What are the reasons to use a Disney Vacation Planner?
Going to Disney World has NEVER been more complicated. You must consider everything from dining reservations to Genie+ to choosing the best resort for your family!
For many people, the thought of doing this by yourself brings on feelings of nausea, anxiety, and stress! 🙂
If this describes you, there is luckily an incredible solution to help.
Use a Disney Vacation Planner to help plan your trip to Disney!
Below, you will learn SEVEN reasons why using an authorized Disney Travel Agent is incredibly beneficial. Most people’s FAVORITE benefit is reason #6 below. 🙂
Also, make sure to go to the bottom of the post, where I list TWO reasons why you SHOULD NOT use a Disney Travel Agent.
Reasons to Use a Disney Vacation Planner:
- In full disclosure, I’m married to a Disney Vacation Planner. Almost daily, I witness how she helps her clients with their trips.
- I’m writing this post for someone going to DISNEY WORLD. But most of these reasons also apply to DISNEYLAND.
- I use the terms Disney Travel Agent and Disney Vacation Planner interchangeably. They mean the same thing.
#1. They help you find the PERFECT Disney resort.
Did you know there are over TWENTY resorts on property at Disney World? And that doesn’t include the dozens of hotels that are just off-site. Trying to figure out which resort is best for your family and budget can be maddening.
By spending 5 minutes talking to a Disney Vacation Planner, they can narrow your search to just a few resorts. From there, they can give you the pros and cons of each.
If you need help, here are the questions you should be prepared to answer:
- What is your BUDGET for a resort? How much do you want to spend per night?
- Which of the four theme parks do you want to be closest to? Do you plan on visiting any of them multiple times?
- How many people are staying in your room? Large parties may need a villa or room that can accommodate 5+.
If you don’t know the differences between the Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness, or the Riviera Resort and Caribbean Beach Resort sound like they should be in another country, you may want to utilize a Disney Travel Agent!
#2. They help determine WHERE you should eat.
If you think selecting a Disney World resort is confusing, wait until you hear about dining.
Believe it or not, there are OVER 200 places to eat between all the resorts, theme parks, and Disney Springs. For many, one of the most fun parts about going to Disney is sampling the food and experiencing different restaurants.
But trying to decide where to eat for your trip is stressful. There is no way to do it all.
That’s where a Disney Vacation Planner can help. They can help you find the best dining options for your family based on your schedule and interests.
Here are some of the questions they will want to know:
- How many character dining experiences do you want? What are your or your kid’s favorite Disney characters?
You can meet Piglet and other Winnie the Pooh characters at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom.
- How often do you want to sit down at a restaurant versus getting something quick to eat? Dining at certain restaurants can take a long time, so you must consider how much time you want to sit there and miss time walking around a theme park.
- Are you trying to save money on dining? Or do you want to go all out on restaurants, character experiences, et?
A Disney Vacation Planner can also help determine if getting the Disney Dining Plan is worth the cost.
#3. Disney Vacation Planners MAKE dining reservations for you.
Once you determine the restaurants you want to visit, the next step is getting a reservation!
So you know, you can make your dining reservations at Disney World 60 days before the start of your vacation at EXACTLY 6 a.m. EST.
As you can imagine, this gets very competitive for some of the most popular places, such as Ohana or Cinderella’s Castle. You need to be awake and ready to book right at 6 a.m.!
If you’re not an early riser, you’re in luck! Most Disney Travel Agents perform this service for you. If you don’t like to wake up early, this is definitely one of the BEST reasons to use a Disney Vacation Planner. 🙂
Before your dining window opens, they work with you to determine the restaurants for which you want reservations. Then, on the morning that you can first book your dining, they wake up and do their best to get the restaurants you wanted.
What’s nice about using a Disney Travel Agent is they know which restaurants book up the quickest. They will prioritize the order they need to try and snag a reservation. For example, they will first try to get breakfast at Chef Mickey (very popular) before getting lunch at Tony’s.
#4. They help with dozens of other questions and issues.
Typically, people have the most questions about picking a resort or helping with dining.
But there are so many other issues they can help you with. Seriously, using a Disney Travel Planner means that you get a Disney EXPERT on your team.
Here are just a few examples of how they can help:
- Explain to you how Genie+ and Lightning Lanes work.
- Provide ride recommendations at each park based on the ages of your kids.
- Help with ground transportation from the airport to Disney World.
- Answer your questions about transportation (bus, skyliner, boat, etc) while at Disney.
- Recommend vendors to book your stroller, scooter, or wheelchair rentals. They can even book these for you if you don’t want to mess with it.
- Book private tours or other unique experiences.
- Help you visit another park for the day – SeaWorld, Universal Orlando, Legoland, etc.
And I could probably keep going! Whatever you need help with, Disney Travel Agents are there to assist. Every vacation is unique.
#5. Their advice can save you money!
