Two things. I NEVER select the sponsored results of a web search. I scroll down until I get to "web results". If someone calls me for credit card info I refuse. I only give out that info to people I contact. It's not foolproof, but it is more secure.
@@philollenberg John and his family are too high class for those scammers. Use magic pixie dust and turn them into static “It’s a Small World” figures and stick on the never ending song ride.
You left out transportation fees. Many non-Disney hotels chatge for their shuttle / bus to the oarks. And require reservations which nay fill up quickly. No resort fees, free parking (resort parking and park parking), free transportation. Some reasons i like staying in Disney.
i drive never had issues, pay premuim parking, everything still comes out cheaper than paying for any disney hotel and def not worth the extra cost except for the special ones like wilderness but maybe once or twice
There's no reason to stay at a Disney World hotel anymore. All the perks are either gone or have been dramatically reduced to the point of irrelevance. You can stay at condos just 4-5 minutes away from the parks for a fraction of the price. We recently stayed at World Quest. 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, full kitchen, balcony, washer/dryer. For 10 days for $1500. You're NEVER going to get a price like that at Disney. Never.
If that’s what works for you then great. I just booked my first trip and chose to stay at All Star Music. It was $124 a night. Pretty freaking reasonable if you ask me. All I need is a bed and a shower. Plus I get to stay in the “Disney bubble” and I get early park entry and free transportation which are the only perks I need. 🤷♀️
We did the timeshare thing several years ago- it was a nightmare. After spending a couple hours, we went to leave and they told us we couldn't get our park tickets we'd been promised because we had no intention in buying. I will never forget the guy saying, "see those police cruisers outside? They are for people who thought they could come here for a free afternoon and get tickets." - the kicker? We'd been poached inside Universal studios with the lure of "no pressure presentation for 2 free 1 day disney tickets " 🫠 as a result I'll never stay at a Wyndham property and tell everyone about what a terrible predatory experience it was.
That’s not right. I went to a presentation, they said 90 minutes. At 60 minutes, I told them they have 15 minutes left, so hurry it up. At 90 minutes, I said no thanks,I want my gift,I stayed the allotted time, now I want my gift and I got up. I got my gift
I don't think closure notices are enough (ie pools at resorts). Rooms should be discounted if you're staying at a resort and the pool is closed. But I wouldn't put it passed Disney to raise room prices for everyone just to make up the difference.
Stayed at a good neighbor resort near DSprings- priceline cost per night? 88$ add resort fees, parking tax- it was closer to 160 a night- just a bit cheaper than the passholder discount at a value- was it worth it? NO- Check the fine print- priceline was not specific about the extra fees😢
Exactly. It's really the same thing as Frontier/Spirit -- low up front, but after all the fees are added, you might as well have booked with the better/more reputable company.
I won one of those "contests" at a festival and theyve called me for the past 3 years trying to get me down there, i almost fell for it at first but my radar went off and i started asking too many questions for their liking.. I call them out everytime but they never give up
@@rb5078 it actually is true (I was a housekeeper back in the day). If there’s no need for housekeeping, the hotel doesn’t want to pay people to sit there and twiddle their thumbs. But then the final cleaning after the guest checks out is DISGUSTING. And takes up way too much time, pulls from other rooms getting cleaned, and delays check-ins for guests who need that room and the others that haven’t been cleaned yet.
I love staying on Disney property, but if you're part of a hotel rewards program you often pay a discounted rate (sometimes MUCH lower than non-members), and of course can use points for most hotels in that program if you have them. But, no matter where you're staying, I always suggest booking direct to avoid any problems.
We always book our trips through Disney directly. We used to use triple A. We have always stayed on property. We are staying this summer for our 16th time at the Wilderness lodge.
"You might just give out your credit card information because it's the middle of the night and you want to go back to sleep and you don't think it through" Yeah, no. Anyone who would do something that gormless shouldn't be living unsupervised. That's incredibly far from normal, even within sleepy brainfart territory. You sound like you need a reality check.
