Travel agent for whole trip or cruise only?

[YawningDodo]

As I watch the days tick by until I can put in a request to my TA to book my 2020 cruise, I'd like to pose a question to the others who use TAs for cruises and who stay at WDW before and/or after the cruise. Do you have your TA book your WDW stay(s) as well, or do you only have them book the cruise and then handle the rest yourself? I handled my WDW booking myself for my trip this past January and it went fine. Is there any advantage to having your TA (Dreams Unlimited, in my case) book the rest of the trip?

Things to keep in mind:

1. Regardless of whether I do it myself or have my TA do it, the WDW bookings can't be done until next summer, nearly a year after the cruise itinerary is booked.

2. I'm staying at WDW three nights before the cruise and one after, and I have three or four options in mind for which resort I want for each leg, depending on how much prices increase for 2020--this may make communications with my TA about the WDW bookings complicated and difficult. Or it might make it simpler on my end if I can just give her a list of resorts, an overall budget, and some preferences. I don't know. I usually keep more control over my bookings than that.

3. I'm considering using a second, entirely unrelated TA for the three night booking as it will be a Marathon Weekend stay and I plan to run in the marathon. I'm probably not going to do this because it adds a layer of complication and I'm fairly confident I can get a marathon bib without relying on the guaranteed bibs you can get by buying early through a TA, but it's a possibility depending on how quickly the 2019 marathon sells out this summer (I'll be doing dummy registrations for a couple of days once race registration opens up so I can get a feel for how crazy it is). As far as I'm aware, Dreams Unlimited does not offer runDisney registration.

 

[bumbershoot]

I would only use a TA for the cruise, and even then I only do that for the perks it gets me. I don’t have TAs *plan* anything for me.

There’s nothing a TA can do for a Wdw stay that I can’t do on my own.

That’s a fun way to start a vacation like that, to do the marathon weekend. Remember that you have to be there at least a day before your (first) race to pick up your bib packet and shirt.

Be sure to follow the 2019 marathon thread on the rundisney forum here to get a handle on how registration goes. It’s all new going forward since active won’t be running registration.

 

[dcassetta]

As I watch the days tick by until I can put in a request to my TA to book my 2020 cruise, I'd like to pose a question to the others who use TAs for cruises and who stay at WDW before and/or after the cruise. Do you have your TA book your WDW stay(s) as well, or do you only have them book the cruise and then handle the rest yourself? I handled my WDW booking myself for my trip this past January and it went fine. Is there any advantage to having your TA (Dreams Unlimited, in my case) book the rest of the trip?

Things to keep in mind:

1. Regardless of whether I do it myself or have my TA do it, the WDW bookings can't be done until next summer, nearly a year after the cruise itinerary is booked.

2. I'm staying at WDW three nights before the cruise and one after, and I have three or four options in mind for which resort I want for each leg, depending on how much prices increase for 2020--this may make communications with my TA about the WDW bookings complicated and difficult. Or it might make it simpler on my end if I can just give her a list of resorts, an overall budget, and some preferences. I don't know. I usually keep more control over my bookings than that.

3. I'm considering using a second, entirely unrelated TA for the three night booking as it will be a Marathon Weekend stay and I plan to run in the marathon. I'm probably not going to do this because it adds a layer of complication and I'm fairly confident I can get a marathon bib without relying on the guaranteed bibs you can get by buying early through a TA, but it's a possibility depending on how quickly the 2019 marathon sells out this summer (I'll be doing dummy registrations for a couple of days once race registration opens up so I can get a feel for how crazy it is). As far as I'm aware, Dreams Unlimited does not offer runDisney registration.

Perhaps checking on the rundisney board would be good to see if usual participants find using a TA helpful. https://www.disboards.com/forums/rundisney.201/

 

[YawningDodo]

I would only use a TA for the cruise, and even then I only do that for the perks it gets me. I don’t have TAs *plan* anything for me.

There’s nothing a TA can do for a Wdw stay that I can’t do on my own.

That’s a fun way to start a vacation like that, to do the marathon weekend. Remember that you have to be there at least a day before your (first) race to pick up your bib packet and shirt.

Be sure to follow the 2019 marathon thread on the rundisney forum here to get a handle on how registration goes. It’s all new going forward since active won’t be running registration.

