I have never used a TA. I am very comfortable planning my own vacation. However, a friend found that the TA was able to get deals applied after they came up- even after her trip was booked. Can the general public do the same? Should I use a TA just for this?
The general public can do the same. Just know that when those deals are released, people are ALL OVER them and you can be waiting on the phone for a cast member for a couple hours or more. Any sort of Disney discounts (free dining, room-only discounts, etc) are available to anyone. It is nice to have a TA that will do it for you though, so you’re not the one waiting on hold 
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There are some TA groups that get better discounts than Disney offers b/c they buy large blocks of rooms (like a convention would) and then sell them off (typically these discounts are for the deluxe resorts). I booked using one of these agencies for my upcoming fall trip. They came recommended from other liners so I took their advice and hope it works out well. So far, the correspondence with the TA has been great. she has been very responsive to phone calls and emails. I will plan out ADRS and such myself. she sent me the confirmation number within hours of booking with her, I linked to MDE and all seems good so far 