2:33 where's the security or cameras???? every one can walk into Disney hotels and put scampaper on every rooms door😂😂😂😂and people pay 200/300$a night for this no security hotels??👍👍👍👍
Hello. Actually this is not true. Disney will always charge the 100.00 incidental hold to your credit card regardless if you check-in using the app or the front desk
@@AFIDesign I have done it multiple times and have never been charged the 100 deposit. But it has to be while checking in on the day of your stay at front desk.
@@SlythSal Really, wow! I usually go directly to the front desk as well. Maybe there is something coded into your guest profile that prevents you from getting the deposit. I travel once a year and always get the fee. I'm going to start asking them to waive it. Thanks for the tip.
This is a misunderstanding. What they are running is not a deposit, it is an authorization. It's basically pinging your bank to place a hold on funds should the hotel need to charge anything beyond the room and tax (incidentals). This is to avoid running the risk of the card declining at checkout or if a guest leaves with a massive bill or a trashed room. Your bank may not display authorizations the same way as pending transactions. This is a far more likely explanation than a Disney hotel taking no precautions towards loss prevention. Source: worked four years as a front desk agent and auditor.
AJ omg had the frint desk scam happen before to us. And i was thankfully sleep grouchy enough that i said that id deal with it in the morning at the desk in person and juat hung up on them. Come morning at the front desk low and behold no actual issue
I’ve used VRBO each of my last four visits…we’ve gotten lovely 4 bedroom/3 bath HOUSES for two weeks (always within ten minutes drive) for less than $200/night…yes, you need a car rental BUT YOU DONT HAVE TO PAY RESORT FEES OR PARKING FEES!
They're all scams right now. 30 minutes park entry? You can stay at a Hilton (that now looks like the resorts thanks to the detheming) for a quarter of the price. There is no reason to stay at the resorts now
Wyndham is really bad. My mother decided to go for a timeshare and they forged her signature on digital documents to add a second timeshare in Atlanta. 3 years and still having ongoing legal battles.
Respectfully disagree. We were just at Port Orleans French Quarter. While we might have used the pool once, we were still happy to stay for everything else. The rate was around $200 a night, which was a good rate, though not dramatically lower than some other rates we've gotten. It's all supply and demand. As long as people are informed, those who want the tradeoffs of a hotel with construction can choose that location.
@@cg50621Q I’ve stayed at quite a few on property hotels including Port Orleans and $200.00 is an excellent rate. If your pool was closed you still could have used the Riverside pool. My point is if I was not advised that major construction was ongoing or the only pool we could use was closed, I certainly wouldn’t book it unless it was at a discounted rate. Most real life hotels would make up for the inconvenience in one form or another. Not Disney.
@@cg50621Qyes, as always, supply and demand is always at play. If their pool is closed, they should definitely give at least a small discount, however
Booking Shades of Green is very controlled, limited to active service members (veterans have additional restrictions) and therefore highly unlikely to be part of any scam. Those hotel fees, which Disney does NOT add, can add 30,40% or more to the posted room rate.
Shades of Green has bus transportation to the parks - probably added more buses to TTC since walkway was removed. I hate anyone that plays bait-and-switch - which Disney to its credit DOES NOT - adding fees to beef up what looks like a great price - only it isn't.
Will Beach and Yacht Hotels be cheaper during the renovations of the pool? I've never stayed there and always wanted. (I realize cheaper is relative, but wondered if lower demand might translate to slightly lower price.)
This was us last summer. I rented dvc points to stay at the grand and by doing that I completely missed the memo 📝 that there will be major construction 🚧 ugh it was awful. So much closure so much noise so many construction workers….it sucked but it was own fault.
