Magic & Saffron

11/08/2024

So many amazing things headed to Disney Parks in the next few years. I can’t wait to experience them all!

04/06/2024

So much happening this summer at Walt Disney World! It's not too late to plan summer travel. ☀️

Get ready for all new entertainment coming this summer to Walt Disney World. Travelmation has a special preview of the can't-miss shows including "Celebracio...

01/06/2024

Step inside Disney's Skyliner Resorts including Disney's Riviera Resort, Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, Disney's Pop Century Resort and Disney's Art of Ani...

17/05/2024

It's not too late to plan summer travel and I'd love to help you get that trip booked to Walt Disney World. Send me an email at [email protected]

Travelmation President Adam Duckworth reveals the top 5 reasons to visit EPCOT at Walt Disney World this summer. He interviews the very talented Scott Mallwi...

26/02/2024

In news I wasn’t expecting to be sharing today:
Walt Disney World Resort hotel rooms and theme park tickets for dates from January to October 2025 will be available to book beginning February 27, 2024 (TOMORROW)!

Plus enjoy this new perk starting with on-site stays in 2025. Throughout 2025, guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel can enjoy admission to one of our water parks on their check-in day – included with their stay.

When should you book? When dates release will always be the best time to book. You get the best options for resorts, room types and tickets. Packages only require a refundable $200 deposit. If discounts release after booking, which they often do, that’s part of my job as your agent to monitor and apply.

If a 2025 Walt Disney World trip is on your radar send me an email so I can get my welcome email over. Please email vs sending a DM because those can get missed.

22/02/2024

February has been the biggest month of Disneyland bookings for me so it feels fitting that we finally got a Spring Promotion released. I’ve already got the promotion applied to all my clients who were eligible.

Guests can save up to 15% off select rooms at a Disneyland Resort hotel on Sunday through Thursday nights from March 11 to June 6, 2024. Subject to availability and restrictions.

Explore savings at these Disneyland Resort hotels—valid on Standard and Premium room types:

Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
✨Save up to 10% off Standard rooms
✨Save up to 15% off Premium rooms

Disneyland Hotel
✨Save up to 10% off Standard rooms
✨Save up to 15% off Premium rooms

The Villas at Disneyland Hotel
✨Save up to 10% off Standard rooms
✨Save up to 15% off Premium rooms

Book now through June 3, 2024.

✨Disney Visa card members can save even more!✨

Send me an email if you’d like to start planning your Disneyland trip in 2024 [email protected] (link in profile).

03/01/2024

So many great deals for Walt Disney World right now.

Disney+ Subscribers: Enjoy a FREE dining plan when you purchase a nondiscounted 4-night, 4-day Walt Disney Travel Company package that includes a room at a select Disney Resort hotel and a theme park ticket with a Park Hopper option—for arrivals most nights from July 1 to September 30, 2024.

Value and moderates with get a free quick service plan. Deluxe and deluxe villas will get a free standard Disney dining plan. Availability is very limited! If you are wanting to take advantage of this or any promotion now is always the best time. Packages are always refundable up until final payment and only require a $200 deposit.

On top of this we had room discounts release for up to 35% off stays through October 3, 2024 of 5 nights or longer.

✉️ [email protected]

02/01/2024

We know big discounts are coming our way tomorrow for Walt Disney World (like FREE DINING). If you have a Disney trip on your mind in 2024 this is the perfect time to reach out and get the process started. Not sure how it works to work with me? My welcome email lays it all out. I’ll walk you through narrowing in on dates, trip length, picking your resort and what ticket media I’d advise getting so we can get your package reserved. Packages only ever require a refundable $200 deposit so it’s easy to get a package locked in even if we need to modify components down the line.

✉️ [email protected]

29/12/2023

2023 was quite a year. After a quieter travel year in 2022 we traveled all but 5 months out of the year. Lots of Disney (of course) including a Disney cruise and a stay at Aulani. I stayed in 15 different hotels including a voyage on the Galactic Starcruiser before its final journey.

These photos are snap shots of some of the places we stayed this year including: Riviera Resort, Monterey Plaza Hotel, Hotel Drisco in San Francisco, Grand Californian, Four Seasons Oahu, Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, the Disney Wish, the Galactic Starcruiser, Grand Floridian and BoardWalk Inn.

Traveling with a baby and now a toddler has been equally as wonderful as it’s been hard. No matter the beautiful setting there’s certainly been tears shed on many a trip as we’ve struggled through sleep issues and exhaustion. I’ve learned to lower my expectations despite my stubbornness and desire for “the perfect trip” and to enjoy the quieter, off the beaten path moments this mode of travel leads to.

