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Mystery shopper: Worcester, a family holiday to Florida’s theme parks

Location: Worcester
Wanted: A family of four want to go to Florida for a week and take in Disney, Universal and SeaWorld. They are seeking a good-value place to stay in the school holidays.
Budget: £4,000

Thomas Cook
26 High Street
93%
This shop was clean and everything was nicely polished. I was greeted by a friendly foreign exchange clerk and passed on to an attentive consultant. This agent recommended a holiday from the Signature range: a week’s B&B at the Ramada Plaza Resort on International Drive in Orlando, flying with Thomas Cook Airlines and including car hire, for £2,686 for the family. Tickets for all three parks brought the price up to £4,486, a little overbudget, and I was emailed a detailed quote the following day. The agent also asked about extras such as insurance and swimming with dolphins at SeaWorld. It was a good balance of sales but not too pushy.

Tui
23 Chapel Walk, Crowngate Shopping Centre
90%
The agent in this clean and neat store made the holiday come alive with their enthusiasm. They offered a week’s self-catering at an Orlando Villas property, with car hire and insurance from Tui’s Florida brochure, flying from Gatwick on a Tui Dreamliner on April 25. I was quoted £4,351, including a seven day Disney pass. The agent said Universal and SeaWorld would be extra and suggested buying tickets on the day.

Virgin Holidays
24 Chapel Walk, Crowngate Shopping Centre
76%
This concession was somewhat buried within a department store. The service was good but not excellent. I was first quoted £5,416 for seven nights at the Enclave Suites Hotel, flying Virgin Atlantic on May 7, with tickets for all three parks. This was overbudget so the agent requoted me for the same trip without Disney for £4,044. I thought the agent’s pitch was a bit flat, and they didn’t offer their contact details.


Winning agent

Sallyann Matthews, sales consultant

“The tickets to the parks can be a large part of the holiday price sometimes, but there are ways to do Florida theme parks on a relatively tight budget.”


Verdict

This brief was all about working with a tight budget. Virgin’s agent chose to chop Disney, while Tui’s looked at saving money on Universal and SeaWorld. Thomas Cook offered all three for less than £500 overbudget.


Elite resorts caribbean

Top-scoring agent each month will win use of a car for 10 days.

The winning agent must be at least 25, for insurance reasons. Winners under 25 will win a week’s all-inclusive holiday at an Elite Islands Resorts property. The prize is non-transferable and the car must be driven only by the winning agent. The winner must not have any serious driving convictions. Elite Island Resorts will endeavour to supply the car to the agency but reserves the right to request the winning agent to collect and return the car from Essex or a central location

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