Disney Travel Agent

[monkeymom1210]

I am considering using a Disney certified travel agent for our second trip to disney first time with kids. I am wondering if I should. Can they really be helpful and find you the lowest deal. I filled out an online form for a quote and the first quote is the same price that I can get going online and booking myself. Is there anyone who has used one and found it helpful. I was hoping they would help me find a good rate.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

The Disboards is owned and run by a travel agency Dream Unlimited. They live and breath Disney. They are located in the Orlando area so what better of an agency to work with. When room rate special occur they call and rebook all their clients that have vacations during the room special rate period. So they work hard for your money. They have mentioned being on hold for up to 3 hours to get this done for their clients!

 

[ceecee]

I have always done better just doing it myself. You can get quotes and see which works best.

 

[Marionnette]

I am considering using a Disney certified travel agent for our second trip to disney first time with kids. I am wondering if I should. Can they really be helpful and find you the lowest deal. I filled out an online form for a quote and the first quote is the same price that I can get going online and booking myself. Is there anyone who has used one and found it helpful. I was hoping they would help me find a good rate.

It depends on how much control you want to give to a TA when it comes to booking your trip. There's a nightmare thread on the Resorts Board started by a poster who is getting nothing but aggravation from the TA with which her trip has been booked. Do your homework when choosing a TA!

That being said, some TAs have access to discounts that the general public cannot get. Others will only be able to book the same discounts that you could book on your own. In either case, the TA controls the reservation and any changes must go through the TA. You cannot contact Disney on your own and make those changes.

The benefits of going through a TA that specializes in Disney is that many will re-book your reservation if a discount comes out that can be applied to your reservation. A problem can arise when discounted rooms are available in limited quantity and the TA spends time going back and forth between you and Disney if there are no discounted rooms at your resort for your dates. If you were online or on the phone with Disney, you would be able to make the change to another resort or different dates at that time. But your TA would need to get back to you before making the any changes, risking the possibility of losing the new discounted room that is available.

A lot of those Disney specialist TAs will also book your ADRs at 180+10 days and even be the ones online at midnight 60 days before your arrival in order to book your FP+. However, they don't have any secret portals for doing this and their success rate won't be any better than yours, if you know what you're doing.

I haven't used a TA for Disney in years. I prefer to control my reservation and make my payments directly to Disney when I make my purchases. But then, I have the time to look for discounts and book my dining and FP+ reservations. And, the planning is part of the fun for me. But everyone is different and if you prefer to have someone handle those details, then a good TA is a great idea.

 

[Capang]

It really depends on a few things. Have you been to WDW or is this a first trip? Or even say a first trip in 20 years? So much has changed the last 5-10 years that if you haven't been then you may want to consider a TA. As a PP said do your hw on TAs. Ask friends that have used a Disney TA for recommendations. Work out how much control you want with planning. I send our TA a spreadsheet of dining choices and back up choices and she does all our ressies. I make FP because I like to and I have the time. For us it was worth it because our work schedules prohibit us from making the dining ressies when our window opens. Also, as stated above, our TA was able to rebook us for discounts that came out after we originally booked. It was hassle free for us and we love the TA we work with. Others have not had such a great experience. Research the TAs and make sure they are Disney TA, not just a regular TA. This site is affiliated with Disney TAs or you could find someone more local. Ask your friends. Chances are someone knows someone that could provide a good recommendation for you.

 

[MermaidMommy]

Typically, travel agents don't have any cheaper deals than you would get by booking yourself. There's one agency that offers deep discounts at certain times of the year because they buy up blocks of convention priced rooms, but we can't mention them on the boards.

Otherwise, if you want the cheapest rates, your best bet is to book with Orbitz, where you can get an additional 15% discount on top of Disney's discounts. TA's are helpful for convenience, but not for a lower price.

 

[MillauFr]

Typically, travel agents don't have any cheaper deals than you would get by booking yourself. There's one agency that offers deep discounts at certain times of the year because they buy up blocks of convention priced rooms, but we can't mention them on the boards.

Agreed. The only reason I used a Travel Agent because Disney was going to charge me $442 per night to stay at the Poly. The travel agent was selling the same room for $189 per night. It was no brainer to use a travel agent even though I would have preferred to book direct. Same with cruises. I would rather have booked direct with Disney but Costco was giving you a 9% discount.

 

[afan]

I booked through a TA this time for room only. Neither of us going have the time to sit on the phone if a discount comes out for when we go. I also live on the west coast and won't get up that early to make ADR's and we're going during a potential free dining period. We aren't making many, but I'd like to make sure we get the one's we do want. I'll do the fp's and the reservation has been linked in my MDE since the day after I made the deposit.

