booking orbitz vs disney?

[Livelovedisney]

Hey you guys. I found a room at the same resort we are staying at for 100 cheaper than what our rate is. I know that if we do this we won't get the dinning plan, but if we do this will we still get magic bands?

 

[Master Yoda]

Yes.

It is also worth noting that you will also be subject to Orbitz cancellation policies which are much stricter than Disney's. You will also want to make sure that the price you are getting from Orbitz is the final price after taxes and fees. Lastly, I would check Moussavers and see if there is a promotion running that you can take advantage of through Disney. While I have seen instances of rooms being less on travel sites vs directly through Disney, the difference is often quite small.

 

[Livelovedisney]

Thanks for the reply. I"m still debating this. My husband has band me from talking much about the disney trip with him. Since there's so much planning to do he feels like it's a big head ache. My only thing about this is the meal plan. I know that some people are against it but I feel like it would be fine for us. I will talk to him about it this weekend and see what he says. We are still waiting on my mil to see if she wants to come. I know that if we do it through orbitz we may not be able to make changes vs making it through disney.

 

[dreamfinder]

I would also suggest making sure that they are for the same exact room type. You may have been looking at one of the more expensive "preferred" rooms, while travel sites usually push the cheaper "standard" rooms.

 

[BigHero4]

Yes.

It is also worth noting that you will also be subject to Orbitz cancellation policies which are much stricter than Disney's. You will also want to make sure that the price you are getting from Orbitz is the final price after taxes and fees. Lastly, I would check Moussavers and see if there is a promotion running that you can take advantage of through Disney. While I have seen instances of rooms being less on travel sites vs directly through Disney, the difference is often quite small.

@Master Yoda hit the nail on the head. I'd also add that you will need to get the Disney confirmation number from Orbitz in order to use MDE and link everything to your MDE account. We booked our last trip through Expedia to save about $100, but I had to call Expedia 4 times in order to get my Disney confirmation number for the Disney resort. Without it, I wasn't able to link it to my MDE account. Not a show stopper, but it would have been worth the $100 saved to book directly through Disney. Next time we go, I'm booking through Disney directly.

 

[wannabeBelle]

Yes.

It is also worth noting that you will also be subject to Orbitz cancellation policies which are much stricter than Disney's. You will also want to make sure that the price you are getting from Orbitz is the final price after taxes and fees. Lastly, I would check Moussavers and see if there is a promotion running that you can take advantage of through Disney. While I have seen instances of rooms being less on travel sites vs directly through Disney, the difference is often quite small.

Exactly this. Also if you are booking through Kingdom Konsultants, our pricing will be the same as Disney, we will look for any applicable specials for you and you do get your reservations number for use with the My Disney Experience application. Best of all our services are free!!!! All your planning questions and assistance are just an e mail or phone call away!!! Marie

 

[Livelovedisney]

I would also suggest making sure that they are for the same exact room type. You may have been looking at one of the more expensive "preferred" rooms, while travel sites usually push the cheaper "standard" rooms.

It's actually better for some reason. I think our rate is around 387 for a standard and their rate is 275 for wood/courtyard view. It's the same dates. I called disney about it and she said that they don't have anything going on for that date range at the moment but something might come up in the next couple of months. Although I truly doubt it. However, we are still keeping our reservations for now because we're still waiting to see if my mil is coming. This way it would be easier to add another person to package.

 

[Livelovedisney]

while we are on the subject does orbitz still have to glitch that charges for children at disney resort? If I book through them would I have to call them to add my kids?

 

[Master Yoda]

while we are on the subject does orbitz still have to glitch that charges for children at disney resort? If I book through them would I have to call them to add my kids?

You will have to have every member in the party, including the kids, on the reservation no matter who you book through. If you don't, those not on the reservation will not get bands.