I helped almost 100 families travel to Disney destinations across the globe along with bookings to Turkey, England, France, Iceland, Antarctica, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Chile & numerous stateside bookings including Alaskan cruises.

I am so grateful to clients who entrusted me with their trips again this year and referred others to me. I can’t do what I do without my clients & I’m excited to see what 2024 has to offer.

I’m in several travel groups and I see comments constantly about why you’d book with an agent vs on your own. Remember supporting an agent is about supporting someone’s small business, it supports their family, it supports their career. It’s personal to an agent and it matters to us. The pay off to you is having someone in your corner offering their knowledge, support, making those tedious phone calls, emailing the concierge, booking the transfers, waking up at 5am to book dining or staying up until midnight to book your excursions. The list is endless but I often look at booking with an agent as the same reason you book insurance. You may use them a little or a lot but having someone there just in case you need support is priceless and that’s the job of a good agent.

28/12/2023

✨Counting down to 2024✨

Walt Disney World has teased a big promotion coming January 3rd for Disney plus subscribers. If you’ve already got a trip planned with me I’ll be reaching out once we know more and applying whatever promotion saves you the most money. If you AREN’T a client yet or maybe you’re ready to return to the parks in 2024 now is the best time to reach out so I can get my welcome email over and we can be prepped for when the promotion drops.

Why does it matter if you do it now? Promotions always have limited availability per resort. Your best time to book under a promo is always when it drops. I also monitor availability as your travel agent if we can’t get exactly the room type and resort you want when we book but waiting will always give us less options to book in to.

The best way to contact me is always via email at [email protected]. Link in my profile.

07/12/2023

It’s been a busy week for Disneyland bookings for me so it seems like perfect timing for our first discount to release for on-site stays for 2024.

If you’ve been eyeing a 2024 trip now is a great time to reach out. Email is always the best way to get started.

Details below on this offer:
Save up to 20% on Sunday to Thursday night stays at a Disneyland Resort hotel from January 15 through March 7, 2024. Subject to availability and restrictions.

Explore savings at these Disneyland Resort hotels—on Standard and Premium room types:

✨Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Save up to 20%

✨Disneyland Hotel and The Villas at Disneyland Hotel Save up to 15%

Book now through March 7, 2024. Travel must be completed by March 8, 2024.

Not valid for select Concierge rooms, Signature or Premium suites, or 2- or 3-Bedroom Villas.

Have a Disney Visa? Save up to 25% off resorts listed above!

30/11/2023

Hollywood Studios during the Holiday season is always 🤌🏽 A possibly unpopular opinion but I don’t always love this park but we had a great day there this trip. All the shows, multiple rides on Slinky and my nieces first ride on Tower of Terror.

08/11/2023

8 days away from my next and last trip of 2023! As a reminder I’m taking off two full weeks from taking on new trips and quotes starting next Tuesday the 14th until Monday, November 27.

If you have a pending quote or have been waiting to email to kick off a trip Id love to help you before or after my time off. DMs get missed so email is always the best way to reach me.

30/10/2023

Happy almost Halloween from two Ms.Rachel’s 🎃

The world is full of heaviness and I haven’t felt like sharing or posting much here lately and will likely continue with that until it feels right to do otherwise.

I’m still busy, busy, busy booking travel. If you’re thinking about a Disney parks trips, cruise, relaxing on an all inclusive vacation or venturing to Universal parks I’d love to work with you.

I will be taking 2 full weeks off from taking on new trips and doing quotes Nov 14-27 to take a trip and spend Thanksgiving week with famiky. If you are a current client and have time sensitive items like dining happening during these dates I’ll be handling all of those items like normal. I am asking clients for anything outside of that including pending quotes to please reach out to me within the next two weeks so I can work on things now for you. ☺️

02/10/2023

Starting off the week celebrating a BIG personal goal! I hit top 15 paid out sales for my whole agency for September and top 5 on my internal team, Team Wonder. Thank you, as always, to my amazing clients, friends and family who trust me booking your vacations. Truly, thank you ❤️

02/08/2023

Two more weeks!

A reminder I’ll be out of office August 16-21 as we head to Disney World and on our first sailing on the Disney Wish.

24/07/2023

🎉 New Summer travel incentive 🎉

With two months left of the summer months and celebrating three years as a travel agent I’ve decided to run a summer travel incentive.

All ✨NEW✨ bookings made today through August 7th will get a $75 gift card when you travel for bookings totaling $4,500 or more (pre-tax). For pre-existing clients who have booked travel with me in the past 3 years I’m adding another $25 to make it a $100 gift card just for booking your trip through me again. Qualifying dates and details below 👇🏼

✈️ The only exclusions to this booking incentive are: ticket only bookings to Disney or Universal, airfare, car rentals and Starcruiser bookings.

