Choosing a Disney agent...

[bluefish32]

So, I have two excellent recommendations from personal friends for 2 different Disney travel agents. I've emailed with one and gotten a quote, and I'd like to talk to the other one, too, before I make a decision. I'm sure either one would be good, but how do I decide if I like them both?! What are some good questions to ask to find the best agent that will be involved in helping me with an itinerary for our trip?

 

[Dave B]

what are you using a travel agent for?

 

[DisneyJoe]

So, I have two excellent recommendations from personal friends for 2 different Disney travel agents. I've emailed with one and gotten a quote, and I'd like to talk to the other one, too, before I make a decision. I'm sure either one would be good, but how do I decide if I like them both?! What are some good questions to ask to find the best agent that will be involved in helping me with an itinerary for our trip?

- How long they have been in business
- how often they travel to WDW or other Disney destination
Hopefully you can talk to both on the phone to get a feel for their personality, that tells me a lot.

 

[bluefish32]

I'd like an agent who can book my ADRs, FastPasses, and plan out a day by day itinerary since we're going to do one park a day. So, very involved is what I am looking for.

Thanks, DisneyJoe, those are good suggestions!

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

For me, I generally only book a trip to WDW if I can get a discount, whether room savings or free dining. Based on that, my number one priority is having an agent I know will be on the phone with Disney the moment discounts are released.

You obviously want an agent who will plan and book everything for you, so it seems very obvious that you should simply ask the agents if they will do so. Ask your friends if their agent did this.

You could ask the agents if they will specifically, book your dining and Fast Passes immediately on the 180/60 day mark, in order to get the best results.

Is there a reason you don't want to book dining and Fast Pass yourself? At the very least you should let your travel agent know what your priorities are. There's so many choices when it comes to dining I would never leave the decision in someone else's hands completely.

 

[Master Yoda]

what are you using a travel agent for?

Because the good ones will take all of the work out of booking a Disney vacation. They also keep track of promotions and rebook you when one comes out.

All for the low, low price of free.

 

[Herdman]

I agree with some of the comments above. We've used a travel agent several times to book the resort and tickets, but I do all my ADR"s and FP+ reservations myself. I'd be too stressed out wondering if they were up at 6:00 and 7:00 AM booking everything I was trying to get. Our main purpose in using an agent is that she always has her finger on the latest discounts and has saved us money more than once by cancelling and re-booking our resort when a discount comes out.

 

[bluefish32]

Is there a reason you don't want to book dining and Fast Pass yourself? At the very least you should let your travel agent know what your priorities are. There's so many choices when it comes to dining I would never leave the decision in someone else's hands completely.

I will definitely give her a list of preferences of ours and not just leave it all up to her. Puzzling all the pieces together does not appeal to me. I will narrow it down to our top choices and then delegate. If someone else who knows the ropes can do the booking for me, for free, I'll take it!

Our main purpose in using an agent is that she always has her finger on the latest discounts and has saved us money more than once by cancelling and re-booking our resort when a discount comes out.

Yup, this is another big reason for me, too.

 

[Hakunamatata]

The really really good ones are forum sponsors.

 

[nickys]

So, I have two excellent recommendations from personal friends for 2 different Disney travel agents. I've emailed with one and gotten a quote, and I'd like to talk to the other one, too, before I make a decision. I'm sure either one would be good, but how do I decide if I like them both?! What are some good questions to ask to find the best agent that will be involved in helping me with an itinerary for our trip?

I have not used an agent, but if I were to I would probably ask my friends how they "do" Disney. And what their agent does for them and what they do themselves. That would give me an idea of which one might work best for me.
How will the agents deal with changes? What if much closer to the time, after booking ADRs, the only day a Fantasmic dining package was available for HBD was on your Epcot day? If you told them that was a "must" would they switch the plans? Those kinds of questions might be good to put to both agents.

If you truly want them to do everything you need to be able to trust them. Speak to them both and go with your instinct.

