YES!!!
First things first, not all planners are created equal when it comes to Disney. Disney requires that vacation planners complete a training course called Disney’s College of Knowledge. Once you have completed that you are eligible to become a Disney Travel Planner, however in my opinion that isn’t nearly enough to do an effective job. You want to check to make sure that your agent is working with an agency that is a Disney Earmarked Authorized Vacation Planner agency. This is a separate designation to Disney’s top agencies. Those agencies require more of their planners. For example, Mouseketrips, the one I work with, requires that you have real life hands on knowledge of Disney. So their agents have been to the parks, on cruises, experienced Disney weddings, etc. They also require their agents go through a more extensive training program than College of Knowledge. When choosing an agent, choose a Disney’s College of Knowledge graduate and one working with an Earmarked Disney Authorized Vacation Planner. (hopefully ME but if not me, then make sure they do have these qualifications)
Now that that is out of the way, some people think it will cost them more if they use a travel agent. Not true at all. A Disney Travel Agent should always be FREE. How is that possible? Disney pays the agencies a commission and the agencies pay their planners. This is another area in which not all agencies are created equal. One of the things that I led me to choose Mouseketrips is the attention to customer service. We make sure that we are only recommending the options that are truly good for your family and your budget. I personally feel that you are going to be a happier, and hopefully repeat client if you have received a great value for your vacation and that means only the options you need.
You receive one on one attention when you book with a planner. Instead of calling into a call center and getting someone different every time, when you choose a vacation planner like myself you have direct contact with that person. My clients have my cell phone number and my email address and they know when they contact me I already know what they are celebrating, who is going, and all other important details of their trip.
In addition to all of those reasons, I also give my clients a personalized vacation itinerary. It has all the information they could possibly need to have the most magical trip so they just get to sit back and countdown the days to their vacation!