping my own reservations for 95 a night, mainly because I wanted nonsmoking and to keep the disney transportation. However, I THANK all of you for your help and I am going to try priceline in the next week or 2 for some hotels around Florida (mainly in the Keys). Thanks again and I'll let you all know what I get.

 

[robinb]

Just so you know, goredwings, you don't get "Disney Transportation", you get transportation to Disney. All of the Resort* hotels on PL offer transportation to Disney. I think the Hilton's bus (shared with the other hotels on Hotel Blvd, including the Wyndham which also comes up on PL) runs every 30 minutes. If you are a Hilton Honors Gold or Diamond member it makes a lot of sense to keep your $95 rate since you will get lounge access and free breakfast. We stayed there a couple of years ago on business but the executive lounge was closed so we got coupons for breakfast. Yum!

If you want to learn how to bid on Priceline, check out www.biddingfortravel.com for lots of goiod tips. Also, you may want to check out www.mousesavers.com for codes at WDW resorts that may bring prices down near the $95 you're already paying.