To echo other poster's sentiments, if you do go through a
travel agent, do your research!! Go to one that is specialized in Disney travel, knows the ins and outs, etc. Also do your own research so you know how good the information your travel agent is giving you truly is (this board is a great resource for opinions, but look to Birnbaums Guide or the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World for some other facts and figures on things).
So what may happen when you don't do your research? To add to the fun of the Ft. Wilderness stories, I humbly submit my own experiences.....
1. Guests showing up at Wilderness Lodge only to be told they are actually at Ft. Wilderness (and the same happens at times with Carribean Beach and Beach Club too!)
2. Guests being guarenteed a Stormalong Bay View....at the Beach Club Villas (which is impossible to do for those of you who haven't been there)
3. Guests who have been told their suite was on the concierge floor because ALL suites are on the concierge floor at Disney...and now they are on the third floor and concierge is on the seventh.
4. A travel agent flat-out telling me "well, I didn't know the waterviews weren't all of the lake, I just assumed they were" while their client is screaming at me on the phone for not having their lakeview
5. Travel agents who supposedly make their guests pay "extra" for things that DON'T require additional money and are merely requests- for example, paying extra to "reserve" a king bed or a particular fireworks view.
6.My personal favorite of late- foreign guests arriving for their honeymoon, only to find out that their travel agent agreed to move them to the Grand Floridian and never told them because they were already flying to America at that point. By the way, the guest HATES the Grand Floridian (for random unknown reason).
These of course are beside the typical wrong room category, "I wanted concierge and was told I had concierge but I am in a standard room without concierge," the promised upgrades at check-in which can't always be provided, etc. Also, I'm not saying all fault lies with travel agents- human error, computer error, front desk cast members and CRO cast members can all cause something to go awry for a guest and have them thinking they are gettings something they aren't. However, on the whole, the most problems I've experienced all come down to folks who went through a
travel agency.
Bad agents create nightmares for guests and cast alike, but like anything else, if you do your research you can find a fabulous travel agent (like some who are on this board) who specializes in all things Disney and can make your trip wonderful. However, I'm a huge proponent of booking things yourself, just because you then know what YOU booked, and at least a bit of the guessing game is taken out.
