Travel agent or not?

[Shrfleen]

We are currently using a TA on this trip, we originally booked a cruise and were receiving state room credit for booking with the TA but we aren't receiving anything special for our WDW trip. I'm not a fan. I don't like having to contact the TA every time to make a payment. We have booked our own park and restaurant reservations. If we use a TA again it might be for a cruise or if they are offering a super deal.

 

[Sandiz08]

If you can’t find a good deal on a room and dvc is out of the question, then use a ta with an agency deal.

 

[CarolinaPam]

Planning a Disney trip is one of my favorite things to do. It adds to the excitement and overall anticipation of the trip itself. While I typically do all of the planning myself, I decided to use an agent from Dreams Unlimited for my split-stay vacation this past July. While I already had all of my travel information loaded into an Excel spreadsheet (the resorts where I was going to stay, the room type, the view from the room, the price, etc.), I decided to support the folks at the DIS and Dreams Unlimited because I like their content and the wonderful service they provide to those of us who aren't in the parks on a daily basis. I enjoy the contributions that agent Elaine Edwards provides on the shows that she's on so I sent her a message about booking my trip and I have no regrets whatsoever. She was wonderful!
Some folks said that they didn't like having to go through an agent whenever they wanted to make a change to their plans. Well, I needed to make a change to my plans and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all about having to request this change. She handled the whole thing, no questions asked. She also applied a discount to our reservation after the reservation was made...before I even knew about the discount offer (and I typically keep on top of things like that). Using an agent from a place that you trust (like Dreams Unlimited), can be a timesaver and since I enjoy watching all of the shows that the folks at the DIS put out, it just seemed like the right thing to do.

 

[SL6827]

What TAs are offering agency deals now? I know of one I used previously, but I haven't seen such deals since COVID. Anyone know of one, drop me a line.

 

[Pickles516]

The main reason I used a TA was to help with dining reservations, and it turns out you’re better off doing those yourself because they(at least at dreams unlimited) need to log in to your account and only one person can log in to find reservations at a time. So it wasn’t as if we were gaining a third person to reservation hunt for us, which is what I had imagined it was going to be.

It has t been a bad experience, but I don’t really see any reason I would do it again in the future tbh.

 

[R&RsMom]

We started using a TA for the deals people have mentioned. The agency I used is not offering those now, but I have kept using the TA. We need at least 3 rooms when we travel, so we tend to book early at rack rate. The thought of trying to apply any discounts that might come out to three reservations is daunting to me. So, we book room only with TA for the potential discounts. We buy our tickets from an authorized reseller and book our own ADRs. Today in fact. My daughter and I discussed using the TA for the ADRs, but felt there could be too many in-the-omens decisions to make.we also book our own flights.

 

[_19disnA]

This is a revived thread from 2021 but you can search around for many others that basically discuss the same thing. I don't see any value in using a TA unless they offer some special pricing not available elsewhere. If you are new to Disney you won't know anything about the parks/resorts/restaurants you like best so not sure how a TA would be of any help. If you are a frequent Disney visitor, you already know all those things and can lookup prices/specials online on your own.

 

[tguz]

This is a revived thread from 2021 but you can search around for many others that basically discuss the same thing. I don't see any value in using a TA unless they offer some special pricing not available elsewhere. If you are new to Disney you won't know anything about the parks/resorts/restaurants you like best so not sure how a TA would be of any help. If you are a frequent Disney visitor, you already know all those things and can lookup prices/specials online on your own.

It is kind of convenient if changes need to be made to a reservation a traveller has a situation or questions. The agent will be on hold and not me......sometimes the hold time is quite lengthy.

 

[jazzsmith]

I will definitely use a TA

 

[georgemiller]

I don't usually use a travel agent for my Disney vacations, but I saw the advantages and benefits when I went with my mother. Travel agents have specialized knowledge of Disney and can help you plan the perfect trip, saving you time and hassle. They can handle all the logistics and accommodations to making dining reservations and planning your itinerary. This can give you peace of mind, knowing that your vacation is in good hands.

 

[_19disnA]

If you use a travel agent, Disney will no longer talk directly with you since the reservation is held by someone else. Something to consider when using a travel agent for a Disney trip.

 

[Pickles516]

Did Dreams Unlimited get rid of the itinerary feature on their website? Up until a few months ago there was a button on the reservation page to access your itinerary that now appears to be gone. It’s disappointing. So far the only thing the service did for us was book our package. We didn’t really get any insights from our TA, no discounts were applied(not her fault there were no discounts for our rooms), we booked our own ADR’s because the TA said it was easier for us to just do it, and now there’s no itinerary planning service provided?

At this point there has been 0 benefit to using a TA for this trip. I’m not really complaining as it didn’t cost anything, I’m just kind of thinking out loud about why anyone would actually need to use a TA if this is what it’s like now.

 

[SL6827]

Did Dreams Unlimited get rid of the itinerary feature on their website? Up until a few months ago there was a button on the reservation page to access your itinerary that now appears to be gone. It’s disappointing. So far the only thing the service did for us was book our package. We didn’t really get any insights from our TA, no discounts were applied(not her fault there were no discounts for our rooms), we booked our own ADR’s because the TA said it was easier for us to just do it, and now there’s no itinerary planning service provided?

At this point there has been 0 benefit to using a TA for this trip. I’m not really complaining as it didn’t cost anything, I’m just kind of thinking out loud about why anyone would actually need to use a TA if this is what it’s like now.

It would be just as easy for you to book your package as your dining reservations. Wonder why Dreams didn't mention that?

 

[meremac]

Only one person can log in to find reservations at a time.

That's not accurate.

 

[meremac]

Why anyone would actually need to use a TA if this is what it’s like now.

Many (at lease some) TAs still offer planning services, assistance with dining reservations, personalized touring plans, etc.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

For me it depends. On our average or smaller Disney vacations, I honestly don't normally see the point. Even when I used the travel agent, I still logged on to make my ADR reservations, and was able to handle it quicker than the agent. Mostly because I know my own mind, and was able to adjust on the fly as important reservation windows had to be shifted for availability.

Where they were valuable though was navigating my multi hotel stay the last trip, and dealing with the long lines with Disney on the phone. It saved me a lot of time for the room request and other odd necessities.

This time I am doing it myself though because we are only going for 2 park days, and not making any ADR reservations. There isn't really any point in their help this time.

 

[KrzyKtty101]

That's not accurate.

I second this. Last trip my agent and I were making reservations at the same time. We split it so that we could try to get the important ones faster.

 

[Pickles516]

That's not accurate.

In that case I was misinformed by my Dreams TA.

 

[tseitel]

In that case I was misinformed by my Dreams TA.View attachment 799224

Yes, if they told you that you were definitely misinformed. Every single trip we’ve taken my daughter & I both log into my account to tackle dining reservations. Have been doing it for years.

 

[Pickles516]

Yes, if they told you that you were definitely misinformed. Every single trip we’ve taken my daughter & I both log into my account to tackle dining reservations. Have been doing it for years.

That’s disappointing. Kinda reaffirms my decision not to use TA’s anymore.