Using Orbitz? Worth it?

[Libby6]

I see you can save 15% off disney rooms which seems like a great deal! I will have a baby, though, that I'd need to add to the reservation after I make it. Is that easy enough to do? Do you just check out as 2 guests and call to add the baby?

The other thing I'm wondering is, can orbitz honor a room request? Like if we wanted to stay at a moderate and asked to have a room close to the main building? Or can you only make requests like that through disney directly? Thanks so much!

 

[dansdad]

Correct, you would check out as 2 guests and then call to add your child. Although, if your child is under 3 there is no need to add them.

Orbitz wouldn't be the one honoring any room requests, that comes from Disney. But since Orbitz is acting like a travel agent they own the reservations and they will have to make the room request on your behalf.

 

[Libby6]

Oh ok- i didn't know that. So I don't even need to mention we have a child as long as they're under 3?

Is disney pretty good about room requests in general, especially if they come from a 3rd party like orbitz?

Thanks!

 

[dancin Disney style]

I just got home from an 8 night stay at POP that I booked through Orbitz. It was the first time that I did not book directly with WDW. I was nervous! Everything was perfect. With the WDW discount and the 20% that I got from Orbitz I only paid $99/night.

When you book with Orbitz you book only the 2 adults and then call in to add the baby. Otherwise, Orbitz will charge you for a third person in the room even though WDW does not charge for, up to 2, children under age 18 in the same room.

I'm not 100% sure about the room request but I think you would have to call Orbitz for that as well. You might have to call them more than once, sometimes you get someone that doesn't understand what you want them to do. They will have to put you on hold and call WDW to add the baby and to make your request.

Once you make the booking with Orbitz you will get an email that shows your Orbitz confirmation number and right below it is the hotel confirmation number. The hotel number is the one that you need to connect your resort reservation to the MDE account. After that is done you will be able to check in online(at the appropriate time) and you can make a room request that way too.

 

[loves to dive]

I found booking and linking to MDE very easy but now I have a question. There is a slight possibility that my son and DIL will be joining me and if they can't get rooms will just stay in my rooms. I was planning just telling the front desk when I checked in and paying the difference there. Can I do that or would I have to go through Orbitz?

 

[dansdad]

I found booking and linking to MDE very easy but now I have a question. There is a slight possibility that my son and DIL will be joining me and if they can't get rooms will just stay in my rooms. I was planning just telling the front desk when I checked in and paying the difference there. Can I do that or would I have to go through Orbitz?

As long as you have a room only, and not a package, then yes you can add them when you check in. Then you will just have to pay the extra adult fee per night that they are there.

 

[loves to dive]

Cool, thanks.

 

[dansdad]

Oh ok- i didn't know that. So I don't even need to mention we have a child as long as they're under 3?

Is disney pretty good about room requests in general, especially if they come from a 3rd party like orbitz?

Thanks!

Whether you get your request granted or not is completely dependent on occupancy and how many others requested the same thing as you.

Guests who book via Orbitz have the same chance at getting their requests granted as guests who book directly through WDW.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We booked through Orbitz instead of Disney for our trip next month because it was the only way we could get the resort that we wanted. It saved us a little money, too. I am a little nervous about what kind of room we will get and I'm certain that we won't get any free upgrades.

The biggest negative for me, though is the inflexibility of adding or subtracting a day to the reservation. Orbitz won't do that without canceling the original reservation and then I would lose the big discount I had.

 

[winterwhite]

I've gotten upgraded on an Orbitz reservation for free.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I've gotten upgraded on an Orbitz reservation for free.

That's good to know. We'd love a nice free upgrade from garden view to lagoon view.

 

[winterwhite]

That's good to know. We'd love a nice free upgrade from garden view to lagoon view.

Our upgrades were, and I am really dusting off my memory for this, we got upgraded to club level at the Beach Club once and to MK view at the Contemporary once. I think the upgrades are generally more common at Deluxe since the differences between rooms at a Mod or Value are really just location.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

I found booking and linking to MDE very easy but now I have a question. There is a slight possibility that my son and DIL will be joining me and if they can't get rooms will just stay in my rooms. I was planning just telling the front desk when I checked in and paying the difference there. Can I do that or would I have to go through Orbitz?

