Priceline Express Deals for Disney World Hotels
You can successfully “guess” which on-site Walt Disney World resorts are discounted via Priceline Express Deals with these tips to score a great deal. This covers how to save money on Orlando, Florida hotels with hacks & matching tricks. (Updated August 14, 2025.)
Priceline Express Deals are similar to the popular “Name Your Own Price” feature or bidding on hotels based upon amenities and a general area. You can score a deep discount on a great hotel (or not-so-great one, if that’s more your style), but the tradeoff is that don’t know the name of the hotel until you pay. In other words, it’s a surprise…but like children snooping under the Christmas tree, there are certain ways to ‘spoil’ that surprise!
Hotel chains, including Walt Disney World, do this to dump unsold inventory at the last minute while concealing to the general public that they’re unloading rooms at such a cheap rate, which might tarnish their brand or irritate guests who paid significantly more. Let’s start by taking a look at the current Priceline Express Deals for Walt Disney World…
At their best, Priceline Express Deals offer deep discounts of up to 60% off, not just a “deal” of 10-15% off a room-only rate. We’re talking $60 per night or less for Values, ~$100/night for Moderates, and ~$200/night for Deluxe Resorts. We primarily focus our searches to Priceline here (which often has more availability), but the below deals occasionally can be replicated via Hotwire Hot Rates with the same strategy.
Inventory Update: Fall 2025
Three years ago, discounts dried up at Walt Disney World. There was absolutely nothing in the way of Priceline Express Deals or Hotwire Hot Rates for Disney-owned resorts from September 2021 until Spring 2024. That was the longest Walt Disney World had gone in recent years without dumping any unsold inventory onto Priceline.
In retrospect, it shouldn’t have been surprising. It was the time of revenge travel and pent-up demand. It was just a sharp contrast to the abundant deals that had existed for the prior year-plus during the slow phased reopening era when travel had grinded to a halt. For the next year, not only were discounts difficult to score, but so too were full-priced room reservations. That was driven by a confluence of circumstances, from strong bookings for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary to not all hotels being open or operating at 100% capacity to staffing shortages.
Then Priceline Express Deals returned in full force for about 6-8 months and then…nothing. It’s been almost a full year since we’ve seen anything, and we’ve been looking fairly regularly. So unless a stray sale slipped through the cracks, these Priceline Express Deals are the first big batch since last December.
The latest update is that we’re seeing the best availability for late August through early October 2025 via Priceline Express Deals since roughly 2021. Here’s a list of resorts we’ve been able to reverse engineer:
- All Stars
- Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Art of Animation Family Suites
- Coronado Springs
- Grand Floridian
- Wilderness Lodge
- Yacht Club
Notably, I could not find any listings for BoardWalk Inn, Port Orleans Riverside, Old Key West, or Saratoga Springs. These resorts have become ‘staples’ of deep discounts direct from Walt Disney World in 2025, so I’m mildly surprised to see different entries via Priceline Express Deals.
These are discounted dates available for each of these hotels the week before Labor Day through the first week of October 2025. They are not all consistently available for uninterrupted stretches–most only have a few days or even a single night at a time. I only did a couple of multi-night searches (in fact, that’s how I stumbled upon Coronado Springs–looking for a stay in between DVC dates before Labor Day). In general, I’m only spot-checking availability as the process for this is tedious, but it looks like there are pretty good options!
Here’s a look at two consecutive WDW resort listings I found on the night of September 10, 2025:
As always, the simplest way is to compare the ‘blind’ listing to the ‘naked’ one on each site. Pull up two browser windows and flip back and forth between them. The giveaways are normally the location (Bonnet Creek or Disney Springs), hotel class (3-4 stars), score (8+), and number of reviews.
The new-to-me curveball that Priceline is throwing with most of these bookings is that they’re not listing the score and number of reviews. Those used to be my favorite ‘peace of mind’ features before making the plunge. Fortunately, in both of these cases, the strikethrough prices of $553 and $414 per night are identical to Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge on the standard Priceline site.
Here’s how the naked listings look on regular Priceline for September 10, 2025:
It also helps that Wilderness Lodge is referred to as a ‘lodge’ even in the blind booking (same is true for Animal Kingdom Lodge). It’s still tough not having those review counts and scores–hopefully those return at some point, as plenty of listings still have them.
