From lost and confused to prepared and excited
The first time I visited Walt Disney World I was 17 years old. I semi-reluctantly got in the car with several families and made the 9 hour trek. I say semi-reluctantly because we were going primarily for my younger siblings gymnastics competition taking place in the ESPN Wide World of Sports. So it was me and a slew of 9 year olds. It wasn’t your typical family trip to WDW, we stayed off property in a condo, we were in a group of 20+ people, the focus was primarily on gymnastics, and NO ONE knew anything about Disney World, like at all. We went to the car to eat sandwiches out of a cooler, stood in hours of lines, spent a small fortune on water bottles. It was glorious. For all the minutes baking in the sun in ride queues, there were Downtown Disney (that’s what it was called back then) dance parties in the cool evenings. For all the sibling meltdowns, there are memories of laughing and chasing Ferb down Main Street. After that trip I was hooked.
The next year, after I graduated my mom and I visited again. We were only in the parks for a day or two, and again no one knew what they were doing. A few years later I got married and convinced my non-Disney loving (at the time) to take me to Disney, We were quite broke and I still hadn’t learned all the tips and tricks yet, but we still managed to make it work and have a good time.
Shifting Perspectives
I don’t know if you’re catching on yet, but I had the mindset that I could only go to Disney to celebrate large milestones. We went one more time under this mindset. My sister had graduated with her first college degree so I talked my mom in to taking her to Disney to celebrate. We stayed in a cheap hotel way out on the main strip in Orlando, paid astronomical prices for parking, and oh by the way we added a new kiddo to our Disney crew. My son was 4, almost 5 at the time. And boy did that change the trajectory of my life. My husband was overwhelmed, we were going in a million directions, there was a lot going on. When we got back home I got to work. I started researching, I bought guide books, and I watched endless hours of YouTube. That moment finally happened. I realized Disney is there, not just when we have something to celebrate, but we can literally just go there, to vacation, to relax, to adventure.
A New Chapter Begins
The next year we were ready. We stayed on property, we had the dining plan, we disney-bounded. We had a fantastic vacation. There was no stress, we didn’t get lost, we knew where the free water was. It wasn’t until after that trip that I realized I could give other families those magical moments. I started talking about how amazing our trip was and my husband started talking up the advantages of having a trip pre planned. I started doing research on how to become a travel agent, I started travel school, and the rest is history.
Bridging Dreams as a Disney Travel Agent
Now I spend my days studying, learning, comparing, and crafting custom trips for families based on their wants and needs. There isn’t much more that brings the amount of joy in my life that comes with getting those “thank you so much” texts and seeing pictures of families taking the time to reconnect with one another using an itinerary that I crafted for them. It’s really my passion in life to prepare a family for a magical vacation.
If you want to plan a Disney vacation but you just don’t know where to start, I would love to help! Click here to schedule a no obligations consultation with me!
Hi, I'm Sam, creator of The Happiest Things Co! I started selling travel in 2021 and quickly found it to be a lonely, isolated industry. I'm here to change that now! Let's be friends!