Disneyland Without Kids

If you’re up for some real serious deal hunting (these days who isn’t) consider this last method for getting a discounted room which really can save you lots more. Lots lots lots lots more. And no this isn’t an advertising plug… we really use Priceline, really get hotels like the Hyatt and Hilton for $50 a night and that’s real savings.

Priceline is the true bargaining tool in the hotel world and can save you a ton and get you a great location… although not every hotel is available through it. If you’re not familiar with the concept, Priceline is basically a middleman with direct access to hotel extra inventory. They know the absolute lowest price the hotel is willing to take for a room you get to bid against that rate with Priceline making money by charging you a fee and taking the difference between your bid and the actual rate.

When the service first started there was a lot of pushback from people we knew who didn’t want to be seen as cheap and some hotels would award “bad” rooms as well. That’s since changed as more and more people use this sort of option especially for last minute travel. In dozens of Priceline booked stays to Disneyland and other locations no one has given us an evil eye about things, in fact we’ve even moved some reservations around at the Hyatt despite being in the “no changes allowed ever” booking class. Remember, an empty room loses money; a room at a very low rate covers the bills so hotels want to sell out.

There’s entire websites devoted to how to bid on Priceline which you can find in the resource center so won’t get too detailed here. But the basics are this…

1. Pick your star level (see: this list of Priceline hotels and star levels),
2. Put a low bid in ($50-$60 a night) and let the magic start.
3. If you get rejected you can try rebidding different dates, star levels or using free bids to go again.
4. If you really strike out just wait 24 hours and try again.
5. When you win, and most of the time you will win, you get assigned a hotel in the star class.

And you don’t have to wait till the last day for Priceline to get you a deal (although that’s fairly common usage). Hotels forecast inventory well in advance and can start discounting months early if they’re afraid of being too empty.

Finally since we get a lot of questions on Priceline we’re going to be very clear on the downsides. Priceline lets you select a general area but makes no guarantee as to which hotel you get. If there’s a place you don’t like that’s 4 stars you can’t opt out of getting in there if you select 4 stars. Priceline also isn’t great about star ratings and people that book lower classes are sometimes not happy with where they get stuck. You also can’t select things like window view, can’t ask for a handicap room in advance or to be near the elevator (well you can ask for all that at checkin time or after your reservation but it’s not guaranteed). For all these reasons we always suggest bidding towards the top of the ladder and why not…

We’ve scored the Hyatt and Hilton for $50 bucks a night and while somewhere else may be a bit cheaper that’s still a lot less than you’d pay for most 2 star motels calling directly.

Ready to bid? Visit this Priceline page to name your own price. Enter Disneyland, CA as your search area and start with a bid of $50 for a 3.5 star hotel. Let us know how it works out!