Right, that's what I've been wondering about--on a cruise there's a very clear value to using a TA since you get the OBC, and for the marathon there's at least some value in having a guaranteed bib regardless of how fast the races sell out (and the TAs claim they get better prices on Pop Century...but after checking January 2019 this week I think their prices are the same or higher than rack rate). I just don't know if you get anything for having a TA handle WDW bookings, or if the value is all in them planning things for you...which is a minus rather than a plus for me.

I've lurked off and on in the 2019 marathon thread, but hadn't really participated since I'm not running in 2019...good point, though, about the registration system changing and warranting a close look this summer. And yeah! It's all way too far off to be able to confirm anything, but my plan right now is to fly in early in the day on Friday before the marathon (just to minimize the risk of flight delays) and have all of Saturday to get to the expo before the race on Sunday.

Perhaps checking on the rundisney board would be good to see if usual participants find using a TA helpful. https://www.disboards.com/forums/rundisney.201/

That's where I first heard about people using TAs for runDisney events. It would never have occurred to me, honestly. From the threads I've read it sounds like using a TA has a bigger benefit if you're running a short race or if you're doing Dopey and running all of them, since the 5K and 10K tend to sell out very quickly and the TAs have a set number of bibs set aside that you can book through them before general registration opens up (you have to book a minimum WDW package with it, but it's well within my plans). It sounds like the marathon is easier to get into, but I'm still eying it and wondering if it's worth it just for the peace of mind...though using a TA for runDisney can limit you in terms of choices for resorts.

 

[Keels]

I would find out if the agency your TA works for has a designated RunDisney agent (ie. - the only person at that agency that can sell RunDisney). If so, tell your TA what you're looking to do and have her partner with the rD agent.

If NOT - and you can find a list of RunDisney-exclusive agents on the RunDisney site, though I think the official list for this year is still missing but the usual suspects are there (Acclaim, MEV, Travel By Groups, etc.) - then your personal agent can call Disney Sports & Events and book a package for you on your behalf (including guaranteed bib, park tickets if you need them, Castaway Challenge registration, etc.) and handle the entirety of the booking.

When RunDisney made changes to bib purchases for TAs a couple of years ago (requiring hotel stays, tickets, etc.), a LOT of TA's lost serious money on bibs and basically had to eat the cost of the bibs they had to pre-purchase in advance ... so, now they choose to pre-book groups directly with Disney Sports & Events that include bibs and give them complete flexibility on tickets, resorts, etc. In THIS instance, if you're really going to run it pays to plan in advance because you'll be able to get a guaranteed spot when they book their group (which for 2020 will be in January 2019).

I've done Marathon Weekend the last three years and will be there in 2019. If Marathon is your goal ... you're going to be fine. It doesn't sell out for a while, even this year when it was the 25th Anniversary it took MONTHS.

If you have other questions and want to PM, I'm happy to help!

 

[ludari]

I've used my TA for all my 10+ cruises and I'm very happy with them. I prefer to book my own airfare since I sometimes use my miles to upgrade or travel free using my mile points. I also book my own hotels so I can either use my DVC, apply my corporate discount, use my hotel points, and sometimes my friend who works in the hotel industry helps with finding the best deal or perk available. All of which depends on the cruise departure/arrival location.

 

[DietCokeMommy]

I would just use the TA for the cruise and handle everything else yourself, but then I don't have a lot of experience with TAs and I like to do things myself.

I also want to say I'm glad I'm not the only one anxiously awaiting 2020 itineraries . We're planning doing a B2B in January/February and I can't wait until the itineraries come out!

 

[mmmears]

I use a TA for my DCL cruises, but usually book my WDW hotels on my own. Having said that, I have used the TA when booking WDW in conjunction with the cruise. It just made things easier for me. Generally I prefer booking my own hotels since we tend to change things a bit and I'd rather call WDW directly than bother another person.

 

[Owl X]

Dreams Unlimited booked a resort day for us on each end of a cruise last year.
At some point after our original booking, Disney had lower promotional pricing on the resort.
Our travel agent automatically rebooked our resort days at the lower pricing.
So it may benefit you to have a travel agent book your resort days as they keep up with new promotions.

 

[Belle2002]

Unless you get a special benefit from using a TA, I would do it myself (I used to be a TA!). I only ever used an agent once for my cruise because I got a shipboard credit. I booked my WDW hotel on my own because I got a way better deal than my TA could get me (TA was not impressed). So unless you get a perk, I wouldn't use a TA, they end up being more of a middle man.