 

[Rob562]

@Master Yoda hit the nail on the head. I'd also add that you will need to get the Disney confirmation number from Orbitz in order to use MDE and link everything to your MDE account. We booked our last trip through Expedia to save about $100, but I had to call Expedia 4 times in order to get my Disney confirmation number for the Disney resort. Without it, I wasn't able to link it to my MDE account. Not a show stopper, but it would have been worth the $100 saved to book directly through Disney. Next time we go, I'm booking through Disney directly.

Orbitz is actually very good about the Disney reservation number and MDE. In the confirmation email there's a whole section that includes your Disney res# and a direct link to the page on MDE to link it. We used Orbitz to book the single additional night we needed at the start of our trip back in November. Was able to combine a 15% off Orbitz discount code on top of the discount Disney was offering at the time. Plus Orbitz was giving $60 bonus "OrBucks" for any Disney hotel booking at the time.
Everything went smoothly, the only extra thing I had to do was change the shipping address on the Magic Bands order from the Orbitz offices in Chicago to my home address.

while we are on the subject does orbitz still have to glitch that charges for children at disney resort? If I book through them would I have to call them to add my kids?

As far as I know, yes, the glitch still exists. And to explain the glitch to @Master Yoda and those who are unaware, for some reason when you book more than 2 people in a room, Orbitz lists them all as being Adults in the booking, triggering the extra-adults fees. The way around it according to MouseSavers is to book the room with only the adults in the party and then call Orbitz and have them add the children onto the reservation. Doing that the children don't get the extra-adult charge. A bit of a pain to have to do the extra step, but if the extra discounts add up, it could be worth it.

Edit:
Scroll down to the "Online Travel Agencies" section:
http://www.mousesavers.com/walt-dis...ls/disney-world-resort-hotel-discounts-codes/

-Rob

 

[Livelovedisney]

Thank you for the clarification Rob.

 

[Livelovedisney]

Orbitz is actually very good about the Disney reservation number and MDE. In the confirmation email there's a whole section that includes your Disney res# and a direct link to the page on MDE to link it. We used Orbitz to book the single additional night we needed at the start of our trip back in November. Was able to combine a 15% off Orbitz discount code on top of the discount Disney was offering at the time. Plus Orbitz was giving $60 bonus "OrBucks" for any Disney hotel booking at the time.
Everything went smoothly, the only extra thing I had to do was change the shipping address on the Magic Bands order from the Orbitz offices in Chicago to my home address.




As far as I know, yes, the glitch still exists. And to explain the glitch to @Master Yoda and those who are unaware, for some reason when you book more than 2 people in a room, Orbitz lists them all as being Adults in the booking, triggering the extra-adults fees. The way around it according to MouseSavers is to book the room with only the adults in the party and then call Orbitz and have them add the children onto the reservation. Doing that the children don't get the extra-adult charge. A bit of a pain to have to do the extra step, but if the extra discounts add up, it could be worth it.

Edit:
Scroll down to the "Online Travel Agencies" section:
http://www.mousesavers.com/walt-dis...ls/disney-world-resort-hotel-discounts-codes/

-Rob

Just an FYI. I called orbitz to ask about this and they told me they no longer do this. What you see is the rate that you get and if you don't add your kids on it while booking they will not let you do it over the phone.

 

[wannabeBelle]

Yang, Are you able to select that your children are under age so you don't get hit with the additional adult fees? Marie

 

[Livelovedisney]

Yang, Are you able to select that your children are under age so you don't get hit with the additional adult fees? Marie

I'm not sure how orbitz really work but when I select that i have 2 kids the rate is at 300 then when i put down one the rate is at 275. When I just but my husband and I the rate goes down to 245. But that's okay. I was really just trying to see if it's worth the savings and it's really not.

