It doesn't, but you can get a very good idea of what you are going to get by looking at the lists on Better Bidding. Sometimes you can even figure out exactly what hotel you will get (although Hotwire has fixed that for the most part now).

Honestly, Hotwire and Priceline name your own combined with the Better Bidding site have changed the way I travel. I haven't booked a hotel through a regular site in years, and I get pissed off now when I have to stay in a Comfort Inn or something. I've gotten used to staying at Hyatt, Marriott, etc for similar prices to what I used to pay for shit hotels.

[Edited on March 22, 2011 at 4:51 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2011 4:50:09 PM

I stayed at the Hyatt Place which is just across from Universal and the Doubletree.

Nice hotel, but pricier than what you're looking at.

3/22/2011 4:52:47 PM

OK let me get this straight..
i went to priceline name your own price.. i put in my dates, said i wanted a 4 star deluxe hotel...i said i wanted $30 per night...and it accepted it..

something just doesn't seem right...what's the catch!?

3/22/2011 5:05:36 PM

3/22/2011 5:15:55 PM

^^ It accepted it as in you put in your credit card info and now have a hotel room booked?

3/22/2011 5:16:31 PM

ahhh i see. it just showed me my request
seems risky though. i'd hate to book a crappy hotel

3/22/2011 5:20:50 PM

There isn't really any risk of that though if you stick to 4, 3.5, and 3 star level hotels. I rarely go below that. There is definitely a procedure to use though to get a good hotel. There are some tricks to the system.

For example, if you were to bid on a 3 star hotel in the Orlando - Disney Main Gate/Celebration zone and win, it would almost definitely be (according to Better Bidding) the Holiday Inn Maingate East or Radisson Resort Celebration.

You are limited to one bid on the same zone and star combination over a certain period of time (it MAY be 24 hours but I'm not sure). The key is to start out by selecting only one single zone and one single star level (the highest level possible). Then if you fail in your bid, add your second pick of zones. Repeat that until there are no more zones that you would want to stay in, then add the next star level down.


[Edited on March 22, 2011 at 5:29 PM. Reason : .]

3/22/2011 5:28:00 PM

i doubt my bid of $30 for a 4* would be accepted....i'll try it though

3/22/2011 5:30:02 PM

So I think we decided on 2 parks...1 park each day...
magic kingdom
animal kingdom

is there enough to do at these places to make it a full day?

we weighed our options between universal studios or animal kingdom. i've been to universal but not AK. My wife has been to AK, but not universal.

She really wants to do AK again, and i've never been so i think that's the way it will go.

4/21/2011 7:40:53 PM

Animal Kingdom is cool but there's really not a whole lot there. DinoLand USA may be the crappiest thing Disney has ever done (although I haven't been to California Adventure).

If you go to Animal Kingdom, make sure you go straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris when the park opens, because first thing in the morning is the only time the animals are actually going to be active.

4/21/2011 7:55:27 PM

as far as orlando parks go, here is my order of preference. i haven't been in ~5 years

1. islands of adventure (pre-harry potter, i'm sure its even better now)
2. mgm or whatever it's called now
3. universal studios (pre rip ride and rockit, sure it's better now)
4. animal kingdom
5. magic kingdom
6. epcot

i haven't been to sea world in 12 years so i can't really comment on it, but i remember it being really fun and that was back when they only had atlantis. the shows are excellent.

animal kingdom is really awesome, especially if you've never been. to me, it's probably the most "age neutral" of the disney parks. magic kingdom is probably the most kid oriented in that it's easy to run out of things to do, mgm is prolly the most teenager biased, and epcot is more appealing to people 21+. that being said every park is worth visiting and you really can't go wrong.

honestly, if they have a 2 day park hopper i would do that and hit up all 4 disney parks, especially if you are going on weekdays.

4/21/2011 7:55:32 PM

we thought about the park hopper option, but thought that going to more than 1 park in a day would be rushed and troublesome

we really want to take our time and do everything in each park... i'd hate to rush through one park just to hurry and get to another...
plus we save money by doing 1 park per day
well...except for extra hotel nights....

[Edited on April 22, 2011 at 6:31 AM. Reason : yea]

4/22/2011 6:31:22 AM

You can do all of Animal Kingdom in 1 morning

when I went to Disney in December, we did Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and MGM in one day and we didn't feel rushed at all

4/22/2011 7:31:04 AM

alright.. i'm getting mixed signals..

some other people i talked to said i really needed a full day for animal kingdom...then some folks say half a day... i guess it depends on what i do there... and we are going in june

4/22/2011 9:06:11 AM

Me and my friend who is a lady stayed at the hotels onsite at Universal Studios. We got daily line skip passes to everything. It would have SUCKED if we had to wait in line for everything. The Polynesian luau was also off the heezer tease. Rumor has it that the two twin Polynesian dancer girls pick a couple at the end of the night and have a FFFM 4some sex nite with them. They didn't pick us though. The boat trolleys are a 3 minutes ride to everything.