✨Travel start dates MUST be between July 24- September 23, 2023 to qualify.✨

Hotel only bookings, all inclusive resorts, cruises, Disney packages, Universal packages - it all qualifies!

Email me to get the booking process started at [email protected]

10/07/2023

In Maui with family through Friday and then headed to O’ahu to stay at and before heading back home. I’m so excited to be able to stay at both of these resorts for the first time.

I’m still working while in Maui but will be away from email Friday-Monday while in Oahu. My next “out of office” dates are August 16-21 when we head back to Orlando for a one day trip to the parks and my first sailing on aboard the Disney Wish and early November when I head back to Disney World.

As always, if you have a trip coming up or even something as simple as 1-2 night hotel booking I’d love to book it for you. It may seem silly to reach out to an agent for simple bookings but when your work is 100% commission based every booking truly matters so never underestimate what it means to a travel agent when you book with them. [email protected] (link in profile)

29/06/2023

If you’ve been considering a stay at either Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa or Disneyland Hotel NOW is the time to book. Discounts released this morning for travel August 1st-September 30th for up to 20% off or up to 30% off with a Disney Visa.

Looking for a longer stay? Stays up to 4 nights can save 25% off through October 1st.

Reach out via email to [email protected] (link in profile) and I can get you a quote over after you fill out my welcome email questionnaire.

15/06/2023

New Fall and Winter Promotion at Walt Disney World 🎃

Stay in the magic this holiday season —and make delightful Disney memories to last a lifetime.

Save on rooms at select Disney Resort Hotels:

Save up to 25% on stays most Sunday through Thursday nights from October 2 to November 18, 2023, and most nights November 19 to December 9, 2023
Save up to 30% on stays most nights December 10 to December 25, 2023

Disney+ subscribers can save up to 35% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels from stays most nights October 22 to November 2, 2023, and November 26 to December 25, 2023.

On-Site Perks:
When Guests stay at a Disney Resort hotel, they'll enjoy 30 minutes early entry to every theme park—every day! And when Guests stay at a Disney Deluxe Resort or Disney Deluxe Villa Resort, they can also enjoy extended evening hours in select parks on select nights.

Already have a trip booked with me? I’m busy applying these discounts and you should be receiving an email. Looking to book? Now is always the best time. Email me at [email protected] (link in profile).

30/05/2023

2024 Walt Disney World packages release tomorrow.

This is the best time to book for
🌿Your ideal resort AND room category
🌿Pricing - your pricing is always lowest with Disney when things release. If a promotion later releases it’s part of my job to monitor and apply that.

Packages only ever require a refundable $200 deposit which makes it easy to lock something in even if we need to move dates or modify details later.

For 2024 we are getting
🌿The Disney Dining Plan
🌿No more park pass reservations
🌿Changes to Genie+ coming

If you’re interested in 2024 or 2023 dates send me an email to [email protected] (link in profile)

20/05/2023

Until next time Disneyland

16/05/2023

San Francisco

08/05/2023

BIG NEWS for Walt Disney World!

2024 packages are releasing Wednesday, May 31. I’ve got a list going for 2024 bookings now. If you aren’t on it or it’s been awhile since you’ve reached out send me an email. The best thing is for us to be ready to book on May 31st which means we have your ideal resort already picked out.

Some exciting things are happening for 2024.
1) Park pass reservations are being removed for date based tickets. So excited to see these go away!
2) Dining plans are returning for stays beginning Jan 9, 2024 for guest who purchase a Disney vacation package
3) Early entry and extended evening hours for Deluxe Resort and Deluxe Villa Resort guests will continue
4) Genie+ will have changes coming to be able to better plan ahead. Can not wait to hear what these are!!

I’d love to be your travel agent for your 2024 Disney vacation. Email me at [email protected] (link in profile). Please remember I am traveling and away from email May 12-20. Emails received during that window will get a reply after I’m home. Disneyland 2024 dates are not out yet but if you’re looking at Disneyland go ahead and email me to get on my list.

02/05/2023

I’m headed on our next to California soon so this is a heads up I’ll be out of office and away from email May 12-21.

If you’ve been thinking about reaching out for a quote now is the time. I’ll be busy working through next Thursday, May 11. Quotes received after Thursday will not get a reply until Monday, May 21.

We are going to be in San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Anaheim staying at , , , and Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.

21/04/2023

Have you ever been on a river cruise? Emerald & Scenic Cruises is offering Travelmation's clients an EXCLUSIVE promotion for sailings this year. Contact me to learn more (link in profile).

18/04/2023

It’s been an incredibly busy spring and I’ve neglected to post in quite awhile (pretty sure I wrote the exact same sentence two months ago 🤪). I had a record number of clients travel this season and as we move in to summer things start slowing down a bit which I’m welcoming. Ricky, Kamaya and I are taking a trip to California in May driving from San Francisco down to Anaheim that I’ll share more about soon. It was a trip Ricky and I had planned back for fall 2020 that we’ve revised with a baby joining along.