You might find dates deeper into October or beyond if you’re curious. However, I was finding limited savings on reservations beyond this month and next, so I stopped looking. My guess is that the heart of Halloween and the holiday season will be much more limited (that’s an informed guess, given what we’ve seen with direct discount availability and what the company said on the recent earnings call about bookings outpacing last year by ~7%).
Even in the case of Wilderness Lodge above, it’s tough to justify the potential risk, however limited, to save $25. Especially when that’s significantly more expensive than the prevailing Passholder rate (or even the general public discount). That’s something worth underscoring–Priceline Express Deals are not always the best discount, so be sure to comparison shop!
It’s not a huge surprise that we haven’t seen a return of Priceline Express Deals up until now in 2025. There were scorching savings for Disney+ subscribers this summer, and that coupled with ticket deals resulted in the cheapest Walt Disney World trips since at least 2019. More recently, there was the (transparent) Priceline ‘Happiest Price on Earth’ Sale.
Looking forward, Walt Disney World is now offering aggressive deals to Florida and Georgia residents for November and December 2025. These direct deals, whether they’re targeted at Disney+ subscribers, Disney Visa Cardholders, Annual Passholders, or Southerners, are a lot savvier (in our view) than dumping inventory into Priceline Express Deals.
In any case, we wouldn’t be surprised to see more Priceline Express Deals between now and early November 2025. After that, the deal faucet will likely be closed and there will be another lengthy dry spell. Occupancy is high during the holidays, with January and February quietly becoming two of the year’s busiest months for resort reservations. Then there’s Spring Break after that.
Suffice to say, if you’re looking for deals beyond October 2025, you might want to look at more conventional booking options. It’d surprise us if Priceline Express Deals continue (at least to this degree) beyond what was just released. That is, unless there’s a recession or travel slowdown in 2026. Otherwise, what we’re seeing now is likely unique to the early fall off-season.
For those keeping score at home, I dug into the DTB Archives and found that all of the other resorts also had Priceline Express Deal availability in 2021, which was the last time options were really good:
- Wilderness Lodge
- Old Key West
- Grand Floridian
- Fort Wilderness Cabins
- Caribbean Beach
- Pop Century
In addition to Disney-owned hotels, here are the third-party options on-site that you might find on these opaque booking sites…
Another option that regularly appears on Priceline Express Deals is the Swan & Dolphin Resorts. Keep in mind that there’s also a mandatory resort fee, so what you see is not the final price–but both of these resorts still tend to be far cheaper than anything else in the Crescent Lake area.
One thing worth noting here is that you can often book pretty good savings directly via these resorts if you have any kind of affiliation at all, and that includes being a Marriott Bonvoy member. See Deals at Disney World’s Swan & Dolphin Resort in Late 2025 & 2026. I can’t recall ever booking a Priceline Express Deal at the Swolphin for this very reason.
We do book the Swan & Dolphin often for a few reasons, though. They’re within walking distance of both Epcot and Hollywood Studios–perfect for rope dropping Slinky Dog Dash before going back to the pool for a mid-morning break. For the most part, Swan & Dolphin guests have similar advantages to guests staying in Disney hotels. They even offer access to Extended Evening Hours, which Moderate and Value Resorts don’t even offer!
The JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa is also a frequent fixture of Priceline Express Deals. We reviewed this new on-site hotel and gave it generally favorable marks.
The one big thing it lacks as compared to other luxury resorts near Walt Disney World (including other Bonnet Creek properties) is a sprawling pool and lazy river. While the JW Marriott is perfectly family-friendly, it’s not catering to kids like some of the other hotels in the area.
There are usually also scattered options at Disney Springs. We don’t do extensive research into these, but the usual suspects are as follows: B Resort & Spa (soon to become Marriott Renaissance), DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando, Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, etc. We have Hotel Rankings for the Disney Springs Resort Area if you need further resources to help you choose one of those properties.
We’ve also seen availability at Flamingo Crossing, which is about a 10-minute drive from Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. These hotels are pretty attractive because they’re all brand-new.
