You booked the resort partly for the pool. For months you pictured yourself on a lounge chair beside it, and then you arrive and find the pool closed for a complete redo. Amy Blades has been the advisor on the booking end of that moment, and in this episode she and two of her Travel Advisors talk about how to catch problems like it while you're still at home.
In this Episode:
Meet the Advisors
Amy Blades, Founder & CEO and your host
Rachel Badowski, foodie experiences at Disney World and Disney destinations
Laura Durcholz, multi-generational family vacations at Disney destinations and Universal
Ask About the Experience Before the Budget
Amy never opens a conversation with a budget. She asks what kind of experience a family wants, because a family that is never in the room can happily take an inside stateroom, though Amy, who is claustrophobic, wouldn't. Nothing is wrong with the affordable option, she says, but there is a difference between "a price of something and the value of something."
Laura prepares guests for what cruise rooms are really like. On the Disney Destiny, four of them stayed in a veranda room that sleeps five, so they never had to pull down every bed.
Where Your Room Sits Changes Your Day
Before her daughter was born, Rachel stayed at All Star and insisted on a preferred room. It kept her close to transportation, the dining hall, and laundry, which mattered when it rained that trip and her shoes needed drying. In her words, "after a long day in the parks I did not wanna walk another ten minutes to my room."
Amy learned the same lesson from clients in a Little Mermaid room at Art of Animation, who called her mid-trip because the walk to the bus was much longer than they expected. She now asks early how far a guest wants to walk and what they want to be close to.
Photos Don't Always Tell the Truth
Years before she became a Travel Advisor, Amy and her husband headed to Myrtle Beach for his conference. The hotel photos showed a kitchenette and a lazy river. She walked into the room and straight back out: popcorn on the floor, and nothing matched the pictures. She suspects the photos were years old. They ended up at a newer Marriott down the road.
Laura and her husband booked a hotel on a booking site because it was the cheapest he could find, and she hadn't done any extra research. While she was in the shower, someone smoking in the wrong place set off the smoke alarm, and she threw on clothes, ran outside, and called her daughter for a ride. After that she started reading reviews.
Refurbishments Are Good for Resorts and Hard on Guests
About fifteen years ago, on her first deluxe resort booking for clients, Amy put a multi-generational family in five rooms at the Polynesian. When they arrived, the pool was being completely redone. The family was allowed to go to the Grand Floridian or the Contemporary instead, but it was not as easy as just being able to go. It still bothers her, and she now checks for refurbishments at every resort, ride, and park before sending a client anywhere.
Rachel ran into it at a Good Neighbor hotel near Disneyland, where crews worked in the middle of the night and the parking lot was torn up. She credits Disney with being more careful about construction than most hotels. Laura asked a client whether the Grand Floridian was worth the money during a stretch of refurbishments. The client decided to wait, booked a different resort, and was happier for it.
Whether construction matters depends on what it is: a few rooms getting new carpet is different from scaffolding around the whole building. Closures reach rides and transportation too, and Amy has had clients reschedule so their kids could ride a specific attraction. Amy wants resorts maintained and updated. She just wants guests to know before they arrive.
Traveler Story: The Hay Family
The Hay family says Laura "went to infinity and beyond for us." She learned what each of them wanted from a relaxing but fun-filled vacation and booked their dining and special experiences. When a hurricane interrupted the original trip, she rebooked it for the next summer.
The Planner Needs a Vacation Too
Amy asks the question most family planners never answer: if you research everything, make every reservation, and keep everyone on schedule, when do you get to enjoy the vacation? She jokes that she needs a travel advisor of her own.
Rachel has visited Disney as a college program cast member and now with her mom in a scooter and her toddler in a stroller. She tells guests to "allow your vacation room to breathe." A guest who wants to stay in control can still use an advisor, Amy says, because the advisor brings firsthand knowledge of what is happening at the destination. Laura adds a practical tip: the monorail can be harder to maneuver with a scooter, so she tells guests to ask for help, and her client who did was glad she knew.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
If you'd like someone to ask these questions before you book, you can meet Rachel, Laura, and the rest of our Travel Advisors at goofygetaways.com/meet-your-advisors. If you're a Travel Advisor, or thinking about becoming one, you can learn about building your own business with Goofy Getaways at goofygetaways.com/join-our-team.
