Things You Really NEED To Let Your Planner KNOW!

There are lots of things your Disney Travel Planner will need to know before or during the planning process. These are things you may sometimes forget to mention and can make a big impact on your upcoming Disney vacation.

Trip Dates

Seems like a no-brainer, right? But it is an important part of booking your vacation! Are your requested trip dates firm or flexible? Your travel planner is always on the lookout for discounts. Everyone loves to save money and, often times, you can save big when your trip dates are flexible. Let your travel planner know if you can be flexible on dates.

The Whole Party – ages, too!

While this may seem obvious- it is SO important to include every person’s name and age that is travelling in your party when inquiring about vacation pricing with a travel planner. Children under 3 years of age do not require a park ticket, however, they must be included in your reservations to enter the parks and resorts. This is especially important to your travel planner when finding the best resort and room for your vacation needs. The last thing you want is to find out that you can’t actually fit your family of six into the room you booked.

Military Affiliation

Are you or your spouse active or retired U.S. military personnel? If so, you could receive military discounts on Walt Disney World resorts, park tickets, and Memory Maker PhotoPass products. Resort discounts are limited due to availability and excludes 3-bedroom villas, campsites, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, The Little Mermaid Standard Rooms at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. Military Discount Promotional park tickets may be purchased at any participating U.S. military sales outlet by an eligible U.S. military member or their spouse. Capture all of your special memories with the discounted Memory Maker at just $98 (pricing subject to change).

Transportation

How are you getting to your Disney destination? This is an important detail your travel planner should know. If you are driving, there are parking fees associated with your Disney World resort stay. In order to get an accurate quote, you should share this information with your agent. If you are flying, you can take advantage of the Magical Express. When your flight lands in Orlando, this free transportation service will drop you off at the front door of your Disney World resort. Forget those added rental car or taxi fees and enjoy the ease of Disney transportation.

Celebrations

Are you celebrating a first time visit, a birthday or anniversary, or another special occasion while on vacation? Tell your travel planner! Disney loves to know that you are celebrating. Tell everyone about your special day with a Celebration Button. You can get a button from the front desk of your Disney World resort, at Guest Relations in each park, at the Chamber of Commerce on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom, and even in some stores on Main Street USA. Your Disney family will take notice of your celebration and often give you a friendly “Happy Birthday!” or “Happy Anniversary!” greeting as you pass by. And if you are lucky, you might just get a little sprinkle of pixie dust.

Disability Needs

Did you know that Walt Disney World offers multiple services for guests with disabilities? It is true and this is something you should ask your travel planner about should you have special needs specific to disabilities. These services include everything from accessible rooms at your Disney World resort to obtaining ‘return times’ for those who are unable to wait in the conventional wait queue for rides to renting scooters or wheelchairs. Your travel planner is trained to know what services are offered and how you can take advantage of them.

Dietary Needs

Many vacationers have specific dietary needs that travel agents should be aware of. Your travel planner can make a note of your specific needs in your reservations. This will let your resort and the restaurant staff at Walt Disney World affiliated restaurants know of these needs, helping you spend less time figuring out what to order and more time enjoying a delicious meal and making sweet memories.

Must See Activities

It is our joy as travel planners to plan the most magical vacation for you and your family. It helps us to know if you have any ‘must-see and do’ activities that you want to experience while on your Disney vacation. Are you a foodie who wants to experience a delicious trip around the World Showcase at Epcot? Is your toddler’s favorite character Mickey Mouse and is dying to see him at the Magic Kingdom? Do you remember the thrill of the drop when you rode the Tower of Terror back in ’99 and want your kids to experience the same thrill? Share those stories and memories with your travel planner so they can make those memories happen for your family.

These Things You Really NEED to let your travel planner know will help so much!

Your Disney Travel Planner is a great tool that will help maximize your Disney World (or other Disney Destinations) experience. These are things you really NEED to let him or her know before you begin the planning process. It will make things go so much smoother!

If you are on the hunt for an amazing travel planner, be sure to check out our friends at Walt Express Travel. Their services are always FREE when you book your vacation with one of their travel planners.

Be sure you are in the know about changes happening at Disney World right now. Just click that link! We would love for you to join our Facebook Group, DISNEY EXPRESS LANE.

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Using A Disney Travel Planner

One big source of confusion or speculation when planning a Disney vacation is whether or not you should use a Disney travel agent (or a “Disney travel planner.”)

To write this post, I had some help from a friend who used to be a Disney travel planner to ensure accuracy and get a bit of an inside scoop. She gave me the good and the bad – and I added some of my own points in based on my own personal experiences.

As a note, a Disney travel agent should be a “Disney College of Knowledge Graduate.” These agents have been trained by Disney. Ideally, they should work for an Authorized Disney Travel Agency which is a special “Earmarked” status that Disney bestows to agencies that have met Disney’s high expectations of customer service.

Let’s start off with the potential negatives of working with a Disney travel planner.