Keep in mind that Priceline Express Deals inventory changes frequently, meaning you might find hotels we didn’t list if you search later today or next week, and you might not see what we’ve found. We’ll keep you posted as we continue to scour Priceline for new Express Deals! For now, here’s everything else you need to know about booking these discounted rooms…
How to Book Priceline & Hotwire Deals at WDW
For starters, Hotwire and Priceline Express Deals really can amount to substantial savings at Walt Disney World–that’s not just marketing fluff. Priceline advertises the service as offering savings of “up to 60% off” but we’ve saved more than that on Deluxe Resorts (and, to be fair, significantly less than that on others).
In fact, for a few weeks around our stay at the Poly, during which we received a free upgrade to the King Kamehameha Club Level, the Polynesian was under $300/night via Priceline Express Deals…and the rack rate ‘value’ of our room was over $800/night. Obviously, that’s an extreme example with tremendous luck involved, but even “just” 60% off is not uncommon.
With the reward of substantial savings comes risk. Priceline Express Deals is a “semi-opaque” booking site, meaning certain details and amenities are revealed in advance, but not the hotel name. Fortunately, those details narrow things down considerably, to the point that internet sleuths have made the process pretty predictable for anyone willing to do their homework.
Of course, there still are no guarantees. You’re locked in to a non-refundable hotel before knowing the exact property for sure. That means there is some risk and uncertainty inherent to the process. It’s certainly not for everyone. Another drawback is that these deals are mostly last-minute. Walt Disney World hotels are typically added to Hotwire or Priceline’s Express Deals around 1-2 months prior to travel dates, sometimes a bit longer.
Finally and along those lines, Priceline Express Deals are offered to fill unsold rooms. If you’re trying to book a Christmas stay, you’re unlikely to have success. You’ll have a tough time finding good rates for multi-night stays during peak tourist seasons; the best options tend to be short, weeknight stays in the off-season.
It should also be noted that the ‘hacks’ for revealing hotels are constantly in flux. Internet deal spotters have been great in helping to uncover which hotel corresponds with which amenity sets and descriptions. Unfortunately, Priceline (and other bulk wholesaler sites) are always one step behind, meaning that successful strategy for uncovering a deal might work one day and stop working the next.
The best options for narrowing hotel choices yourself is deselecting each “Neighborhood” except “Walt Disney World – Bonnet Creek” and “Walt Disney World – Disney Springs.” Every official Walt Disney World resort is located within those areas on the Priceline map.
Additionally, Walt Disney World hotels will have an amenity set of only Free Internet Access, Restaurant, and Swimming Pool. To my knowledge, this amenity set is a recent change (and inaccurate as compared to what WDW resorts actually offer).
In terms of star rating, Values are 3-star, Moderates are 3.5-star, and Deluxes are usually 4 or 4.5-star.
The big bummer is Priceline’s removal of the one-line descriptions, such as “enjoy jazzy evening entertainment at this well-designed resort” for Port Orleans French Quarter. These were the decisive ‘clue’ in determining which hotel you were booking. With the description, accuracy was 100%. The Hotel Canary extension no longer works, which is another big blow.
Now, you’ll need to do a bit more legwork to match hotels on your own. Consequently, the confidence rate is far lower. You’ll want to match up the following:
- Number of reviews (rounded up or down)
- Guest ratings (rounded off)
- Rack rates (the pre-discount price vs. discount price, also rounded off)
- Other clues in conjunction with the amenity set and location.
Basically, this means comparing the normal Priceline listing for a particular hotel with the listing. If you aren’t comfortable doing this on your own, resources like BetterBidding.com can help–but even then, know that you’ll be rolling the dice a bit.
Here are some observations I’ve noticed while searching. First, Moderate Resorts are pretty common, but Coronado Springs is the most prevalent, especially outside of peak convention season. While prices fluctuate highly based upon season and occupancy rates, I’d say a “good” rate for a Moderate is $150/night or less.
Second, the Deluxe Resort you’ll see most frequently is Animal Kingdom Lodge, with rates in the neighborhood of $200 to $300. Other Deluxe Resorts have appeared on Priceline Express Deals. I’ve seen almost every single one, including the Polynesian and Grand Floridian. I’d say Yacht Club–another convention hotel–is probably the most common after Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Finally, Value Resorts also have appeared on Priceline Express Deals with some degree of regularity, with options including the Art of Animation Family Suites and All Star Sports (Movies and Music have been less common). Of all resorts, the All Stars appear most commonly, and we’ve seen them for prices as low as the mid-$70 per night range. However, that was also several years ago–and prices have shot up since then!
