Not everyone has the gift of turning trip logistics into something you enjoy as much as the park itself. Between bookings, Premier Access time slots, picking the right hotel and fitting in all the new attractions at Disney Adventure World, planning a Disneyland Paris trip in 2026 can be a challenge even for the most enthusiastic fans.
That’s where Disney Agents come in: professionals who have turned resort knowledge into a craft, and who walk alongside every family so their trip lives up to the excitement they started dreaming with.
In this interview we talk to Raquel, the person behind En Plan Viajes, a go-to account for anyone looking to plan a Disney trip with their head and their heart. We asked her what her day-to-day work looks like, what’s the first thing she checks when someone asks for help, how her approach to planning has changed with the arrival of Disney Adventure World, and what still excites her after so many trips organized.
Grab a pen and paper (or save this interview to re-read before your next trip), this is everything you need to know about working hand in hand with the magic. 🪄
1. Beyond managing bookings, what does it really mean to be an agent specialized in Disneyland Paris? When did you stop being “the one who knows a lot about Disney” and become an experience consultant?
I didn’t start out managing bookings, I started out helping. My YouTube channel began for that reason. I wanted other travelers to stop driving themselves crazy searching for information. Then I did move on to helping not just with information, but with the booking, with the thousand choices you have to make to complete it. The idea has always been to share a bit of what I know (and sure, if that helps me too, then perfect 😂). When someone books with me and we talk about what they want or expect from the park, and once they’re there they can enjoy it… that’s where I always want to get to. I think the people who travel with me give me as much as I give them. After all, you live a little piece of that trip. More than an experience consultant, I’d call myself a gatherer.
2. With the transformation into Disney Adventure World, many families arrive with mental itineraries that no longer work. What’s the most common misunderstanding you have to clear up before you even talk about dates or budget?
Oh boy! That there is more than one park. That the characters don’t just wander around “loose” or show up in every restaurant, and you’re not going to see all of them. And that it is NOT an amusement park. It’s an extension of the Disney world. So enjoying it means: attractions, characters, parades, shows, meetups, laughs, surprises, emotions… You can experience Disneyland Paris in many different ways, all equally valid. But knowing everything it offers. And that leads me to a very common mistake: rigid routes. Yes, you need to plan what you’re going to do (otherwise it would be catastrophic), but not by building an itinerary you can’t step out of. Instead, leave room for the unexpected to happen. That’s why in my consultations the important thing is to KNOW what you’re going to find. So that if anything happens, you can have a plan B, C or D.
3. Disney’s dynamic pricing model means two families can pay very different amounts for the same week. How do you teach your clients that planning ahead isn’t bureaucracy, but part of the magic?
This one’s easy. They realize it when they’ve booked early and then see the prices, or when they book late and see how much it went up. 🤦 No matter how much I say it, many times booking ahead just doesn’t land. People don’t understand reserving a trip a year (or more) in advance. In many cases that’s normal, but we warn them that bookings are cancellable, that the smart move is to plan ahead… and still, they don’t get it.
4. A group of adults and a family with 4-year-old kids visit the same park in the same week. How does your design process change from start to finish?
Kids… they absorb everything. They want to see it all… That’s not the point. The key is their pace. It’s not the same as adults, who can or want to keep going longer. I always advise families with kids to take breaks, not to force them to ride or see what they don’t want to. And to let them live all that magic their own way. Adults live the experience too, but more consciously (and magically as well, don’t get me wrong). Adults can make their own choices. They have more room to move. And they also see the park from a different perspective (what the hotel is like, whether everything they paid for was worth it…); kids see games, fun and magic. For a parent, the important thing might be seeing a show, while for the little one it’s playing in the pool. If possible, you should include them in the decision process.
5. The unexpected is inevitable: closures, cancellations, bad weather. Do you remember a situation where your intervention made the difference between a complaint and a client for life?
So far, nothing that reached boiling point. Because I try to make sure they head out as prepared as possible (and mentally ready for things that can go wrong). We came close with a virtual queue… but it all got sorted thanks to a Spanish cast member. 👏
6. In a park where people run from attraction to attraction, there’s talk of “slowing down” moments. How do you convince a hyperactive family that stopping for five minutes to look at the details of a facade can be one of the best memories of the trip?
