Whether a Walt Disney World® Resort veteran or a first-timer, the question as to the need of a travel agent is ever-persistent. After all, if you can (and in some cases love) booking a vacation yourself, why have a travel agent do it?
It's Free
Most agents are independently contracted and paid by commission, so the price of your vacation will never alter because you consulted an agent during any portion of the process. Gone are the days of multilevel marketing; consulting an agent will not contractually obligate you to continue using services or sign up for a membership or subscription.
Whether consulting an agent on a question, searching for a recommendation or booking an entire trip, an agent will never charge you for their services, nor will Disney raise your vacation price because you booked through one.
It's Personalized
How much a travel agent does for you is dependent on how much you want to do yourself. If you still like the anticipation of booking your own dinner reservations and FastPass+ selections (when available), you can. If you would rather have an agent take care of nearly every step in the booking process so you can stress less and have more free time, you can take that route, too. That is because an agent's services are tailored to each client's individual needs, and it being free means you do not have to pay piecemeal for the individual services you want.
As great as a custom-tailored vacation experience from an expert sounds on paper, it means little without understanding what an agent's services include. For example, whether you book on your own or with an agent, you already get:
A Walt Disney World Resort hotel reservation
Theme park tickets with 30-minute early entry (beginning later in 2021)
Complimentary transportation via Disney's Magical Express until 2022, Disney's on-property busses, Disney Skyliner, the monorail system and watercraft
The option to make dining and FastPass+ reservations in advance
While you still control all of those choices with a travel agent–and you can still book many of them yourself if you so desire—using an agent's services can also net you:
A custom packet including a detailed itinerary with park hours, crowd projections and other information for your personalized trip
Discount monitoring, where agents can apply newly released discounts to your vacation and lower what you pay without you having to worry about tracking new deals or cancelling and rebooking
Saved time, as you will rarely have to wait on hold with any destination support line to make any changes to your vacation
A personal contact while you are in the parks in case you have questions or need a last-minute reservation
Having an agent means you get a point of contact who can mitigate your wait if you ever need changes and save you money without you having to manually alter your vacation. A travel agent's hands-on training means they know any destinations they book forward and backward, so you should never have to embark on a vacation without having questions or not knowing how to best utilize your time.
Want to contact an agent for more information? You can do so here!