Small World Vacations - Are they safe/good/trustworthy/

[gibbersome]

Alice K. is our TA and the experience has been terrific so far. She's knowledgeable, patient and VERY quick! We will be making all future DW reservations with her!

If anyone wants her contact info, PM me!

 

[gibbersome]

I wanted to put in another word for Alice Karberg. She has been amazing for our trip, quicker than lightning with applying discounts and getting our reservations done! Just sent her a PIN that she applied to our reservation in less than a couple of hours!


*** Ack, didn't mean to double post!

 

[slpgbtydreams]

Now I'm totally confused as to which service to use: Dreams Unlimited or Small World. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I would appreciate more insight in the meantime!

 

[diseverestfan]

I've booked 2 trips to Disney World and 1 cruise with SWV and just love the service I get. My agent is Cheryl and she is so prompt in all of her responses. I would say at least 90% of the time she replies to me within 15 minutes! She allows me to make my choices without interference, but will occasionally throw in a tip or suggestion based on her experiences. For example, for our last trip we (my family) were debating between 2 different resorts. Back and forth we went. Cheryl made a suggestion to go with a resort based on what she knew about our family. She was dead on in her assessment. She's put up with a lot of indecision in our family and multiple changes in our packages on each trip, but is prompt and courteous each and every time.

I had a very bad experience using AAA years ago, and I am so glad that I found SWV. I can't say enought good things about them!

 

[sabrecmc]

I use Tracy at Dreams Unlimited for our cruises, but recently used Caylie at SMV to book a trip to Disneyland Paris prior to our DCL Med cruise. She was fantastic! Very helpful and prompt. I also can't say enough good things about the service I get from Tracy. There really are a lot of great agents out there. If for some reason you aren't happy with the one you get, there are tons of others.

 

[walkdmc]

I'm in Pa, my agent is in NJ. I LOVE HER. Seriously. She not only booked me two WDW vacations with great deals, she made all my ADRs, put in my room request and kept me on schedule with payment. You don't actually pay Small World, you give them your CC number and they forward it to Disney so WDW company shows up on your CC statement.

And, the Poly honored my room request. Matter of fact, she made the request, I called the Poly 3 days before check in and changed what she requested. Well, when I got there, they never recorded my request, instead, they kept hers. It all worked out very well, loved the room, etc.

Bottom line, they have a way to get things done. And, most of them are WDW FANATICS, like me. So, unlike the Disney Travel Company you reach when you go through the WDW website, or phone, the Small World Agent WILL give you her opinion of restaurants, parks, resorts, based on his/her experience. They are required to go through Disney training and continuing education, including regular trips to WDW to see new resorts and such.

I can't say enough good stuff about our agent. She was fabulous! I'm trying to buy DVC and will be a little sad that I won't be using her as much.

 

[walkdmc]

Oh, my agent is Andrea R. And she's the BEST...no mine is....no mine is...LOL

She gets back to me literally within minutes of my emails. She often sends responses via her blackberry or iphone so I know she checks her messages all the time. She's even gotten back to me on weekends, just as quickly.

She gets me a price quote within minutes also. I never had to wait more than 30 minutes for a price quote from her.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

I've used Cheryl from Small World Vaca the past 3 years and will use her again for our next trip. Couldn't imagine planning a trip without her.

 

[desert_starr_57]

We needed to make a request 10 days out and Scarlett was away at a convention. Even when she was away she still got the message, called Disney, and took care of everything we needed. She is awesome.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Small World travel.

 

[cinderella8989]

They are fantastic I have dealed with both Minnie and Carlie,

Both respond really fast, they got me Free Dining as soon as it was released and told me as soon as they had gotten it so I did not have to worry for the rest of the day

Highly Highly recommended

 

[angela152]

We've been booking with small world travel (Josepine) for 3 years now (around 12 trips) and have had the best service ever. They are always on the ball with discounts etc and reply to emails really quickly. Cannot fault at all and would (and do) recommend them highly.

I am using Josephine now and she is awesome!!!!! She returns my calls/emails very very promptly even if it's to let me know that she is going to work on it later in the day and get back to me tomorrow with a real answer. This is the first time I am using SWV and while i have to say when i price shopped they were better than other travel agents in price, but only cheaper by less than $5 than by calling disney... my thing is that i cannot beat the customer service I've gotten with them.

