Book independantly? or with TA?

[momtoccc]

All

Do most you do book everything yourselves? Or do you use a on-line TA like Small Worlds or Dreams Unlimited?

Just curious what the pros/cons are of each...

THanks.

 

[richkorn]

I used Kathy at Small World and she is excellent. She just promply changed my existing 35% room only reservation to the free dining on a MYW package. I highly recommend them. With that said, if you're familiar with all the ins-and-outs of Disney PINs, Deals etc. and feel comfortable doing it yourself then by all means go ahead. I know I could have done it myself but I was comfortable leaving it in her hands. I booked my own flights and ADRs online.

Still trying for Ohana though...........

 

[C&B Young]

We've used TA's in the past, but have booked the last 2 trips ourselves. We know what we're doing by this point, and like to have control over the process and flexibility to make changes ourselves if need be.

 

[GrammyJudy]

I always book myself...I like talking to the CM....and they get credit or bonuses or something for the $$ they book so why not.

 

[Lehuaann]

All

Do most you do book everything yourselves? Or do you use a on-line TA like Small Worlds or Dreams Unlimited?

Just curious what the pros/cons are of each...

THanks.

I book everything myself since I enjoy immersing myself in every detail.

Having said that, we did use a TA for our first trip.

What I didn't like about it was not having access to Disney. Prior to checkin, you must go through your TA exclusively for any questions or modifications. And she was very hard to get ahold of at times.

However, it's a big job planning a Disney vacay, so if you're not at all comfortable doing so, then a TA is the way to go.

 

[momtoccc]

I've done it both ways... but it has been 4 years since we last went.. I wasn't sure which way was better... I do remember using Small World and the agent getting us a discount when one came out after our initial booking.

I sent requests to 2 TAs... but chomping at the bit to just call WDW and do it myself...

 

[mouselike-harrier]

Even though I can do my WDW reservations in my sleep, I use Anne at Small World. They monitor my reservations so I don't have to. When everyone spent hours on the phone yesterday, Anne did the work for me and got an AP discount for my November trip, while I went about my business as usual.

 

[DisneyBoundinDec]

Even though I can do my WDW reservations in my sleep, I use Anne at Small World. They monitor my reservations so I don't have to. When everyone spent hours on the phone yesterday, Anne did the work for me and got an AP discount for my November trip, while I went about my business as usual.

And that there is the difference. Using a TA will do all that work for you. I sat on the phone yesterday for 4 hours switching over reservations to free dining for my clients. Being a TA, we all know that most of the people on the DIS can take care of their reservations themselves. They can find all the info just like we can. Its whether or not they want too. Some people are not as obsessed as we are!
Most of my clients don't want the headache of keeping up to date on the all the promotions or siting on the phone waiting.. that's why they let me do it for them!

 

[Kristina]

I love the Dis and am on here all the time as well as listen to the podcast so because of that I booked my first trip with Dreams Unlimited ! That was handled amazingly well and speedy so I've done that ever since ! Just booked another trip yesterday for free dining and got my booking sorted really quickly in the midst of all the madness. Don't know how they do it but it makes my life easier lol!

 

[mrssmith06]

I used a TA on our first trip and was disappointed. I was going to try a different TA with a different company this time and was let down before I even began, I couldn't get replies/quotes soon enough, and then couldn't get my vacation booked when I wanted, she was just too busy!! So, I decided to book myself and now I am SO glad I did!!! I love to plan and to have control of my things so I feel much better with it this way. I don't have to wait around on someone else to do something for me.