I was DA BOMB at the Men In Black ride.

4/22/2011 9:27:55 AM

i don't think you need a full day at animal kingdom, and IIRC it closes earlier than the other parks

4/22/2011 9:44:13 AM

if you're just going to do the rides and maybe the major shows at animal kingdom, you can be done well before the place closes. probably done by 1-2 or so. its probably the best looking park though, so if you wanna take your time, do the walking trails, and just sorta chill, it can take a day (usually closes at 5pm since they dont do fireworks because it would scare the animals). it just depends on how you guys pace yourselves at parks.

4/22/2011 9:56:30 AM

The closing time alone is reason enough for a park hopper. Magic Kingdom opens until 10 or 11 I think (Epcot may too), so that's 5 or 6 hours after Animal Kingdom closes.

4/22/2011 10:05:09 AM

When I went to Disney in December, we did Animal Kingdom first. Got there right when it opened at 8am. We were one of the first cars in the parking lot.

Were done at 12p. Saw everything we wanted to see.

Then we went to Hollywood Studios and ate lunch. Saw everything there that we wanted to see. Left there at about 6:00ish.

Went and had dinner at the Polynesian Resort. From there, we went to Magic Kingdom b/c it was open til midnight. Got there right around the time the parade/fireworks were set to begin. So no lines for any of the rides b/c everybody was on Main St. watching the parade. We did all the rides we wanted to do. Left there close to midnight. We were the first car in the Animal Kingdom parking lot and the last car left in the lot (I believe the park closed at 5pm that day)

4/22/2011 10:11:05 AM

Quote :

"1. islands of adventure (pre-harry potter, i'm sure its even better now) 2. mgm or whatever it's called now 3. universal studios (pre rip ride and rockit, sure it's better now) 4. animal kingdom 5. magic kingdom 6. epcot"

If you're a wine and/or food connoisseur, Epcot should be in your top 2nd

[Edited on April 22, 2011 at 10:23 AM. Reason : and if you're not either, then you're no friend of mine]

4/22/2011 10:21:11 AM

^ If you're a wine and food connoisseur, then don't go to Epcot now ... go in the fall during the Food & Wine Festival. Lots of great food and there are special tasting events and cooking events throughout the day.

4/22/2011 10:36:15 AM

Still, if you're locked in to go now, skipping Epcot to go somewhere you have to wait 90 minutes for a Harry Potter ride would be a mistake.

4/22/2011 10:45:31 AM

OK...so i think we will get to AK when it opens...do everything there...and then jump over to magic kingdom..

how long does it take to get to MK from AK? are there complimentary shuttles for that?

hopefully we will have time to do everything at both places

also, the website says you are allowed a backpack with snack items and drinks, etc...
anyone had a problem with that?
do they allow you to take it on the rides?

4/22/2011 11:11:03 AM

Here is a picture of me at the Jaws ride:

4/22/2011 11:16:25 AM

Quote :

"how long does it take to get to MK from AK? are there complimentary shuttles for that? "

10-20 minute bus ride maybe?

there is complimentary transportation between all 4 disney parks. monorail from magic kingdom to epcot, buses between all, and i think there is a ferry between epcot and mgm (that stops at the dolphin/swan hotels in between

4/22/2011 11:39:52 AM

There are shuttles and a monorail

4/22/2011 11:42:58 AM

yea there's buses between AK and MK. probably take longer waiting for it than riding on it. one nice thing about the buses is that you'll skip the ferry/monorail trip to the front gate of MK, so that'll actually save you a little time.

even when its not food/wine festival at epcot, it still has the best restaurants in the parks. there's some good ones in the resorts as well. the other 3 parks are pretty slim pickings in regard to restaurants.

4/22/2011 1:18:38 PM

aimorris, i ended up booking at the comfort suites you recommended! Thanks! The price and ratings were too good to pass up.
When are you going?

4/22/2011 5:34:43 PM

Watch out for these guys if you fly

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/22/news/economy/highest_gas_prices_in_the_nation/index.htm

4/22/2011 6:00:49 PM

so I found out that during the time we will be down there, atlantis will be at the launching pad ready to go...we will be too early for the launch, but it should still be at the lauching pad

for those who went to kennedy, i see they include a bus tour with price of admission. how close do you get to the launch pad? In pictures it looks pretty far away... some launch gantry

then i see that for an addition $20 per person, you can do the "up close" tour that says it will get you "as close as possible" to the shuttle...i still can't find a good picture of exactly how close you get and if it is worth the addition $20

any insight from folks who did this?

5/20/2011 4:11:41 PM

oh didn't see this until now

we're going in the middle of July

5/21/2011 10:37:20 AM

I'm going to Disney for the first time in August and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!! That is all.

5/21/2011 11:47:26 AM

oh and for the kennedy tour, I think we just did the standard tour and you're pretty far away from the launch pad. Can't remember what the "up close" one gets you.

5/21/2011 2:41:41 PM

So I've been doing some research...