That’s the beauty of it. Every group, traveler, family… experiences Disney differently and from their own perspective. You can tell them about the magic of the details, but you don’t have to convince anyone. Because everyone chooses where to look (and there’s so much to look at). So the best thing is to let them follow their own pace. Helping them with pauses or changes of rhythm. But without wanting them to take YOUR trip, rather their own. Maybe they look at the facade or maybe not, and even then they’ll create great memories.
7. Behind every perfect itinerary there are hours of work the client never sees. What tools or resources are part of your preparation process, and how have you evolved in that sense over the last few years?
I don’t do closed itineraries. I plan part of the journey together with the families. And even so, it’s a lot of time dedicated to how to organize each day. The first thing I use is experience. After 11 trips, you learn when and where to do things. But since Disney is a changing animal, you have to lean on other resources: the park’s own website, other travelers who update daily, and your app (which was a wonderful discovery, not only for all the help you offer, but also for those little info details I love… and where I’ve also contributed ☺).
8. If a family tells you their biggest fear is “spending the whole day queuing”, what do you tell them and how do you turn that anxiety into a concrete plan?
That happened to me recently. Total denial about standing in line. As always, first inform and explain. Not from an objective standpoint, but by telling them how I experience it, or how the people at the park do. You have to accept that Disney comes hand in hand with “queueing”, and the sooner you get used to it, the better. Also, people can tell you a thousand tricks, but in the end what works is timing and checking how long the lines actually are. When someone comes to me very anxious about it, we look for routes with more queue-free spaces, to have an escape route. At DLP you queue even to queue. So one of the things I try is to cut those wait times by looking for other options, or by accepting that the “tricks” don’t always work and the queue will still be waiting for you. Also finding a way to enjoy yourself while you wait (hard, I know, but not impossible).
9. Disney announces changes, new shows and policies almost every week. What’s your actual routine for staying one step ahead and never giving outdated information?
Another oh boy! I’d sum it up as… 24/7. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like giving information that’s off or outdated, and because of that I probably spend too much time in Disney mode. So I try to give myself some space (on weekends I try to step out of that mode a bit). And I tell myself it’s fine if a couple of days go by and I don’t catch up on anything. Even so, I take in a lot of information: social media (that’s where I get the most), the agency, colleagues, the website itself, agency training and above all my own experience; that’s why the trips (though I also take the chance to enjoy myself, of course).
10. You know the park from a perspective very few agents have: someone who navigates it with reduced mobility. What would you say to a family in the same situation who is afraid the park won’t live up to their expectations?
That there will probably be something that disappoints them, so they shouldn’t set their expectations super high. But they should go with peace of mind, because they’ll likely feel cared for, looked after, and for a few days they’ll be the envy of many. It’s true that accessibility and information for disabilities can always be improved… but one point in the park’s favor is how much they care about people with disabilities (the cast members above all). Even so, there are areas that still fall short. I’m very realistic when telling them these things. No romanticizing accessibility. (And let’s not even get into allergies and celiac disease… Disney stumbles more than I do there).
11. For a family that has just decided they want to go to Disneyland Paris and is paralyzed by the amount of information online, what’s the first concrete piece of advice you’d give them before they even talk to you?
STEP BY STEP. Sometimes more information isn’t better. Less is more. Start with small but important questions: when do I want or can I go? Is there something specific or a particular season I’d like to see? What do I expect from those dates: heat, cold, crowds, events…? What hotel do I want, or can I afford? And from there a whole lot more questions will come up, but you have to answer them one at a time. Because if there’s one thing Disney has plenty of, it’s information to make your head explode 🫣.
The Magic Relay
Is there a colleague whose way of working or communicating with their clients you find especially inspiring? And if you could leave them a question for the next interview in this series, what would it be?
Someone I’m very close friends with, since we almost started this journey together, is Ingrid, from @ingridmagicadventures. She’s a person who knows a huge amount and genuinely cares that all her clients and colleagues are doing well.
My question…
How do you make those who contact us understand the effort that goes into being an agent?