Overall, Priceline Express Deals is a great option for saving a lot of money on Walt Disney World hotels, but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. It’s no longer the ‘sure thing’ that it once was, but with a bit of legwork, you can narrow down the possibilities and still have a high degree of certainty before booking.
If you’re willing to gamble and don’t mind the possibility of getting a third party hotel like the Dolphin or Wyndham Bonnet Creek (both great options that are on par with Walt Disney World Deluxes), we’d highly recommend using Priceline Express Deals for savings that are far superior to room-only discounts directly from Disney.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Have you tried any of these hacks or tools to book on Priceline Express Deals? Any other strategies you use? If you’ve used it, what’s the best rate you’ve scored? Do you agree or disagree with our advice? If you’ve yet to book, any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I get all the way to the booking page and once I press Canary it says “Looking for hotels,…wait a few seconds” but never loads. Has any one else had this issue or am I doing something wrong?
Hasn’t worked in quite some time. We don’t expect it to every work again.
Ditto here.
I’ve been having the same issue for the past few weeks.
Same, deleted the extension and added it back but still doesn’t work anymore. 🙁
If you book one of these Priceline deals for a WDW Resort property, are you still qualified to book a bounceback deal?
@Shawn, yes–as long as you do it DURING your stay and are in an actual Disney resort, not a Disney neighbor resort (or whatever they are called).
So if we book a hotel within either the “Walt Disney World — Bonnet Creek” or “Walt Disney World — Disney Springs” neighborhoods, is it a sure thing that we’ll be able to change our room reservation from 2 people to 4 people to include our kids after we book the room? I understood the deals to only be available if you choose 2 people in your party. Booking a room for 2 and not being able to change it to 4 is pretty much a deal-breaker for us.
I’ve used the Priceline Express deal several times, for both a couples trip as well as family trips. In every instance, I’ve been able to call Disney after getting my reservation number and tell them that our daughter is coming with and the room is for 3 people. I’ve never had an issue and never been asked to pay extra or anything like that. One thing to note, when you call Disney and give them your reservation number, they will see it’s a Priceline room and transfer you to a different area but once there, they should be able to add your kids to the reservation. If not, you can always try the hang up and call back trick 🙂 good luck!
IT IS NOT GUARANTEED. Priceline specifically states with each deal the following: “All rooms will accommodate up to 2 people. Requests for bed types (King, Queen, 2 Doubles, etc.) or other special requests (including preferences for smoking or non-smoking rooms) should be requested through your confirmed hotel and cannot be guaranteed by Priceline.“
Look for On site resorts with bed choice. You need to avoid getting a King room and being over capacity. We booked Caribbean beach and had a choice of 2 Queens, 2 Doubles or 1 king. I knew we could add our children to the Queen or Double room without an issue. We booked Queens and called in and the children were added without a charge. If you were adding a 3rd or 4th adult, you would have a charge.
Any idea if there is a Disney Springs hotel with an airport shuttle?
When searching priceline express, I’m entering 2 adults and 4 children. I’m getting results, but no description of occupancy. Should I trust that the results will fit that many in the room?
Priceline Express Deals only guarantee that you will have a room that will fit TWO people. See if the resort you are considering offers a room with just one king bed. If it does, you may get that room and you will NOT be able to add your kids. Unfortunately, you won’t know for sure what type of room you get until after you book.
looking for thoughts/opinions/advice…
if a hotel is in bonnet creek or disney springs and has no resort fee is it 100% a disney property or are there other resorts that have no fee or will waive it on an express deal?
I thought that was a good indicator that it will be a Disney-owned hotel, however I’m just guessing here.
No it is not a guarantee-the area described as Disney Springs especially is quite broad..
Does anyone know if once you book, you can use Disney Gift Cards to pay? I have lots of them!
You cannot use Disney gift cards. Your contract is with Priceline; not Disney.
So do I have to use the hotel canary to see the actual hotel I’m booking? We have one night in November we can’t find a room for during our stay. Thanks!
