Problems after getting a Disney deal with Priceline

[biochemgirl]

I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with getting a Priceline Express Deal and then having trouble getting Disney to confirm the resort reservation. Commiseration is great, but practical advice on getting things straight would be great! I don't want to cancel my reservation since I got a great reservation for a resort I want to stay at.

Here are the details, on December 20, I did some research on a Priceline Express Deal and was certain I would get Animal Kingdom villas - Jambo house. I purchased and - Yes!- I got Jambo house. Unfortunately it took a full week for Priceline to get confirmation from Disney and then for me to get the information into MDE. I hastily plugged the confirmation into MDE before leaving to travel and visit family at the end of last week. In my exuberance that I finally had a confirmation I did not notice that MDE said Animal Kingom Villas - KIDANI !! not Jambo. I noticed this last night when I went to get my reservation number so I could add it to my TouringPlans page. My Priceline info definitely says Jambo.

Now I have to decide how to proceed. I really don't want to stay at Kidani as I want to be closer to dining and the main pool. Do I start with Priceline or call Disney? I'm thinking it is Priceline that sold the reservation and they have to fix it?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Watch out. I have seen instances where Priceline has sold rooms that don't exist, and when you show up at Disney, issues occur. I'd be worried about that here.

 

[laurabelle]

I would contact Priceline about it.

 

[laurabelle]

Watch out. I have seen instances where Priceline has sold rooms that don't exist, and when you show up at Disney, issues occur. I'd be worried about that here.

Where have you seen this?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Where have you seen this?

Reddit has had multiple threads on it. Issues linking, the linked room type doesn't match confirmation, show up and they're oversold and they send you to Priceline customer service because it was never a confirmed reservation via Disney...

Priceline may call all of AKL/V Jambo when they are really run of house rooms.

 

[Araminta18]

Just to clarify, Reddit has one thread of one person saying their reservation wasn't honored, and in that case they never got it linked in MDE. Other than that, there are comments of general problems booking through aggregators like priceline, but no real other problems with booking Disney hotels like this, *especially* if you're able to get it linked in MDE. IMO, it would be a bit of an overstatement to say there are multiple threads or it happens all the times. If you can get it booked in MDE, looks like you're good. There are no threads on reddit that I could find of problems with the reservation if you got it linked in MDE.

Of course, what's linked in MDE is what you're likely to get, regardless of what Priceline says.

 

[Jocelynaus]

.

 

[Paulines]

Same here. I did receive a refund+ from PL, but it was annoying. Glad I didn’t book airfare on those particular dates.

 

[P'colaBeachBum]

Caveat Emptor!

It may sound like you got a good deal but now the hassle of getting it squared away may not worth it in the end. Good Luck.

 

[Lewisc]

K bj

I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with getting a Priceline Express Deal and then having trouble getting Disney to confirm the resort reservation. Commiseration is great, but practical advice on getting things straight would be great! I don't want to cancel my reservation since I got a great reservation for a resort I want to stay at.

Here are the details, on December 20, I did some research on a Priceline Express Deal and was certain I would get Animal Kingdom villas - Jambo house. I purchased and - Yes!- I got Jambo house. Unfortunately it took a full week for Priceline to get confirmation from Disney and then for me to get the information into MDE. I hastily plugged the confirmation into MDE before leaving to travel and visit family at the end of last week. In my exuberance that I finally had a confirmation I did not notice that MDE said Animal Kingom Villas - KIDANI !! not Jambo. I noticed this last night when I went to get my reservation number so I could add it to my TouringPlans page. My Priceline info definitely says Jambo.

Now I have to decide how to proceed. I really don't want to stay at Kidani as I want to be closer to dining and the main pool. Do I start with Priceline or call Disney? I'm thinking it is Priceline that sold the reservation and they have to fix it?

YOU SHOULD NOT BOOK THROUGH ANY OPAQUE BOOKING AGENT. There is absolutely no guarantee, even using Canary. I'd be surprised if there is any amenity difference between Kidani and Jambo house. There is absolutely no way you could have been certain you were getting Jambo and not Kidnai.

How to proceed. You got a great resort. A great rate. A resort you should have been willing to accept when you made the purchase. This is a lesson learned. People with very specific requirements should never use an opaque booking site.

edited to add The best you can hope for a refund from PL.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Hope also if this is a family trip you read Priceline only guarantees bed for two people.

My husband and I have done Priceline three times- good and bad experiences ( never Disney though). Twice we had one bed once we had two beds and I asked if one bed available and was told no.

