Update: Connecting rooms, travel agents and how much do I intervene?

[dmband]

I agree and disagree on staying out of it.
I would stay out of it but also would mention to her that you are confident the info was inaccurate and just wanted her to know so if she gets there and doesn’t have connecting rooms it isn’t a shock.
that’s called being a friend

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

Background: A co-worker was supposed to go to WDW in April 2020. She knows very little about Disney and is using a travel agent. She told me yesterday that she has now rescheduled her trip to July 26-30 since she has to use her flight credit by this September. She is going with her mother, her teenage daughter and her daughter's friend. She told me she "had to upgrade" because the travel agent told her the only hotel available that she could "guarantee" connecting rooms is the Grand Floridian. When I look at the dates, I see Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs both have availability....is there any more likelihood of connecting rooms at GF over either of those? I think the travel agent is upselling her and also isn't helping her at all. Yesterday I booked her park reservations (which she had no idea she needed) and made her some ADRs. She has no idea how many parks there are and didn't know Harry Potter wasn't at WDW. She really needs help and I'm happy to help her but don't know if I should just let the hotel thing go....I hate to see anyone being taken advantage of.

I agree with many of the PP, I would stay out of it and only offer help when asked. She may or may not be your friend if she is just a co-worker. I would only intervene to help them if they were my friend before they were my co-worker. I could not sit idly by and let someone I care about crash and burn their WDW vacation using some crap TA. But if you don't know her well, you don't know how she'll take the advice. She might get offended that you think her TA stinks and has offered little to no guidance and is possibly ripping her off.

 

[mkb3]

I'm really surprised her TA did not do her park res.. even non Disney TA should know that.

When I looked hotels.com has the cars suite (AOA) available for 508 a night. Not sure what rate they got her.
I had to look day by day sometimes it says no if you put the whole trip in.

There is a Covid Liability Disclaimer when making park reservations. Some agents do not wish to make the reservations because the guest should be agreeing to that not the TA.

 

[nkereina]

If she isn't balking at the cost of GF, then I would stay out of it. If she's willing to pay that, she'll get a nice resort at the very least. I always try to stay out of helping co-workers and acquaintances when it comes to Disney. Mostly because I spiral and spew way too much information which overwhelms them and makes them nervous, but also because I don't want to come off as a know-it-all, especially when I don't know others' vacation styles.

 

[Eastern]

If she isn't balking at the cost of GF, then I would stay out of it. If she's willing to pay that, she'll get a nice resort at the very least. I always try to stay out of helping co-workers and acquaintances when it comes to Disney. Mostly because I spiral and spew way too much information which overwhelms them and makes them nervous, but also because I don't want to come off as a know-it-all, especially when I don't know others' vacation styles.

People who really want to know do the research on their own, ime. 3 people asked me for 'tips' and I gave a list of the ones I thought were most important. No one followed my advice and they all complained about the things I warned about. The best Disney experience requires some amount of planning and lots of people really just like to wing it or it's not a vacation to them.

 

[plutolovr]

I'm really surprised her TA did not do her park res.. even non Disney TA should know that.

When I looked hotels.com has the cars suite (AOA) available for 508 a night. Not sure what rate they got her.
I had to look day by day sometimes it says no if you put the whole trip in.

Travel agents were told from the beginning not to make park reservations for clients. Clients need to do them so that they can read and agree to the Covid waiver.

 

[mickey916]

I agree and disagree on staying out of it.
I would stay out of it but also would mention to her that you are confident the info was inaccurate and just wanted her to know so if she gets there and doesn’t have connecting rooms it isn’t a shock.
that’s called being a friend

I did actually tell her that she may want to call a couple days in advance to make sure it was noted that they requested connecting rooms "just in case".

 

[mickey916]

Just wanted to update: My co-workers trip was the last week in July. It appears she had a great trip. I do not know if she ended up with connecting rooms but she loved the Grand Floridian Resort and texted me that she appreciated my help. Funny I don't know any more about her trip as she resigned three days before she left on her trip! So...for those saying, "you still have to work with her"...I guess not! I did tell her I'd take her to lunch though so she can tell me about her trip in more detail. She mentioned that I should work for Disney...lol. All I did was help her with park passes and three ADRs (and I suggested she try the strawberry soup which she said was delicious)...

 

[Eastern]

Just wanted to update: My co-workers trip was the last week in July. It appears she had a great trip. I do not know if she ended up with connecting rooms but she loved the Grand Floridian Resort and texted me that she appreciated my help. Funny I don't know any more about her trip as she resigned three days before she left on her trip! So...for those saying, "you still have to work with her"...I guess not! I did tell her I'd take her to lunch though so she can tell me about her trip in more detail. She mentioned that I should work for Disney...lol. All I did was help her with park passes and three ADRs (and I suggested she try the strawberry soup which she said was delicious)...

Isn't that funny? Now when other people ask her advice about connecting rooms, she is probably going to say, 'get the soup'. Who know what priorities people have? That's why it's hard to give advice.