Hello and welcome to all things travel. Soon Ryan and I will be traveling to Walt Disney World to attend our agency's annual conference, Agentpalooza. There's a lot we're looking forward to on this trip and we can't wait to share it with you.
Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Julie and Ryan. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And she is a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel.
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Grab Ryan's free download for planning the ultimate family all-inclusive vacation: https://bit.ly/allinclusivevacationtoptips
Grab Julie's free download for a baby and toddler vacation packing list:
https://bit.ly/babytoddlerpackinglist
Ready to plan your vacation? Most families are confused and overwhelmed when planning a vacation. We work with you to plan a trip perfect for your family. Saving you time, money, and stress!
Join the travel conversations and the fun in the All Things Travel Show Facebook group!
Hello and welcome to all things travel. Soon Ryan and I will be traveling to Walt Disney World to attend our agency's annual conference, Agentpalooza. There's a lot we're looking forward to on this trip and we can't wait to share it with you.
Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Julie and Ryan. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And she is a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel.
~~~~~~~
Grab Ryan's free download for planning the ultimate family all-inclusive vacation: https://bit.ly/allinclusivevacationtoptips
Grab Julie's free download for a baby and toddler vacation packing list:
https://bit.ly/babytoddlerpackinglist
Ready to plan your vacation? Most families are confused and overwhelmed when planning a vacation. We work with you to plan a trip perfect for your family. Saving you time, money, and stress!
Join the travel conversations and the fun in the All Things Travel Show Facebook group!
Hello and welcome to all things travel. Soon Ryan and I will be traveling to Walt Disney World to attend our agency's annual conference, Agentpalooza. There's a lot we're looking forward to on this trip and we can't wait to share it with you. Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts, Julie and Ryan. He is your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation. And she is a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family travel. Whether we're discussing incredible destinations, top vacation tips, or sharing personal stories, it's always all things travel.
Ryan:Julie and I both joined Creating Magic Vacations in June of 2018 when it first started. And since then our agency has hosted Agentpalooza every January, which that's not very common. It's pretty impressive for an agency to do that from their first year and then consistently every year, including during COVID. So Julie, have you been to every Agentpalooza?
Julie:No, I think this will be my third or my fourth, and it's mostly been interrupted by pregnancies.
Ryan:So I've been to every one except The 2000, the January 2019, the first one, um, yeah, yeah. So,
Julie:to that. Huh.
Ryan:I did not.
Julie:I didn't go so you didn't miss anything.
Ryan:So, each year our the conference grows as our agency grows. And it's a lot of fun to see everybody. We have a good time seeing everybody, meeting everybody. it's kind of our, fun time and work time put together, right?
Julie:Yeah, it is really, really intense, but then there's a lot of really fun moments as well.
Ryan:we usually take over several Public rooms at the disney resorts and kind of make them our clubhouses One of the things that we love the most is networking with new travel partners. So a lot of the folks that we've talked about on this podcast, that's the time we get to know about them, we get to know the people that work for them. And I'll tell you, one of the things that I do, Julie, is I'm always walking around thinking about, who is this right for? Or, somebody's been talking to me about this type of trip, where can I best match them? And I always come away from Agent Palooza just really Excited about how to help people plan those vacations.
Julie:Right, and that's why it's the perfect time to have an episode about, you know, we're going to be doing this. So if anyone has maybe a more exotic destination, something they really know nothing about, something maybe you haven't heard us talk about before, go ahead and send it over to us. And, and, you know, if we come across a travel partner or a vendor that may specialize in that, it'll be perfect.
Ryan:Absolutely! You want to plan a trip to an amazing destination, but you don't know how to get started. As your travel advisors, we work with you to create a customized itinerary for your vacation and take the stress of planning away so that you can focus on the fun and creating those memories. You can reach me at Ryan at CreatingMagicVacations. com
Julie:And you can reach me at Julie at creatingmagicvacations. com. This year, I'm so excited for Asianpalooza because we are finally singing at the Grand Floridian. Every single year we have stayed at a Disney resort that's hosting our conference. And I am, I'm really thinking that this one is going to be the best one, Ryan, because it's on the monorail. And for me, with little kids, staying on the monorail is just, it's a must. It is a game changer to your trips. And I will reference that again when we talk about how my most recent trip went with three little kids.
