Still in shock.......

[singjenn]

My husband and I decided to forego a cruise this summer and spend our vacation at Disney for Halloween.

We did a short weekend trip this past Feburary just for a photography trip. Since it was last minute we didn't have a ton to spend so we used priceline. I bid $60 for a 3 star hotel and recieved Best Western Lake Buena Vista. I was really happy with that hotel.

We were planning on staying at POP for the trip this October. I was really looking forward to staying on site again. Lastnight while celebrating our anniversary we were talking about our trip. We would like to move but before we do that we need to do some things ot our house to make it more appealing (landscaping, etc.) We were talking about ways to save money from our trip. We talked about cutting some days off which I reeeeeeally didn't want to do.

I thought about using priceline again and although it would be a gamble, I was ok with taking a risk if we could save some money and finally move. I gave my husband a list of pros and cons for using price line...

pros
saving money
still close to Disney
most (if not all) DTD hotels have transportation to the parks


cons
no food court
not sure what we would get
the general atmosphere of staying on site
bus systems run faster


We decided that staying on site wasn't that big of a deal. I calculated the difference of what it might be if I got a hotel room for around $55. I knew that no one would accpet that bid but I just wanted to see if it would even be worth the risk. So I went to priceline and typed in a bid of $50 for a 3.5 star hotel. I knew it was low but I just wanted an idea of where to start. If it was gonna be alot I was just gonna stay on site and shorten the trip. Of course my bid was not accepted.
Then I entered another bid for a 3 star hotel. I did $50 again and I was totally shocked when it was accepeted................for the Holiday Inn!!! I went to the Holiday Inn wesbite and went through all the steps for booking. If I had booked through Holiday Inn or most any other hotel site, I would have paid $1,015!! I only paid $407!!! I was NOT expecting it and we only had to shorten the trip by one day!!! We are still going for a week and I'm happy that we got such a good deal!

Has anyone else had an experience like this?? How long were you in shock?

 

[ekraxa]

Wow! That's great! Congratulations!!!!!

 

[HotMama]

We use Priceline a lot & always are surprised and happy with what we get. However, we never use it for our Disney vacations. We just enjoy way too many of the perks to give up staying in a Disney Resort.

I'm excited for you!!! It is alway great to look forward to where you are staying, even if you are not in the room much.

 

[singjenn]

We use Priceline a lot & always are surprised and happy with what we get. However, we never use it for our Disney vacations. We just enjoy way too many of the perks to give up staying in a Disney Resort.

I'm excited for you!!! It is alway great to look forward to where you are staying, even if you are not in the room much.

I totally know what you mean! I was really leary of using it for this vacation just because we are going for a longer time than before. But I reeeeeally want a house with a basement and we need to move for that. I HATE storms and as you know, there have been alot of them lately. I'm in NC where there have been some bad ones and I just want to be somewhat prepaired if it gets worse.

I still don't think that it's hit me yet that we are going. I looked at photos of the hotel and it looks really nice. We really wanted to stay at POP, but we also need to do some work on the house. We are starting on one thing next week and we need to do other things too, so saving money will definitly help.

If we had never stayed on site, I would probably just shorten the trip, but not staying on site isn't a deal breaker. I do love it and it gives you more of a Disney feel, but also love being able to walk to DTD at night. Being at the Parks is where I get my Disney high from. I hope I don't regret the decision to use priceline. The only thing I regret is not trying for a lower price

 

[HotMama]

LOL. That's the funny thing about Priceline...after you already get a great deal you sit there and wonder if you could have went lower.

We weren't going to go this year but when we got a pin code we couldn't pass it up! You just find ways to cut the budget to get a Disney fix in. For us it was driving to Florida, which I said I would never do, but I really wanted to go to Disney with our free dining promo this summer.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[singjenn]

LOL. That's the funny thing about Priceline...after you already get a great deal you sit there and wonder if you could have went lower.

We weren't going to go this year but when we got a pin code we couldn't pass it up! You just find ways to cut the budget to get a Disney fix in. For us it was driving to Florida, which I said I would never do, but I really wanted to go to Disney with our free dining promo this summer.

Enjoy your trip.

We got a pin too but it wasn't for when I wanted to go.
We usually do our vacation in the summer like most people but I reeeeeally want to go to Disney for Halloween. I looove Halloween and scarey stuff and I am really looking forward to spending Oct 31 in MK!!! I know it will give the Haunted Mansion a whole new feeling.

I'm a photographer and this year it seems like all of my bridal sessions are falling in the summer so it's kind of good we decided to wait until after wedding season

If you hadn't gotten a pin code would you have used priceline and a site like it?

 

[juliebug1997]

We use Priceline a lot & always are surprised and happy with what we get. However, we never use it for our Disney vacations. We just enjoy way too many of the perks to give up staying in a Disney Resort.

I'm excited for you!!! It is alway great to look forward to where you are staying, even if you are not in the room much.

Ditto this.

We used for the big ice storm we had right before the Super Bowl here in DFW and we stayed at the Hyatt at the airport for $200. We did this because we weren't sure how bad it was going to be and DH would have to go into work every morning and I wasn't sure if school would be canceled.

I am excited for you though. That's a pretty big savings!