WDW Spirited Quickees

[nickys]

Yeah that is company debt from money spent by a principle so bankruptcy would be my guess with sale of assets

Even if Dreams Unlimited fail in their assertion that he had no authority to have the card, they aren’t going to go bankrupt. I believe they’re in the top 2 TAs for Disney .They bring in tens of millions of dollars a year for Disney. It would set them back but not bankrupt them.

The DIS is a separate company (and neither are wholly owned by Pete). Disney might pull the media credentials - but the podcast team rarely go into the parks these days. Will they stop the DU from selling their products? Unlikely, especially if they can move quickly and divest Pete’s interest.

 

[Disorbust]

I "grew up" on the Disboards and this is really sad. The vibe there did start changing over there for me in 2015.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Even if Dreams Unlimited fail in their assertion that he had no authority to have the card, they aren’t going to go bankrupt. I believe they’re in the top 2 TAs for Disney .They bring in tens of millions of dollars a year for Disney. It would set them back but not bankrupt them.

I suspect they’ll lose some business because of this now hanging over them. I also suspect many weren’t blind to some of this and just kept quiet but we’ll never know. It’s a sad thing all around for sure and it’ll be hard for them to overcome this.

In my opinion if Dreams goes away, it won’t keep their customers from still booking a trip to Disney, it may just be done elsewhere.

 

[Jrb1979]

I'm surprised so many still use TAs. It's a dying industry.

 

[wdwfan22]

I'm surprised so many still use TAs. It's a dying industry.

Yeah I don’t get why anyone would use a travel agent for a Disney trip.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Yeah I don’t get why anyone would use a travel agent for a Disney trip.

We don’t know why but to those who aren’t experienced like us and hear how complicated Disney is to tackle, that’s why some use TA’s

 

[nickys]

I'm surprised so many still use TAs. It's a dying industry.

I think many use them to let someone else keep track of any deals and rebook when appropriate.
And to save having to call yourself and potentially to wait forever to get through.

Also some will book ADRs. Having someone else do that has its own appeal.

International guests often get better deals booking through a TA -even if it’s the WDTC themselves. We get much better protection booking as a package. Otherwise travel insurance can be hit or miss if you book flights separately. If the flight is delayed and you end up shortening your trip you might not get anything back other than the statutory flight delay payment - and even that depends on the reason.

Plus booking cruises can be a lot easier through a TA. Plus you get onboard credit through a TA.

There are no doubt other reasons too. Being overwhelmed by all the choices is another that I just thought of. Or just wanting someone else to do the work.

 

[UNCgolf]

More specifically, the post was really about whenever some blogger inevitability gets busted for something bad - which again was going to happen sooner or later - how that would negatively affect Disney the company due to the close relationship with bloggers. And from what I can tell, there hasn’t particularly been any blowback towards TWDC regarding this individual. So ironically despite this zombie post, it doesn’t really seem like the concern expressed by WDW1974 on this topic was warranted.

Probably because all things considered he's an incredibly minor personality who the vast majority of people have never heard of -- I didn't even know who he was until this and I (obviously) post on a Disney forum.

 

[jpeden]

I'm surprised so many still use TAs. It's a dying industry.

Yeah I don’t get why anyone would use a travel agent for a Disney trip.

I use one simply because they help with little things, make sure I get any discounts, and it costs me nothing. There are very few things I can do in this world that make it convenient for me and help someone else out without it costing me a dime - using a Disney TA is one of those things.

 

[nickys]

Probably because all things considered he's an incredibly minor personality who the vast majority of people have never heard of -- I didn't even know who he was until this and I (obviously) post on a Disney forum.

Disney know who he is though. The question is whether they will penalise DU and the DIS? And if they can move quickly to divest his interest in them then Disney will likely not act against the companies.

 

[wdisney9000]

It's a hoot to see that even after several years of @WDW1974 not posting here, there are still people on these forums that jump at the chance to criticize him for not being 1,000,000% accurate in one of his posts.