If you’re looking for a trip the summer season used to be peak season at Walt Disney World but that’s shifted over the years. It’s still a time of moderate crowds but it’s also one of the best times of year for promotional pricing. Most stays now through September 28 can save up to 25% off your Disney resort hotel. There’s also savings up to 35% off for Florida residents, Annual Passholders and Disney Visa Cardmembers. If you don't have a Disney Visa and would like to learn more about the pros/cons of this card send me a message. I’ve also got a referral I can share with you. This is a great way to get exclusive savings at the parks. It is NOT the best rewards card for overall spending but it can be a great savings for Disney vacations.

If you’ve been eyeing a trip to the parks and are looking for an opportunity this is a great season to take advantage of. For the best savings look to August and September in particular. The summer season comes with high heat & humidity in Florida so it’s definitely worth picking a resort with a great pool. Yacht and Beach Club have my favorite pool on property but there are so many resorts to chose from with fantastic pools. My favorite strategy in the heat is to arrive to the parks early taking advantage of early entry, lower crowds and lower heat then getting out of the park in the thick of the day. After some time in the pool and a long break I like to return in the late afternoon/evening for hopefully another slow down in crowds and the temperature starting to drop.

As always, the best way to reach me is via email (link in profile).

01/03/2023

Next stop on my resort reviews is Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort. This is the vacation club wing of the resort and therefore room configurations here come in studios, one bedroom, two bedrooms or three bedroom grand villas with standard view, lake view or theme park view as room view options.

One bedroom and larger Villa rooms come equipped with a full kitchen, living room, washer and dryer which make this a great option for families.

We stayed in a one bedroom standard view room but if budget allows I think having a room with a view here would be worth the upgrade.

Contemporary Resort and Bay Lake Tower often abbreviated to BLT is the closest resort to Magic Kingdom. Built in 1971 Disney’s Contemporary is one of the two original resorts along with Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.

I love this resort complex. The private walkway to Magic Kingdom, the monorail running through the main building, the dining and the nostalgia of the resort. Contemporary just underwent a large refurbishment so the main building rooms and garden wing rooms are now Incredibles themed. You won’t see this extended to Bay Lake Tower but I love the aesthetic of the BLT rooms.

The main pool is currently undergoing its own refurbishment set to be complete sometime in April. Most people don’t pick this resort for the pool so this is a minor drawback. You do still have access to the water play area and Bay Lake Pool.

15/02/2023

Disney’s BoardWalk

🎡The BoardWalk is located in the Epcot resort area along Crescent Lake. You’ll find six resorts in this area. Three are Disney owned (Boardwalk, Beach Club & Yacht Club) and three are Marriott owned (Swan, Dolphin & Swan Reserve). Both Beach Club and BoardWalk also come with villa rooms. All six resorts are classified as Disney deluxe resorts which currently entitles them to extended theme park hours 2x a week and they all receive on site privileges including early theme park entry. This was my sixth stay in the Epcot resort area and my second at BoardWalk. I LOVE staying in this area. There’s something about it that just feels at home to me. The ease of getting to Epcot and Hollywood Studios either by boat or walking and access to the Epcot skyliner station puts this #1 on my recommendation for anyone planning an Epcot or Hollywood Studios heavy trip.

🔑 This stay we did an outer building garden room with club level access. Club level gives you access to the Innkeeper’s club lounge along with dedicated concierge staff. We found the service in the lounge and with concierge staff 10/10. We had breakfast here each morning, desserts in the evenings and also used it at least one night to replace dinner. We also grabbed snacks, water and sodas throughout the day. While we’ve stayed club level outside of Disney I’d struggled to justify the add on cost here. Unfortunately for us we loved it and would go out of our way to do club level on future stays. It made everything easier, felt really special and the convenience, especially now that we are traveling with a baby, was amazing. It also allowed us to book a Minnie Van to get from MCO to our resort which is currently restricted to guests staying club level.

The BoardWalk area is also home to great dining options with more coming soon. I don’t think you can go wrong at any of the six Epcot area resorts. It all comes down to theme, budget and amenities that matter to you.

If you’re in the process of picking a resort and don’t know which ones the best fit that’s what I’m here for. I also have a new on-site resort guide I send clients to navigate all the options.

30/01/2023

Monday morning mirror selfie to say I’m taking new quote requests through end of day tomorrow (Tuesday 1/31) and then I’ll be off from quoting for two full weeks.

And, as always, anything time sensitive I’m always accessible via text for clients with current or upcoming travel.