In what order does Disney try hotel discounts to increase occupancy?

[Master Yoda]

As DisneyJoe and Bolt have said, certain rates for Cast members and TA's are fairly constant however the rooms allocated to each might change, I have definitely seen that happen. I have heard that Priceline, Hotwire etc purchase rooms at a wholesale rate and then re-sell them at the rate that is seen online, however that was not from an official source so I cant swear for that one. I dont know if there is an "official" order on discounts and if there is, it is not something that I would know. Sorry Len!! Marie

From my time at the agency, it seemed like they start with smaller groups and work their way up from there. AP rates typically came out first, followed usually by Florida resident, Disney Visa then general public.

This order of course could change whenever they felt like it, but it appears to be the shall we say normal progression.

PIN codes were very hard to track as we only saw them when a client told us they had one or we checked ourselves while booking and they never appeared to come in waves like you would expect if they released a bunch at once. My gut tells me that they were most likely not part of the normal promotion release and were part of a much finer tuned system to fill up very small holes in occupancy.

 

[networkpro]

Sales tax (6.5%-7% depending on the county) plus hotel room tax (12.5%-13% depending on the county).

On behalf of myself and all other Florida residents that do not have to pay state income taxes thanks in part to the hotel room tax, I thank you.

Yet, we'll see next week

 

[Ricky Spanish]

Sales tax (6.5%-7% depending on the county) plus hotel room tax (12.5%-13% depending on the county).

On behalf of myself and all other Florida residents that do not have to pay state income taxes thanks in part to the hotel room tax, I thank you.

Thanks but 7% and 13% = 20% tax
20% on $59 = about $12
$71 for the room
OP said $76, so I was wondering if there was additional taxes or fees on top of "normal" taxes.
Just didn't work out for me.

And how I envy you not paying state taxes.
I live in Cook(crook) county,Illinois

 

[deeevo]

6 is definitely "Whoever wanders into All Star Sports gets a free stay"

I am not sure I would stay there for free...

 

[wdisney9000]

I have heard that Priceline, Hotwire etc purchase rooms at a wholesale rate and then re-sell them at the rate that is seen online,

I have wondered how Priceline/HotWire would have Disney resort rooms available when Disneys own website did not. I recently was on Disney site looking at dates in November and kept getting zero availability (even when trying different days of the month), but I checked Priceline and they had AKL and BW listed for various 4-5 day blocks.

 

[Master Yoda]

Thanks but 7% and 13% = 20% tax
20% on $59 = about $12
$71 for the room
OP said $76, so I was wondering if there was additional taxes or fees on top of "normal" taxes.
Just didn't work out for me.

And how I envy you not paying state taxes.
I live in Cook(crook) county,Illinois

There are other taxes and fees that vary by county with such fancy names as "Bed Tax", Tourist Development Tax", etc.

The two I listed are state wide.

In regards to no state tax...Come to Florida. It is awesome here. Sure, we have to occasionally hurricane, but you will never once have to dig your car out of the snow to get to work.

 

[righttrack]

I have wondered how Priceline/HotWire would have Disney resort rooms available when Disneys own website did not. I recently was on Disney site looking at dates in November and kept getting zero availability (even when trying different days of the month), but I checked Priceline and they had AKL and BW listed for various 4-5 day blocks.

I think how this is done is they have algorithms based on sales. They "give" a block of rooms to these sites to sell by how sales are going for a particular day. I'm sure they can take them back as well but that requires a bit of coordination.

 

[cosmicgirl]

Sales tax (6.5%-7% depending on the county) plus hotel room tax (12.5%-13% depending on the county).

On behalf of myself and all other Florida residents that do not have to pay state income taxes thanks in part to the hotel room tax, I thank you.

There are other taxes and fees that vary by county with such fancy names as "Bed Tax", Tourist Development Tax", etc.

The two I listed are state wide.

In regards to no state tax...Come to Florida. It is awesome here. Sure, we have to occasionally hurricane, but you will never once have to dig your car out of the snow to get to work.

Don't the 12.5% and 13.5% include the county sales tax? I've always paid 12.5% (6.5% sales tax + 6% hotel tax) for Orange county and 13.5% (7.5%+6%) for Osceola (All-Stars).

Both Hotwire and Priceline charge service fees on hidden bookings, so that's why the "tax" is higher. I always add 30% to the base rate in my head when booking with either one.

I have wondered how Priceline/HotWire would have Disney resort rooms available when Disneys own website did not. I recently was on Disney site looking at dates in November and kept getting zero availability (even when trying different days of the month), but I checked Priceline and they had AKL and BW listed for various 4-5 day blocks.

I've read that wholesale sells rooms to third parties in different ways:
- "returnable" inventory, which simply goes back to Disney if the rooms go unsold;
- "unreturnable" inventory, for which the rates are much better but if the third party can't sell the rooms then they're sol and have to pay Disney anyway;
- and probably some hybrid deals.