I have heard (and noticed when I play around with the site) that the hotels on property never stipulate that kids can stay free, which the Disney Springs area hotels always say, so if you book a hotel in the Bonnet Creek area hoping to get an on-property hotel, but it doesn’t say kids stay free, you might get there and be assigned a room with a king-size bed and not be allowed to stay there with your kids. If this is true, I think it should be added to your article.
Bethany,
Is HC currently working for you? I consistently get “There are no hotels matching your criteria.” I used it last month just fine.
Same here. It could be related to a recent Chrome update. I haven’t gone to the trouble of trying to downgrade. For me, resort fees can be very good indicators.
Anyone had this fixed yet?
I compare amenities and resort fees. I’m not getting any lists of hotels at all with HC. Just that one message about nothing matching.
Im having the same problem! very frustrating
I’ve been consistently looking for 10/17 for one night and all I keep getting is:
“Looking for hotels…. wait a few seconds
There are no hotels matching all the criteria”
There are not any express deals for Bonnet Creek and only 3 for Disney Springs. It’s getting frustrating. 🙁
Thanks so much for all your help. I kept looking for an express deal for a last minute trip but never saw one that looked like Disney property. Finally, two days before, I got AofA room for 80/night! I took my son on a last minute trip just to take advantage of extra, extra magic hours you have been raving about. It was perfect and lowest crowds we have experienced in a long time! Thanks again for all your advice and tips!
Are there any express deals for the Disney properties at Disneyland? Can you use the same strategy? We’re trying to stay at the Disneyland resort hotel- but it’s $450-550 a night. Thanks
I haven’t seen any of the 3 Disneyland resorts on Priceline (possibly oncecat a high price). I see the Great Wolf Lodge often for about $120 and some great deals on some of the good neighbour hotels as well.
We just used express deals on our trip this week. We checked out of Pop Century on Friday and stayed at the Hilton Orlando Buena Vista near Disney springs last night. I do believe they have renovated the rooms since your review bc our room looked completely different. We enjoyed how close of a walk it was to DS(the closest of the area hotels I believe), the pool, Starbucks, free movie rental, outdoor hammocks, and relaxing atmosphere. For $130 we’d do it again!
Thanks Tom! I just booked Oct 28-Nov 1 on Priceline express and I got AoA for $72/night!! I checked afterwards, and those same rooms were going for closer to $200/night on Disney’s site! Thanks for your hints. I was able to use them to determine which was the Disney hotel
What did you see that convinced you it was a Disney hotel?
I’ve been looking for oct 26-29. But it hasn’t gone well. There also seems to be a Disney Springs hotel that offers an airport shuttle. Which hotel is this?
Want to help me find an ‘on property’ deal for Sept 18-21?
I just had to come sing praise on this post! And your other saving tips! For a little back story, my whole family is going to Disney Sept 18-23. My middle brother who is, the worst planner I have ever encountered, just decided he would join us. The rest of us all booked Disney’s free dining promo for Coronado Springs. Our trip costs came out to $2,500 for two adults per package. My brother Mr. Last Minute just booked his trip (hotel and tickets) for $1,300!!! Mind you, he did this so last minute that only the Disney Springs hotels were available through the Priceline express deals. He’s still staying at the Wyndham in Disney Springs instead of Coronado Springs but for a $1,200 savings who cares! There is no way my husband and I are eating $1,200 worth of food on this trip (although we’re surely going to try). But I can guarantee for our next slow season trip we will be using Priceline Express Deals and Under Cover Tourist. I’m completely floored at the difference and thank you so much for these tips!
You are going to love Coronado Springs! The rooms are awesome. There are definitely perks for staying on property which you don’t get if you stay off property like the Magical Express and the bus service, which I have been told is going to be eventually used for resort guests only. Have a great vacation!
I’m patiently waiting for something to pop up around Sept 20. Any ideas when that may be?
I was seeing Coronado for $116 in the past week for Sept. 8-11. Tom says they generally post the rates 2-3 weeks before. Last year there were really good deals in Sept., but this year is different! Hope you find something good!
Just tried Priceline again without good results. Looking for October 11-13, 2019.
Columbus Day weekend. Lots of northern schools have a fall break that week, so the parks are crowded. Not a good weekend to find a deal, unfortunately.
Just booked Coronado Springs for $125/nt 8/22-8/24. Thanks so much for the tips!!!