Booking a Disney vacation, whether it be a visit to one of the theme parks, a hotel stay, a cruise or a full-on European adventure, can be daunting. There are so many options! Which theme park, which hotel, which ship, and which country? But even if you get the basics of your Disney holiday down—Disneyland, Aulani, Fantasy, and Ireland—there's much more to determine. Which is where a Disney Travel Agent can come in handy.
Full Disclosure Up Front Right Here: I'm a Disney Travel Agent with Beyond Travel which is powered by Cadence Travel, a Virtuoso agency. So you can bet I'm going to tell you to use a Disney Travel Agent for your trip! But as a bona fide Disney nerd before I started booking other people's travel, I can tell you that the value of using a Disney Travel Agent is real and it's spectacular. (Shout-out to my Seinfeld fans out there.)
Here are 5 Reasons Why You'll Want to Use a Disney Travel Agent:
1. KNOWLEDGE: Disney Travel Agents complete the Disney College of Knowledge annually to stay up to date on the newest and latest information about the theme parks, the Disney hotels, the Disney Cruise ships, and the Adventures by Disney itineraries. We also have so.much.information. at our fingertips. Nearly every day, we're being update with the latest news and offers from Disney.*
That said, I am personally more proficient in Disneyland versus Walt Disney World, including the hotels. I am also a burgeoning cruise nerd so my knowledge on the cruise ships is sharper than the Adventures by Disney. That said, have you checked out Adventures by Disney? These are super cool guided trips through certain cities and countries, done with Disney service and personality but not necessarily with Mickey and friends next to you at every waking hour.
2. MAGICAL EXTRAS: Booking Walt Disney Travel packages, such as a hotel with theme park tickets, gives you lots of magical extras such as early Magic Hours at the parks, discounts for merchandise at select shops, special tours, discounts on food and beverages and a keepsake item like a luggage tag or a pin set. When we stayed at the Grand Californian during the Galaxy's Edge sneak preview period, all of us received a Star Wars lanyard with a Stars Wars pin and a plastic pouch to store our keycard/tickets. These perks vary from park to park (and hotels and cruises and Adventures), but they are legit.
3. NO EXTRA COST: You're not paying more to book with a Disney Travel Agent versus booking on the Disney site yourself. You'll pay the same price (unless the agent charges a planning fee, which I do not) but you won't get those magical extras. Additionally, booking through a Disney Travel Agent will get you better service than even booking through Disney and definitely better service than booking through a third-party.
4. TIME AND SANITY SAVER: The best perk of using a travel agent is that you don't have to put yourself through the rigamarole of checking rates, properties, comparing reviews, searching FastPass+ rules, finding great restaurants, and other vacation decisions. These are things that we take care of for you. All of this is made easier by having the tools and resources to answer your questions in our Disney Travel Agent portal.
5. WE'RE DISNEY NERDS: Aside from getting news and offers delivered to us from Disney, we're also going through our own curated Disney feeds on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and beyond. I'm not saying I wake up thinking about Mickey and go to sleep thinking about Dole Whip and specialty treats but it's close. (Also, I am always on the lookout for cute Disney swag.) That said, most Disney Travel Agents are like me—we love the Disney experience and we want others to share it with!
If you need more reasons of why to book through a Disney Travel Agent that's not from a travel agent, read Global Munchkins story right here!
*If you are interested in a certain Disney trip, email me of when you would like to go and I'll start watching for the offers and best times to go.
Any other questions about Disney? ASK AWAY.