Cons of Using a Disney Travel Planner

• If you like having complete control of every aspect of your vacation planning, a Disney Vacation Planner may not be right for you. You can have your planner do as little or as much of your vacation planning as you’d like, but if it stresses you out to give up control, don’t do it!
• All changes go through your Disney Vacation Planner. You will not be able to call Disney personally to make any major changes to your trip – like payments, resort reservations, ticket packages, etc. You can make your own dining, Lightning Lane, etc, reservations, if desired.
• Disney Vacation Planners do have access to your credit card. If you are not comfortable with anyone making payments with your credit card on your behalf, using a Disney Vacation Planner is not right for you.
• They have to use Disney systems. So, if you are hoping to rent some DVC points for a resort reservation or plan to take advantage of discounted ticket offerings from services like Undercover Tourist – then a Disney travel planner cannot assist you.
• Not all Disney travel agents are equal. Yes, they’ve all attended the Disney College of Knowledge, but some have more experience than others and some specialize just in Disney vacations while for others, Disney vacation planning only makes up a fraction of their business and they may not have the same breadth of knowledge. Beyond that, as with any industry, you have some people who are detail-oriented and will go the extra mile while others… not so much.

To further elaborate on the final point, be sure to get personal recommendations, read Google and Facebook reviews of the agency and ask questions before signing on to have a Disney travel agent handle your vacation.

Pros of Using a Disney Travel Planner

• A Disney Vacation Planner’s service is FREE! Disney pays the travel agent for their services – there is no upcharge or fee charged to you for using a Disney travel agent. (However, keep in mind that if you use your travel agent for non-Disney bookings or add-on services, like booking flights, that there may be fees involved – ensure that you ask them to disclose when those occur.)
• They are well-versed in all current packages, promotions, events, etc. Disney’s offerings change often and there are also important details (like knowing which resorts are undergoing renovations) that a Disney Travel Planner would be well-versed in so you don’t have to do all of the research yourself. They also usually have a good idea of any promotions or specials that may come out before the general public is even aware of them
• Trip planning is less overwhelming! Honestly, there is so much to know about Disney – especially if it’s your first time to the parks – that it can be very overwhelming planning all of the details of your trip. Allowing your TA to take over some of the planning will make things less overwhelming.
• They have been personally trained by Disney to plan your magical Disney vacation.
• A good Disney Vacation Planner will constantly search for the next promotion or discount to make sure you get the best value for your dollar. If a discount promotion comes out after you have booked, your Disney Vacation Planner will apply it to your vacation as long as Disney’s rules and regulations will allow.
• Disney Vacation Planners sit on the phone during promotion times with Disney! The phones can have wait times for up to several hours. Disney Vacation Planners do it so you don’t have to.
• Your Disney Vacation Planner can make your Disney Dining, Lightning Lane, Special Tours, and Special Events Reservations for you. Just to name a few.
• Some Agencies will provide you with a personal itinerary that fits the needs and wants of each member of your party.
• Many Disney Travel Agents are passionate about Disney and as a result have a lot of personal knowledge that they can pass on to help you in planning your trip. 
• If you use a Disney Vacation Planner, you have an advocate in your corner! Even while you are on your magical vacation, they work for you. If problems arise, your Disney Vacation Planner is there to help fix any issues (within reason), so you can go about your day of vacation.

Keep in mind, you can change your mind. If you start booking everything on your own and start to get overwhelmed, a Disney travel planner can take over and allow you to keep your existing plans. When you request a quote from a Disney travel agent, you are under no obligation to continue working with them if you feel like that agent is not a match for you.

I personally would run away from any agent that:

• Is slow to return correspondence.
• Hasn’t personally been to the parks in years
• Tries to upsell you quickly without giving a good explanation of why they are suggesting something different than what you’ve asked. An example of a good upsell is an agent suggesting a moderate hotel instead of a value hotel during free dining promotions – you usually get a better dining package that may end up saving you money in the long-run, especially if you plan on having table service meals. Of course, they will mention add-ons that may be of interest and to ensure they are planning your dream vacation, but it should be pressure-free.

If this is your family’s first trip to Disney and you don’t have hours upon hours to do all of your own research (and sit on the phone with Disney) then I definitely recommend using a Disney travel planner. I personally love doing trip research and enjoy all of the hours spent (except maybe the hours on hold with Disney to book all my reservations), but that’s not for everyone – and that’s okay! If you’ve been looking into a Disney vacation for any length of time, it’s easy to see how overwhelming it can be so handing off a bit of that overwhelm to a reputable Disney travel agent can allow you to just focus on the fun parts of planning your vacation.

I hope that this list of pros and cons helps you determine what is the best fit for your family’s magical vacation.

Walt Express is Here for You!

Our website is jam-packed with information to plan with or without a Disney Vacation Planner!

Have you used a Disney Vacation Planner? What was your experience? Leave us a comment below or join us at Disney Express Lane Facebook Group to discuss this and many other Disney related topics.

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