I haven’t been to Disney hundreds of times (yet. Give me a couple years), but I’ve been my fair share.

I’ve done it with crazy intensity, and in a casual jaunt.

I’ve done Disneyland (finally), and Disney World.

I’ve picked up a few tips along the way.  And while there re blogs across the web, I wanted to hand out my own Disney advice I’ve learned along the way, and tips I’ll be learning as I begin to go more frequently.

This months tip is one I wholeheartedly support – but have never used myself.  So I asked my good friend Liz to come over and guest on my blog as she’s used this tip quite a few times in the past few years.

Use a Disney Vacation Planner.

From here, I’ll let Liz tell it…she’s the expert.

*~*

We consider ourselves Disney World experts at this point. We have had 3 family trips, a secret husband and wife trip, and I’ve just booked a mom and daughter trip. We go to Disney just about every 2 years and fully embrace the magic and fun that comes with a complete Disney vacation. While we talk about a Disney cruise or Adventures by Disney, we just can’t seem to stay away from Disney World.

I never intended to go to Disney World, honestly. I loved Disney movies and characters but had only ever been to Disney World once – my mom took me when I was 5 years old. Fast forward to my adulthood and I went to Disney World for a conference. And I fell in love and knew that I had to bring my family. What I didn’t know was how to make it happen.

Thankfully, a friend had recently shared about becoming an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. I contacted her and was thrilled to find out that it wasn’t going to be nearly as overwhelming as I had feared. I chose to go the full Disney route – staying “on property” (meaning at a Disney resort), having a Disney Dining Plan (meaning all meals are part of the vacation package expense so it’s all paid for before you get there), and so on.

My planner is Katie Dixon from Hi Ho Vacations. She lives local to me so for that first trip, she actually met with me face to face and walked me through park maps and suggested what to ride first and ways to navigate each park. At the time, I had no idea all the ways that she would prove to be an invaluable asset. Even now, as updates happen and construction is going on and things change, Katie helps me navigate and understand how to book my Fastpasses, how to get the most use out of Fastpasses while in the park, where to request special things or how to find the best seat for fireworks or parades.

Here are just some of the reasons why we always use Katie to book our trips.

She watches for specials and price changes. I usually book a trip 6-9 months in advance. Disney may release specials or discounts after I’ve already booked. If I booked it myself, I’d have to be watching for specials, determine if they apply to my trip, and then contact Disney to have my trip updated. By using Hi Ho Vacations, Katie is monitoring that on my behalf and applies any discounts that come up for me!

And on that price point – using Hi Ho Vacations means that I make payments. I pay $200 to reserve the trip and then I can make payments towards the trip. Payment in full is due 45 days prior to travel. This means we’ve been able to Disney without going into debt. One of the biggest reasons I love our Disney trips is that everything is paid for before we go. The resort, the food, the theme park tickets even the photography – it’s all in the package and paid for. In fact, the only cash I bring along is for table service server tips and “mouse”keeping tips in the room!

Katie has also been a huge help to me when we have been in the midst of our vacation and something isn’t going right. She has been able to change reservations for us or contact someone for help on our behalf. When we learned on our first trip that an 8 p.m. dinner with our little kids was a bad idea, she was able to look at the rest of our itinerary and make suggestions of what to change and then did the work to make the changes. I didn’t have to take any time away from my vacation to handle the problem.

If there were a circumstance where we need special assistance on our trip – maybe I have a kid with sensory issues or I get hurt before my trip and now need a wheelchair and assistance – Katie helps navigate and arrange all the things. And I guarantee you she thinks of things I never would have known about because her Disney knowledge and experience is fantastic.

I’ve also enjoyed the sprinkles of Pixie Dust we get by using Hi Ho Vacations. They take very good care of their customers – either by a surprise “hook up” on a dinner reservation for better seats or maybe a small gift in your room or some other fun bit of magic. Katie always has fun things up her sleeve to make our trip special – even before we get there!

Booking through Hi Ho Vacations also benefits the Make A Wish Foundation for Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana – they donate $10 to Make A Wish for every trip booked through them.

The most important question is – what will it cost me to use a vacation planner? Absolutely nothing! Here’s how I understand it – if I book everything myself, Disney considers themselves the planner and basically pays themselves out of my trip. However, by using an authorized planner, my planner gets paid what Disney would have paid themselves. The commission either goes to Disney or goes to my planner – and I’d rather have someone helping me step by step get that money.

Even as I prepare for my 6^th trip to the parks, I know I need Katie in my back pocket. I’ve been more independent planning this trip – but I feel confident about it because I’m asking Katie questions and getting her advice as I go!

*~*

Soon as I read this post, I told Liz I wanted to book a trip NOW!  I love the idea of the usual stresses being handled by an expert so that I have to do nothing but enjoy my trip along the way.  I also, as a former Wish family, love that Hi Ho Vacations donates to Make A Wish for every trip booked!!

After this – what do you think?  Would you use a planner? 

Here is the information for Liz’s All-Star Vacation planner, Katie:

Katie Dixon
317-374-2849
Katie@hihovacations.com
http://www.hihovacations.com/