Swolphin and AoA Priceline Express Deals

Morning all! I have a new TP blog post out - the Swolphin deals from a few weeks ago expanded and a whole bunch of AoA Express Deals dropped in June.

:fire: Get 'em while they’re hot! :fire:

7 Likes

I peeked at this post and started using Hotel Canary right away. It was pretty cool. THANKS!

However, I’m still ignorant of which “Disney Springs / Bonnet Creek” hotels are considered “on-site” for WDW and get the EMH, transportation end etc… Also, I know you explained it a bit, but I am still unclear on the identifiers that can help narrow down Hotel Canary results should they think it’s possibly multiple places. Help?

I usually book direct with WDW for a package and stay at “moderate” Disney hotels. Would be nice to stay onsite and save a few dollars - maybe allow me to extend my stay.

1 Like

To get started (which you already have, of course) you might want to take a look at James Rosemergy’s TP blog intro on the topic…

If you read my subsequent posts, I try to include a tip or three in each one to help people learn all the variables. You can see them all in a row in these blog search results:

https://touringplans.com/search?q=priceline

I try to structure those tips to mimic how I look through them, so hopefully they are helpful to you. :slight_smile:

If you’d really like to go down the Priceline rabbit hole :rabbit: :hole: you can go through my long-running forum post, where I have tables of cheat sheets with hotel ratings and possible mandatory fees, a link to my simple search page etc.

If that post is TMI, then I suggest you just read my first post (and download my latest reference tables), then read post 41 which has a bunch of additional summary info I put together over time from my work and Liners sharing their experiences.

In a nutshell, you just want to keep track of the hotels that have the same rating as the deal. If Hotel Canary offers several resorts as possible, you can narrow that down by looking for mandatory fees (Disney resorts do not have them), number of guest reviews, location (DS or BC), and the amenities.

Granted, I understand it can take some time to get that all in order in one’s head - which is why I started tracking them last year to see if I could figure out all the angles.

Since the start of the year, Disney resorts have mostly been showing up on Priceline Express only 1 to 6 weeks in advance (unlike last year.) Anything can happen, but I sort of expect them to continue that method of release - but they’ve surprised me a few times know so, who knows?

My tactic when I have a trip will be to book the best resort and rate I can through the usual channels, and as my trip approaches see if PE offers anything better and decide whether to jump to that.

Any questions, let me know! :slight_smile:

1 Like

Thanks!! That’s super helpful! I’m planning my first solo trip and hotel is my biggest expense. That’s the one thing that isn’t cheaper when you go alone. Overall though, I’m used to spending $7K + for a family and I’ve got it down to less than $1,500 for 5 days including airfare / hotel / tickets for just me through a WDW package. If I could save even a few extra dollars with hotel canary I might extend the trip.

1 Like

Pretty cool!

I did a crazy one day trip to MNSSHP last year, was able to do it all-in flying NY to MCO for $385.

If you’re not doing it already, you might want to take a look at my travel rewards post where I outlined my Chase Disney Visa and Barclaycard Arrival rewards for our family trip a few years ago. All told, the full cost of the trip (driving) for our family of 4 should have been $3675, but in reality we spent a fair bit less than $900. (I estimated a little over $1K, but in the heat none of us felt like eating much!)

1 Like

If you already have a room booked, adrs made, and fast passes made, when you cancel the original reservation, are all adrs and fast passes still good or gone?

I know from podcasts (like Backside of Magic) there have been some changed in how things are working, so maybe someone with recent experience can offer info.

But, my guesstimate is that as long as you have an on-site room connected to your profile, you should be good. I would make sure I have the new room linked before I removed the old one.

Anyone else know any gotchas to that theory?