Jo Anne Smoot felt the Disney magic when her ship arrived in Port Canaveral 2 hours early. In no time, she was on a magical carpet ride to Disney World.
Jo Anne Smoot started Magical Tripcations back in 2014. Source: Jo Anne Smoot
Smoot, a Disney expert, opened Magical Tripcations when her daughter began kindergarten in 2014. She set sail on the Oasis at the Seas from Bayonne, N.J. for a Royal Caribbean seminar. Because of the fast turnaround in Port Canaveral, a trip to Disney World was impossible for her.
The ship arrived at noon, instead of 2:45. Smoot was quick to get involved.
It was the exact day Disney launched Genie+ and the Disney Genie Planner. Genie+ is a paid service that allows for expedited entry to certain rides at $15 per day.
Smoot stated, "I was anxiously going to check that out for clients," "We have 25 independent contractors. Many were sending me texts and cheering my on. It was an extremely high-energy experience.
Smoot was one of the first to leave the ship, and had a car waiting for her at the pier. She arrived in Epcot at 1pm. She visited three parks, rode on many attractions, rode on the Skyliner, monorail and finished with a Dole Whip at Polynesian Resort.
What did she think about Genie+? She said, "It was really cool." It was initially difficult to run around with such limited time, but I soon got used it and the Genie+ helped. You can go straight to the Lightning Lanes.
To access two popular rides that were not part of Genie+, she paid $17 more. She was able to ride Remy's Ratatouille Adventure at Epcot as well as the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom.
"I literally walked straight on. She said that she never waited in line more than 10 minutes and that the standby times for rides were an hour. It is a great experience and I highly recommend it.
It was the cherry on top of her Royal Caribbean training program.
She said, "One of my favourite aspects of these events was networking with other top business owners and agents, and this group was extremely collaborative, abundant in the sense that sharing ideas." It's a week spent together and by the end we were all friends, exchanging cards and talking freely. Although we may not be competitors, we all share the same goal, especially when it is about selling cruises. All of us want people to come back on board. "We are all working towards a common goal."
Her agency in her home country has seen a strong focus on Disney which has allowed her to see a quick turnaround. She said, "I feel very fortunate by that."
She stated that her 2022 plan was to add a few agents and travel as much as possible to show clients it's safe.
Smoot stated that at $3 million in sales, "we have more books for 2022 than 2021 and we've done more in 2019 than in 2020, and almost as much as in 2019,"
