Dreams Unlimited for booking?

[SAGE]

Hi,
Have any canadians used Dreams Unlimited for booking their trip?
Any advantages? or do you stick with CAA?

Thanks.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- there is no cost benefit to booking with Dreams Unlimited. All rates, codes and packages available for booking through American travel agencies such as DU are also available and commissionable to your local Canadian travel agency.

The trick is to find a travel agent who is knowledgeable about Disney vacations, the various codes and different rates. If at all possible I believe it is important to support our local economies.

 

[LoriLea]

We just returned from our second trip booked through DU. Our agent Marla was wonderful both times. We would not hesitate to book with them again.

For our most recent trip, Marla made all of our ADR's for us, provided us with an detailed itinerary, had the free dining applied to our reservations when it came up, contacted Disney when our ME tags didn't arrive - and they were couriered to us, contacted Disney with our room preferences. I didn't have to make any long distance calls. She also followed up with us upon our return.

A discount became available that I didn't know about for our 2004 trip and it was applied to our reservation. Back then, breakfast at CRT was very difficult to get and Marla got it for us for our daughter's 7th birthday! We did buy our passes at CAA for this trip.

Hope this is helpful,
Lori

 

[cslittle999]

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- there is no cost benefit to booking with Dreams Unlimited. All rates, codes and packages available for booking through American travel agencies such as DU are also available and commissionable to your local Canadian travel agency.

This is true for WDW but DU does have exclusive discounts for DCL since they are large enough to be pre-buy blocks of rooms.

The trick is to find a travel agent who is knowledgeable about Disney vacations, the various codes and different rates. If at all possible I believe it is important to support our local economies.

It is a quite a trick to find one, let along one that has a proven track record. DU is a safe option for the first time travel.

There is one reason to book with CAA over other TA's. If you want a CAA discount on a package then you can only get that through CAA. As Neil says all other discounts are available to all TA's.

 

[drag n' fly]

There is no cost saving to going with DU. However we have just booked our first vacation with them and I cannot say I have ever received such superior customer service ...EVER from a travel agent. I would have loved to book local however I have yet to find a travel agent that is experienced enough to book a Disney vacation (without completely messing it up) and one who should provide the level of customer service one deserves when they are planning a vacation. WE are very pleased with DU. They have booked all our reservations, meal planning and have provided a very detailed itinerary of what parks to attend on what days, what rides to go on. You will never get this attention to detail from CAA but you will save a few hundred bucks if that makes a difference for you.

 

[cslittle999]

There is no cost saving to going with DU. However we have just booked our first vacation with them and I cannot say I have ever received such superior customer service ...EVER from a travel agent. I would have loved to book local however I have yet to find a travel agent that is experienced enough to book a Disney vacation (without completely messing it up) and one who should provide the level of customer service one deserves when they are planning a vacation. WE are very pleased with DU. They have booked all our reservations, meal planning and have provided a very detailed itinerary of what parks to attend on what days, what rides to go on. You will never get this attention to detail from CAA but you will save a few hundred bucks if that makes a difference for you.

This was out experience too with both of our trips booked through DU. If we hadn't bought DVC our next trip would have been through DU as well (Beth Czada rocks as a TA).

That said there are a number of other Disney specialist travel agencies that provide the same level of service including some with agents based in Canada (search through the forum here for more threads on this very subject). I agree that you are very unlikely to get that level of support from a CAA agent.

 

[SAGE]

I appreciate the info!
Another question....if I booked with CAA, 10-20 %? discount, could I also use a general public code against my room res?

Thanks.

 

[cslittle999]

I appreciate the info!
Another question....if I booked with CAA, 10-20 %? discount, could I also use a general public code against my room res?

Thanks.

If it is a package (room+tickets and maybe DDP) then no. If it is a room-only reservation then you can but you can only have one discount at a time.

 

[madonna31]

It is a quite a trick to find one, let along one that has a proven track record.

Geez, I didn't find it difficult to find one with such a track record at all.

 

[drag n' fly]

Geez, I didn't find it difficult to find one with such a track record at all.

Touche' ......I can only say and wish I had one here in Calgary that seemed to understand the attention to detail that is required. There is plenty of agents willing to take your money here and sell "the package" but I have had no luck finding someone in Calgary who has been there and can provide the attention to detail.

 

[madonna31]

There is plenty of agents willing to take your money here and sell "the package" but I have had no luck finding someone in Calgary who has been there and can provide the attention to detail.

Unfortunately ANY Travel Agent can take a text book course offered by Disney; pass (by retaking the exams as many times as needed until they do) and then call themselves 'Disney Specialists', whereas by my standards that isn't enough to warrant you as a 'Disney Travel Agent'.

Years of personal experience make you a Disney Specialist, not a bunch of books.

It's like learning to drive. You can read all you want about it, but you really don't know how to do so until you get behind the wheel.

 

[pollioni]

Just one thing to say:

Keep it Canada!!!!!!!!


Also a Canadian agent can keep you abrest on any changes in reguards to crossing the boarder either by plane or driving.

 

[LoriLea]

Just one thing to say:

Keep it Canada!!!!!!!!


Also a Canadian agent can keep you abrest on any changes in reguards to crossing the boarder either by plane or driving.

If people are so concerned about "buying Canadian", why are they spending their vacation dollars in the US?

Personally, when I am spending this much money, I want a TA that knows what they are talking about. I'm sure there are many wonderful Cdn Disney specialists but I haven't come across any. If I knew of one that provided the same service that DU did for us, I would have considered booking locally.

Also, when the regulations about liquids on airplanes changed, we were notified by our DU agent.

 

[drag n' fly]

Just because I book DU does not make me any less Canadian...sheesh

 

[tone.def]

Just because I book DU does not make me any less Canadian...sheesh

no... but there are CDN disney specialists who you could book through... who do the exact same job as DU. Madonna31 is one of them. tmli is another, minnie56 is too.

 

[pollioni]

If people are so concerned about "buying Canadian", why are they spending their vacation dollars in the US?

At lease when using a one from Canada some of our $$$ comes back here supporting our economy.

Personally, when I am spending this much money, I want a TA that knows what they are talking about. I'm sure there are many wonderful Cdn Disney specialists but I haven't come across any. If I knew of one that provided the same service that DU did for us, I would have considered booking locally.

As ToneDef said and from personal experiance Madonna31 is very knowledgeable.

Also, when the regulations about liquids on airplanes changed, we were notified by our DU agent.

But did your DU agent inform you of the changes is passport regulations starting in 2007

 

[madonna31]

If people are so concerned about "buying Canadian", why are they spending their vacation dollars in the US?

Well as soon as they build a Disney theme park in Newfoundland or palm trees in Vancouver, I'll be sure to do just that.

 

[drag n' fly]

Gee thanks for letting us know! Glad to see everyone is so fiercely patriotic on the WDW trip planning board. I believed I answered the question to the best of my ability. We are happy with our choice and I am sure you will be too (whomever you choose) based on all the recommendations and choices given on this thread...gottta love democracy!