Disney vacation booking

[lllGurulll]

Is there any advantage to using any of the several companies for booking a Disney vacation over just doing it through Disney yourself? Last time we used Dreams Unlimited Travel and things went well for the most part.

If I were to book directly through Disney would I still be able to make adjustments if they launch a new deal that applies to my dates like the travel websites like the one I mentioned will do?

 

[TracerX]

I have planned quite a few trips for myself and last time I went with no cast discounts I had the booking done through a seperate company. They did everything at the same price I would've gotten if I had booked through Disney directly and I was able to give them what I wanted for dining ressies and they got what they could right off the bat but were willing to continue working on the one or two that weren't available the first time around. After that experience, I think I'd just go that route in the future.

Edit: In summation, I think the biggest advantage was having one person take everything down and handle it rather than me having to hunt the dining ressies and whatnot.

 

[lllGurulll]

I have planned quite a few trips for myself and last time I went with no cast discounts I had the booking done through a seperate company. They did everything at the same price I would've gotten if I had booked through Disney directly and I was able to give them what I wanted for dining ressies and they got what they could right off the bat but were willing to continue working on the one or two that weren't available the first time around. After that experience, I think I'd just go that route in the future.

Edit: In summation, I think the biggest advantage was having one person take everything down and handle it rather than me having to hunt the dining ressies and whatnot.

I guess the only difference for me is that I don't mess with the dining at all. AFter doing it once, it didn't seem worth the expense. Even my kids didn't care that much for it.

 

[Sue M]

I have used Ears to You, and have been very happy with them. Sometimes I book myself. Depends. The benefit of using a TA is that if multiple discounts come out, it helps having someone to firgure out the Disney Math to see which is the better one for you. For our last Aug trip I used them, and glad, because there were multiple discounts out, free dining, pkg discounts, and AP discounts. We were also going for 10 days and doing a split stay.
WDW specialized Ta's know when WDW releases discounts and will automatically apply it to your reservation if appl. If you book, you have to put the leg work in, constantly monitor to find out if and when discounts come out.
Good luck with your planning.

 

[lllGurulll]

I have used Ears to You, and have been very happy with them. Sometimes I book myself. Depends. The benefit of using a TA is that if multiple discounts come out, it helps having someone to firgure out the Disney Math to see which is the better one for you. For our last Aug trip I used them, and glad, because there were multiple discounts out, free dining, pkg discounts, and AP discounts. We were also going for 10 days and doing a split stay.
WDW specialized Ta's know when WDW releases discounts and will automatically apply it to your reservation if appl. If you book, you have to put the leg work in, constantly monitor to find out if and when discounts come out.
Good luck with your planning.

I'll check them out. Thanks for the info.

 

[VeroBeach]

Another difference between dealing with Disney directly and dealing with a travel agent - in most cases, when dealing with a travel agent, you deal with the same person with every contact.

When calling Disney directly, you are calling a call center, and you probably won't get the same person twice. The consistency of knowledge among the call center staff can vary greatly.

 

[MarksMom2006]

My absolute favorite is Playtime Vacations! Their Disney Reservations portion is called Happiest Place Travel. Wonderful service and they get back to you quite quickly. They are still somewhat new, but I won't use anyone else! Playtime Vacations dot net if you want to take a peek.