First, let me be clear on something: Disney Travel Agents DO NOT have access to better prices than you. You can learn more about this at the end of the article.
But, a Disney Travel Agent can likely save you money by the advice they give you.
Here are some examples I have witnessed:
Disney Dining Plan:
- In my opinion, the Disney Dining Plan is not worth the cost for most people. That’s because to pay for itself, you need to do a good job of managing the food credits it provides. But many people purchase this blindly, whereas a Disney Vacation Planner can help determine if it’s necessary based on your dining wishes.
Disney World Resorts:
- You can save a lot of money by choosing a different, less expensive resort. Maybe you were thinking of staying at the Riviera Resort, which is a Disney Deluxe Resort and very expensive because you wanted to be close to the Skyliner. Well, your Disney Travel Planner can tell you about staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort or Art of Animation Resort, which are still on the Skyliner but MUCH cheaper.
- Once they know what’s most important to you, your travel agent can help find the resorts that meet your needs at the best price.
Current Promotions:
Disney often has a promotion or special going on when booking a resort. Your vacation planner will know about the current offerings to make sure you don’t miss out on something. For example, here are a few recent ones that have happened:
- You get the Disney Dining Plan for free when booking during certain dates.
- Free tickets to one of the water parks on the day you check-in.
- Stay Longer and Save Discounts – where you get a lot of money off per night the longer you stay.
#6. Disney Vacation Planners don’t cost YOU anything!
One of the BEST reasons to use a Disney Vacation Planner is that you don’t have to pay them anything. Not a single dollar.*
Disney Travel Agents are paid directly from Disney after you go on your trip. Technically, the travel agency that your travel agent works for is paid by Disney, and they get a percentage of that amount.
Your Disney World vacation will cost the same amount whether you use a Disney Travel agent or not. If you don’t use one, the Walt Disney Corporation just gets to keep the extra money you think you are saving.
*Since Disney Vacation Planners are typically independent contractors, you may find one that charges fees for extra services, such as detailed itineraries.
#7. You’re supporting a small business.
Most Disney Vacation Planners are not getting rich planning Disney vacations. The majority of them are not doing this full-time, and they mostly do it because they love talking about Disney.
By using a Disney Travel Agent, you are supporting a small business or individual who is doing something they really enjoy.
And as we just mentioned, the cost of your Disney trip is the same whether you use a vacation planner or not. I’d much rather give part of my payment to a small business than have Disney keep the entire thing for itself.
This may not matter much to you, but it does to me! 🙂
Are you ready to book a trip with a Disney Vacation Planner?
If you want help planning a Disney World vacation, I recommend contacting Deena from Mousekeplanner. In full disclosure, she is my wife. 🙂
I’m probably biased, but she does an amazing job and loves Disney more than anybody I know.
You can send her a message HERE or at her email address: [email protected]
- It’s also incredibly helpful to fill out this 2-minute questionnaire. This form provides a bunch of useful information and gets rid of some initial back and forth. Once you complete the form, the info goes DIRECTLY to Deena.
TWO Reasons You Should NOT Use a Disney Vacation Planner:
As much as I think a Disney Vacation Planner can be a great resource, it’s not for everybody. If either of these reasons describes you, it’s better to plan the trip yourself.
#1. You think a Disney Vacation Planner has access to better discounts.
A common misconception is that Disney Travel Agents have secret access to better deals and discounts and can save you money.
This is entirely untrue. When they quote your trip, they are looking at the same screens that you can see on Disney’s site.
Please don’t contact a Disney Travel Agent for quotes just to compare and see if they are less expensive than what you quoted yourself. You are just wasting their time and yours.
#2. You like to be in complete control over your vacation.
By using a Disney Vacation Planner, you are giving up a certain amount of control.
For example, if you book through a travel agent, you can’t call Disney to make any changes to your reservation. Any changes would need to be made by your travel agent.
Some people like the fact they get to save time by not calling Disney themselves. But of course, many others want to be the ones in control and handle everything.
What training does an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner receive?
To become a Disney Travel Agent, an individual must complete the Disney College of Knowledge. This is the official training course that Disney makes you complete, where you learn all about the different theme parks, resorts, cruises, etc.
You should see this logo when searching for an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.
However, Disney Travel Agents get most of their training by visiting Disney World numerous times each year. 🙂
Are you ready to have a Disney expert help plan your vacation?
I have never met a Disney Travel Agent who didn’t absolutely LOVE Disney themselves. One thing is for certain: most of them love talking about Disney.
Your vacation to Disney World is your vacation, and you are responsible for the final decisions.
But wouldn’t it be great to tell someone about your family and what you are looking for, and they can make recommendations based on your interests?
What are your favorite reasons to use a Disney Vacation Planner?
Please let everyone know what you found to be the biggest benefits! If you have additional questions, please ask below, and I promise to answer.