Ryan:I don't know if you even remember this, but you and I were walking between the conference center and our rooms, and we started chatting, and you wanted to walk outside because you were so cold from the air conditioning, that I remember us walking outside the tower and chatting, and that's really the first time that we ever talked to each other.
Julie:Wow. What a memory, Ryan. I don't, I mean, I vaguely remember like walking with you, but I think it's really funny that you remember what we were talking about.
Ryan:It could be endearing or creepy. I don't know. But that's yeah,
Julie:So, was it two years or three years that they were at Coronado? Because I only went to one at Coronado,
Ryan:that they were Coronado for two years. And then the board, because the first year was the one that I missed, I think we both missed that first one. The second year was at Coronado, because that was January of 2020, because I had just gotten back from Spain.
Julie:Ah.
Ryan:actually where Shane and I met for the first time, because of his family connection in Spain. So, a lot of connections
Julie:A lot of connections, and that's what's so great about it. So, and then where was the third year at?
Ryan:The third year was at the Yacht Club.
Julie:Oh, okay, that's what I was missing. Okay. So, it's been Coronado Springs, The yacht club, the boardwalk and the beach club and all of these hotels are resorts, they all have a conference center on site, which makes it very easy for us to stay there, whether we're traveling with our family or by ourselves as more of a business trip focus, which it is all of those hotels, it makes us so easy for us to get to and from our conference. It makes the trip very easy, but I am so excited at the end of every year's conference, at least that we've been to so far. They do a big reveal of, and next year's dates are, and this is where we're going to be. And they kind of reveal the resort. And I was, I think I screamed when they said Grand Floridian. I was so excited because I'm going in my head process of elimination like where haven't we gone and what has a conference under and it was contemporary and grand Floridian and I am just so excited to go to the grand Floridian. So Brian, we don't ever find out the exact schedule before we go,
Ryan:We know What's happening, but we don't know necessarily who we're going to be hearing from or meeting with there's always some social time the first day then there's kind of two days of intensive training. We have a, we have a a trade fair where, you know, people have booths set up and you're walking around talking and chatting and,
Julie:And not just people like, like, sometimes it's like the CEOs
Ryan:Oh yeah,
Julie:travel partners, people very high up with Royal Caribbean and Kensington tours and, Disney
Ryan:And then we always end our conference with some sort of party, and, and Rob and Carrie are very good about surprises, I remember last year we went to the fireworks at Epcot, and then they're like, okay, we're going to take
Julie:Listen, no, I'm still salty.
Ryan:of everybody. Did you leave? Were you not there?
Julie:No, Ryan, continue the story, and I'll pop
Ryan:The Disney folks came and grabbed us, and they took us to where we were going to get our picture taken,
Julie:kept telling us we were gonna get a picture taken at Test Track.
Ryan:And lo and behold, we walked past Test Track, and the woman said, Well, we've changed the plans, we're actually gonna ride Guardians of the Galaxy. So our agency got to go in at the end of the night, when EBCOT was technically closed, and ride Guardians of the Galaxy, and I bet you're looking at me now, and I bet because you were pregnant, you weren't able to have fun with that. Yep.
Julie:You are so right, because let me tell you, it was not a very close walk because of the construction walls to get from where we were for the fireworks party to where we were supposedly taking our photo at test track. And I asked multiple people in charge multiple times. If we were actually just going to go ride guardians. And if so, I would gladly turn around and go back to my room. So I got a lot of extra steps in being eight months pregnant.
Ryan:So who knows what this year is going to hold as far as the fun stuff, if you will, but when you think about Agent Palooza, the stuff that we learn there and how we help our clients, what are some of the ways that you've taken stuff from the conference and use that to help them?
