TA Jitters About This Page:

[Angileyze1]

Ok so here's the scoop. I planned like heck a great vacation back in April. It was NOT a Disney one, but included 5 other parks. It went off without a hitch. I am very good at palnning. The idea of planning a Disney one, was slightly intimidating so I decided to go TA. The idea of giving up total control is scaring me to death. I want everything to be perfect! I've already run into a tiny bit of info that I learned here that she was misinformed about. I actually had more info than she did! It was a well known Disney one so I am freaking out. How can I enjoy some of the planning while giving it all to someone else? Am I crazy?

[Belle*]

I can understand being nervous. But I wouldn't lose faith over a tiny bit of info that you found out on the internet before your TA did. There is a LOT of information out there and not all of it is accurate. As travel agents we need to be sure that something is legitimate and confirmed by Disney before we can discuss it. There are some agents out there who have lost some credibility by posting or discussing information prior to it being finalized by Disney, only to then be embarassed when Disney changes something at the last minute. (Common occurence!) Also, keep in mind that PassPorters are devoted travel planners. It wouldn't be the first time that something showed up here before making it to the rest of us!

The good news is that you aren't giving up total control! After all, YOU chose your travel planner and hopefully comsulted with her about this vacation. I'm sure you chose your resort, your meals, etc. Your TA is just the one making the arrangements! Relax, sit back and let them do the work for you. Believe me, back before I was a TA it was wonderful knowing that someone else was up at 7:00 a.m making that impossible to get CRT breakfast. Now, I love knowing that my clients are still sleeping while I'm making their dreams come true!

[dmpyron]

Sara points out a very important tid bit. YOU are in control. You say yes, you say no. Ask lots of questions. None of us here know everything, but a good agent has lots of resources and can get answers. And remember, the internet is a vast cloud of noise. One of my favorite cartoons is an old Far Side one. It shows a dog sitting at a computer. "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog". Some people may have an agenda and will put things out to malign someone/something. There's a guy right now who is republishing almost every violent crime story in the Orlando area trying to point it at WDW. For instance, the couple who were "abducted" from DTD, robbed and dumped in a quarry. Well, turns out they were never at DTD, weren't abducted and the guy stood in line alone at the ATM fro almost 20 minutes. But the poster sure made it look like violent crime is rampant in WDW. So be careful about things you hear that your agent doesn't. But if you do hear something, ASK!!!!! I actually got an email to my personal account about a recent offerring about an hour before Disney sent it to my agency account. But Sara may have seen it the day before, since they do more Disney bookings than my agency does.

[lukeandbrookesmom]

Another important thing to remember is that working with a TA is a relationship. You need to communicate with each other, never assuming what the other one knows, wants, needs, etc. Your TA should also be looking out for YOUR best interest and needs. Your TA should be there to guide you with decisions based on his/her expierence and education in the field, not to tell you what to do. We are here to assist you in making the plans, such as ADRs, freeing up your valuable time. Both Sara and Dillon pointed out that there is a lot of information out there, accurate and inaccurate, objective and subjective, and it takes time to decipher it all. With a good working relationship with your TA it makes it that much easier to do. My clients call me all the time with things they've read and heard. At that point it's my job to figure out what's good info and what isn't and then pass that back along so an educated decision can be made. A good TA will only pass on accurate and confirmed information from the suppliers themselves. At times that's frustrating for us because the info may have already 'leaked' to a board like this and now there are people thinking they know info before the TA's do. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they only know part of it, and sometimes the supplier makes 11th hour changes that makes the original info inaccurate. That's why we need to wait for confirmation. Like Sara said, if we don't, and we pass the info on before it's confirmed and accurate, our credibility is gone - forever.