Hello and welcome to All Things Travel. It's our 200th episode! We look forward to continuing to share our travel expertise with you, our listeners. If you've listened to any of the last 200 episodes, thank you so much.
This week we're going to share travel wisdom from some of our colleagues and look forward to what's coming next for All Things Travel.
Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts ryan and Julie. Ryan's your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation and Julie is a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family 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. It's our 200th episode! We look forward to continuing to share our travel expertise with you, our listeners. If you've listened to any of the last 200 episodes, thank you so much.
This week we're going to share travel wisdom from some of our colleagues and look forward to what's coming next for All Things Travel.
Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts ryan and Julie. Ryan's your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation and Julie is a Disney loving Maryland mom of three and a specialist in family 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!
Yay!
Ryan:forward to continuing to share our travel expertise with you, our listeners. If you've listened to any of the last 200 episodes, thank you so much. This week we're going to share travel wisdom from some of our colleagues and look forward to what's coming next for all things travel Listen in with travel advisors and destination experts ryan and julie I'm your travel professor teaching you everything you need to know to have a magical vacation And Julie 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.
Julie:Alright, so here we are, we're at episode 200, even though I've only been here for, I don't know, 20 to 25 of them. Oh, stop. It's a little more than three. But I am so excited that I get to go on this journey with you guys and that Ryan, asked me to co host. It's been a lot of fun. And I hope it's been a lot of fun for you guys and I hope that I'm bringing a new perspective of family travel. Not that Ryan doesn't do family travel, but You know, family travel with little people is
Ryan:With little travelers. Absolutely
Julie:travelers, there we go. Little travelers. So we just got back from Agent Palooza and we were chatting with a lot of our colleagues and asked them to share some of their travel guidance with us. And we want to pass it along to you. We thought that could be a really fun way to celebrate 200 episodes.
Ryan:That sounds great. Hey before we do that julie I want to remind folks that last week's episode was our live episode for february Where we talked about my recent trip on the icon of the seas So if you're interested in that go back to last week and check that out
Julie:And if you haven't heard of Icon of the Seas, just turn on your TV and I'm sure you'll see a commercial.
Ryan:So, like Julie said, we had dinner with some of our colleagues the other week when we were at our agency meeting, and we thought a fun thing to do was to pick their brain. You hear from Julie and I all the time, but we wanted to get some other experts takes. So, the first question is their best travel tip, and there were some good ones.
Stephanie is going to tell us her top travel tip that she gives her clients. TSA pre check, global entry every time. Do not stand in them stupid security lines and have some person tell you to take off your shoes. I love that so much. Good tip. Wendy. Can you give us your best travel tip that you send to clients? My best travel tip would have to be to use a travel agent or a travel advisor. What an awesome tip. Yeah, that's a good one. But, because we have all of the inside. Knowledge and our expertise and we come at no extra price to you. So it's a win win for you and I both. Love that. So Diane, what is your top travel tip that you give to your clients? Studies show that life is about our experiences, not about the things we own. So, take the time to plan for the best experience. Pack ahead of time so you're not rushed. Think about what you really want to take with you. Think about where you want to go so you can come back with the best experience. Best memories, because the memories will live for a lifetime. A new shirt, the novelty is going to fade in two weeks, and all the other things that we think we want, the gadgets, but plan for the best experience. That's awesome. Great advice. Thank you. You're welcome.
Julie:Another really fun thing we got to talk to our colleagues about was the favorite travel destination that they have planned for their clients.
Okay, Rubina is going to tell us her favorite destination that she's planned for a client. It was for a 50th anniversary. And it was their children who surprised them with it. No way! And it was a 10 night cruise in the Med. They started in Greece and they ended in Italy. And they saw Mykonos, Santorini, Athens, Rome, Venice. It was absolutely fabulous. Did they surprise the parents? They did. They surprised their parents. They booked it and then surprised them. It was so much fun to be a part of. Did they go with them? They didn't. It was just for the two of them. Man, that is awesome! Yeah, it was cool. And I was able to finagle it to be right during their anniversary. Oh, I love that. You were part of the magic. Thanks for sharing, Rubina. So, Chris, what's been your favorite travel destination in the past couple years? Either for your family or something that you planned for a client? I would say Aulani. Disney's Aulani. And Aulani's in Oahu, right? Yes, that is correct. And why did that make the list for you? Because it was the nicest resort that I've been to. Cool. Great answer. What is one thing you have to do at Alani? It was sitting on the lounge share at the beach. Awesome. Great. So Jen, in the last couple years, what's been a favorite travel destination for you or your clients? I would tell you that if you're booking something for adults only, you have to do Virgin Voyages, because they want you to be active, they have great drink packages, all the restaurants are included, and all of the restaurants are really amazing, as well as the shows. It's just a great experience for everyone. I was just on a cruise and everybody who had been on Virgin, it wasn't Virgin, but everybody who had been raved about it. Can you tell us, Jen, what happens when you shake your ass on Virgin? You get champagne! Shake for champagne, baby! And an insider tip. So we, we've all heard about the secret parties that you have to get invited to. You gotta cozy up to the happenings cast. So get cozy with the Happenings cast, befriend them, hang around with them as much as possible, especially at the end of the evening. And you'll get a little rubber wristband, and they will tell you where to show up, what time, and you get invited to the secret after hours party. Oh, I love that! That's There's your insider tip. Is it easy to bring those people? The Happenings cast? Oh, yeah. Because they're the ones running around, getting the crowd hyped up, and telling you to come to this, this, and this. Yes. You will know who they are. Love it. Thank you. Yes.
