After reading good things about MVT and their incredible deals I am considering using them for our next trip we just began planning. My question is, can you still make your own ADR and fast pass reservations, or do you have to do everything through the travel agency. I’m not someone that really feels comfortable letting “go” of control over my reservations.
Nope they will do as little or as much as you want them to. We’re using them for our upcoming 12 day trip and we just had them book the room and nothing else. Just remember when you link the reservation to go to the magic band screen and change the shipping address to your home otherwise it will go to their agency. That’s the only difference.
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Thanks for the information! That’s what I was hoping for.
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This is good to know! I usually plan our entire vacations myself, I too have a hard time letting go of the control, lol. For example I know they can book dining for you…but to me it’s just not the same as me doing the ADRs online w/ my husband and saying for example “OK, this isn’t available at this time but they do have these times, want to take that or switch days…” etc…real time vs. a TA doing it then having to call/text/email with possible availability issues, modifications etc…
This year I started off using a Disney travel agent (not the one you’re referring to) based on a recommendation of a friend. She was good enough, but it’s not like she came up with any deal better than I could find myself. But still, I had her book it. Then one day I called Disney with something related to my reservation (can’t recall exactly what) but they couldn’t talk to me about it/allow me to make changes b/c the agent “owned” the reservation. I was annoyed, but got a hold of her and got it squared away. The final straw though for me was when free dining was about to be released for our dates, I told her if it did include what was expected (and it did) I would like to switch resorts from POR to WL. She texted me in the morning saying that nothing was available w/ free dining for WL. I was disappointed but understood that wasn’t her fault. But I decided to try myself, got on the phone (and waited forever, lol) w/ Disney and actually was able to very easily book exactly what I wanted at WL w/ free dining! I wasn’t quite sure why she wasn’t able to do the same. I told her what happened and that I appreciated her services but had her cancel the original POR reservation she’d made for me unless she was able to try again and book the WL I wanted. She said there was no availability so I had her cancel the original and cut ties with her. So short version of the story, if you want or need help w/ planning your Disney trip a disney specialist is a great thing! But if you don’t, or want control over everything, then it’s probably not for you. I just don’t see the benefit of it if you are able to book the same thing (or better) on your own.
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I am a control freak and I live my Disney planning. I book with MVT for their agency exclusives. I have found their rates to be lower than an AP rate or bounce back. I have added people, dining, removed people all through my agent but I have always made all my dining and FPs.
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My Magical Vacations Agent just laughs at me, I cannot hand over anything more than her linking my package to my account. I thought about letting her do my fastpasses, but ended up texting her the night before that I would do it. Its hard to give your vacation planning trust to someone else.
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With MVT specifically they pre-book large blocks of rooms at 3 or 4 resorts several times a year so that they get access to lower rates. They are often as low as renting points at a deluxe. We’re staying at POFQ for around $150 a night this trip.
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Exactly! I love the planning but I use them for tire agency exclusives since you cannot beat those rates!
The point is that it is cheaper. I have always booked all of our trips myself. However, after hearing about MVT I sent an email to an agent for a quote. The quote is $400+ cheaper for our trip than any other deal out there. This is simply due to how they function. And yes, it’s true that they “own” the reservation and you cannot make changes to it yourself. However, for a $400 savings it is very worth it to me. I still am making our own ADRs and FPP reservations.
Is MVT always cheaper? No. When I requested a quote the resort I wanted was cheaper. The same deal did not apply at that time to some other resorts so if I had wanted a different moderate resort it would have been cheaper to go through Disney myself.
I’m a fan of saving money and with almost no effort I saved a ton.
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In this type of scenario I can absolutely see the benefit, that’s awesome! I would have done the same thing. I should have clarified that with an apples to apples comparison with the same price, I see no benefit in using a TA, at least for us.