Carrie and Fran catch up with their friend Katie to talk about the ins and outs of solo travel to Walt Disney World. They cover eating alone, people watching and thoughts around safety. If you’re thinking you’d like to try vacationing to Walt Disney World solo – this is the episode for you.
Disneyland Paris & Star Wars Celebration with Stan
It’s all about Disneyland Paris and the Star Wars celebration in London on this episode! Carrie and Fran are joined by their friend Stan (from the Solo Show and the Grand Circle Tour Podcast) and he’s recapping his epic vacation experience!
The Muppets Mayhem was released on Disney Plus and of course the ladies had to review it! With the resident Muppet fan leading the way, Fran had to ask Carrie some questions about this band and their history.
The ladies also cover the recent news from Disney Parks about the dining plan return and how they feel about it all.
Do I need a Disney travel agent to book a Walt Disney World vacation?
I see this question ALL THE TIME online, in every Disney Facebook group this question is asked at least once per week. It’s a great opportunity for every travel agent in the group to pipe in with “I can help” (I’m convinced some of the anonymous posters are in fact agents looking to advertise!). This is also the time where some of the group “experts” weigh in to tell you why you don’t need an agent. With so many conflicting opinions, it is incredibly hard to know what to do, so I’m going to give it to you straight. I’m going to tell you exactly why you should have a professional travel advisor when you’re booking your Walt Disney World vacation.
Before we go ANY further – I have been a travel advisor myself for over 15 years and I own my own agency. Did I write this post to advertise my agency? Nope. This is about providing the facts about planning a Walt Disney World vacation. The advice I’m giving could apply for any PROFESSIONAL travel advisor.
(Please note the caveat is a GOOD PROFESSIONAL ADVISOR. Not one from a Multi Level Marketing agency or an order taker at a big box store – a real travel advisor).
Here are 5 reasons you should have a travel agent when booking your Walt Disney World vacation.
1 The advice you get online is not the same as a professional agent
Sure I’ve heard people say “but I like to do the research myself” and I totally get that. You want to read the reviews, get the opinions and understand what is available, after all – it’s your vacation!
The problem with this is that these ‘experts’ online giving you their opinions vacation the way it makes sense for their family. They are not in the parks looking for details, services or tips that would help YOUR family!
A good travel professional never really gets a ‘vacation’ in Walt Disney World (or anywhere else for that matter). Even when they are there with their families, they are trained to look for things that help their clients – people that may have DIFFERENT needs than their own. Some kids like to sleep in at Disney and maybe yours are early risers – do you want to take tips from the family that don’t get to the park until 2 hours after it opened? What works for them may not be what works for you. When you’re in the Facebook groups or watching the TikToks – you are getting advice based on what they experienced only.
Disneys Port Orleans French Quarter Resort
2 Disney math is hard
Disney is one of the few suppliers that regularly have promotions announced that can be applied to existing bookings. Is the new deal always a better deal? Nope! Is it easy to tell that it’s not? Not always!
With dining card promos, date restrictions and different discounts for different resorts – finding out what makes sense is not easy. Add to that the extensive wait times on the phone to call in and ask – and why would you WANT to do that yourself?
I have personally experienced clients who were convinced by ‘experts’ online that one discount was better than another. In fact in one scenario the client was quite angry that I hadn’t switched their reservation. After a phone call and spreadsheet – they understood that switching would have INCREASED their price by over $400 USD. Every good travel professional has experienced this at least once sadly.
An advisor will let you know if the deal is better for you, if you could change your dates or resorts slightly to make it work or if you already have the best package available. If they need to change your package they sit on hold, work with the systems that don’t always “work” – and they get it done.
3 Picking a resort and tickets isn’t always easy
With all of the Disney resorts on property they have organized them in to categories. Value, Moderate, Deluxe and Villas – and those are just the Disney ones, and don’t forget the campgrounds!
So where do you want to stay? “We’re only in the room to sleep” is the advice I see all the time. For some people the most important thing is to just have a bed, but this isn’t the case for everyone. Transportation needs, restaraunt and food options there is so much to consider. Do you want a pool with a slide? How much time do you want to spend GETTING to the Magic Kingdom in the morning? Do you want a bus that has 4 stops before leaving the resort? Is someone afraid of heights and wouldn’t be able to get on the Skyliner? THIS is all important information when choosing a resort. If someone goes all the time and stays at All Star Music – how would they know about the amenities at the other resorts?
Tickets are another fun thing to explore. Date based pricing, park hopping, water parks and more – how do you decide what makes sense for your family? Sure you can get advice from the group – but I promise that the various opinions will make your head spin!
4 There are new things ALL THE TIME
Walt Disney once said “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world” and that holds true today for all of the Disney parks and resorts.
With the introduction of Genie+ and Individual Lightening Lanes, virtual queues and Magic Bands, it is so easy to get outdated or misinformation.
While new attractions, resorts, room categories and activities add opportunities for fun, they also offer opportunities for disappointment. Imagine telling your kids that you can see the fireworks from your bed only to discover you booked the wrong room category and you are staring at the parking lot? How about telling them they’d have their own ‘pull down’ bed only to arrive and find out you didn’t book the 5th sleeper? Will you get sick on the newest attraction? Are your kids tall enough? What about telling them they’re going to see all sorts of Star Wars stuff only to arrive and realize you didn’t have plans for Hollywood Studios? If you think it can’t happen to you – it can. I hear these stories often, something that should have been an incredible trip was soured by things that could have easily been avoided.