Ryan:And since we were at Walt Disney World, we had a couple questions having to do with that. The first was, what is a can't miss at Walt Disney World?
This is Rachel. She's one of our fellow travel agents. Rachel, what is a can't miss at Walt Disney World for families? Oh man, okay. For us, at least one character dining because you get to have a special meet and greet experience with characters that you're not gonna get in the parks and you don't have to wait in lines for it. So, definitely do at least one character dining experience during your trip. Do you have a favorite? We love Chef Mickey just cause it's classic, also, I love Crystal Palace cause it's just a little different. Love it. Love it.okay So this is JC and she's gonna tell us what you can't miss at Walt Disney World So my favorite thing to do at Walt Disney World specifically Magic Kingdom is the people mover a lot of people sleep on the people mover, but it is It's so much fun. You just get to sit and relax and go around and get some of the best views of the park. So 10 recommend. Do you remember what attractions does it go through? It goes through Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain. It goes through two shops, I think. Yeah. The merchandise shops. And Monsters Inc. That's right.
Julie:And then we got to hear their hidden gems at Disney and you're going to want to definitely note these down for your next trip.
Hey Amber, so what is a hidden gem at Walt Disney World? So something I like to advise clients on is if they are not set on seeing the projections on the castle during the fireworks, it's that by the carousel is a good spot to go because it's less crowded, you can still see the fireworks, and you don't have to go as early as if you want to stand in front of the castle. Ooh, I love that. That's a great tip. Awesome option. Okay, so Ryan won, not the Ryan we know, another Ryan, won Rookie of the Year this year in our agency, and he is going to give us a Walt Disney World hidden gem. If you are ever looking for a really good place to eat That has availability. It's, you're making this reservation in the moment. The Grand Floridian Cafe Always has availability. The food is super reliable and awesome. Do you have a favorite meal there? I usually get some sort of fried chicken sandwich or something if it's lunch but then Breakfast, it's the chicken and waffles. So, any version of fried chicken is good. Yeah, fried chicken is good. They do it well there. Other Ryan is like, yeah, I'm there. And me. What's the easiest way to get there? Well, it depends on where you are. But the monorail is pretty easy. Perfect. Awesome, thanks Ryan. You bet. So we are here with Tom Sursich, who you've heard on the podcast several times. And Tom just won the Agent of the Year award for creating Magic Vacations. Congratulations, Tom. Why, thank you. It was a great, great honor. I really, really enjoyed getting it. So the question I have for you is, what is a Disney hidden gem for either your clients or your family? So one of the things that we found actually on this trip was Steakhouse 71. The lounge at Polynesian, there's a couple of lounges at Beach Club and Yacht Club that the bars at the nicer restaurants have a menu that is wonderful and you don't need advanced dining resi reservations. It's the perfect cheat when you don't really want to plan out your whole trip. trip, yet you still want to get so like it's Steakhouse 71, the hamburger, which is amazing. It's the best hamburger on property is on the bar menu. The onion rings are on the bar menu. The crab cakes are on the bar menu. So you can have a full meal and a couple of really nice cocktails. That is a great Disney dining hack. Thanks, Tom. You're very welcome. So Michelle, when you go to Walt Disney World, or when your clients go to Walt Disney World, what's a hidden gem that you like to share with them? Well, we just discovered on this trip, Trader Sam's, over at Classic Disney. Yes, over at the Polynesian Resort. It's like a little Bar, but it's unique. They have unique drinks and they do like it's like a little show or performance whenever they serve the drinks So it's really a fun atmosphere And it's just a great experience. Awesome. I'll go there with you next time. Absolutely. I'd love to see it. Thank you
Ryan:so Julie, I want to celebrate our 200th episode here a little bit. First of all, we can't do this without saying thank you, thank you, thank you to Shane Seymour. He was the person that reached out to me. He started it all with All Things Travel. We're just so thankful for Shane, our friendship with him and our time together. You know, he is always a part of this podcast. So thank you, Shane. You know I like to go back and look at our stats for things like where in the world does all things travel and, and different things like that. So I like to go back and look at our top episodes. And Julie, here are our top five episodes of all time. And folks, if you haven't heard some of these, they're worth going back and checking out. The number one episode is Top Tips for Visiting New York City. The second one is fun things to do in Madrid, and this was with our friends and flight attendants, Rosanna and David. And boy, this episode got a little off the rails rather quickly. But it was certainly fun to do.
