Reviews
Five Star Service!!!
From start to finish, Jeff was an intricate part of our vacation. He not only helped plan and schedule our trip to Disney, he also checked in periodically during the vacation itself to make sure everything ran smoothly. We highly recommend him as a professional, courteous, and responsible agent. We will definitely use him again on our next trip to see Mickey Mouse!
The Berardi Family
I found working with Jeff Merola to be a stress-free and wonderful experience. Every single aspect of our Disney trip was handled professionally and with care. Mr. Merola was in constant communication throughout the entire process explaining every detail. His vast Disney experience and knowledge, along with his informative book, The Busy Family’s Guide to Walt Disney World helped tremendously in choosing a resort and meal plan, as well as, planning our day at the park. With Jeff Merola’s help, our Disney experience was truly a magical experience. I would highly recommend using Jeff Merola as an Authorized Disney vacation planner.
Susan Sedlacek
"As a busy single mom and business owner, I decided to book a trip to Disney with my two kids over a long weekend the following month. How difficult can that be, right? Book the flight, find a hotel and you’re there. Wrong. Planning a trip to Disney, I discovered, for the typical traveler (excluding those Disney aficionados that go frequently), involves months of research and planning. Park passes, meal plans, hotel packages … what’s the wrist band?? During my 3-5 hours that I had set aside to plan the trip, I came across Jeffrey Merola’s book titled The Busy Family’s Guide to Walt Disney World. Of course I had no time to read it thoroughly, I had to make the reservations before they sold out! So I contacted Jeff and he gave me some pointers and direction and suggested that I read the book on the airplane ride down, which I did. Jeff’s experiences and suggestions include hotels, restaurants, meal plans and even which rides are best during which times. Jeff helped guide me into the best place to stay for my budget and time frame, which meal plans made the most sense and what rides were best for my kids ages so I wasn’t wasting time standing in line for 5 hours only to be disappointed. When I had a little problem at the resort (opps they accidently checked me out) … Jeff was able to turn the bad experience into a magical experience. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true, the term magical experience is what you will have if you don’t have the time to research the trip for 12 months, but at the very least, read his book on the trip down."
Jackie Conti
Jeff Merola was recommended to me by a family friend when she heard that we were planning a trip to Disney World. Calling and asking Jeff to plan our trip to Disney World for my family was one of the best phone calls I ever made. Jeff is extremely knowledgeable about everything in Disney World. He got a feel for what was important us, especially our two daughters (ages 4 and 7), and planned the trip of our dreams.
Of course everything was about meeting the princesses on this trip. Jeff made reservations for all of our meals and ate multiple meals with the "stars" of Disney World. Dining at Cinderella's Castle after getting a princess make over at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique was a must and Jeff took care of coordinating times and making reservations. We also had breakfast with Winnie the Pooh and his crew at the Crystal Palace. We dined with Mickey and the rest of the characters at Chef Mickey's. The meal plan he suggested met our needs and more. We enjoyed some of the best meals that we have ever eaten based on Jeff's recommendations.
We stayed at the Art of Animation Resort and loved every minute if it. Jeff also made reservations for us to some of the best shows that Disney World has to offer. He shared wonderful tips for moving around Disney World with ease, which is not always easy with two young children. The smiles on our daughters' faces will last a life time with the photography deal that Jeff arranged for us as well.
Jeff was very involved with the trip. He came to our house to explain everything to me in person. He even called and text messaged me while we were in Disney World to make sure everything was indeed "Magical". He told me to call or text him at any time if I had any questions or concerns. He was dedicated to making out trip the best it could possibly be.
I recommended Jeff to a coworker when I heard she was planning a trip to Disney World with her family. She also thought that he went above and beyond to make sure her trip was well thought out and headache free.
I would, with out reservation, recommend talking to Jeff Merola about planning a trip to Disney World. My family will be talking to him again about a return trip in the near future. I can't imagine that the trip would have been as easy to plan and execute without the help of Jeff. He is an amazing resource from that first phone call until you return home with memories to last a life time.
Thank you Jeff!