5 You always have control
A good travel agent is there to guide you, but you make the decisions. You don’t give up any of the control. Agents offer advice and information that you may not have known or considered, and it’s tailored to your family. You don’t have to weed through 47 conflicting opinions online to try and decipher what is really important. I hear from clients all the time about things they read online that are simply not true.
As an agent, podcaster and blogger focused on Disney I have heard it all. Stories of booking the wrong hotel, the wrong parks even the wrong STATE! (Grand Californian and Grand Floridian do sound similar, but that didn’t help the man at the check in desk!).
While I may have shared with you some of the more extreme cases of issues, there are many more that are just annoyances that will still impact your vacation. My question is – why take a chance? Why wouldn’t you use a professional travel advisor?
We have all read the horror stories online about a Disney vacation that went wrong. Guests standing at the gates of the Magic Kingdom with their “Universal” ticket wondering why they couldn’t get in, or they are at the park asking for Harry Potter. Maybe it was the family that was very athletic that thought they could walk from Epcot to Animal Kingdom not realizing those were highways on the maps and not walking trails. These might be extreme examples of misinformation – but you get the idea.
I’ve said it before and will say it again, when booking your Disney vacation you should always enlist the help of a Disney travel agent. There are many benefits to booking with them, but now the question is – how do you find a GOOD one? How do you make sure that the agent you’re booking with is a well-versed Disney professional travel advisor? What questions could you ask to make sure they know what they’re doing before you book with them? It would be hard to come up with those questions if you’ve never been, so I’ve done it for you.
6 questions you should ask your Disney travel agent before booking with them
1 When was the last time you visited Walt Disney World yourself?
Walt Disney World is probably the most complicated of the Disney destinations. You might need to arrange Genie+, park reservations, virtual queues and dining. There are 4 theme parks to consider plus water parks, parades, shows, fireworks and transportation options – so many things that can impact your stress level on vacation. If your agent hasn’t been to Walt Disney World in 5 years, how will they know what options are best for your family? Reading online doesn’t put things in to context and sometimes they are completely misinformed opinions. You have to experience the crowds at the Magic Kingdom fireworks in order to tell you a good spot to watch them from! Having an agent who has been to the parks recently they have validated the information first hand – and they’ve focused on things that will matter to their clients.
2 Do most of your clients get the dining plan, memory maker, or hopper pass when they go?
This is a great way to start the conversations that help you understand the experience that your agent brings. They will have not only their own personal stories, but feedback from clients on how these options worked for them. They know where the value is and how to maximize it.
In case you’re wondering – I love the Memory Maker option!
You might feel silly posing, but the pictures are so fun when you see them later!
3 How big is your team and how many of them sell Disney?
Having someone that has other Disney experts on the team will ensure that you have back up in the event your agent is sick or is on vacation when you have a question. It also means they have knowledge to tap in to if they don’t have personal experience on the subject you need. For example – one agent on the team may have a child with allergies that can share that first hand knowledge about the process of eating at a buffet with allergies. If they are a good team, they’re sharing all of that stuff with each other regularly. No one agent will have experience in EVERYTHING Disney has to offer – but a good team will.
4 How much is your service and what is included?
This is a tricky question and an important conversation to have. Some advisors charge fees and some don’t, it depends on the agency and their business model.
What is included in the service? Do they load your reservations in to your Disney account? Provide a consultation with tips and advice? These are examples of things they may or may not include.
Beware of agents that make “guarantees” of certain dining reservations or that they can apply a future promotion to your reservation. False promises are definately a red flag.
5 Tell me a little about your agency
Finding out if the agency has any regulations to follow (in Ontario travel agencies are heavily regulated to the benefit of the clients) is a great place to start. Also asking about the owners, how they provide support to their agents and other destinations do they sell. A good agent is like a good hairdresser – when you find one you like, you stay with them!
Sometimes you will see agencies advertising they are ‘earmarked’ by Disney. While this status is given to agencies – it has NO BEARING on the qualifications or experience of the agent. It applies only to the agency and is based on a combination of sales volume and time. It has no benefit to the client.
The other thing to be leary of are the big box stores (Costco) or ‘order takers’ who don’t build a relationship with their clients. These places traditionally have higher turnover and less access to up to date information. Generally not prepared to assist once the booking is made.
Also a big warning sign is if your ‘agent’ is trying to recruit you to BECOME an agent. Promises of discounted or free travel and all you have to do is sign up and book your own trips – this is an indication of a multi level marketing team and…well….run.
6 The last (and most important) thing you should ask your agent before booking with them is “why do you do it?”
This is such an important question, and you should listen carefully to the answer. A really good agent is professional, dedicated and a Disney fan too! They want you to go and love it as much as they do. That’s the thing about us ‘Disney people’, we get so excited when someone comes back from vacation and says they understand the Disney magic we were talking about. When you find an agent that is a real Disney fan, you can be sure they’re invested in you having the most fantastic and magical experience ever!
We have all read the horror stories online about a Disney vacation that went wrong. Guests standing at the gates of the Magic Kingdom with their “Universal” ticket wondering why they couldn’t get in, or they are at the park asking for Harry Potter. Maybe it was the family that was very athletic that thought they could walk from Epcot to Animal Kingdom not realizing those were highways on the maps and not walking trails. These might be extreme examples of misinformation – but you get the idea.