 

[wannabeBelle]

It is probably adding the additional adult fee, although I cant explain the difference in the amounts. I wonder if that can be downgraded when correcting the ages on the children, or if they even allow that. Rob if you run across this again, would you let us know the outcome? Marie

 

[gonetowdw]

I booked a trip using Orbitz a month ago. At the time, Disney did not have anymore discounted rooms available for the time I was travelling. Orbitz did have discounted rooms available for the same time period. I played around in the site by starting with 3 (2 adults and 1 child) and then dropped the child and the price went down. I booked without the child and then called and added her. Thanks Rob for bringing this to my attention! I will tell you that when I called Orbitz to add my child, the lady was hesitant to help me. She told me that I needed to call Disney to do this. I politely told her that this was an Orbitz reservation and I doubted that Disney would change it. She then added my child. I was signed in to MDE and could see her being added. Also, because of the discount not being available my first night, I did 2 separate reservations. I got the additional 15% discount plus I was able to apply the Orbucks from the first reservation to the 2nd reservation.

 

[Livelovedisney]

I booked a trip using Orbitz a month ago. At the time, Disney did not have anymore discounted rooms available for the time I was travelling. Orbitz did have discounted rooms available for the same time period. I played around in the site by starting with 3 (2 adults and 1 child) and then dropped the child and the price went down. I booked without the child and then called and added her. Thanks Rob for bringing this to my attention! I will tell you that when I called Orbitz to add my child, the lady was hesitant to help me. She told me that I needed to call Disney to do this. I politely told her that this was an Orbitz reservation and I doubted that Disney would change it. She then added my child. I was signed in to MDE and could see her being added. Also, because of the discount not being available my first night, I did 2 separate reservations. I got the additional 15% discount plus I was able to apply the Orbucks from the first reservation to the 2nd reservation.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I will admit that I am hesitant about this just because of how difficult they make it.

 

[Livelovedisney]

This is not true. I just booked with Orbitz last week and called to add a child.

Orbitz had TRAVELHAPPY, with 15% off plus the Disney spring rate of 25% off mods. This was deeper savings than my BB or my AP could give me. I booked PORS for $150 a night in April - plus all taxes and fees (the same as Disney) for $526. My Disney booking for a King Bed Room was $608 - no standards were available. I had to change anyway, and have a Garden View for $526.

I then called Orbitz to get my younger brother added to the reservation. They had a hard time with it, but did get it done. However, you can call Disney Wholesale Travel directly (call the main Disney number and ask for wholesale travel) and add your children as well as your DME. They were able to give me my regular reservation code as well.

Everyone shows up just fine in MDE, I can do a room request, and Magic Bands are already customized with the shipping address changed.

Thanks for letting me know. I will admit I'm kind of scared to do this. I did the research and if i'm successful I will be saving 300 if not then i would save around 100.

 

[LAM378]

I booked BC for May through Orbitz a few weeks ago. It seems that Orbitz reps don't understand the Disney/kids policy, so you might have to be persistent. I had to beg and then argue and finally get a manager to call Disney to add the kids.

Once it was done, though, the children showed up in MDE immediately and I received a confirmation email from WDW, which eased my mind a lot.

The only thing WDW had available at Y&BC were club level rooms, which we did book, but I saved $1800 (2 rooms/6 nights) by switching with Orbitz. I'll be a little nervous until check-in, but this was a no brainer for me. Just don't cancel your original reservation until you've ironed out the Orbitz kinks, if you go that route!

 

[Livelovedisney]

I booked BC for May through Orbitz a few weeks ago. It seems that Orbitz reps don't understand the Disney/kids policy, so you might have to be persistent. I had to beg and then argue and finally get a manager to call Disney to add the kids.

Once it was done, though, the children showed up in MDE immediately and I received a confirmation email from WDW, which eased my mind a lot.

The only thing WDW had available at Y&BC were club level rooms, which we did book, but I saved $1800 (2 rooms/6 nights) by switching with Orbitz. I'll be a little nervous until check-in, but this was a no brainer for me. Just don't cancel your original reservation until you've ironed out the Orbitz kinks, if you go that route!

I think when their chat system comes up again, I will double check again. I would love to save $500, but it feels like i'm going to get the run arounds from them.