Julie:So I, one of the things that I love that Rob and Carrie, our agency owners always recommend that we do is, they always give us, you know, a bunch of swag when we enter the room, right? It's like a party when you went to the room, but in that swag that we get, there's always a notebook the tip that they always give is leave the first couple of pages blank and take your notes later on. And the reason to do that is so that those first couple pages when a travel partner is presenting and a client pops into your head that you think this would be perfect for this client, you can make a little note and
Ryan:do the same thing.
Julie:later. I love that tip that they give it. It helps. It helps me organize my thoughts really well, and it makes the conference much more productive when you when you come home. So I think that's just that's something I really enjoy is sitting there listening to all of our travel partners learning about new destinations, learning about new ways to book travel, forming relationships with those travel partners. We can walk right up to the table that Royal Caribbean or Disney or Kensington or, anyone has set up and go talk to our travel partner directly and say, Hey, I've got this client. This is what we're, I'm working on. How can you help? Can you know, and you can get in contact right then and there. It's great.
Ryan:I've come away from agent Palooza and had a, conversation specifically with potential clients or clients I'm working with and saying, I just learned dot dot dot. And I've got something special to share with you. That's really the benefit of the training that we do. And that's the benefit to our clients working with us because we're able to, really put them in touch with that information.
Julie:It makes us so unique and it's such a really great opportunity that Robin Carey create for us. It's one of the things that makes our agency really unique, I we started very small in 2018. Like we said, we were both some of those advisors that first joined June 1st, 2018. And we focused so hard on building our business. In a really positive way. And I just, I think that's something that's, that we're very lucky to have. And that we can then pass along to our clients.
Ryan:We're going to talk about some fun Disney stuff that we're going to do while we're down there.
Julie:Of
Ryan:first, I want to talk about where in the world does all things travel, Julie? So when I went back to the last couple episodes, an area of the country that keeps popping up for us is Colorado. And specifically Denver. Have you been to Denver?
Julie:I haven't, but it is very much on my travel wish list.
Ryan:I have been to Denver a couple times. The last time I was in Colorado, we were only flying in and out of Denver, so I didn't spend much time there. But it's a really cool town, lots to do, and it's a really good hub for kind of going out and exploring, right? So when I looked at things to do in Denver, one of my favorite things to do, and this is not going to surprise you at all, is to learn about the place I am and also sample the food,
Julie:I was going to say eat,
Ryan:Yes, the eat. So I chose to go with our listener to the downtown Denver food tour. So Denver's compact downtown area makes it easy to visit several restaurants in a short amount of time on a walking food tour of the Mile High Center. city. So in this tour, we are going to sample sweet and savory dishes at five different restaurants and our guide is going to introduce us to Denver's culinary scene and share insider perspectives. So basically what you can do is you meet at Coors Field and you take a walking tour where you're going to be sampling savory things such as Neapolitan pizza, spicy Southwestern cuisine. Freshly baked empanadas and different things and you're going to make your way all the way to Union Station And you're going to end your walking tour with a sweet treat inside the historic Union Station as part of this you're going to receive a dining guide to Denver so you can make your Dining plans I have done these food tours all over the world and it's one of my favorite ways to get to Noah City So
Julie:I love that they give you that extra card at the end.
Ryan:Listener from Denver, we would love to have a food tour with you, and I bet you could show us some extra places too. So, why don't you do us a favor reach out to Julie or I via Facebook or via email, cause I have a nice little thank you gift for being featured on today's show.
Julie:With our conference, Agent Palooza, being held at Walt Disney World we definitely leave some time for fun. We do a little bit of fun activities with the agency, like Ryan talked about, where we always have an evening event, our last day, and it's typically a surprise. There's also usually some sort of top performers event, and if we're lucky, Ryan and I will be there again,
Ryan:I sure hope so.
Julie:I hope so too, but we don't find out until the day of, and we also don't find out what we're doing until we're doing it.