Karen Zaferakis
After having visited Disney World for the first time in 2004, I fell in love with this magical place. I was a stay-at-home mom at the time and was able to speak with a Disney rep to plan this trip. When we went back in 2009, with 4 small children, we traveled with friends. This trip was planned, again, with the help from a Disney rep and many hours on the phone. We promised our children a return in 2014. At this point, I was now working full-time and was faced with the daunting task of planning a memorable trip for my family. This meant being on the phone for a few hours, at least, answering many questions but not knowing where to begin. My husband happened to hear Jeff Merola on a local radio station and suggested I give him a call. Upon emailing Jeff, he quickly responded and we got the ball rolling. I told him our “musts,” he made a few suggestions and that was it. Our trip was planned and Jeff handled everything!!! He met with us before we went to finalize things and answer any questions. And on top of that, we could email, text and call him while on the trip- he responded immediately with exactly what we needed. It is without hesitation and with great confidence that we recommend Jeff Merola to make your Disney vacation the most wonderfully magical experience!
Sarah Woodard
Jeff made every step of planning our trip painless and was easily available for questions. We traveled with a 6, 5, & 2 year old and our trip to Disney was amazing! Jeff knew all of the character meals to attend and what rides would be best for their age group. We had a question while at one of the parks and he called us right away. I would highly recommend him to anyone booking a trip and we will be using him again in the future!
Amy Ditota
"I had a great experience working with Jeff while planning my Disney trip for the summer of 2014. He had great advice regarding meal plans, fast passes, and accommodations. He answered all of my questions...and I had many because this was our first family trip to Disney! He took into consideration the ages of my children as well as my husband's and my personal interests. I met Jeff as a guest speaker of a mom's group I belong to...and he followed through with all the promises he made as a Disney trip planner. While I was in Disney, he checked up on us to make sure our bags arrived and departed smoothly, and helped me with any last minute changes we made with our itinerary. I referred to his paperback book and e-book during the entire planning process. My kids(6-year old twins) loved the brand new Snow White and Seven Dwarfs roller coaster, dining with Mickey and characters, and meeting Cinderella in the castle. They absolutely loved our Disney hotel choice and could not get enough of the pool. We were 100% satisfied with our trip, and Jeff was truly helpful. He really loves Disney and his advice is genuine!"
Susan Hayes
Jeff is extremely knowledgeable about all things Disney and was able to help us prioritize our itinerary of things to do/see based on many factors, including the logistics of getting to and from different places within the parks. Just as impressively, Jeff helped make our trip a success on very short notice. We booked for two adults and two young children only two weeks prior to traveling! Jeff was available whenever we needed him, provided recommendations on where to stay and where to eat, and was proactive in following up with us to ensure we'd received appropriate information and materials from Disney prior to travel (magic bands, magical express vouchers, etc.). He also spent time walking us through how to set up our Disney accounts, use the Disney app, and manage FastPass+ reservations. Once we were at Disney, Jeff checked in with us to make sure everything was going smoothly and to ask if we needed anything. Overall, working with Jeff saved us a lot of time, and relieved much of the stress and pressure we would have felt trying to figure everything out for ourselves.
Ralph Torrillo
My family and I are dedicated Walt Disney World vacationers! Our last trip to see the mouse was carefully planned and delivered by Mouse Vacation Planning. I thought how wonderful and stress free would it be to have someone else plan the entire trip. It turns out that it was one of the best choices I had ever made. Jeff was hard at work at 7 am Valentine’s Day morning making our dining reservations, that’s dedication! Jeff was able to flawlessly plan our perfect trip from start to finish. It was a wonderful experience working with Jeff and I would recommend Mouse Vacation Planning to anyone who is planning a 1st time or 30th time trip to see the mouse.
