The Mystery Discount: Just Wondering, Cuz I Don't Get it.

[WaltD4Me]

I'm just wondering.......

From what I've been reading on the boards, alot of October, November and most of December seem to be full up at Disney. I've seen lots of threads with people saying they can't get a room or they checked Disney's site and it isn't showing alot of availbility and ones that say it is going to be alot more crowded this year.

So why the upcoming package or deal or whatever? Are things not as they seem? Is Disney getting alot of cancellations? Have rooms opened up?

I mean, I hope anyone who is going gets a great deal of course, but I can't help but wonder why one is being offered?

 

[DMRick]

Often times, when people try to get rooms, they are trying ot use AP rates, or AAA or FL rates. Those rooms fill up faster. During the holiday vacations, of course Disney is also full. The rest of the time, if you are willing to pay rack rates, there are generally rooms to be had. When Disney starts filling up for real (rack rates), youll see the rest of POR completed, to add rooms.

 

[Puffy2]

Possible that some are canceling rooms. Gas prices are not only up but will rise (and we are looking also at a shortage- temporary?) - the price increase will effect travel.

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

From my own checking, the deluxes seem to be more booked up than other categories in late Oct and Nov, other than Thanksgiving week. There seems to be a lot of availabity in values and mods. DMRick is right - if you want to pay rack - don't think you couldn't get a room at WDW.

Also on disney's site it only takes one night to be sold out for you to get an "unavailable" returned. Doesn't mean every date in the range you put in is sold out, so that's kinda misleading.

 

[cobbler]

When Disney starts filling up for real (rack rates), youll see the rest of POR completed, to add rooms.

Did you mean POP?? Or really POR?? I never knew that POR had rooms left to complete.

 

[DMRick]

I meant POP..I always have my favorite place, POR on my mind

 

[cobbler]

Ok, because I was racking my brain trying to figure out where those rooms where

 

[Princess Dad]

I called yesterday and I know that WL & GF are completely full no rooms (rack).

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Princess Dad - I'm curious, what dates did you ask about?

Oops, I see from another post you're looking at the first week of Dec. Can you be flexible in your dates? Expedia shows a lot of availability for GF and WL at other times, for example Oct 29th - Nov 4.

Good luck.

 

[Princess Dad]

I wish I could be more flexible but I already have tickets (flight) and we are meeting friends. I actualy have a room reserved at AKL for the dates I need, but I am looking for a better deal and different resort. (We have parking lot view and I am not paying another $100 a night).

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

Well, if it's any consolation my family loved the AKL, it's very unique.

Have a great time!

 

[Piecey]

Expedia might have availability for those nights.

I used to work for them. They reserve a block of hotel rooms (That is an Expedia Special Rate) that the hotel doesn't sell themselves. Expedia might have availability even if the hotel does not.


Try giving Expedia a call. The agent can even pull up an inventory grid and tell you how many rooms they have left.
It's a pretty little known tool Expedia agents have, but it's there.

 

[TiggerAllie]

Expedia might have availability for those nights.

I used to work for them. They reserve a block of hotel rooms (That is an Expedia Special Rate) that the hotel doesn't sell themselves. Expedia might have availability even if the hotel does not.


Try giving Expedia a call. The agent can even pull up an inventory grid and tell you how many rooms they have left.
It's a pretty little known tool Expedia agents have, but it's there.

As far as booking with Expedia, I was told by the Disney folks to be careful and make sure you have everything documented. Apparently they have had some problems communicating the reservation info back to Disney. I went on an Expedia pkg in Feb, and while they could find our room reservation, they couldn't find our tix. Both I and the CM at the front desk were on the phone/hold with Expedia for *hours* trying to figure it out. Eventually we found someone there who could cancel the tix so we could rebuy them at the hotel, because Disney was never able to pull up a record of them.

Since you worked for Expedia, do you know why they don't ever seem to have rooms for CSR?

 

[Piecey]

Now that I no longer work for Expedia I feel free to say: Don't book with them.

I know it sounds extreme but it's really not worth taking your chances.

When you book a reservation on Expedia.com our computer systems send a fax to hotels. Hotels "lose" these faxes all the time. They don't get there sometimes. Sometimes I never could figured out what happened. I've seen faxes that were confirmed that hotels claim they never got and faxes that were failed but the hotel received.
All the contracts with the hotel are different but most commonly, it seemed to me, that if the hotel didn't receive a confirmed reservation of our rooms within a week they would resell them at their own rates. This caused overbooking when the people we sold the rooms to showed up. Expedia calls it a "kickback"

I won't ever book through Expedia. That is probably the one thing I learned after having worked for them.

*edit*
Oh, and if something is taking you hours to get done with Expedia.. the best thing, in all honesty, to do.. is hang up and call back and hope for a better agent. Nothing should take that long. Ever.