Booking Disney?

[lifesgr8]

Is there an advantage to booking a Disney vacation through a travel agent instead of contacting Disney directly?

 

[aaarcher86]

Is there an advantage to booking a Disney vacation through a travel agent instead of contacting Disney directly?

It's really just dependent on your preferences.

Some travel agencies have better deals than Disney is offering as incentives. Lots of times they just get the same deals.

With a travel agent - they own your reservation, so everything will need to go through them. You will not be able to call Disney and change or discuss your reservation. Your travel agent SHOULD stay on top of deals for you and keep fighting for the best price. Most are great - some are duds.

Booking with Disney directly you have access to your own reservation. Disney is available every single day of the year from 7a - 10p on the phones. Travel agents/agencies often have operating hours. If something happens and they're closed, you're out of luck. For example: AAA is closed on the weekends... if you had an emergency on Sunday and needed to cancel you would have to wait until Monday because AAA would have to do that for you. If Sunday was your last day to avoid fees, your SOL (unless the agency would eat it, but doubtful). Again, just an example... but something to consider when deciding on you want to plan your vacation.

 

[bigbabyblues]

The TA will do the leg work for you. They will do the calling or online booking, you shouldn't have to be the one waiting on hold, etc. Make sure if you use a TA, you find one that is a Disney specialist. Be aware, if you book through a TA, Disney will not talk to you about your reservation, because the TA "owns" it until you check in. Example would be if you want to change resorts or a discount comes out, and the TA doesn't gake care of it in a timely manner, there isn't anything you can really do. I don't think it is common for people to have issues like that with good TAs, just something to be aware of.

We haven't used a TA for Disney, but with our schedules, one of us has time to make the calls to Disney, and we don't mind doing our own research. I have seen plenty of threads here of people who were happy with the TA they used.

 

[Robbi]

A good TA will automatically apply any new discounts to your reservation. If you don't have a TA, you have to watch for codes yourself.

I'm not good about allowing anyone else to do my planning. For instance, if I want to make my own ADRs or say I've made a couple that need a time change, I can do it myself. If I go through a TA, I would have to call them and by the time I get someone, the new reservation time I need might be gone.

 

[mickeynut1]

Using a TA is a good idea if you don't have the time and/or don't want to take the time to book your trip, look for discounts, etc. A good TA will be on the lookout for discounts and automatically apply any discount to your reservation should it qualify. On the other hand, if you enjoy getting quotes, looking for discounts, etc., using a TA would not be necessary. As the pp said, once in awhile certain agencies will offer agency exclusive deals, but most of the time, what at TA can get you is available directly through Disney on your own. It's all a matter of personal preference. I prefer to book on my own as I like to have control of my reservation and be able to to make any changes anytime instead of going through someone else to do that for me.

 

[lovingeire]

Most of the above is true, however you can still access your reservation online and make your own ADRs if you chose. It's up to you how much or how little control you want.

 

[Sue M]

My first few trips I used an authorized Disney Vacation Planner TA. I wouldn't use a regular TA to book a wdw trip. Only one who specialized in Disney. They are very knowledgable and do all the things mentioned. ESP. Important is the part about them knowing when wdw puts out promos and they are on the phone line the moment the wdw phones are open getting you the deal. Regular TAs won't do this or even know when wdw promos come out.