I believe Expedia (thus, Hotwire) has its own inventory, which at least partially falls under the unreturnable inventory rules. As such, it is in Expedia's best interest to sell them, even if Hotwire is the only way to get rid of them.

It's not unusual for availability to be different through different channels. Even Disney has separate inventory for US, UK, and Canadian bookings. In addition, single night availability does not always match multiple night availability. Last year I could book the same room type at Pop for each night individually but a search for two or more consecutive nights came up as unavailable. Usually they don't like "orphan" nights in the middle of the week to be left unoccupied but last year it was the other way around. Btw Expedia also do this: resorts can show as unavailable for a small number of nights but look for a week and poof, they have rooms.

 

[Master Yoda]

Don't the 12.5% and 13.5% include the county sales tax? I've always paid 12.5% (6.5% sales tax + 6% hotel tax) for Orange county and 13.5% (7.5%+6%) for Osceola (All-Stars).

Both Hotwire and Priceline charge service fees on hidden bookings, so that's why the "tax" is higher. I always add 30% to the base rate in my head when booking with either on

It has always been my understanding that they were seperate, but I am far from an expert on the subject.

 

[lentesta]

So $59 a night/$76 with tax?
That's almost 30% tax, right?
Why so much tax, or what am I missing?

There was some sort of fee in there too.

 

[larryz]

There was some sort of fee in there too.

Surely, someone has a recent invoice or receipt and can share the exact breakout...

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Surely, someone has a recent invoice or receipt and can share the exact breakout...

Lumped in as “taxes and fees” last time we used it (non-Disney.)

Room Subtotal:$104.00
Hotel Fee1:$14.00.
Taxes & Fees:$11.44

 

[Goofyque']

The extra could also be about the cost of parking per night.

 

[disneyflush]

Saw this today and made me think about this discussion. Would be hesitant to book these options if what the poster says is true.

 

[kong1802]

Saw this today and made me think about this discussion. Would be hesitant to book these options if what the poster says is true.

I was hesitant a month or so ago when we got POFQ for $97/night, but it worked out just fine.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if I found a deal like that again.

There's always a "risk" involved, IMO, anytime you book 3rd party.

 

[deeevo]

I was hesitant a month or so ago when we got POFQ for $97/night, but it worked out just fine.

I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if I found a deal like that again.

There's always a "risk" involved, IMO, anytime you book 3rd party.

Yeah, Hotwire and Priceline are always risk's. I was going to pull the trigger last month on a AoA suite for $230 a night but I ended up buying a confirmed Poly reservation from a DVC owner. That actually came out to be $320 night and worked out great. I have always wondered why WDW does not release more FL Discounts and AP discounts on rooms the closer it gets to the stay date. I have seen many times that no AP discount is available but the standard rate is and the stay date is the next day. I would booked a night if the AP rate was there but not for the extra $$ for standard. Maybe they take a lose on the room rates at that point? Who knows...

 

[wannabeBelle]

Saw this today and made me think about this discussion. Would be hesitant to book these options if what the poster says is true.

Marie

 

[kong1802]

Yeah, Hotwire and Priceline are always risk's. I was going to pull the trigger last month on a AoA suite for $230 a night but I ended up buying a confirmed Poly reservation from a DVC owner. That actually came out to be $320 night and worked out great. I have always wondered why WDW does not release more FL Discounts and AP discounts on rooms the closer it gets to the stay date. I have seen many times that no AP discount is available but the standard rate is and the stay date is the next day. I would booked a night if the AP rate was there but not for the extra $$ for standard. Maybe they take a lose on the room rates at that point? Who knows...

You got the better of those deals! AoA for that much still gets me (with the discount)...

Yeah, I don't get the AP/FL discounts at all. The $97 is a rate I got after calling WDW looking for a deal for the coming weekend after not seeing any availability online. They had nothing but POFQ for $231....So I go on Priceline and snag it for $97, makes 0 sense....but I'll take it!

While we had our AP's this last year, we would have made more trips if we could have landed some better hotel rates on site. We'd look up some rates for the upcoming weekend, and if we found a great rate we'd talk ourselves into a weekend visit. If we didn't, we stayed home or went to Uni..

 

[rd805]

As DisneyJoe and Bolt have said, certain rates for Cast members and TA's are fairly constant however the rooms allocated to each might change, I have definitely seen that happen. I have heard that Priceline, Hotwire etc purchase rooms at a wholesale rate and then re-sell them at the rate that is seen online, however that was not from an official source so I cant swear for that one. I dont know if there is an "official" order on discounts and if there is, it is not something that I would know. Sorry Len!! Marie

This is pretty accurate ^^

 

[rd805]

Saw this today and made me think about this discussion. Would be hesitant to book these options if what the poster says is true.

This is also very true -- these websites don't 100% guarantee your space. Too risky IMO.