Vacation Planner or Disney Direct?

[jtn]

I just received a quote from a reliable Disney vacation planner... It is the exact same as if I did it myself online with Disney..

Anyone tell me what the advantage would be to use a planner vs dealing directly with Disney???

 

[bryanb]

I don't think Disney gives you any special incentives for booking directly. At least not anything that a vacation planner or travel agent can do. This is unlike airlines and hotels, who sometimes give lower prices or special perks if you cut out the middle person.

So if you like working with the person you're working with, I say go ahead and keep using them. They might have some additional insights on when a good price is a good price, or ideas for your vacation that you might not have thought of.

 

[tnolan]

I agree with bryanb, if you feel more comfortable working with a travel agent, by all means keep using them. I am not sure what your travel agent charges to set things up for you , but if you can save a substantial bit of money by booking the trip yourself, I say go for it. I have been making all arrangements for our trips myself for nearly 30 years. It all comes down to what you feel more confident with.

 

[cdnjason]

I prefer to plan it myself because, not only it is fun for me, I'm a control freak and I know it'll be done the way I want it if I take care of it myself.

Hey, at least I can acknowledge that I have a problem.

 

[Dizznee Freak]

In these modern plugged in times, there really is no need to use a planner. Disney has a myriad of ways they help with planning. Going to someone else will only add cost since I am sure they wont do it for free.

 

[triciambe]

I am an over-planner and like to manage our own vacation. That said, we used a travel agent. You don't pay extra for a travel agent (or at least we didn't). The price they gave us was exactly the same as what Disney was offering. I believe agents get a commission from Disney, so there is no extra cost to you.

When we used a travel agent, we were able to secure our hotel accommodations knowing that if a better deal came along that resulted in a bigger discount for us, the travel agent would be able to get those savings for us. If we planned it ourselves, I'm not sure how easy it is (or hard) to change from one discount to another. Additionally, I didn't even need to see if there were new deal. Our travel agent is always aware of the latest discounts that Disney offers and automatically applies those discounts to see if it is a better deal for us. I didn't feel like I had to "wait" to book in case there was a better discount later (like free dining).

As far as making ADRs, FastPasses, etc. I think you can really use the travel agent as much or as little as you'd like. When we were 180 days out, I knew ahead of time which dates and times I wanted certain ADRs. Instead of staying up late or waking up early (I forget the exact time you can book), I just let my travel agent know and she did it for me. We got everything we wanted. Since then, I have logged into My Disney Experience online and adjusted my ADRs, cancelled some, added others. When it was time to book FPs, I did all those myself online.

 

[fla4fun]

I prefer to do it myself, because I like having access to the reservation and making changes myself. However, there have been some times when having someone else checking for discounts and handling ADRs was necessary, so I used a planner. I wouldn't hesitate to use one again if I needed it, but if I didn't need it, I would just do it myself - it's part of the fun!

 

[dledger]

We have been working with travel agents the past few trips. Our reasoning was mentioned above - that now I no longer need to watch for discounts and sit on the phone to rebook to have them applied. I've done that before and now I can have someone else do it for no extra charge? Sign me up. I still do all the rest of the planning, just not that.