Housekeepers in all hotels (at least in the US) have to enter your room within a certain duration whether they're cleaning or not for safety reasons. Started after the Vegas MGM shootings
@@catellala Yeah, at Disney World though, it is literally everyday, and most times its Disney security that wants to come into your room. At the Grand Floridian when we stayed in September, they insisted. Even though we're DVC members, have been going for years, and have never had a problem. You would think Disney would use a risk based approach, i.e. daily checks of non-DVC members and maybe once every 3 days for DVC members, but no. And trust me it can get annoying when you're trying to get ready in the morning and they tell you "no" they can't come back later. Just something to be aware of
@@sade66119 I have used DVC exclusively every year since they started this and security was never once in my room while I was in it. Had daily "Trash pickup" from housekeeping. Exception was last year at Grand Californian where no one pick up our trash for two days.
I don't know about Orlando or Anaheim, but in Las Vegas not only are the resort fees a part of the hidden cost, but in many hotels those resort fees DO NOT include the price of using the swimming pool! Oh No, if you want to use the pool, that's an ADDITIONAL fee, usually an absolutely atrocious $50 per guest, per day. You read that right, if you have a family of 4 who wants to use the pool, that's going to cost you an additional $200 for just one day... for a flippin' swimming pool! So "resort fees" are nothing of the sort, it's just an excuse to mark-up the cost of the hotel room but try to advertise it at a lower price. It's the number one reason I quit going to Las Vegas altogether because it's a total rip-off. I bring it up because I would be looking into any hotel you are staying at for a Disney vacation to verify if they're pulling that additional fee to use the pool nonsense. And even if the hotels aren't charging this fee yet, I can guarantee you it's probably coming at some point, so always ask before you book.
I work at a hotel (not Disney) and we get guests all the time who book with those scam websites and think they booked directly with us. These websites will offer things at an extra cost such as charging extra for breakfast or for a refundable room. Then they book your room through Expedia. So it is a legit booking, but they’ve charged you for bogus extras or other fees and pocketed that money for themselves.
be mindful if you keep the "do not disturb" sign on your door for more than 2 days when staying at a resort that gets room service every day. i was at the Poly for WDW Marathon weekend and after the 2nd day, the room service supervisor came in to check and see if i needed service or not. so Make sure you also inform the front desk as well if you do use the sign
Disagree about the housekeeping in terms of the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, at least on our experience recently in DVC property. We stayed at Cascade Cabins at Wilderness Lodge and left the Do Not Disturb sign on as we did not want to be disturbed and had some days just hanging around the cabin. We received notices via the telephone for the daily check ins that Disney conducts and had to let a person come in every day.
We had the pizza flyers under our room door this past week. Had a great time reading the owner's responses to reviews calling out the scam. Appreciate you pointing it out; we had no idea until we did our own research
It seems like a scam if a hotel has their pool down or is undergoing construction and doesn't give a significant discount on rates. We have gotten a night discounted on three nights during😊 a skiing trip because the hot tub was not functioning and this is the honest way for hotels to operate, not hiding it in the fine print and saying "aw shucks sorry nothing we can do though"
They did the $100 deposit on our trip and we didn’t know about it and hadn’t factored it in. We told the cast member who was giving us our room keys and they refunded back onto our cards straight away. We never sent anything to the room so it wasn’t an issue and they had our card details so if we did they would just take it off that, so just politely say to the cast member is you don’t want them to hold a deposit
I have a question hopefully someone can help we are going to wdw March 1st we booked a room at vacation village at parkway has anyone been there or know about this hotel. Please help thanks in advance
The hotel is nice, and is part of an RCI timeshare. It is just moments from the parks. My family has stayed there many times. BTY ask for an "A" room. If getting a 2 bedroom unit you get a room number. When you open the door you are in a little foyer with 2 doors, A and B rooms. Both have a separate bedroom, but B side has a small kitchen area and sitting area. A has a regular kitchen, big living room and dining room along with a balcony.
Best way to prevent stress. Is to seek out a travel agent. So many good agency out there that are willing to help first timers and repeating goers that just don’t want to deal with resort research. Like Small World Vacations Flyboy Magical Bookings Simple Magic Travel These agency’s eat breath and sleep Disney. Maybe something to look into if it feels overwhelming.
