Which Travel Agent?

[chrissyc]

Ok, planning our next trip and I am wondering if you book it all yourself or if you use and agent. If you use an agent on line who do you use? Thanks!

 

[LukenDC]

There have been several recent threads about this topic, so you may want to do a search to get a wide range of responses.

I use a travel agent for the convenience and some special perks. My agent of choice is Magical Vacations www.wdwvacationplanners.com. Thye planned my September 2005 trip and did a great job. I have hired them to plan my next trip to WDW. I have also heard good things about Dreams Unlimited, the sponsor of these boards.

 

[NancyIL]

I have always booked my own WDW trips, but then I don't buy packages. However, I use a TA when booking a cruise. For my first Disney cruise next November, I used Dreams Unlimited because they had great rates on the sailing date I wanted.

 

[Haveamagicalday!]

My family has always booked everything ourselves and everything has always gone smoothly regarding planning and reservations. I say read "The Unofficial Guide to WDW" and book it yourself, it is easier and a lot of fun too!

 

[Stacerita]

The first trip we used a private TA and were happy. But we were happy because we didn't know better. This last time I had done a bit more research and decided to go with Dreams Unlimited. I was extremely happy with them and their services. I still did my share of reading the UOG and going over these boards with a fine tooth comb, but it was worth it. My TA was able to do everything I needed her to and answer all my questions. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

 

[JABEAR]

If you are a AAA member, use them. They are the only ones that seem to be able to get it cheaper than Disney. If you are only staying a couple of days, you might not save as much, but it would probably be enough to pay for the AAA membership. A years worth of AAA is a nice thing to have.

 

[lkohawaii]

Nice thing about DU is that they do ADR's for you although I've never used their service so don't know how good they are. AAA gives you a better rate than DU. So, it depends on what is important to you and how much "control" you want.

 

[vfb2girls]

We used AAA this year for the discounts givne because we wanted the dining package, and for our 2007 cruise I booked through DU because the prices were better. I will use AAA again for the land portion of our 2007 trip, I like to have the dining. So far DU has done an outstanding job with helping me with my first time cruise reservation and our AAA agent has gone above and beyond making sure everything is under control for our 3/2006 trip.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

We used AAA because their packages price out cheaper than doing it myself. The last two trips I've had a wonderful TA who knew what she was doing.

 

[Mellie0119]

Our first 2 trips we booked on our own, I had such a head ache trying to change my ressies when a code came out after we booked that I decided to use an agent for all subsequent trips. That said we LOVE Teresa at Small World Vacations! She is just awesome and has gone above and beyond the call of duty- having Mickey send a package of Disney related goodies to my son, helping me make decisions about where to eat and stay. I can't say enough good things about Teresa and Small World Vacations- I'll be on the phone with her today booking our trip at the end of the month!

DH and I see it this way, even if there isn't a better price than the Disney website, we'd rather give the commission from the booking to someone we know and like. Plus, we love only having one contact for all our ressie questions- when you call CRO, you never know who you will talk to, we've all read the stories about the grumpy/unhelpful CMs (and I know there are MANY SUPER WONDERFUL CM's that work there too ), I know when I call my agent, she'll be happy to hear from me and help me. I really feel like I made a new friend, not just a great travel agent!

 

[boomhauer]

I would book your own. Especially, if you know a good amount about Disney World.

Whenever you need to make a change to your itinerary, if you have a travel agent, you have to have them do it, and it can be difficult getting through to them. Book it yourself, any and all changes, requests, can be made by you.

I've learned, when you have a travel agent, you're at the mercy of their schedule and have no hands on power in your vacation.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm looking at trip number 10 coming up in Dec. I have booked most by myself. My first I used a regular TA. Big mistake. She knew virtually nothing about WDW. We wanted CRT for my dd's 6th b-day. She called me and told me she was so sorry but when she called it was all booked. Of course, she called a month before hand!!! That was back when it was 60 days out. So...then I booked my trips myself. I used the info on these, and other, boards. Then, when I went back to work, I didn't have the ability to be on-line all day, tracking the good rates and discounts. So, I used DU. I was incredibly happy with them. I have used them several times now. Now that I own DVC I don't get to use them as much as I would like. But, if I am staying at a regular resort, and not using my points, I try to use DU. I'm using them again for my Dec trip. I'll be looking at using the BRP so they can watch for me!!! If you don't have the time or desire to do it yourself, get a good WDW knowledgable TA. There are several out there that you will see mentioned on these boards.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I had always planned and booked all my trips myself (and I'd been to WDW about 12 times). This time I was booking for several families to get people together for my 50th birthday. I decided to go with a travel agent, and boy am I glad I did. I booked with Laura from The Magic for Less and she did an outstanding job. She stayed on top of any discounts and changes and helped us get the best deal, made all our ADRs (and changed those when we needed them done) and even created a spreadsheet for me with all our special events, tours, ADRs, etc.

In the past I've spent many hours on the phone making plans and then making changes. This time all I had to do was send Laura an email, and then soon after I'd get an email back from her with the confirmation numbers and info. It was great, and so easy for me.

Not only that, Laura was such a joy to work with and seemed almost as excited about my birthday plans as I was!

There's no question in my mind that I will have Laura book my next Disney vacation. She took all the stress out of the process, saved me many hours of time, and we all had a truly magical vacation!!

Teresa