Why would a gal who would travel thousands of miles into the wilderness to track down some endangered animal or soak up unspoiled nature ever want to set foot into the worlds most famous (and often crowded) theme park complex? It’s a conundrum for a lot of people who have diverse travel styles and still admit to being a lover of Disney! For me it’s the perfect soupcon of nostalgia, feeding the adventurous kid at heart and being able to appreciate game changing and novel experiences when I see them, and there’s always something new at WDW! I imagine it’s probably a similar mix of emotions for anyone who has enjoyed Walt Disney World since it opened in 1973 as a single theme park in central Florida.

My first 1976 trip has led to countless return visits, each one with people I love and I leave with warm memories of the fun we had and a whole lot less cash! So I keep returning…

In the past, I’ve always planned my own trips, reading “The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World” cover to cover and employing the strategies there to plan and manage my trip. Even with nearly yearly trips, things change, and keeping up can seem like a big job! This year was different, with a major trip to Antarctica and South America, I didn’t have time to do that job, so I contacted Amy Flanagan at Coasters and Castles to plan my trip for me. And I’ve decided, this is the way to do Walt Disney World!

My trip was with a friend who hadn’t been to WDW in years, so having a pro to help plan and manage our trip made it truly “problem free” (see what I did there?) Amy has a reasonable fee schedule for her services, which details hours of research, planning and booking services she provides, as well as bonus content, like videos that she provides clients learn what might interest them. Additionally, she will book hard to snag dining reservations and experiences, and provide a spread sheet with all the reservations, as well as your top attractions and how and when to experience them during your visit.

So What’s New in the “World”?

Whenever I visit WDW and post here, I like to share what’s new “right now”…which won’t be what’s “new” in even a few months…so that’s another great reason to use a Disney Expert travel specialist!!

Reservations are No Longer Needed to Visit one of the Four Theme Parks in WDW

As of Jan 2024, guests no longer have to choose which park they’d like to visit ahead of their visit. This also mean that if you choose to a purchase Park Hopping option on your admission ticket you can visit your second park at any time, and not have to wait till 2 PM, as was required previously.

Tron is Open Magic Kingdom

Based on a movie about motorcycle racing I probably wouldn’t ever have watched, this roller coaster simulates a motorcycle ride in a virtual world. It’s currently only available to ride by signing up for a Boarding Group at 7 AM of the day you want to ride (and possibly, more released exactly at 1 PM if available) Another option is to pay for an Individual Lightening Lane window at extra cost, which is priced daily based on crowd levels and popularity of the theme park that day.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Magic Kingdom

The retheming of Splash Mountain is still under active construction, and slated to open in 2024. There’s a big mural on the construction wall and it was delightful to see little kids in their Tiana costumes posing at the mural with their families!

Evening Fireworks Show EPCOT

The new evening show is called Luminous The Symphony of Us. Compared to the last show I saw at EPCOT, this was big improvement, largely because this show includes lasers, fireworks and music that can be seen and heard well from anywhere around the World Showcase Lagoon. That made the whole show feel less crowded since folks weren’t all vying for just a few spots in front of projection barges. Those projection barges aren’t in use for this show, and it’s far more enjoyable!

Journey of Water EPCOT

A fun new interactive water play park based on the Moana movie. This doesn’t require a bathing suit, but does proved a place for the littlest visitors to interact and play with water on a hot day. The beautiful walk through exhibit also has a lot of educational material about watery ecosystems and conservation for adults. Being amateur gardeners, my friend and I also enjoyed the beautiful and lush plantings and waterfalls.

Baby Corra Animal Kingdom

My favorite “new thing” was seeing the latest new baby at Disney’s conservation zoo, Animal Kingdom, Corra went out onto the savannah exhibit in February with her mother and other loving elephant aunts and cousins, and she’s a natural …frolicking around and practicing picking up branches with her tiny trunk!

New to Me! Disney Photo Pass

This was my first trip with the Disney Photo Pass add on. For a fee, you can get access to all of you photos taken by Disney Official Photographers. I’d never tried this before, because I usually travel with a photographer! Well, not this trip and the friend I traveled with generously sprung for the package. In addition to “posed" photos, you get all of your ride captured photos (on rides that have them) and several stock images that relate to the setting where you posed. It was really a lot of fun, although the quality varies pretty widely. I found feet cut off occasionally (that’s a no-no, mid thigh cut or include the feet) and they don’t have time to clear your backgrounds of awkward tourists (my personal travel photographer has captured the most crowded spots with just a touch of patience waiting for the back ground to clear for a split second) But I did think it was fun posing with iconic sights in the parks and also the AI “magic” they can do adding characters or seasonal touches to the photos, which they call “Disney Magic”. Should you choose not to buy a package, you can still pose for the photographers and view watermarked photos on the app that you can purchase a la carte.

How Does a Disney Specialist Work?

Intrigued by my experience using Amy’s services at Castles and Coasters?? Here’s a little more about what to expect (and to ask!) if you decide to use a Disney Planning Specialist

• Engage a specialist who makes regular trips to WDW themselves, and possibly works with a group, so they have boots on the ground at almost all times! Even if they don’t travel themselves often, they are getting client feedback almost all the time!

• Expect to pay a reasonable fee for service. A regular Travel Agent can book a room, and be paid by the hotel, but a Disney Expert will offer a menu of additional value added services that are well worth their cost when you consider what your own time costs, but also when you factor in the expense of a WDW trip, your specialist can save you money in other areas, with tips and tricks to maximize your time and avoid expensive mistakes.

• After an initial consultation, you’ll choose your dates and lodging based on the information your specialist gets from you. They’ll know the best locations for your budget, interests and party and make those requests as part of your reservation (though specific room requests can never be guaranteed)

• You’ll be advised about dining in the theme park, and a good specialist will help you book those reservations or at least help you strategize how to book them. If you have a must “get” tough reservation, like dining with the princesses in the castle or in our case, a trip to the Star Wars bar, Oga’s Cantina, they’ll be your best chance to score that!

• They’ll show you how to use all the WDW “tech” from Magic Bands to the App. They’ll advise you about strategies for skipping lines and choosing rides ad add-ons in a way that maximizes your day

• In our case, Amy provided a spread sheet and we had a Pre Trip Prep Meeting call with her before our trip for last minute questions.

• During and after our trip Amy was available for any “crisis” and since we didn’t have any, she just enjoyed having us texting her an occasional photo of us enjoying our trip!

As an old WDW veteran I was delighted to see all the value Amy added to our trip and with very little time to plan, was happy to have her handle the details that would have required hours of work on my part. Whether you are headed to WDW world for the first time, or for the 100th, booking with a specialist might have something to offer you!