If we add Kennedy to our agenda, it will be an additional ~$90 or so for admission and all that jazz....all i really care about seeing is the launch pad and atlantis on the pad...
i did some looking online and it appears that you can go to nearby Playalinda beach on the cape canaveral seashore and you can see the launch pad from there....
that would save me some money and achieve the same goal...
they said launch pad 39b is only a mile from the southern tip of that beach and 39a (the one atlantis will be on) is a little further..

anyone had experience with this?

5/23/2011 6:39:17 PM

I'm going to Disneyworld Saturday and we have 2-3 days for the 4 Disney parks. I have never been to Disney before so I'm clueless on what's actually in each park. So out of the 4 (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom) which are the 2 MUST-DOs and why?

FYI, we are definitely going to the 2 Universal parks on 2 other days so don't bother with those. Thanks!

8/4/2011 3:56:59 PM

whatever MGM is called now is my favorite. tower of terror, rock n roller coaster, and muppet vision are probably my 3 favorite disney things in orlando.

also, it looks like they finally updated star tours

8/4/2011 4:24:16 PM

I love Muppet Vision 3-D

I will never get too old for that

8/4/2011 4:30:09 PM

We went to Hollywood Studios/Magic Kingdom a few weeks ago and it was my first time going there too.

I can't speak to the other two obviously but I think Magic Kingdom has to be a "must-do" because it's the most Disney of all of them. Splash and Space Mountain are both good rides, plus the castle and fireworks and all the Disney characters are there in parades and shit. Their dining choices suck though. The Monsters, Inc Laugh Factory was surprisingly good, I'd recommend that.

Hollywood Studios is okay, I guess, but I kind of wished we had gone to Epcot instead. Tower of Terror is pretty awesome though so it's hard to tell you to pass on it completely. The Star Tours was kind of a letdown so I wouldn't pick HS just for that. Indiana Jones thing is kind of lame, we didn't do the stunt show, the Little Mermaid show is nice, the Toy Story line is a ridiculous wait and not worth it (or really worth fast-passing). Muppets 3-D was definitely cool. It just seemed like we ran out of stuff to do kind of early in the day (like 3 or 4) and we just did stuff because we were killing time until the Fantasmic show at 8.

8/4/2011 4:46:25 PM

It depends on what you like to do. I work for Disney, so feel free to ask me any and all things Disney.

Personally, I prefer Hollywood Studios and Epcot, as they're the most adult-centric locations. Go to Hollywood Studios first and ride all the rides. The rides at Hollywood Studios are the most exciting, high-energy. Then, switch gears and drink around the world at Epcot. I also LOVE IllumiNations, the light show. Great way to end the day.

However, if you're traveling with kids, you may want to do Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, which are the most kid-centric. Animal Kingdom should be first, as the animals are most alert in the early morning hours. Then Magic Kingdom for fun rides and fireworks over Cinderella's castle.

Anyway, I'm an "expert" on the subject, so feel free to ask me about the Disney parks, resorts and vacation products.

[Edited on August 4, 2011 at 4:56 PM. Reason : e]

8/4/2011 4:56:02 PM

What do you do for Disney? I've always wanted to work there! But they don't often hire first year attorneys straight out of law school!

8/4/2011 5:07:56 PM

I'm a writer.

8/4/2011 5:18:56 PM

Awesome!!

8/4/2011 5:19:58 PM

It doesn't suck. I'm actually supposed to finishing law school right now, but have deferred enrollment for the past 3 years because my job is fun. And I've been told that I'd probably take a pay cut as an attorney.

Writing for Disney is a sweet gig. I basically get paid to play in the parks and on cruise ships.

Sorry for getting off-topic.

I would also agree with the poster who said that you should go to Magic Kingdom for the most quintessentially Disney experience. Magic Kingdom is awesome. In summers it tends to be a bit crowded because the kids are out of school and at the parks, but it's still an extremely special place.

8/4/2011 5:30:18 PM

on a random-ish note... 18 days til my disney vacation

8/4/2011 5:31:29 PM

Heck yeah! Email me so we can coordinate plans. Are y'all staying on-property?

8/4/2011 5:35:24 PM

yup

port orleans. we get in monday don't leave til sunday. i'll definitely send you a note

8/4/2011 5:36:39 PM

Next question: are the characters you can meet in every park or just in Magic Kingdom? I need to meet Mickey real bad haha!

8/4/2011 5:41:04 PM

Woo!

And yes, Disney Characters are at all of the parks.


For more info about Character Greetings, visit:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/search-results/?searchString=character+greetings


[Edited on August 4, 2011 at 5:47 PM. Reason : d]

8/4/2011 5:44:19 PM

i just downloaded an app for the trip (yes i'm a dork) and it shows wait times and has a gps enabled map.

i was kind of hoping it'd show character appearances (for the kids of course) but no

8/4/2011 5:48:59 PM

^Ahhh! What's the name of the app? I will make my bf get it on his phone!

8/4/2011 5:51:38 PM