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Friday, June 12, 2009

Top 10 Reasons to Use a Travel Agent


It is one of the questions I get asked from time to time, "why should I or would I use a travel agent?" Well...here 10 reasons you might want to consider it:


1. You've Googled "Mexico vacation," and come up with 17.8 million responses. Need a little help editing those choices?

2. Remember when you used that obscure website to book your hotel, and when you got there you spent your beach vacation overlooking a parking lot?

3. How many hours were you on hold with the airline when your flight was canceled because of a snowstorm?

4. Did you really mean to spend your honeymoon at that resort whose one tiny pool was filled all day with 12 screaming children?

5. Who knew that when you booked that "villa" in Tuscany, it would be a small room with a kitchenette and no air conditioning? Funny, it looked much better on your computer screen.

6. No one explained to you that in July, it's winter time in Rio, and so you showed up there with nothing but five Hawaiian shirts and three pairs of swimming trunks.

7. How about the time you really needed a restful vacation, and you ended up in New Orleans during Mardi Gras and someone threw up on your shoes?

8. Yes, I guess that hotel must have used a telephoto lens when they took a picture of those guest rooms that you saw on their website.

9. I suppose contacting the Attorney General to resolve the fact that that Internet site has billed your credit card three times instead of once is the only route to take at this point.

10. It was definitely odd that there were no cab drivers at the airport at 3 o'clock in the morning when you finally landed in Costa Rica, but booking a transfer to your very remote hotel would have been a good thing to remember when you purchased your airline ticket and hotel online.


Always remember...a travel agent's services are free to the consumer unless a specific fee has been agreed to up front for some special services to be rendered.


Adopted from an article written by Ruthanne Terrero. Please visit the following link to read her article in its entirety. Travel Agent Central

Monday, June 8, 2009

Disney Lingo 101


In today's internet focused world, there seems to be an entire language that has been created for anyone who blogs or texts or even sends e-mails these days. It took me a long time to figure out what "LOL" meant or TTYL. I didn't want to seem out of touch with the ways of the world so I just played along and tried to ignore the short-hand for while. Then one day I was texting a friend who wrote something back followed up with an "LOL." Since this was a close friend, I decided it would be safe to finally ask, "what in the world does 'LOL' mean?" This friend then sent me a list of acronyms and their meanings so I would be safe from any embarrassment in the future.

Well it wasn't long after becoming a Disney Travel Specialist that I then learned there was an entire new set of acronyms and sayings that are only relevant and useful within the world of Disney. Once I too became savvy of their meanings and could use them all properly in a sentence, I also realized there were people that are still new to this phenomenon and may not know what I am saying when I start throwing this new lingo around in my letters, texts, or e-mails.

So I wanted to devote this post to familiarizing everyone with the Disney vernacular.

Let's start with the list below. You will see these on Disney discussion boards and chat sites.

  1. MK=Magic Kingdom
  2. AK=Animal Kingdom
  3. DHS=Disney's Hollywood Studios
  4. EP=Epcot
  5. TSM=Toy Story Mania
  6. FL=Fantasyland
  7. WS=World Showcase
  8. FW=Future World
  9. ToT=Tower of Terror
  10. RnR=Rock n Roller Coaster
  11. TT=Test Track
  12. SpM=Space Mountain
  13. SM=Splash Mountain
  14. EE=Expedition Everest
  15. ITTBAB=Its Tough to be a Bug
  16. KS=Kilimanjaro Safari
  17. KRR=Kali River Rapids
  18. FP=Fast Pass (see photo)
  19. KTTWC=Key to the World Card (see photo)
  20. WT=Wait Times
  21. DME=Disney's Magical Express
  22. ASsp=Allstar Sports Resort
  23. ASMo=Allstar Movies Resort
  24. ASM=Allstar Music Resort
  25. Pop=Pop Century Resort
  26. OKW=Old Key West Resort
  27. Poly=Polynesian Resort
  28. GF=Grand Floridian Resort
  29. CBR=Caribbean Beach Resort
  30. CSR=Coronado Springs Resort
  31. CR=Contemporary Resort
  32. POR=Port Orleans Riverside Resort
  33. POF=Port Orleans French Quarter
  34. AKL=Animal Kingdom Lodge
  35. WL=Wilderness Lodge
  36. YC=Yacht Club Resort
  37. BC=Beach Club Resort
  38. BW=Boardwalk Resort
  39. FW=Fort Wilderness
  40. CRT=Cinderella's Round Table

This should be a good start to getting your eyes and head used to seeing all of these terms as you do your own perusing of the internet to learn and discover all that is "The World of Disney." Naturally I am here as well to answer questions and offer tips and advice for making your next Disney vacation the best it can be.