The grateful Welch family
We LOVE Jeff Merola!!! He has booked all of our Disney trips and a Disney Cruise. He pays meticulous detail to everything! His knowledge of Disney is mind blowing and if you ask a question he doesn't know--he finds out and gets right back to you! He makes things so easy that I didn't really have to do anything except pack our bags! What I think you get with him and nobody else is after initially booking the trip he continues to look for deals and specials and exciting things happening at Disney and will contact you to give you more options. He even got us a better deal!! We have 3 kids and he focused on all three of there ages to suggest and book different activities. He definitely PERSONALIZES your trip for you!!! I have recommended him to my friends here in North Carolina and they all LOVED him too!!! Wouldn't think of ever using anyone else but Jeff to book a Disney trip!
Heather Lisk
Jeffrey was SO HELPFUL for making our recent trip to WDW a great experience.
It is big and there are a lot of things that I did not know about. The fast passes seem simple enough but to get the full benefit of when to use them and how to use them, I needed help and Jeff was a God-send. His book helped in letting us know which attractions were worth the time and which ones we did not need to go out of our way to see. He was right on on his assessment of them. He helped with reservations, he corrected the reservations that they messed up, and he told me where to go for great experiences--places I would never have known about. He made me feel really good about the choices I made from resort to timing. He even talked with my teens since moms know nothing in teens’ eyes. (He has great people skills.)
Jeff really made the experience much easier. (I can’t believe that he does not charge for his help.) Five stars for Mouse Vacation Planning!!! I will use him every time I go.
Melinda Martin, MD
Jeff handled every detail for us and made the planning process painless. Jeff responds quickly to inquiries and provides great suggestions based on family wants. We enjoyed our vacation and would use Jeff again in the future for any subsequent Disney vacations!
Lisa Hann
We just got back from our honeymoon and everything was absolutely perfect! Jeff helped us plan everything, and since it was our first time at Disney, we needed a LOT of help. I highly recommend using Jeff especially for all of your Disney vacation needs!
Jessica Parrino
I have only high praise for Jeff Merola and Mouse Vacation Planning. From the first time I contacted Jeff I had only good feelings about the whole venture. He booked everything that I wanted, explained the itinerary and helped with questions that this novice traveler had. It made my family’s vacation so much easier to not have to sweat the details. He called while we were on the trip to make sure all was well and had suggestions for things we might like to see and places to eat based on the makeup of my traveling party. He also sent a book that he wrote about Disney World ahead of time to help with many decisions. I would use him again and will recommend him to anyone that I hear is visiting Disney World.
Janet Petefish
While listening to 93Q one morning I heard Jeff talking about Disney vacations. My family and I were planning a trip to Disney in the spring. I called Jeff and he planned our trip and gave wonderful advice on where to stay, food, and attractions, and set up everything for us. Everything that Jeff set up for us went smoothly! His knowledge about Disney is amazing! He called us on our first night to make sure everything was to our liking. I would highly recommend Jeff for anyone traveling to Disney.
Kirkby Family
As a full time working mother of 3 boys, I wanted to go to Disney but was overwhelmed and did not know where to begin. I heard about Jeff Merola on 93q and then my boss said he helped him as well. I gave Jeff a call and my Disney vacation was planned! Jeff was amazing! He made everything so easy and stress free. I couldn't have had the best vacation without him.
Melisa Vormwald
As first time Disney vacationers, my husband and I wanted to be sure we did it right, and that we did thanks to Jeff Merola! He worked with us to plan our Disney vacation and completely eliminated any overwhelming, stressful anxiety we may have felt. From recommending the popular rides to utilize fast passes for to getting us tickets to the “must see” light shows, Jeff covered all the details and scheduling for us. He met with us, answered all of our questions/concerns, and provided us with an itinerary that we used as our guide for our entire stay. In addition, Jeff was flexible in meeting any changes we may have inquired about and was easily accessible by phone while we vacationed. When we plan our next Disney vacation it will start with a phone call to Jeff.
