First trip to Disney World...do I need a travel agent?

[daycaremomjen]

Planning a trip to Disney world in march of 2008 for my family (2 adults + 3 kids) and 3 additional adults...a little overwhelming, do I need a travel agent or is this doable on my own?
thanks much!!

 

[AJKMOM]

You can go thru Dreams Unlimited, most here at the DIS like them. I haven't used a TA (AAA) since I got stuck buying a package with Wide World of sports tickets that I haven't used in 6 years. You can take a lot of the guesswork out by deciding where you want to stay, etc. ahead of time. Then, see what the cost is on the Disney web site. If you think it's too much, try a TA.

 

[heath-and-javens-mom]

Hi,

I have used a TA for both my trips and thought they were okay. However I just planned my sisters vacation to WDW without using a TA and I will definitly be doing it myself from now on. If you use a TA then you cant call disney with any requests or changes to plans etc. your TA will have to do that. I am always changing things so I always hated having to call my TA and have her do everything(plus she acted like I was bothering her after awhile) so I would suggest to do it yourself-if you feel comfortable and save your self that extra $ for spending money

 

[heath-and-javens-mom]

Be careful because ALOT of travel agencys DO charge you a fee of like $50.00, evidently not all do but you may want to ask.

 

[helenabear]

It is doable on your own, but if you feel overwhelmed already I might ask someone. AAA is not bad for getting discounts and Dreams Unlimited here is great if you want to hand over all your planning. I personally like doing it all myself, but I am picky and sometimes I do change things a lot. Also being a DVC member, I don't find the need to have a travel agent at all.

 

[jhryb]

The problem I find with a TA is that you lose control of your reservation. You cannot make changes to your reservation without going through your TA. I always feel like I am unconvincing my TA when I ask him/her to make a change to my reservation. The only way I would switch from booking directly with Disney to booking with a TA is if I can get an additional discount. For instance I booked my current trip about 10 months ago. I transferred my reservation to a AAA TA about 2 months ago because they were able to offer me a huge rate savings. At the point that I transferred my reservation I was convinced that I had made all of the changes that I planned to make.
In the past I have been in situations where I have felt that I know more about Disney than my TA. Perhaps as someone going to Disney for the first time, you may feel a certain comport level using a TA. I now look back at my first Disney booking (with a TA) and I think “wow, did I ever pay too much” (at the time she had me booking through a third party travel company - converted to Canadian Dollars at a very high rate). My advice would be to get a quote directly from Disney before you ever get a quote from a TA.

.

 

[twinspluscade]

I've planned both of our trips myself, but I'm a total "planner" and love to have control over everything. It did take a bit of research on my part to find out which WDW package to get, which restaurants,which flight, etc. But once you get the details down it's very easy, especially the WDW part.

 

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

Very doable!! if you can/like planning things like this than it can be done... happily. There are an awful lot of us that that is part of the trip... the planning. You have certainly found one of the best resources for assisting you in your endevor. You can ask any question and it will be answered almost immediately... also the CM on the phone are very knowledgable and can help walk you through sticky areas.. and again you always have us for support! If you get in over your head, just post a "help!!!" thread and we'll come a running... hay... we may even plan it for you if you let us! (please )

 

[Wingedheart]

I've done all three of our major Disney trips on my own (with a lot of help from guidebooks and Dis "experts." If you like to plan this is really a LOT of the fun of going to Disney, at least for me! I'm a planner and a control freak/researcher, etc, so I really get into doing it. If you'd rather have someone else do it or feel very overwhelmed you might want some help. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have or give you some basic things to think about if you want - PM me Good luck whatever you decide to do!

 

[Reilly]

I am currently planning a trip for 7 adults and 5 children. I have done all research on my own, made every family their own 1 1/2 inch binder all in sync with each others. I have bought books, searched the internet, and of course browsed through here tons! I called a travel agent a few actually and they all told me the same thing, they are in business to do the research part for those that do not have time or the desire to do so themselves. We as a group have never been to Disney and this will be our first trip. I'm a fast learner and have been absorbing every little detail I can. I think the best part is the planning. Its like an arm chair travel almost daily. We will all be staying at the Contemporary in the tower facing the magic Kingdom. We have booked four rooms total. I think you could def. do it yourself for 5 adults and 3 kids. Especially if time is on your side as is my case. We are not going till August 16th 2008. Wish me luck as do I wish you luck!

 

[princessesrule4]

I just had the Birnbaums book for our first trip - I didn't know about these boards yet! I literally read it word for word! We had a wonderful first trip! I imagine with these boards and a good guidebook you will be just fine!

 

[asramears]

I was wondering the same thing about the TA. I don't understant all the code etc that are out there and wondered if I could save money going with a TA? I would have a problem letting go of the as far as the planning goes tho!!!

 

[Quinn222]

I used to do everything myself and I loved it. I still do love it. But I sometimes have three or four trips in the planning stage and I work full time. I still do my own planning but use DU to make the calls and my TA suggests things for me that I might have missed and best of all I don't have to worry about codes and jumping on the phone and holding forever when I have a pile of work on my desk. She takes care of all of that for me.

I can and do make changes and she just makes the call for me and tracks it all on my itinerary. It's really a huge time saver for me and unless it's just a one night stay or something I'll continue to use DU.

 

[Atchley]

I've went through AAA for both my trips. Can I get a AAA room price booking directly through Disney?
The other little things I get from AAA I'm sure I can't get directly from Disney like the storytime, parking pass, etc; (I don't remember what else they gave us last year.)

 

[Rustysmom]

This is our first trip in a long, long time and we used a TA, but I wasn't very happy and I wouldn't do it again. He was ok and was able to get me the free dining, but never reminded me about making ADRs until the 180 window was way past and recently didn't reply to my emails until over 2 weeks passed.

I made all my own ADRS and it's a good thing I read here when to do them or I wouldn't have gotten any of the restaurants I wanted. I'm still waiting for all my tags and docs that they said were mailed out to me. If I did it directly through Disney, I'd probably have them by now.

I had to buy my own airfare anyway because he said it would be cheaper to get it on my own, so I should have just did everything myself and next time I will.

 

[ycnan]

I did my own trip planning and it was the 1st time ever our family went.

It went fine, we had the UG. But I planned the hotel before buying it. Then I did my adr's based on the restaurant boards here. It really wasn't bad at all.

One thing to consider after reading the boards here, it seems it may have been more difficult for those moved from AKL for refurb when going through the travel agent, versus dealing with Disney directly, some seemed to have problems that way, maybe others did not.

If you still think you need an agent try the one the boards seem to like Dreams Unlimited....search them on the board for all the posts about them.

I do think planning yourself is very doable

 

[uconn01001]

Be careful because ALOT of travel agencys DO charge you a fee of like $50.00, evidently not all do but you may want to ask.

The reason they charge you is because that is their commission for helping you. That is standard procedure.

 

[heath-and-javens-mom]

The reason they charge you is because that is their commission for helping you. That is standard procedure.

Yes that is correct, but the post before mine stated that they charged DISNEY, not the customer. That was not the situation with my case. The TA charged me this both times. I didnt have a problem with it though-at the time I didnt think I could do it myself so I was willing to pay the extra-however the the TA didnt want to do anymore work once I had "booked" threw her. Thats why I will not use a TA anymore.