You've made my point. The TA does not care as much about my vacation as I do. Given that the TA cannot save me money or get me things that I can't save or get for myself, there's no point in using one. She may have been honest as the day is long, but I got the information she lacked in about 30 minutes on the DIS. She not only didn't know, she insisted it was impossible to do... the thing I called Disney and did over the phone with no fuss. That means she could not be trusted to have accurate information or to have put in the research time to get it. She had already decided that she knew what she knew and both DISers and CMs knew better. Using a TA for this trip would have meant acting on bad information about my room, not getting the ADRs and FP+ I wanted and not saving any money in the process of getting a lesser experience than I can by doing some research myself. (Plus, then I wouldn't know all these lovely DISers.)
Nobody will care as much about your vacation as you do, though I typically get excited about everybody's trip . Its just like your kids - they might have the best teachers in the world, but nobody cares about your kids as much as you do. I have local clients and a good reputation, so there's a lot of motivation to take good care of my clients. I lose sleep worrying over my clients' trips - I care a lot. Does it mean I don't care if I don't always stay up until midnight for fastpasses? I will say, there are some very wonderful home agents that may do that for their clients.
I'm not advocating for you to use a TA. Not everybody has a landscaper either! My only point is that for some people of all ages and experience levels, it is a valuable partnership.
If I had a TA that wouldn't even make a phone call for information, I wouldn't be happy either. As far as the DIS, I share these forums and several other websites with my clients. An educated consumer is a good thing, and these are great forums. I like to share my knowledge and my resources.
Here are a few things I've recently done for clients: advocated with Disney to fix a mistake on their MDE (that the rep didn't want to fix), arranged for champagne and rose petals in a Riviera Maya resort, monitored Southwest flights for rate drops, checked clients into their flights, found a good cruise deal for Christmas break, mailed a Disney surprise package to a family a month out from their trip, found a last minute BOG reservation (after trying for weeks), and researched the menus and reviews for the new Disney Springs restaurants. I love this partnership. I have the best job in the world!
I hope you have a wonderful time on your upcoming trip. You will love the Hoop Dee Doo!