Melissa Smith
My family and I have recently returned from our first family trip to Walt Disney World and had an absolutely amazing time. I have to say that a lot of that was due to the upfront planning that was done with the help of Jeff with Mouse Vacation Planning. He asked questions about the what we were looking for during our stay, we spoke about my children to make sure he was able to tell us about many available options of things to do. He gave me several different options on trips and then called to ensure that I understood what I was looking at and answered the many questions that I had. At no time did he pressure me into booking the trip and was always quick to get back to me with answers to any questions I had. Even after the trip was booked when we wanted to make changes to our resort, Jeff happily offered suggestions and took care of making the changes for us to meet my family’s needs. Jeff took care of making our dinning reservations lining them up with the parks we would be at so we could make the most of every day. Prior to the start of our trip he contacted me to ensure that we had everything in order and answer any last minute questions. He contacted us on the day of our arrival and throughout our trip to make sure everything was going just as planned. When we did have a small issue with our dinning points, it only took a quick text and Jeff was on top of straightening things out. My family will be going back to Disney and we will use Jeff for our next trip.
Jodi Hayes
I purchased one of Jeffrey's books when considering a trip to Disneyworld. I was was pleasantly surprised when I emailed him and he responded very quickly to answer my questions. My youngest daughter is unable to ride many rides due to her medical issues and I wondered if she would still enjoy Disneyworld. Jeffrey responded with a very complete list of attractions she would be able to participate in and helped arrange every detail including a resort that would work with her feeding tube needs. He was available by text and was very helpful since I did not have a lot of planning time. It was an unforgettable magical time for my daughter and I was so glad to fit it in before her big spine surgery. It felt good to see her relaxed and carefree in all the Disney experiences. It had been a while since I had seen her just being a kid. She has been asking to go back again. We will contact Jeffrey to go back soon. Thanks again Jeffrey!
Mary Meza
After talking to my physical therapist and mentioning to her that I was planning on going to Disney World, she told me to call Jeff Merola and that it would make my life so much easier. I texted Jeff and within a few minutes, I got a reply. Jeff gave me a bunch of options and recommendations that allowed me to get the most out of my trip. I had some issues while trying to access my room while at Disney... I texted Jeff at midnight (I am that person, sorry!), and Jeff replied within minutes. That's the type of customer service that makes you a loyal customer. I can assure you that I will call Jeff next time I want to go back to Disney!
Jaime Torreblanca
To anyone that is planning on going to Disney World for a vacation, I would HIGHLY recommend utilizing the services of Jeff Merola! I have been to Disney in the past and did not enjoy myself as much as I would have liked to have, because I was continually stressed about what park to be at when, making dinner and fastpass+ selections, and just all the overall chaos that goes with trying to make such a big trip amazing for your family. However, when I handed all of that responsibility over to Jeff the second time we went to Disney I did not have one thing to worry or think about, other than just having an enjoyable time with my family! He helped advise me on airfare selections and then booked everything for Disney from the hotel, to dinner reservations, and our fastpasses. We did not have to think about a thing, all the planning was done for us and it was done to perfection. It was, by far, one of the most enjoyable times we had had at Disney! And, an added bonus, Jeff even provided us with his personal cell phone number in case we had any questions while we were on vacation. I ended up calling him a couple of times, and each time he was gracious and more than willing to help and answer any of my questions! If you want your own personal Disney consultant to make your Disney trip as magical as it can be, then Jeff Merola is DEFINITELY the man you need to get in touch with!
Kristen Gipe
After seeing an ad in a local magazine, I contacted Mouse Vacation Planning. I had been putting off a return trip to Disney with my daughter for 5 years due to the overwhelming amount of decisions that needed to be made and the task of planning all the details. Jeffrey Merola was awesome in taking me step by step through the entire process. The biggest bonus was he went beyond the pre-trip reservation Disney World planning and we would be "bringing his experience and expertise with us on the trip!" Jeffrey was responsive by phone, email and text from the first encounter and I found myself texting him questions throughout the vacation which were immediately responded to. I read his book "The Busy Family's Guide to Walt Disney World 2016" before I left and it was packed and referred to daily during the vacation. The knowledge and advice available to us for this vacation made the trip not only manageable, but with all the planning complete before we left, we were able to focus on enjoying ourselves. Ultimately, we were able to do and see everything we had planned on while in Disney!!!!!. I highly recommend Jeffrey Merola and Mouse Vacation Planning for anyone considering a trip to Disney and look forward to working with him on a future trip!