Resort - Using someone other than Disney website?

[RCMommy]

Hello,

We will be in Orlando for two nights prior to a cruise. We want to stay at a Disney resort and go to a MNSSHP for one evening.

For the resort, I like to book through hotels dot com for instance because I can pay Paypal versus a credit card. Are there typically any issues with booking through a hotel discount website like this? I notice I can still reserve the Magical Express from MCO to the resort.

I'm just wondering if there are any glitches normally associated with this type of booking?

 

[RCMommy]

Sorry, that is suppose to read **Resort -

 

[Chucky!]

I know you posted this a while back, my experience is when the price matches $ for $, always book directly with the resort. If there are any issues with your booking, Disney may not be able to help you.

On more than one occasion hotels.com has oversold hotels (not at Disney) and we've been bumped
Once, they rebooked us elsewhere and the other they basically said we can't find any rooms in your area, too bad here is your money back and leaving us stranded in a foreign city with no accommodation and two small children on the weekend of a major event. It took 3 hours of phone calls to find a hotel room.

 

[RustManFan]

and you can edit your thread title and fix the spelling....

 

[RCMommy]

I am sorry to hear you have been bumped by hotels.com. I know I read that online about a few other discount travel sites. I have used them several times and never once had an issue. Like I mentioned I prefer to pay Paypal, Hotels.com has a great refund policy, and my booking is guaranteed, so I chose to use them again.

I did call Hotels.com yesterday to ask them for my actual Disney confirmation number. She happily gave me a different number which I feel certain she thought was correct. It still did not come up on MDE so I called Disney directly. I told them I booked though a third party site, she said I can still help you. I gave her my last name, the phone number I put on the hotels.com booking and the arrival date and resort. Two seconds and my reservation was there. All the details were correct except the address was of Hotels.com office and not mine so she promptly changed it over. She then gave me a new number and once I imputed that into MDE the reservation came straight up. We don't travel until October so I was happy the booking was already showing.

 

[RCMommy]

and you can edit your thread title and fix the spelling....

Done.

 

[westie55]

I have booked through Orbitz. Their promo codes apply to Disney hotels and can get you a $150 discount. There were no issues whatsoever with DME or magic bands. We even got upgraded from a standard view to a water view, and all of my room requests were honored. I would definitely book through Orbitz again IF it saved me money. If not, I'd definitely book through Disney directly. Orbitz also has a better cancellation policy, IMO. You can get a full refund if you cancel within the allotted time frame.

 

[bumbershoot]

On more than one occasion hotels.com has oversold hotels (not at Disney) and we've been bumped
Once, they rebooked us elsewhere and the other they basically said we can't find any rooms in your area, too bad here is your money back and leaving us stranded in a foreign city with no accommodation and two small children on the weekend of a major event. It took 3 hours of phone calls to find a hotel room.

Whereas this has NEVER happened with us. DH was a heavy user (traveled half the year) of hotels.com from 2009 until this January, and he never once had a problem anywhere in the world with their bookings.

I did call Hotels.com yesterday to ask them for my actual Disney confirmation number. She happily gave me a different number which I feel certain she thought was correct. It still did not come up on MDE so I called Disney directly. I told them I booked though a third party site, she said I can still help you. I gave her my last name, the phone number I put on the hotels.com booking and the arrival date and resort. Two seconds and my reservation was there. All the details were correct except the address was of Hotels.com office and not mine so she promptly changed it over. She then gave me a new number and once I imputed that into MDE the reservation came straight up. We don't travel until October so I was happy the booking was already showing.

I always give them a few days after I make the booking, then we email, asking for the 12 digit Disney confirmation number starting with 4. That never failed to get us the proper info. You're taken care of, but for others reading, give it a few days and email with that request.

 

[RCMommy]

I always give them a few days after I make the booking, then we email, asking for the 12 digit Disney confirmation number starting with 4. That never failed to get us the proper info. You're taken care of, but for others reading, give it a few days and email with that request.

Exactly what I had read online as well. Give it a few days. I did, almost a week in fact and when I called Hotels.com I did in fact get another number in addition to my original booking number. (I wish I knew it had to start with a 4) That turned out not to work with Disney, perhaps I could have dug further with Hotels.com, but I thought I would call Disney instead. She found me in no time with just my phone number and travel plans.

