I had a lot of luck last year on the Marriott Bonvoy app. I would check daily, and then cancel and rebook every time it dropped. I managed to get 2 weeks in August for under $200 a night that way.
I've always just modified my existing reservation when I find a lower rate. Wouldn't cancelling and rebooking involve getting a refund for cancelled res and a new deposit for new res?
So a couple things, I was never charged any kind of deposit until about 5 days before my trip. It was my first time staying at the Dolphin and I wasn't as familiar with their booking system. I got in the habit of just constantly checking my date range and the second it went down, I'd grab it. (I needed to drop a night on the reservation once and called them directly, when she went to make the change the price per night jumped up $400 per night and she wasn't able to switch it back, twas a headache, luckily I had screenshots of my rates and a manager was able to override it). Because of that, I was always nervous that if I went and tried to modify, I'd inevitably do something to screw it up and lose my original rate. Sometimes it was only one room that was a lower rate and it would bump back up once I grabbed it. We went with another family and they weren't able to get it as cheap as we did.
I had an odd issue with a modified reservation in which I changed the dates(using the old reservation number). The new dates never showed up on MDE (I had previously added the reservation number), although my reservation was fine on Bonvoy. This could have affected the dates for being able to make ADRs, but someone at the Swan knew what to do to make it update properly. Lots of issues can arise when WDW “talks” to Bonvoy. I totally get why you rebook and then cancel.
That too, MDE would randomly drop the reservation and we would need to re-enter it constantly. It was just little things that made it feel less magical, that's forsure. Even with getting the super cheap rate, we opted not to return this year and are heading to Coronado next week
My experience was any time I made any kind of adjustment, even if it was as simple as updating my address, it would get bumped from MDE about 48 hours later. Even with the confirmation staying the same. It was easy enough to put back in, but just keep an eye.
I had three stays at the Dolphin this past year and what I did was put a note in my note app of the deposit amount, credit card used, and which reservation dates (since sometimes I have multiple stays booked). My deposit never changed with all of my modifying (they take a deposit only once per reservation it seems) and all three times my final invoice at checkout was correct! I too never found a way to find a record of your deposit paid online. That said, I must have modified my three reservations 20x and it all worked out without any intervention from me in the end. I even cancelled and rebooked or just outright cancelled a few others along the way and always was refunded quickly (within a few days) for the correct cancellations.
Good to know that there weren't multiple refunds and deposits! That was my concern when I asked the question. Also wasn't sure if you knew that you could just modify if the rate goes down.
Yes, the non-signature restaurants.
I've tried searching this thread but am not having any luck (probably not using the right words). I just booked "family" suite, or an "alcove" suite at the Dolphin. It was much cheaper than booking the two rooms. Has anyone stayed in one of these? We have 2 kids, 3 adults and a baby. I booked one connecting to a king bed. I think there are two bathrooms, 2 doubles in the other room, a pull out in the "living area" and a pullout in the room with a king. Just looking for confirmation that these are nice
Curious how far out your stay is? I’m too far out to book my room right now, but I looked out as far as I could yesterday and only saw rooms with two doubles or one king. Thinking they haven’t added their suite inventory in yet… but just wondering! I will need some sort of family room like this if I consider staying there.I've tried searching this thread but am not having any luck (probably not using the right words). I just booked "family" suite, or an "alcove" suite at the Dolphin. It was much cheaper than booking the two rooms. Has anyone stayed in one of these? We have 2 kids, 3 adults and a baby. I booked one connecting to a king bed. I think there are two bathrooms, 2 doubles in the other room, a pull out in the "living area" and a pullout in the room with a king. Just looking for confirmation that these are nice
Former Marriott employee here— deposits were done by hand at my property (also a Sheraton-Westin Convention Complex, although not in Orlando.) When I worked Front Desk, we typically did not charge cards until the week before/of stay. Sometimes day of, even.
I had to speak to someone to book that suite. They have special rates if you talk to them I guess? I emailed with a question and they said they had special rooms and rates for my situation. Someone called me and we booked. I'm going in late January. If you call their reservations line they can probably help you!
I don't know when you're looking to book but I was searching for Feb recently and there are alcove rooms that popped up for my search. Feb 5-9, $470/nt. It was roughly $100 more per night over the 2 queen. Also, with marriott hotel room searches, there are several tabs on the top of the page with standard rates, prepay rates and deals and packages. There may be different room categories/prices in each tab so if you don't view all of them, you may never see what's really available.
Thanks for the info!
I’m still out past K date, but hopefully closer to time I’ll get someone to help me figure out which room route I can take.
Thanks! They still aren’t showing up for like a year out from today, and my travel dates will be further out so maybe they have to get to a prime range before they add them to bookable inventory. They might hold onto them for large conventions to use as negotiation tactics in Group Sales.