 

[biochemgirl]

Update and clarification. Priceline says we have a reservation at Jambo house, which I'm thrilled with that resort. Disney says we have a reservation at Kidani. I'm okay with Kidani, but I strongly prefer Jambo house and am pushing Priceline to get confirmation from Disney for a Jambo house studio.

I spent nearly 2 hours between chat and phone with Priceline this morning and do not have a resolution. The reps at Priceline confirm I have a reservation at Jambo house and are supposedly making phone calls, etc, to get it straight with Disney.

 

[snappy]

Good luck! I have stayed at both, studio at Jambo, 1 bedroom at Kidani. Sanaa at Kidani is one of top 2 favorites at Disney. It can be a long walk from a savanah room to the bus stops at Kidani. It can be nice parking in the shade under the building at Kidani. The lobby at Jambi is impressive. There’s a great walkout to see the animals outside of Sanaa.

 

[maxiesmom]

Hope also if this is a family trip you read Priceline only guarantees bed for two people.

My husband and I have done Priceline three times- good and bad experiences ( never Disney though). Twice we had one bed once we had two beds and I asked if one bed available and was told no.

Priceline does guarantee there will be beds for everyone. So if for example you book a room for 4 people, you won't end up with 1 bed.

 

[Lewisc]

Priceline does guarantee there will be beds for everyone. So if for example you book a room for 4 people, you won't end up with 1 bed.

PL Express and name your own price only books double occupancy. Booking for 4 requires booking 2 rooms.
Hotwire lets you specify the number of people.

Edited to add. Most rooms in most Orlando hotels have 2 beds. A request for a room with 2 beds is generally granted.

 

[SirDis]

I booked a room for 5 at BC using Priceline - the issues we had were

1.) the reservation uses a Priceline address instead of your address, and
2.) none of the other guests names were included (even though they had to be entered during booking).

This really only caused an issue when using Magical Express. We had to call Disney and get the guest names added and address changed - then they put us through to Magical Express to give all of the correct info needed. We wouldn't have even noticed until we logged in to MDE to confirm Magical Express details.

It was a frustrating learning experience, but it didn't have a negative impact on the vacation. I would do it again to save the amount of money we saved, but I'd be prepared to make some confirmation calls to Disney as soon as I got the confirmation from Priceline.

 

[biochemgirl]

Last week I booked 7 nights at AKL through priceline and the Mydisneyexperience would not accept the number. When I rang Disney about it just now they said it is because there is no availability and Disney will not honour it.

Priceline has not contacted me yet. To make matters worse I added one night they did accept so now I have a random paid for overnight stay they won't refund.

Just an update here and Jocelynouse, I saw on another thread that you got yours straightened out too

I also had someone at Disney tell PL that there was no availability at Jambo and that is why my reservation was moved to Kidani village instead of outright declined. I politely asked the PL rep to please be my advocate and try again to confirm the reservation as it is listed in my PL confirmation. I suggested using words like, "any other options" or "any other room classes that might be available for this reservation". The PL rep I talked with last night was the first one to really advocate for me. She put me on hold and called Disney wholesale again and was able to get me a standard view studio villa. I don't know how one CM could say there was no availability and then 20 minutes later a different CM gets the reservation.

Success! Priceline is more of a pain to book through, but it can work out if you are willing to put in some time.

 

[snappy]

Thanks for posting your strategy and success. I am glad you found a representative at Priceline that was willing to approach Disney. I have only used Priceline once at Disney to stay at the Hilton Bonnet Creek. Your experience is encouraging.

I hope you have a great time at Jambo! Check out the outlook at Kidani on the first floor of the lobby. There are interesting CM’s stationed there from various countries in Africa throughout the day. Going out there to chat is one of my favorite things to do before or after a Sanaa lunch.

 

[Lisa_M]

When I booked CSR through Priceline, I called Disney's customer service afterwards when the reservation number on my email wouldn't go into MDE. I gave them my confirmation number or booking number, I can't remember the exact term and she gave me my Disney reservation number. I linked it in MDE and was all set. She also gave me a website to go to set up DME and I filled out the form. I received my luggage tags this week. No issues. I hope others have the same experience.

OP I'm glad they were able to get your reservation straightened out. I hope you have a fantastic vacation!

 

[dansdad]

I don't know how one CM could say there was no availability and then 20 minutes later a different CM gets the reservation.

Because rooms are being booked and canceled constantly. Room inventory is extremely fluid.