And people wonder why him and several other insiders no longer bother sharing info here.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I'm surprised so many still use TAs. It's a dying industry.

Seniors who have money, but are not tech savvy, still use travel agencies.

Most cruises are still booked through an agent

Most group trips, destination weddings etc are booked through an agent (very difficult to do online yourself)

Business professionals will book with an agent to save time, especially if they have a consistent report with a go to agent

Some people want to pay cash, debit or with multiple cards. At an agency you can do that, online typically not.

Depending upon where you live, booking with an agent may also mean the convenience of paying in your own currency vs USD, Euro etc

Lastly, sometimes an agency will have discounts you can't get online.

Yes, booking a trip yourself online is easy if you know exactly what you can want and find it on Expedia, for example. For many, sifting through websites trying to book a destination/experience can be a challenge, especially if you are unfamiliar with where you are going. Sometimes it's just easier to talk with an actual human than rely solely on random advice online.

 

[durangojim]

Yeah I don’t get why anyone would use a travel agent for a Disney trip.

I use them for cruises because of the convenience and on board credit. For WDW there’s no need.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Seniors who have money, but are not tech savvy, still use travel agencies.

Most cruises are still booked through an agent

Most group trips, destination weddings etc are booked through an agent (very difficult to do online yourself)

Business professionals will book with an agent to save time, especially if they have a consistent report with a go to agent

Some people want to pay cash, debit or with multiple cards. At an agency you can do that, online typically not.

Depending upon where you live, booking with an agent may also mean the convenience of paying in your own currency vs USD, Euro etc

Lastly, sometimes an agency will have discounts you can't get online.

Yes, booking a trip yourself online is easy if you know exactly what you can want and find it on Expedia, for example. For many, sifting through websites trying to book a destination/experience can be a challenge, especially if you are unfamiliar with where you are going. Sometimes it's just easier to talk with an actual human than rely solely on random advice online.

Yes, I am from the "post-travel agent" generation and enjoy travelling independently. It can take a lot of time to plan a trip yourself, though. I can entirely understand why someone would rather hand over the responsibility to look into and book accomodation, flights, etc. to somebody else rather then spending time looking through online reviews, different travel aggregators and airline sites, etc.

 

[flynnibus]

WDW1974's prediction wasn't a hail mary or nostrodamus. It was saying the things that others wouldn't. It was commentary on the kinds of people running in those circles and pointing out that eventually some will get exposed. Seen over and over many of the types that throw themselves into the lifestyle 24/7 aren't exactly the most stable folks.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Probably because all things considered he's an incredibly minor personality who the vast majority of people have never heard of -- I didn't even know who he was until this and I (obviously) post on a Disney forum.

Yes, this is incredibly inside Baseball for a segment of online Disney fans.

From Disney's perspective, I imagine they can just quietly back away. I also don't think they'll get any blowback if they keep accepting bookings from the remaining travel agency that this guy doesn't seem to own, anyway. I mean, what are they really supposed to do?

 

[cranbiz]

I also dumped the DIS after Ryan's fiasco. They gave me a 30 day vacation for asking and I dumped them the instant I was allowed to post again. It wouldn't upset me to see them go.

 

[_CJ]

I also dumped the DIS after Ryan's fiasco. They gave me a 30 day vacation for asking and I dumped them the instant I was allowed to post again. It wouldn't upset me to see them go.

What was Ryan’s fiasco? I haven’t been watching much lately because they’ve been circling the drain for a while.

 

[Rteetz]

I'm surprised so many still use TAs. It's a dying industry.

It’s actually not.

 

[Rteetz]

What was Ryan’s fiasco? I haven’t been watching much lately because they’ve been circling the drain for a while.

Ryan would be me. I was moderator on the disboards. I started to question the hierarchy and how things operated. Pete didn’t like that. The webmasters didn’t like that. I resigned, Pete told me I was a worthless human and then I was banned.