 

[kerplop]

If you enjoy planning or don't mind, it seems like a waste to me. You have to go through them for every change and wait for them to get back to you. Dunno about you, but that would drive me bonkers.

 

[luvdisney00]

I have done both I mean realistically most of us could BE Disney TA's LOL, and it comes down to price. Some TA's quote you the same as Disney and some have deals. The last 2 summers I have gotten a price I could have never gotten on my own with a TA so I use one. Mine lets you do as much or as little as I want. I had her book the trip (package with discount tkts) , and I did ADRs and Fps myself. As soon as it was booked she gave me the number so I felt like I had control of the res, but if I needed to change the package, I emailed her. Last year I added a night on my flights so I emailed her and she extended my package. If I wanted her to do ADRs etc she would.

 

[Shmily1]

I am considering using a Disney certified travel agent for our second trip to disney first time with kids. I am wondering if I should. Can they really be helpful and find you the lowest deal. I filled out an online form for a quote and the first quote is the same price that I can get going online and booking myself. Is there anyone who has used one and found it helpful. I was hoping they would help me find a good rate.

It really depends on what you want them to do. A good TA will help you with as much of the planning as you want them to. It is often the same rate that you could find, but if a discount comes out, a good TA will apply the discount and then let you know what you saved. It's a great surprise to many when they are notified of the savings. If you are checking for a time that no discounts are out yet, then you probably are getting the same rate. If a discount comes out, will you know it is out by checking and then calling in to Disney to have the discount applied or would you rather have a TA on hold for 4 hours so you don't have to?

Many TAs will give you great tips that you wouldn't have know without researching quite a bit on your own. Sure, you could research it all on the internet and on the Dis, or the TA can give it to you on a list already printed out for you. You also might get a gift of some sort. Some give stuff for the kids, some do autograph books, some do gift cards. It all depends on the agent. Most don't tell you that up front but will get that to you as a nice little surprise with your travel documents. Most will also be there for you if you have a problem on your trip and can help you get it fixed. It's not always in the saving money for the benefits of the TA but the help they can give you.

 

[disneyseniors]

I agree with smily1! We always use our local certified Disney TA. She is fantastic. We know a lot about booking Disney, and could easily do it ourselves. But it is so convenient to give her our dates, resorts, specifications, and she looks it all up, gets us not listed discounts and deals. We also get a small appreciation gift. Some are very nice. I got a huge mickey tote one year,, and a really nice photo album one time. The certified Disney TA's get paid by Disney, so there is no extra charge for you. My TA has helped us out many times, and let us know of better deals right away. She has spent many hours trying to get us a resort we wanted, but "wasn't available", and she was able to after a while. I checked Disney site for their offers, and then compared them with our TA one time. The TA had much better deals. She also knows new information, books our flights. She will help with adr's or fp's, but she is not supposed to book them for anyone. I don't mind, as I would rather site down with my tentative park schedule and set those up myself.
So, I guess I would highly recommend a Certified Disney TA, after you have checked him/her out, with others. Sure there are some bad apples in every company, but I would book with our TA just for the convenience, little extra touches, great deals, and peace of mind.

 

[tinkerone]

the one time I used a ta for Disney it was not a pleasant experience. I had booked a cruise for the same vacation and since I was using du for the cruise portion I figured what could it hurt to have them do the wdw part as well. some family members decided that they would come along for the wdw part so I just went ahead and booked their rooms myself. then free dinning came along. I easily changed the plan for the family however it was a wee bit harder with the ta. I sent her an email requesting her to change us to the free dinning and it was that night when I heard back from her. the message was a form letter to all her clients saying 'don't bother me, i'm busy trying to get everyone free dining. I will let you know if I can get it for you. theres only so many so let me get at it, no more emails'.
really? you let me know IF you can get it for me. that's when I decided going forward I would not use a ta and keep control of my own wdw reservations. I know I can count on me, i'm not sure I can count on her.

 

[wendow]

We are using a TA for the first time. I am used to doing it all myself and I enjoy that BUT we are going in August, staying at the Poly and taking advantage of a very special rate that we cannot get ourselves. Our TA seems fine so far and now that the reservation is made, I intend to do as much of the rest as I can.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

My coworker is using a AAA TA, and I've planned his trip for him. When the spring deal came out he could not get in touch with his agent until all the deals at his resort were sold out. I watched the WDW site for him and told him when the Poly Villas came up, as it was his dream to stay there. He called the agent who told him the poly was not part of the deal. I showed him that it was on the website and had him call back and told him exactly what to say. "Oh, yes, right, it IS there after all."

I told him to use an agent because I didn't want to be responsible for his trip, and he used one he had used before. Your mileage may vary.