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Everyone Deserves a Dream Vacation
Spoiler Alert! I talk too much. Well, that’s not true. I’m actually a very quiet person, but when a topic comes around that I feel passionately about - yeah. I talk too much. This page is supposed to be “About Me” as a travel agent, and I think the rant that follows might give some sense of who I am, but there’s really only one thing you need to know:
I Love to travel, especially to Walt Disney World, and I want nothing more than to help you and your family to have the most wonderful vacation you can, wherever your travels may take you.
I grew up enjoying the attractions that Mr. Sklar, with his personal friend Walt Disney, and the teams of artists and Imagineers helped to create at Walt Disney World. Now, I take my family as often as I can (and hope to soon help your family with their travels), not only for the excitement of what it meant to me as a kid, but for the underlying sincerity, the innocence, that they represent. Now even I don’t see it completely through rose colored glasses - it’s central Florida. It’s hot. It’s full of sweaty people with kids that have Very obviously missed their nap time, and it’s about to rain. All the time. But there’s also something truly magical about it. For as much as it has changed, it has remained that favorite place of my childhood. Lost in a past that was touching the future. I want to share that with people. It really can’t be explained, at least not by me, in any way that makes sense except to those who have Truly experienced it.
But therein lies the problem. Most people far underestimate the scope of Walt Disney World. They think it’s just another amusement park, perhaps a little bigger, but nothing they can’t just show up, walk in, see, and leave. Those people go with no plan. Worse, some of them go thinking they have it all figured out because they read a travel blog somewhere with ‘tips’ that promise the easy way. Others still have Too Much of a plan, a checklist of the things they saw on a website that they want to do so they intend to hit the parks and check off that list - but never actually Experience anything. Walt Disney World is Huge, and is designed down to the the tiniest detail. It is meant as a showpiece. Somewhere to BE, not just something to DO. Those that just show up, eventually leave miserable and feeling that they’ve wasted a lot of money. That’s usually because a good vacation is one of those clichéd things where you will absolutely get out of it what you put in. Except the money. That’s gone. What I mean is, if you don’t know what you’re getting in to, you won’t really know what you’ve missed. And a little hint about all of those ‘tips’ that people think they found that’s going to let them breeze through the crowds - most everyone there saw those same tips. I’ve seen them. I’ve made the same mistake and tried to follow them, for the most part, you’re better off going in blind, because that crowd you want to avoid will be right there with you anyway. And the ‘checklist’ folks, or the ‘spreadsheet’ crowd (I know I just stepped on the toes of some friends) - They get too caught up in the movement from one attraction, show or restaurant to the next, that they often forget to just be in the moment and enjoy. Like I said, WDW is designed down to the tiniest detail. You’ve got to take the time to notice those details and how beautifully they add to the overall show.
I hope to help solve these problems for people. Or at least most of them. Now I can’t do anything about the weather, but I do know the things to do to help beat the heat and avoid the near-daily monsoon. I know the fine line between over and under planning and how long it Actually takes to get from point A to point B so that the ‘checklist’ crowd can do the things they want to do, with more realistic expectations and not run themselves into the ground. I know these things and the answers to the hundreds of other questions and situations travelers may have - not because of my online research or my agency training, though both of those are quite extensive, I know it because I’ve already worked through it. Over the past decade, I’ve spent months in the parks of Walt Disney World. Literally. I have been there personally, through the miserably hot summer, the far-less-hot Christmas season, and all times between. My family has stayed at the most popular resorts and we’ve eaten at some of the finest - and worst - restaurants on property. We are also Disney Vacation Club members and frequent Disney Cruise Line passengers, but describing those would add greatly to what I know is already far too long of a story. And yes, we do enjoy our trips over to Universal Orlando, as well. Having 3 children, sons that are now 17 and 12, and a daughter who is now 15, I’ve seen first-hand how kids handle the trips and their reaction to different attractions, their likes and dislikes, the difficulties my wife and I had trying to navigate the parks and resorts with strollers and height and capacity restrictive attractions (how many ride vehicles do You think accommodate a family of 5?) and I’m glad to say that for the most part, we’ve always been able to take things in stride, but there are many things I wish I had known, and I want to pass those things along.
Over the past several years, I have helped friends and family with the in's and out's of planning a Disney vacation and had them ask me why I didn't do vacation planning professionally. The answer was two-fold. For one, I never really considered it a way of making money, I just really enjoy talking about Disney and helping people get the most out of their trips. A poorly planned trip will be a disaster. If you go in unprepared, you’re just going to leave hot, sweaty, and in need of a nap. Actually, that’s going to be the case on any given Disney day, but with a good plan and understanding, you’ll be looking forward to the next day as you fall asleep, and your next visit while you are on way home. Secondly, I simply had no idea how to get started. About a year ago, I really started to think about how fun it would be, to me, to actually follow through with a planning business, so with the help of some friends, both old and new, I have found my place with a highly-rated, Gold Level Disney Earmarked travel agency - Fairy Tale Concierge! Thanks to them, I have been able to get the training and resources I needed to set out on this adventure.
If I really try to choose the one thing that made me want to start my own travel business, I think of Jasmine. No, not the beautiful princess of Agrabah, though Aladdin has always been one of my favorite Disney films. I’m thinking of my niece.
That’s her. She, with her parent’s and her brother Jamie (that’s most of him behind her), went with my family on a spring break trip a few years ago. I had not previously thought of how daunting planning a Disney trip could be to someone just diving in. From difficulty deciding what resort would work out best for us all, to encountering a scam when foolishly trying to save money on our tickets, then having to decide and book the best combination of Fastpasses for us all - it made for an experience that could have been less than magical, and we didn’t even book any dining reservations for this trip. I love a good road trip, and my wife hates the thought of flying, so with all the planning details locked in, we got in our car and headed south. After meeting up with Jasmine’s family (they had chosen to fly down), we headed to the Magic Kingdom. Into parking area and all the way to the point this photo was taken, near the flagpole on Main Street, we were careful to keep Jasmine’s attention away from exactly where we were headed. Then she looked up. It’s Cinderella’s Castle. In that moment, that I was lucky enough to snap a picture of, I see in her eyes the joy and excitement that my own kids had seen years before and that I had once known years (and years) before them. That made all the planning worth it. That’s the kind of feeling I want for my clients, but without the headache of them having to do the planning. It should be as easy to them as just telling me when they want to go, and a few details about their likes and dislikes and I’ll take care of as many of the details they like. It may be a minor thing in the grand scheme of life, but that’s my dream. In my normal day-to-day, I don’t do much that I feel matters to people. I keep to myself. But when I have the opportunity to help someone have the kind of day; the kind of trip, that Jasmine had that day, I want to do all that I can. I hope I never lose sight of that.
I know this story has been mostly about my love of Walt Disney World, but I can help with all your travel needs. With #TeamFTC I have over 120 experienced friends with expertise in all types of travel, so if you want to go somewhere that I haven't personally experienced, chances are I know the right people! Best of all, booking with me will not cost folks any more than if they had booked themselves - sometimes less since I may have access to some money and time saving tips. I'll work out all the details (including getting up early to make dining reservations and fastpass selections) and be on-call to answer any questions you may have at no charge if the trip is booked through me.
Now let’s get started planning Your dream vacation!