 

[ellone]

I requested a quote from Small World vacations and when I received the e-mail last night, the e-mail started off with Hi Judy (my name isn't Judy) and "I was able to price out a Room at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort for the dates you requested." I didn't ask for Animal Kingdom Lodge, I wanted the Boardwalk Villas. Later on in the e-mail Boardwalk Villas was listed. I guess it was a mistake with cutting/pasting.

I sent an e-mail back questioning that and haven't gotten a reponse back...am I expecting too much? Sounds like many people here get prompt responses...maybe I didn't get an agent that's as good as the ones mentioned here.

 

[cinderella8989]

I believe that the first quote you receive is a generic template, this seems like a simple mistake

however any further communication you have with whatever travel agent you are assigned will be completely personal, they will email or call you at any time of the day no matter what your request or question is

 

[5inwonderland]

We booked our upcoming vacation through Small World and we will do it again. We used Scarlet - she was great! If I remember correctly I sent an email on a Sunday and heard back from her on Monday. We were all booked and deposit paid by the end of the week. It was easy! She was very open and honest about insurance (we ended up not buying it) Disney meal plan (which we did get) etc. I never felt she was trying to "upsell".
Also? She made about half of our ADRs and I did the others because I was excited and wanted to do some of the planning on our own.
I paid using both Disney Reward Dollars and our debit card and it was SO easy.
Hope this helps!

 

[j-jhall]

My Small World agent is Cindy, and we absolutely LOVER her!! We have used her 4 years in a row, with the last 2 with Small World. And we will continue to use her in the future. She takes care of anything you need very promptly and seems to go out of her way to do it. If she doesn't already know the answer to something she will get the answer right away.

I have been very impressed with their service!

 

[mindync]

We used SMV for the first time last year and it was fine...but I booked myself this year. I think whether or not you should use an agent depends on 2 things.

#1 Are you a newbie? If so then I would suggest you go through an agent to take advantage of their experience. However, if you are a Disney expert it might be frustrating to pass the "power" to someone else. For example, when I tried to call Disney to check on a detail of the reservation they wouldn't even talk to me about my own reservation! Since it was booked through SMV they said they could only make changes through that agent. That REALLY bothered me.

#2 How much of a control freak are you? I prefer to be "in charge" of making all the arrangements. I'm sure its just a control thing or whatever but that way I *know* it's all taken care of. When we arrived at the resort and I found out online check in was available, I was annoyed again. Why didn't my SMV agent tell me about this? Why didn't she take care of it? I was standing in line when I didn't have to be.

These aren't BIG deals but they were enough that I decided I'd do it myself from now on.

 

[Feralpeg]

WOW! I've been reading about SWV and I've also read some stuff about DU and the different experiences have been truly amazing. From those who will never use either one again to those who've book many times and have had wonderful experiences. I'm so nervous about booking with either incase I get one of the TAs that those who have not had a good experience had. I did see that I could request a certain TA but I'm still nervous.

If, at any point in the trip planning process, you feel uncomfortable with what is happening, contact the agency and request a different agent. No matter what agency you use, not all agents are equal. It is just like any other business, some are better than others. When you call Disney reservations, sometimes you get a great CM, but sometimes you get a not so great CM. You always have the right to change to another agent. It is your trip and your money. You deserve the best. A good agent will make sure that happens!

 

[Feralpeg]

I requested a quote from Small World vacations and when I received the e-mail last night, the e-mail started off with Hi Judy (my name isn't Judy) and "I was able to price out a Room at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Resort for the dates you requested." I didn't ask for Animal Kingdom Lodge, I wanted the Boardwalk Villas. Later on in the e-mail Boardwalk Villas was listed. I guess it was a mistake with cutting/pasting.

I sent an e-mail back questioning that and haven't gotten a reponse back...am I expecting too much? Sounds like many people here get prompt responses...maybe I didn't get an agent that's as good as the ones mentioned here.

Sounds like they mixed up email ids. Contact them again. Mistakes happen. If you don't get the response you expect within a day, look for another agency. There are many good agencies out there!

 

[jaroemen]

I am starting to plan my first trip there for my family and completely overwhelmed so I requested a quote from Small World Vacations and received an email saying Lori would help me. Has anyone worked with her before?

 

[rogattdm]

I am starting to plan my first trip there for my family and completely overwhelmed so I requested a quote from Small World Vacations and received an email saying Lori would help me. Has anyone worked with her before?

I have!!!! She is great!!!!! She has now booked my vacation two times in a row. She also booked my in-laws and my parents - I decided to get a TA because I didn't want to have to do all the leg work for my family. She is wonderful and gets back to you right away. You will be very happy!