 

[Cetta]

Personally, I wanted someone local because I like giving business to local people instead of someone in Florida or Ohio or somewhere else. I also wanted someone who had children (boy and girl and around the same age as mine) because that meant they could suggest things my kids would like. I also wanted someone who would get up and make our dining reservations for us at 7am (and it was one of the first things our travel agent mentioned to me when we spoke which I was so happy about) and get on the phone for us as soon as the package discount came out.

 

[JIMINYCR]

I'd probably want to know what their personal travels to Disney have been. Get a feel of their own feet on the ground experience. When they visited last. Also how many clients do they send to Disney and how informed are they about todays Disney and the changes that are going on. We went to one TA once that we walked away from because during our discussions about a possible trip we could tell she had less knowledge about the goings on at Disney and their upcoming deals than we did.

 

[MagnificentMaleficent]

So, I have two excellent recommendations from personal friends for 2 different Disney travel agents. I've emailed with one and gotten a quote, and I'd like to talk to the other one, too, before I make a decision. I'm sure either one would be good, but how do I decide if I like them both?! What are some good questions to ask to find the best agent that will be involved in helping me with an itinerary for our trip?

Always book direct with Disney! Best pricing, experience and they are open literally 365 days a year. They can handle all of your travel needs including air so never understood why people on here approach it any other way. I used a third party TA one time and never again. Trying to make changes, add things or get my res linked properly was a nightmare and that's when I was able to reach someone. Ever since I book directly with Disney and those trips have all been smooth and completely magical. Plus the CM's are far nicer and way more accomodating than any TA I've previously worked with.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

Wow...... We have quite a few friends\clients on here that love booking with us. They know that we are going to take very good care of them and they have the choice of making their own dining reservations or getting help from us.
And we are VERY accommodating

Pam

 

[MagnificentMaleficent]

I'm speaking from my own experience, when we booked through a travel agent we had horrible a nightmare of a time trying to get things changed because their hours were mon thru friday 9-5. Then when we booked through Disney had no problems calling them in the evenings or on the weekends.

 

[Kingdom Konsultant]

We work nights and weekends and I have agents that stay up all night watching for promotions to drop. Sorry you had a bad experience, but Disney has its issues too. Especially if you get an Arise agent when calling in.

Pam

 

[Master Yoda]

I'm speaking from my own experience, when we booked through a travel agent we had horrible a nightmare of a time trying to get things changed because their hours were mon thru friday 9-5. Then when we booked through Disney had no problems calling them in the evenings or on the weekends.

Sounds like you picked the wrong TA. My availability was pretty much 24/7/365 when I did it.

 

[bluefish32]

Wow, I am sorry for those who have had a bad experience with their Disney travel agent. I did make a decision on an agent. Ours has been a dream! She’s from a Disney-specific agency and has been available anytime I have needed her. She got us every ADR we wanted at 5 am the morning our window opened, and even got us the very limited Play Stay and Dine discount before I even heard about it. My advice would be to switch to a better agent if you get a lemon, because there are some really great ones out there! She has taken care of everything for us and is very passionate about her job and Disney.

 

[mlee10]

We also used a TA for the first time for our upcoming March trip and LOVED everything about it! If you have a good TA then the process is super easy! She even rebooked us when an new promotion started and saved us an additional $425 over the original reservation we had. If they know what they are doing, they are well worth it! Hope you enjoy your trip @bluefish32, glad you found a great agent!

 

[RookieMouse]

When we booked our very first WDW/DCL vacation back in late 2008, we used a TA. Due to my unfamiliarity with WDW and DCL and the complexity of everything -- 5 days at WDW for 4 of us pre-cruise, followed by a 7-night DCL cruise for 14 people, with multiple flight itineraries, DME, pre-cruise hotels, etc., etc. -- I thought a TA would be best equipped to handle it, and I was right. We chose a reputable, well-known agency that specialized in Disney, and got so lucky with our agent. She was a joy to work with and made everything so effortless. 9 years later, she has since moved on and started her own Disney-specific travel agency, and I still have her as a Facebook friend. Whenever anyone asks me for a recommendation for a Disney-specialist TA, she gets my ringing endorsement every time.

Nowadays, with sites like this, and my increased knowledge of my options, I usually book things myself, but I understand how overwhelming it is the first time.