Yes you can add them at check in but since they will not be on the reservation I am not sure that they will be able to book fp at 60 days out, if that is important to you.

 

[loves to dive]

Yes you can add them at check in but since they will not be on the reservation I am not sure that they will be able to book fp at 60 days out, if that is important to you.

They are already linked on my MDE account so I'm thinking I could probably add them to mine. If not, no big deal, we are sort of seat of our pants kind of people anyway. We have been so many times, we are never in a hurry to get anything done since we know we will be back and sometimes we actually enjoy waiting in line.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

You can add guests at check-in if adding them will not exceed the capacity of the room.

If you add at check-in it is true that they will not be able to have fastpass reservations at 60 days (it could be 30 days if they have tickets linked).

Orbitz is great because if they are offering a discount that applies to a Disney resort, they will stack their discount ON TOP of Disney's. So if Disney is offering 15 % and Orbitz is offering 15% that is 30% to you. But it should be noted that you can't book a package through Orbitz, so no package discounts (like free dining) and you can't even add a dining plan. And if you need to change you have to cancel completely and then rebook.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

You'll need to call Orbitz to make your room requests. As another PP mentioned, when you call, most likely the person at Orbitz will have no idea what you are talking about. I was transferred 5 times before someone finally connected me to a CM at Disney Wholesale to note the request. My recommendation is to ask to be transferred to Disney Wholesale when you call because that is who is able to get those requests noted on your reservation.

 

[AngiTN]

We booked through Orbitz instead of Disney for our trip next month because it was the only way we could get the resort that we wanted. It saved us a little money, too. I am a little nervous about what kind of room we will get and I'm certain that we won't get any free upgrades.

The biggest negative for me, though is the inflexibility of adding or subtracting a day to the reservation. Orbitz won't do that without canceling the original reservation and then I would lose the big discount I had.

Don't be so sure. We booked with Orbitz for our stay at WL last December. Booked Woods View, got upgraded to Courtyard View (small difference but it is an upgrade, technically). Made no specific room requests. Only did online check in where I requested, upper floor, near elevator, with priority given to early availability. We got all of the above, including the Courtyard View and early check in.

As for adding kids, I did it this morning on the online chat and it went swimmingly. Took a few minutes while they called in to Disney but the operator had no problems and knew just what to do. I think more and more often they are ready to handle this request.

For what it's worth, you can add the kids if you are booking a cabin at Ft Wilderness. The Orbitz system doesn't add on for them there. No clue why. Doesn't add them on at DL either

 

[IBLarsen]

We used Orbitz for our trip last week and had no issues. I called back to add the kids right away. The person at Orbitz told me I had to cancel and re-do the reservation, but I explained that no, this is a common thing and that Disney will add the children at no cost. She put me on hold and came back with the disney reservation number that included the kids. She had to find out, as she wasn't familiar with this, so don't panic if you get the someone who doesn't know this little rule, just explain nicely, and it should be handled I waited until closer to our trip and then called the resort directly to make room requests, and it worked great. I got what I requested (specific bldg at POR). I was originally told by Orbitz that they don't do room requests. I didn't know if this was accurate or not, but I just went directly through our resort and it worked fine!
It really was easier than it sounds and worth the extra savings!

 

[kjs1976]

We booked through Orbitz last April. We arrived around 2 PM and our room was ready, we got all our requests, plus we got upgraded to a pool view room. Now I did read on one of the POFQ threads that return guests to POFQ can be given special preferences and this was our 6th time staying at POFQ in 10 yrs (one quick wknd at POP and one off site stay @ parents' timeshare mixed in there). So I'm not sure how that factored into it.

I followed the advice on the Dis to be firm when calling back about adding children, or rather how to do it and how to request the conf number. It worked like a charm!