Ryan:Well literally sometimes still we're doing it, it's not even, yes it's yeah, yeah.
Julie:They just tell us where and when to
Ryan:Two years ago they just put us in a van and we didn't even know where we were going.
Julie:I was a top performer last year when I also won agent of the year and you won agent of the year the year before that.
Ryan:I did, yes, so there you go.
Julie:you listeners are lucky to have two of these. Agent of the years here. The conference lasts like two and a half days and I like to go for like a week and so do you usually, you
Ryan:Yeah, I think this year I'm going Monday to Saturday. So yeah, a week ish feels good.
Julie:We definitely fill our days with other things. Sometimes it's very work related where we're going around and we're taking intentional pictures and getting content to share with our clients or learning about other things. Sometimes it's just fun with our family. So this year my family is joining us. Every year I ask my husband, is everyone coming to Agentpalooza? And so far the answer has always been yes. I guess he thinks that having three children in Disney is about the same as having three children at home. This year my in laws are joining us. In the past couple years my parents have come and this year my in laws are joining us. So they're also staying at the Grand Floridian. They're super excited to spend time with our kids. And I know it'll be a huge help for us. Ryan, what about you? What do your travel plans look like?
Ryan:I'm going by myself. I tend to always go to Agentpalooza without family just because I want to have time to focus on the conference. I've done it both ways, but I prefer to do it by myself. And so I'm going to get in on Monday. I'll have a few days before our conference to kind of do what you're talking about. Have some fun. Spend some time with friends before we kind of get going. And then our conference ends Friday night. And so Saturday, I'm actually going to take off and spend a few days in one of my favorite parts of Florida just to kind of decompress after the conference. So, no family this year, but, you know, I totally see why you'd do it.
Julie:One of the fun things to plan like with every Disney trip is dining reservations and where you're going for the parks by the time that we get there in January, park pass reservations are no longer required for date based tickets, but for both of us, I think, right, for you too, we have annual passes.
Ryan:yeah,
Julie:And we still need Park Pass reservations. They keep saying that they're going to make these good to go days, but those haven't been updated in the calendar. So, I know for me, I have Park Pass reservations ready to go. And we've already done our dining reservations too. So, you know, we are taking it very easy on
Ryan:I don't, I don't over stress this trip at all because it always changes who's there, what we're doing. So,
Julie:yeah, well, and I am taking it very easy because I just experienced taking three little children to Walt Disney
Ryan:Yeah,
Julie:And while I was there, I had the thought, I don't know that I want to do this very soon again. And then I thought, Oh, I'm doing it next month. So, because we're on the monorail, we decided to only do parks that we can get to on the monorail.
Ryan:That's a great
Julie:only be going to Magic
Ryan:not a bad idea.
Julie:But, sometimes I feel like then we're missing out on Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Because initially we did want to do Animal Kingdom on this trip. But, We took two strollers for the three kids, and it's just not, it's not happening. The value of being able to board the monorail with the strollers, and also the value of having that quick trip to and from if somebody needs to come back, or you forget something It's not worth going to the other parks for this trip. So for this trip, because it's kind of like a bonus trip too, like we were just there, We are just going to be hanging around the Grand Floridian, hanging around Magic Kingdom, hanging around Epcot. And truly for me, I'm only really going to Magic Kingdom and Epcot one day each because of the days I'll be in the conference. So some of the restaurants we are going to try, I've talked about before. I always try to pepper in like at least one new one and then maybe some favorites. So we are definitely going to try to do Rainforest Cafe over at Disney Springs. We haven't been to Disney Springs for a long time. And I don't know that my in laws have been since it has reopened
Ryan:Oh my goodness Wow.