Just worth noting as someone living in the uk you always have to be careful staying in orlando when keeping money in your hotel room. Cleaning staff may genuinely or 'accidentally' ( i say sarcastically) mistake this money for a tip. My advice is just to keep your money in the hotel rooms safe or with you, its not always a scam but unless your American you may forget that house keeping may expect tips so just be weary
been watching a lot of Disney type reviews and one thing I noticed is my parents must have paid a fortune for our hotel. It was basically a house but on a hotel type property with pools and such
Being DVC members, this is one thing that we no longer experience (except the pizza flyers and the construction). I can honestly say, even if it is your dream resort, don’t stay at a resort under construction. We are the type of family that will use the room throughout the day, if construction is going on anywhere near your room…you can forget that midday nap. We have booked twice when there was construction two floors above us and it was so loud. The first was at Disney’s Yacht Club and we had to ask to be moved because it was deafening. The front desk was extremely accommodating and actually gave us an upgrade (could have also been the five previous bookings at the same resort). The other time was at the Boardwalk Villas and we had to make due as the resort was overbooked (they were even putting people on the same floor as the construction, just opposite end of the building). The only bonus with this room was the view, it was at the end of a hallway, so right outside our room was a window facing Hollywood Studios and the balcony in our room faced the quiet pool. One side got Epcot fireworks and the hallway window got Fantasmic fireworks. Disney trips can be fun, but construction and overbooking or conventions can create headaches.
When is the Cozy Cone pool going to close? This is the whole reason we are staying at that hotel when we go. My boys are sacrificing staying in the little mermaid room for that pool.
I'm a DVC member and love it. I share a contract with my sister. I agree most timeshares are a waste of money but I've always found DVC to be well worth it. I have four kids and my sister has three and we have a great time in WDW in a great resort with transportation to the parks. We usually get a couple of two bedrooms every two to three years for a week. Our annual dues are no more than three night's stay (if I account for three years dues cost), and we stay for 7 nights. And if we turn around and either rent our points, we would pay for the annual dues that year. Plus, if we end up selling our contract, we will at this time get more for our points than we paid for them years ago. But, I definitely agree with you. We also have a Hilton timeshare and it's much more difficult to use and not nearly as worth it for our family.
That pizza flyer gig has been going on for several years. When staying at the Disney resorts, I prefer to order from Domino's because they honor the national coupons, and they will deliver up to 3 am, to the resorts.
It definitely has been going on forever. They must still be getting traction on it because I had a pizza flyer in my room at Saratoga Springs last month!
I completely forgot about the "no more gift card for opting out of housekeeping." That hidden resort fee is quite common as I found out when I stayed in a Pirate Room at Caribbean Beach, often additional taxes. Could also be true for apartments. I stayed at an Extended Stay America on Palm Parkway that CLAIMED it was a Good Neighbor Hotel, but they only had one Crown City Shuttle bus that you had to catch EXACTLY at the right place in the morning and evening (Driver didn't ask where you were staying on the way back, and on the way there they ALWAYS asked, "Going to Disney?"). I found the 350 LYNX route a lot more reliable. I never bothered ordering pizza at the value or moderate, but when I booked a PREFERRED room at All-Star Movies a few years ago, I was on the 3rd floor (101 Dalmatians) and people ran up & down the corridor so much while I was trying to sleep, I thought someone was going to break in - Something that NEVER crosses my mind on property. Funny thing is, Disney did an actual timeshare presentation = free trip bit on a 2-parter for Good Luck Charlie, which is something I've kept with me.
It’s a shame we don’t have better things to talk about like actual new rides or attractions (not retheme of existing) instead of hotel scams. Plenty to talk about over at Universal!😅
then go watch videos on universal. it's not that there isn't anything better to talk about.. this is genuinely helpful and informative for people who have never been.
