For over two decades, whenever I planned a Walt Disney World vacation I did all the work myself. I called the WDW Resort, booked the room, secured my tickets, made my airfare arrangements, made all my dining reservations and basically was my own travel agent.
I was one of those detail-oriented people who wanted everything just right. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my sacred Walt Disney World vacation. I was under the assumption that going through a travel agency would add to the cost of the trip. I saw no added value for bringing in a “middle man” to the equation. I also wanted 100 percent control of everything. I was wrong, wrong, wrong.
I should say I used to struggle because I struggle no more. If you want to see how a travel agency can add value to your vacation experiences look no further than this past Mousefest. That is where I made I had an observation that had me thinking, “This is exactly what I need to illustrate how travel agents and travel agencies add value to a WDW vacation.”
MEI-Travel & Mouse Fan Travel (MouseFanTravel.com), founded and owned by Beci Mahnken, is one of the MouseFest Authorized Travel Service Providers. During Mousefest a very special group, led by Annette Owens and her team of Coleen Bolton, Stephanie Hudson, and Vickie Kaylor, were in constant perpetual motion. In fact they were running around so much that I couldn’t help but notice them every single day, and I just had to find out why.
Annette and her colleagues were there for Mousefest with over 100 clients. With Mouse Fan Travel sponsoring some events on both the Cruise and Land portions of Mousefest their presence was necessary to insure that all sponsored events ran smoothly and to insure that their clients would receive any needed support.
As I said I did catch small pieces of information as to where Annette and her team were going at times and after several days of seeing her blurry image racing around WDW, I finally tied her down and talked with her about their week. It took some serious arm-twisting but it was worth it. What I learned is how an agency can add value to a WDW vacation, even for those who have some reservations about using a travel agent.
Now keep in mind that I had to actually hold Annette down to get her to tell me what you are about to read. Oh and as you read this I want you to imagine that you are Ms. Owens and her team for that week. Remember this is during Mousefest, when there are activities scheduled for every moment, with everyone running everywhere in an exciting and charged atmosphere.
Annette and her team were serving quite a few clients for Mousefest 2006 (both the cruise and land portions). This translates into about 100 or so rooms on Disney property as well as the number of staterooms on the cruise. When you have these many clients at WDW at once you can well imagine that you want to do whatever possible to make sure their stay is fun. On top of all that since it is Mousefest week there is a bit more to deal with than your typical WDW vacation.
So how does a travel agent assure themselves that their clients will have a good time?
Annette and her fellow travel agents Coleen Bolton and Stephanie Hudson arrived in WDW on the Saturday before the Mousefest Cruise. They were there to do some preparatory work for their clients’ upcoming stay.
They spent an entire day at the Wilderness Lodge making special gift baskets (over 125) for every client room they had booked on property as well as the cruise. Annette calls this activity “floristing.”
Let’s not forget, however, that while they were doing this they were also handling client issues and answering last-minute questions regarding upcoming vacations. Of course we also must remember that this also includes making last-minute Advanced Dining Reservations (ADR) for their clients. And even though Mousefest was the matter at hand, there were many other vacations coming in January, February, March and beyond that needed attention from time to time, as well.
The next morning, they took eight huge boxes filled with these gift baskets to Boardwalk for storage until after the Mousefest cruise. They then headed over to All-Star Movies resort to surprise clients Matt and Maggie, with a stretch limousine that would take them from the resort to port for the cruise. There was another surprise: inside the limo were Deb Wills and Linda Eckwerth from AllEarsNet.
Then they headed for port, and after settling in, immediately began helping Mousefest organizers Deb Wills, and Jennifer and Dave Marx with the distribution of gift bags to everyone as they greeted their fellow cruisers onto the ship.
They had planned many activities for the cruise; among those was a treasure hunt.
Every morning, Annette and her fellow agents made sure they were available in the Cove Café to handle any client issues that came up. They made sure their clients knew what time each day they would be in the café in case there was any need for them. They even wound up helping some who were not their clients. They were just trying to help. There always seemed to be some dining issues to straighten out.
With several parties planned during the cruise, Annette and her team were always making sure well in advance that everything was set. On this particular day she was making sure the next day’s brunch arrangements were all set.
On Monday morning in Nassau a few of Annette’s colleagues did the walking tour while Annette stayed on the ship, making herself available at the coffee shop to handle any issues that came up.
Monday was also scheduled as a prep day for the Pirate costume party that would be held the following night. Prep involved putting together all the goodie bags to be given to anyone who showed up dressed as a pirate. They assembled close to 100 bags for this party.
Most of this day was spent on the ship prepping for this party and meal and so on.
Such is the luxurious life of a travel agent.
Later that night one of Annette’s clients had a problem with a dinner reservation not being in sync with their friends’ reservation. Annette decided that the quickest way to resolve this issue was to simply hand her own reservation over to her clients. She was going only for the chocolate soufflé anyway. Were her clients grateful? I think so. They brought Annette back a special chocolate soufflé.
On Tuesday, some friends convinced Annette that she needed to spend some non-work time and enjoy some parasailing. It was really her first chance to enjoy some vacation time but all the while she was thinking about what she had to do to make sure things ran smoothly. Later that day one of Annette’s clients wanted to experience the Stingray Encounter and Annette gracefully spent time with this client’s 90-year-old mom while her daughter did her thing.
Hmmm, is that in the travel agent’s job description? Oh yes, another day and another block of time in the coffee shop. Issues anyone?
The pirate costume contest was slated for Tuesday night. In addition to a goodie bag for anyone who came dressed as a pirate, Annette also had “piratey” gifts for the children. Dinner went off without a hitch. Afterwards everyone enjoyed fireworks and dancing.
Once everything seemed to be in order, Annette and team slipped away to check their e-mail and handle any issues for clients—not just those on the cruise or coming in for the land portion of Mousefest, but also those who had booked vacations for the upcoming months. Can you say “Working vacation”?
Wednesday was the day of the “Walk/Stroll/Roll the Plank” against breast cancer. Annette and her colleagues handed out breast cancer pins and T-shirts and after the walk presented a check from MEI-Travel to Deb Wills, herself a breast cancer survivor.
The agency had planned to introduce and treat their clients to brunch that day and the team did a little prep work after the check presentation to make sure brunch went off well.
There is a rumor going around that these guys may actually have sat down to relax and enjoy the meal themselves. That didn’t last long. Once the opportunity presented itself, they went back to their stateroom to pack before once again setting up in the coffee shop for any client questions or issues.
After her daily coffee shop time she gave away the prize for the treasure hunt game and met with Deb Wills and Steve Barrett to discuss future cruise plans. As far as Annette is concerned, it is never too soon to start planning for next year.
After this planning session, it was time to hustle back to the room to change for the special Christmas Party and a Christmas Gift Exchange and reception for clients to thank them for their patronage. Gee, who should be thanking whom?
Again, when the time arrived it was a quick dash back to the stateroom to do more packing and get ready for dinner. At dinner, you guessed it; Annette’s mind was racing a mile a minute. The next day was day one of the land portion of Mousefest, which meant her clients needing to check in to 100 rooms.
The cruise portion of Mousefest was history and next was the very intensive four-day land portion of Mousefest.
Next Time
In our next installment, we rejoin Annette Owens and her Mouse Fan Travel team as they are joined by Beci Mahnken for the land portion of Mousefest. Oh, and be sure to catch your breath. You will need it when you hear how the rest of their week went.
Class dismissed.
