Greg Antonelle spent twenty years in the staffing/executive recruiting industry before becoming fully immersed in the travel industry. He and his wife Elyssa started MickeyTravels, LLC in January 2011. MickeyTravels was initially born out of his wife’s passion for Disney.
Greg started MickeyBlog.com five years ago to be the marketing arm of MickeyTravels. It has grown into a leading Disney blog and the engine for their travel business. In 2019, they took the plunge and moved to Florida. They now live a few miles behind Magic Kingdom and see the fireworks nightly from their backyard.
Moving to Florida allowed them to rapidly grow their business. They are now the only travel agency in the world that is Diamond EarMarked, Disney-Only (they only book Disney vacations), and 100% Free. They never charge clients any fees. Instead, they get paid directly by Disney. Listen in for some great takeaways about building a business around something you’re passionate about.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…
- Learn more about Greg Antonelle and MickeyTravels [3:35]
- Earning the DIAMOND EarMarked status by Disney Destinations [8:42]
- Greg’s tips to work successfully with your spouse [11:47]
- How to get a copy of “Financial Planning Made Personal” [14:58]
- How to fuel business growth through content creation [15:37]
- Why you should work with a Disney travel agent [21:28]
- The biggest mistake Disney travelers make [23:49]
- Greg’s most magical Disney experience [26:36]
- What Greg did today that put him in the right mindset for success [28:52]
Why Greg and Elyssa created MickeyTravels
Greg’s wife, Elyssa, is a Disney fanatic. She’s gone to Disney since she was two years old. She was chatting with someone about their vacation to Disney World when she found out their travel agent planned the whole trip. Elyssa called the travel agency owner and asked for a job. She started working for them in administration.
But Elyssa wanted to be an agent, so she worked for another agency for 10 months. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt. She went to look for another agency to work for. Instead, Greg helped her start her own agency. When he saw how much fun she was having, he went all in. They now work with 375 agents across the country.
Earning the DIAMOND EarMarked status by Disney Destinations
Greg and Elyssa love what they do. They also have an advantage over other agents in the industry because of Greg’s experience in recruiting. They don’t hire just anyone. They are selective and have an intense interview process. Their agents are also passionate about Disney. They don’t look for travel agents—they look for Disney lovers. Why? Because you can’t teach passion.
How to fuel business growth through content creation
Greg doesn’t worry about clicks, views, likes, shares, etc. If you put out good content—and continue to put out good content—followers will come. And they always put out good content. Greg believes they do it better than any other Disney blog or travel agency. They have people gathering content in the parks daily and they post daily.
Greg’s son launched a Disney YouTube channel—when he was 13. Now 19, he’s grown the audience to 25,000 subscribers. He raised $25,000 on a YouTube livestream for a charity. It shows that if you stick with something consistently and remain dedicated, you’ll see results.
Why you should work with a Disney travel agent
MickeyTravels is the only travel agency in the world that is Diamond EarMarked that exclusively sells Disney trips. Their agents are experts in all things Disney. They’re in the parks seven days a week.
Anyone can get on their laptop and book a trip to Disney. It’s also true that navigating Disney without using a travel agent is doable. However, Greg emphasizes that you won’t have the same experience. MickeyTravels handles everything. They’ll get you the hardest reservations. All you have to do is show up.
Secondly, if you don’t plan properly, you can have a poor experience. Greg can’t imagine going to a park or on a cruise without his wife’s help planning. Greg once saw a woman with two children ask a cast member when the fireworks were that night. The cast member had to tell them that fireworks hadn’t come back yet (because of Covid). Her kids were devastated.
If they had worked with a knowledgeable agent from MickeyTravels, they would’ve known this ahead of time and avoided two little broken hearts.
Greg shares numerous things he’s learned from years running a Disney travel agency with his wife in this episode. Don’t miss it!
Resources & People Mentioned
Connect with Greg Antonelle
Bio
Greg Antonelle spent twenty years in the staffing/executive recruiting industry before becoming fully immersed in the travel industry. My wife Elyssa and I started MickeyTravels, LLC in January, 2011. MickeyTravels was initially born out of my wife’s passion for Disney. While running my recruiting business I was helping Elyssa during nights and weekends. I am not a travel agent. I do not plan trips. I handle all the behind-the-scenes aspects of the business on a daily basis. Essentially, I am responsible for our marketing, social media, and online presence. I do a lot of search engine optimization to increase our brand awareness. I started MickeyBlog.com five years ago to be the marketing arm of MickeyTravels. It has grown into a leading Disney blog. I was born in New York City. My family moved to NJ when I was two years old. I grew up in NJ and went to college in PA (Muhlenberg College), where I met my wife Elyssa. We have three sons (Ryan, 25, Tyler 22, and Nicholas 19). Nicholas is a Walt Disney World cast member. We raised our children in Morris County, NJ and in July 2019, we took the plunge and moved to Florida. We now live a few miles behind Magic Kingdom and see the fireworks nightly from our backyard. Moving to Florida has given us the opportunity to grow our business rapidly. We are now the only travel agency in the world that is (1) Diamond EarMarked, (2) a Disney-Only agency (we only book Disney vacations), and (3) 100% Free. We never charge our clients any fees – we get paid by Disney.
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