Julie:That's why it's so popular.
Ryan:Yes, exactly. Third, and coming into next month's St. Patrick's Day, our third top episode is your introduction to visiting Dublin, Ireland. Our fourth is visiting Athens, Greece. And our fifth top episode is best things to do in Oahu. So we're all over the world here when it comes to all things travel.
Julie:Yeah, I think that's so cool. I think that that is a very good representation of what we want the podcast to be.
Ryan:Yep, absolutely.
Julie:Yeah, so we definitely noticed a really big theme here, right? All these episodes about destinations are what people love listening to. And we really hope to keep doing these type of episodes to share destination specific information if anyone has a destination that they want to know more about, go ahead and email Facebook group for All Things Travel. And we'd love to do research on that for you.
Ryan:We heard from some of our colleague friends. But I want to hear what we have to say about a few of these. And a classic question that I always get is, What is your best travel tip?
Julie:You want me to share mine, Ryan?
Ryan:yeah.
Julie:Work with a travel advisor so that we can manage and coordinate your vacation for you.
Ryan:And I would say my best travel tip is plan early so that you have the the most access to Availability for where you want to stay it's easier to choose your times and oftentimes you have access to better prices And working with a travel advisor, they're going to help you stay on top of that So that kind of connects both of those
Julie:Oh, definitely.
Ryan:where is the favorite travel destination that you've planned for folks?
Julie:Oh my gosh. This is a really hard question.
Ryan:is yeah Because we've both done a lot of different places.
Julie:Do you have something in mind? Wow.
Ryan:So I had a family, actually two families two summers ago, go on a Mediterranean Disney cruise. And so I, so not only did I work with them for the cruise, but we planned Several days beforehand in Barcelona, which is a city that I've been to and I absolutely love. And we planned a couple days in Rome, which is a city that I've been to and I love. So it was fun to kind of connect the dots there. We knew that Disney was going to take care of that stuff. But I wanted to help them get some insider knowledge. Get some, tips that maybe they wouldn't know otherwise with Barcelona and Rome. So that was a lot of fun.
Julie:kind of get everything situated right.
Ryan:absolutely,
Julie:so, I think, and this is going to sound, you know, so predictable. My favorite trips that I have
Ryan:It's staying at the Polynesian resort at Walt Disney World.
Julie:did you know?
Ryan:I think we all knew Julie.
Julie:Alright, so let me, let me give some background, okay? So my favorite trips that I have planned are those for multi generational family vacations to Walt Disney World, where some of the kids, it is, the first time for them to go and the grandparents really want to make that trip special for them. I've done some just really fun trips. I had a very big group go and stay at the Polynesian over Christmas a couple of years ago, and it was so magical. I had. Described to them what it would be like to be in the club level lounge at the Polynesian to watch the fireworks and then to see their pictures and to see that, come to life was very cool and see the smiles on the kids faces. All that planning. That was a trip. Ryan had to help me with because we had so many people to put on
Ryan:that was quite a group. Yes.
Julie:And you know, everything worked out perfectly. When things like that happen and Disney is the destination and Disney is our specialty and we can really see the magic come to life. It kind of reminds us why we do what we do. That's just one specific. Trip that sticks out to me, but there are others. I've done a couple where I had some friends who planned a surprise trip for the mother in law. That was really fun. Because they planned for them to stay at the grand Floridian and I got to be in on that surprise. I've had a couple other. Disney trips we had booked for them to travel during 2020 and early 2021, and we had to put it off for a while. So we were really working together for a long period of time. And, obviously got to know them very well through all that. And when that trip finally came, it was just so cool for them to see all these things they had been thinking about for so long actually happen.
Ryan:That's a great answer and and we love hearing all about it
Julie:you do. Especially about the Polynesian.
Ryan:So hey looking towards the future. I know we throw this every once in a while out to our audience, but we really appreciate it We want to hear from you And get to know what you want to listen to. So like Julie said earlier, what are destinations that you want to know about? What are your travel plans? What motivates you to travel? I think that would be a good episode in the future, Julie to talk about travel motivation and what do you need to know about traveling before your next trip? I know some of our episodes coming up, our specific questions from our listeners that reached out and we're always happy to do that because we want. These 200 episodes to really help you travel better.
Julie:It's always great for us to hear what questions you have about travel, whether it's about a specific destination or about just the logistics of traveling, we have experience in so many of these areas and expertise in so many of these areas, but, You don't know what you don't know, and we don't know what you don't know, so it helps us too.
Ryan:And as always, if you're a fan of all things travel, please share our podcast with friends and family. If you hear them talking about a specific destination or a type of travel that we've discussed, please share it with them. We really appreciate that.
Julie:So 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 you can focus on the fun and creating memories. You can reach me at julie at creatingmagicvacations. com
Ryan:Or you can reach me, Ryan, at creatingmagicvacations. com. Listen in next week as we talk about some common travel concerns that come directly from you, our All Things Travel listeners.