Julie:Yeah, well, they don't go very much. They don't go as often as we do. And the last time that they did come with us, we didn't go to Disney Springs. So I was like, this could be like a fun thing to do. We'll probably try to do that the day that we get there. I know my husband is planning to take the kids when we have the conference. They're gonna go to Magic Kingdom two of the days and then just hang out at the resort another day. Hopefully it's warm enough for a pool day of some sort, but they're gonna go to the plaza in Magic Kingdom, which is right at the end of Main Street. It's an awesome location. It's so easy to get to. Their menu is a little bit Friendlier to kids and families. They have,
Ryan:I see that
Julie:club sandwiches, burgers. Have you eaten there, Ryan?
Ryan:Nope.
Julie:I love their food is such a great change of pace to like a heavy steak or chicken dinner. Where else is he going? We made reservations for Grand Floridian Cafe because we're staying at Grand Floridian and I know you and I talked about, we want to sample a lot of the Grand Floridian
Ryan:We don't have a lot of time to make reservations there But certainly, you know grabbing and going I I know one of the things I want to do Julie is I want to go To the pool bar and get a lobster roll because they're well known there at the Grand Floridian,
Julie:They are. and the Grand Floridian's quick service, Gasparilla Grill, is really good. They have really good options, as they should for being, Disney's flagship resort. So one of the other things Steven, my husband, is doing while we are at conference is taking all the kids over to Chef Mickey's. So again, staying on the monorail. But that's going to kind of be like the event for the day. That character meal is the event for the day. The day we go to Epcot, I really want to go for Festival of the Arts. So every year, this trip, I make sure to go to Epcot because I love Festival of
Ryan:It's amazing. I, I've gotten addicted to it because I go every year now because of the conference that it's just, it's something I always want to see.
Julie:Yeah, I love looking at all the different art. There are art booths throughout the entire park. It's so cool. And one of my favorite artists, John Coulter, I always try to buy whatever his newest piece is. They're all over my house. And most years, he's actually there the same time we are, so you can talk to him, he'll sign it. He gave me a gift bag a couple years ago. I actually met him one year during Asian Palooza. We were in the Skyliner and he was in our Skyliner with us. And I did not know who he was at the time. I had art in my home of his, but I did not know his. Face at the time, and he's in there with, I believe, his agent, and he, he said something, we went over Epcon and he said, oh, look, there's the castle. And I said, what is this your first time in Disney World? Having no idea that he's literally a, a
Ryan:You're like, what's up with you, chump?
Julie:Ryan. Now I know that he has played multiple characters, prince Eric Tarzan, prince Charming, all these things. He's, he's a Disney artist, you know? Very into it. Thankfully he took it as a joke. Like, oh, wait, ha ha. Yeah, that's Epcot. You're right. And then we started talking, he had said he's there for Festival of the Arts as an artist. And I was like, oh my gosh, like, what does your art look like? And he shows it to me and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is hanging all over my house. love your stuff. Which was very cool because then, you kind of put a face to a name. It, it's more personable. You feel great about supporting them and then, you can go stop by their booth and be like, haha. Remember that time?
Ryan:He'll be like, oh, it's you.
Julie:no, he's, oh, I just, I, I really love that
Ryan:No, it's
Julie:arts, the artists are always on site. It's just so cool. They'll autograph stuff. They'll make custom pieces for you. I really love that festival, so we are not doing any. Table service signing at Epcot. We are just going to do quick services because there's so many great ones. And I really just love to enjoy the festival. And then the last restaurant that we are going to do is Liberty Tree Tavern, which you also haven't been to,
Ryan:I have not, no.
Julie:Yeah. It's kind of a favorite for us. It's easy for the kids serve family style. It's an easy meal, good meal. And then the last day that we are there, my husband and I are actually going to go over to Universal. And I have not been there for. I don't know, over 10 years. I am excited to gain a lot of knowledge about Universal's rides, using the Express Pass, and sharing that with my clients.
Ryan:Well, and hey, earlier in the week, I think there's a small group of us that have talked about going to Universal to check things out, right?