So, I would say to anyone that has trouble finding the actual Disney confirmation number, just make a few phone calls a few days after you make the booking with a third party site. Someone should be able to help you out.

Edit- I should have added, that the resort only booking through Hotels.com is now on my MDE, along with our tickets purchased through Disney and the Magic bands are showing up. (we have to pick them up at the desk as we are in Canada) I can make dining ADRs now and FP bookings when it is time.

 

[maxiesmom]

Exactly what I had read online as well. Give it a few days. I did, almost a week in fact and when I called Hotels.com I did in fact get another number in addition to my original booking number. (I wish I knew it had to start with a 4) That turned out not to work with Disney, perhaps I could have dug further with Hotels.com, but I thought I would call Disney instead. She found me in no time with just my phone number and travel plans.

So, I would say to anyone that has trouble finding the actual Disney confirmation number, just make a few phone calls a few days after you make the booking with a third party site. Someone should be able to help you out.

I had so much problem trying to get the real confirmation number that I won't recommend anyone use Hotels . com for booking Disney resorts. My trouble wasn't worth the small amount I saved.

 

[msb578]

I have booked through Orbitz. Their promo codes apply to Disney hotels and can get you a $150 discount. There were no issues whatsoever with DME or magic bands. We even got upgraded from a standard view to a water view, and all of my room requests were honored. I would definitely book through Orbitz again IF it saved me money. If not, I'd definitely book through Disney directly. Orbitz also has a better cancellation policy, IMO. You can get a full refund if you cancel within the allotted time frame.

Sometimes more than $150 off- such as 15% off with no cap, often in addition to Disney room discounts. Cheaptickets (a corporate sibling of Orbitz) recently had 20% off.

Edit: The cancellation window is the same as Disney's- 5 days.

 

[RCMommy]

I got CSR for our two nights the same price as Disney is offering on their room only discount of 20% for our dates. The rate per night is actually cheaper than the Best Western I was looking at in Cocoa Beach.

$150 off is awesome!

 

[ncbunnie]

Just thought I'd pop in after searching and finding this thread. Booked on Hotels.com 2 days ago in the evening because the rates were significantly cheaper than WDW.com (like $150-200 with fees, etc), I also found a 10% off coupon through their coupons and discounts page, as well as a rebate on the stay that I can mail in after the stay is completed, plus the nights I paid for are applied toward my free nights on hotels.com, so I received a free night worth the average value of the stays I've paid for. So it was quite a better deal than booking with Disney, but at the last minute (our stay is 1.27) I was concerned about finding the Resort Confirmation number, getting magic bands and making sure the resort was booked properly. I emailed hotels.com and they sent me an incorrect confirmation number and suggested I call Disney if that number did not work. Of course it didn't.

Called Disney Dining this morning (the number was on the resort link confirmation page) and had absolutely no problems with getting the resort confirmation number. I stayed on the line with Disney while I linked the stay in My Disney Experience with no problems. I know others have suffered through this process but hopefully this is a sign that hotels.com and other 3rd party vendors are getting their stuff together with regards to offering these discounts. The savings aren't worth much if you can't link them over easily, but in my case, there wasn't an issue other than an email and one phone call. Hopefully my rebate submission goes as smoothly

 

[scrapquitler]

Hello,

We will be in Orlando for two nights prior to a cruise. We want to stay at a Disney resort and go to a MNSSHP for one evening.

For the resort, I like to book through hotels dot com for instance because I can pay Paypal versus a credit card. Are there typically any issues with booking through a hotel discount website like this? I notice I can still reserve the Magical Express from MCO to the resort.

I'm just wondering if there are any glitches normally associated with this type of booking?

nope. just use your confirmation number and link that to your MDE account so that you can order magic bands ahead of time, book fast passes (if you attend MNSSHP you are allowed to book fast passes between 4-7PM for the day of the party 60 days prior to check in). It is possible that you will have to call the company the room is booked with to get the proper confirmation number to link your hotel stay to the MDE app.