Julie:Yes, yes, check out some of the
Ryan:So we're gonna go over on that Wednesday and we're just gonna kind of do a city walk stroll, right? We're gonna look at some resorts. We're gonna try some of the foods. We're gonna get some voodoo doughnuts We're gonna check out the stores and just kind of get a lay of the land because Like you said not a lot of people have been over there from our group And so I want to make sure that people see all that.
Julie:I've planned trips plenty of times for Clients Universal, but I really want to get a little more firsthand
Ryan:I love Universal.
Julie:do you have any like really good dining that you have planned or anything like
Ryan:yeah, so the first so I get there on Monday and the
Julie:Hold on, back up, back up, back up. Ryan, can you tell everyone what you said before we started recording about how you make your dining plans?
Ryan:I let somebody else do it.
Julie:Mm hmm. Mm
Ryan:For this, for Agent Palooza, I let other people make it, I just kind of see what people are doing and I
Julie:Ryan just shows up.
Ryan:hear we're having steak tonight, where should I sit? Well, you know, okay, so, like you said, we've been in this agency since 2018, so we have different pockets of friends, we have different people that we want to see, and so that's just kind of how that goes, right? the first night I get there Monday afternoon, and so a group of us are just going to go to Geyser Point, over at Wilderness Lodge, because there's some folks staying over at Wilderness Lodge before they move over to Grand Floridian. Gonna have a bison burger, have some beers, and just hang out. I love that
Julie:the electrical water
Ryan:Watch the, watch the pageant. Just have a good time. Tuesday, I'm going to be over at EBCOT, we'll be doing all things Festival of the Arts, and I know there's a group of us going to Space 220 for
Julie:Oh, that's
Ryan:I'm really excited. I love Space 220. It's an awesome place to eat if you haven't been there. The only other thing that I know I want to do is I want to get over to Disney Springs and try the new Indian quick service So really, Julie, yeah, I know I'll get to EBCOT. I'm sure I'll get to another park or two. But I, I really, it sounds very odd. I mean, people who are listening to this are like, do you guys go to Disney while you're there? But it is a very weird activity to kind of mix business and pleasure with this vacation. So I really do go with the flow.
Julie:And I think that's awesome. I think that's, that's a good way to do it. That's kind of how our, our agency owners encourage us to not over plan. Because you also, may meet a new travel partner with one of our vendors and want to spend more time with them or, or spend more time networking with someone else. So, you know, fun fact two agent paloozas ago after Ryan, one agent of the year, I kind of just cornered him at the end of the day. And was like, teach me your ways, basically.
Ryan:we see how that's worked out. Oh my gosh.
Julie:So Ryan recounted earlier, the first conversation that he believes that we had, this is what I remember as the first time we talked. And I was like, gosh, that guy knows what he's doing. Like, I need to go talk to him. And I was like, hi, Ryan, tell me how you run your business.
Ryan:and now she's realized that hey, this guy really doesn't know what he's doing If you have questions about going to Walt Disney World, if you have questions about our trip, don't hesitate to reach out. I'm sure we'll be doing posts and things for the podcast. I'm not going to promise that we're going to go live. Because I just know, I, we're going to try. I just know how hectic our schedule is. If nothing else, know that we are working on getting content based on who we meet, what we talk about. It's going to be a fun time and it always helps the podcast.
Julie:You want to plan a trip to an amazing destination, but don't know how to get started as your travel advisors. We work with you to create a customized itinerary for your vacation and take the stress of planning away so you can focus on the fun and creating memories. You can reach me at Julie at CreatingMagicVacations. com
Ryan:You can reach me, Ryan at Ryan at creatingmagicvacations. com. We look forward to talking to you next time on All Things Travel. Whether it's before agent Palooza or at agent Palooza, I think you and I just need some whiteboard time where we sit down and just kind of talk about the year and talk about changes we want to see or tweaks we want to do or stuff like that.
Julie:Is this like a performance review? Should I be nervous?
Ryan:not a performance review, but if Shane, if Shane comes in halfway through, you'll know, like sorry, Julie, this has been
Julie:I'm out.