FAQs
We know you may have some questions about the Optimal Magic service. Read below to get some answers!
Who are you?
My name is Clark Bundy, and I am the owner/founder of Optimal Magic. I live in the Chicago area with my wife Susan and my three amazing daughters.
What is your background and experience?
I have an MBA from Dartmouth, and worked for many years as a strategy consultant and then an internal consultant for a health care company, working to help high level executives make optimal decisions. Now, in addition to Optimal Magic, I also run a company that provides strategic/management consulting and data analytics for various industries.
How does this all relate to Disney? I now use my expertise in complex optimization techniques to get the most out of Disney vacations. But no worries if this sounds complicated or confusing - I do all the work and you only get the end result - an easy-to-understand plan for each day of your trip!
My vacation isn't for several months. When should I sign up for the Optimal Magic service?
The sooner, the better. There are a few reasons you want to get your plan put together as early as possible:
1) Dining and most other reservations can be made up to 180 days out - believe it or not, many of the top restaurants fill up many months in advance - the earlier we get going on your planning, the easier these reservations will be to make.
2) Often there are significant discounts for Disney hotels, which have a tendency to come and go - the earlier you're working with Optimal Magic, the more likely we'll uncover a great discount!
As for the "day-to-day" plan I provide you with - I'll put it together as early as you would like. But no worries - if there are changes to the parks that will affect your plan after I make it, I will revise it at no charge.
My vacation is next week - is it too late to put together a plan?
In most cases, it is not too late. I can put together a top-notch plan in a few days time. We may need to get a little creative on dining reservations and there are a handful of Fastpass+ attractions we won't be able to get reservations for, but other than that, it should work out great.
Just keep in mind that this is a small business and it takes a long time to put together each plan - if I am busy working on other plans it could be difficult to squeeze you in with short notice. I'll try my best, but can't guarantee it. If you're uncertain, please contact me and I'll let you know if I can get it done in your time frame.
I don't understand the Fastpass+ service, or baby swap, or early entry, or Disney transportation, or some other aspect of Disney World
No problem. I'll make sure that you understand every relevant aspect of Disney World and can use them to your best advantage. And if you already know how everything works, I will show you how to use it better! At the same time, if something isn't relevant to your group, I won't waste your time with it (for instance, if you have all teenagers, I won't bother with explaining child swap - it just fills your time with stuff that's not useful for you).
Your service is more expensive than some other planning services - why?
Simply enough, it's 100% personalized for you, which means it takes a lot longer to make, and it's much, much better! Other books and websites give you general plans. Sure, they may have a few sort-of personalized plans or suggestions, such as "for young children" or "for seniors," but they are not personalized for you and may contain attractions you aren't interested (or omit ones you are interested in). And they won't account for the quirks of your situation. Optimal Magic, on the other hand, creates an itinerary and plans for each park that are customized for you. Many hours are spent on both your overall and day-to-day plan to ensure everything is perfect for you. The cost of a trip to Disney World for a family of four can cost $5,000 to $10,000 or more (depending on hotels, length of stay, plane tickets, etc.) Isn't it worth 5% of your Disney budget to have a much, much better time? I've had people say they've done two or three times as much using an Optimal Magic plan - it feels like a longer vacation for a fraction of the cost.
Can you give some examples of your customization and how it helps make my trip better?
Sure! Each Optimal Magic client is different, but here are some examples:
When I speak to you, I'll learn about your specifics and put together the optimal plan for you! No other service can offer this!
How do you come up with your recommendations?
First I collect data from many sources - official Disney wait time reports, personal experience, reports from prior clients, and other reputable Disney news sources. Second, I take what I learn from you about what you like, and what you want from your vacation. I also consider factors like your hotel location, kids ages, and several other factors (ability/desire to walk longer distances, need for naps by younger kids, number of days you want to spend in each park, etc.). I factor all of this information into my creating a plan optimized for you. It takes many hours to make each plan so I can hand-craft it and make it perfect for your situation.
Do you help me plan for all Disney World parks?
Yes! We will help you plan your entire Disney World vacation - all four major parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom), both Disney waterparks, and all other aspects of a Walt Disney World vacation.
Do you plan for Disneyland as well as Walt Disney World?
Yes! While I have not been to Disneyland nearly as often as Walt Disney World, most of the planning ideas that work for Disney World work for Disneyland. Through extensive additional research, I have been able to create optimized plans for Disneyland (including California Adventure), and my Disneyland customers have reported a terrific time on their visits!
What about Universal Orlando?
You don't need my planning service for Universal Orlando if you are willing to stay at one of the deluxe on-site Universal Orlando hotel for one night. This accomplishes two things:
If you are not going to stay on site at Universal Orlando, I certainly will help you with optimizing your park plan (it may make sense if you want to add a day to Universal as an add-on to a Disney trip, but don't want to switch hotels), but really, to have the best possible trip to Universal, you should just plan to stay on property for a night.
Can you create plans for my local amusement park? (Six Flags, Cedar Point, etc)
Generally no - if I don't know a park and its quirks, I can't create a plan to avoid the lines. Most of these parks have "skip the line" services for exorbitantly high fees, which may make sense on a busy weekend day during the summer.
I love Disney! Can I get a job with you?
We're not hiring right now. However, if you have a passion for making Disney trips amazing, and would like to become an outside contractor for Optimal Magic, please contact us! I am looking for people who can bring in customers and do the "initial interview" with them, and we will pay a commission for each customer you bring in. If you are interested, please contact us to learn more - I'm most interested in people who speak foreign languages fluently, or are in different parts of the country than me (I'm in Illinois).
Other questions?
Give me a call (847-901-3009) or better yet, send me an email - I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have!
Who are you?
My name is Clark Bundy, and I am the owner/founder of Optimal Magic. I live in the Chicago area with my wife Susan and my three amazing daughters.
What is your background and experience?
I have an MBA from Dartmouth, and worked for many years as a strategy consultant and then an internal consultant for a health care company, working to help high level executives make optimal decisions. Now, in addition to Optimal Magic, I also run a company that provides strategic/management consulting and data analytics for various industries.
How does this all relate to Disney? I now use my expertise in complex optimization techniques to get the most out of Disney vacations. But no worries if this sounds complicated or confusing - I do all the work and you only get the end result - an easy-to-understand plan for each day of your trip!
My vacation isn't for several months. When should I sign up for the Optimal Magic service?
The sooner, the better. There are a few reasons you want to get your plan put together as early as possible:
1) Dining and most other reservations can be made up to 180 days out - believe it or not, many of the top restaurants fill up many months in advance - the earlier we get going on your planning, the easier these reservations will be to make.
2) Often there are significant discounts for Disney hotels, which have a tendency to come and go - the earlier you're working with Optimal Magic, the more likely we'll uncover a great discount!
As for the "day-to-day" plan I provide you with - I'll put it together as early as you would like. But no worries - if there are changes to the parks that will affect your plan after I make it, I will revise it at no charge.
My vacation is next week - is it too late to put together a plan?
In most cases, it is not too late. I can put together a top-notch plan in a few days time. We may need to get a little creative on dining reservations and there are a handful of Fastpass+ attractions we won't be able to get reservations for, but other than that, it should work out great.
Just keep in mind that this is a small business and it takes a long time to put together each plan - if I am busy working on other plans it could be difficult to squeeze you in with short notice. I'll try my best, but can't guarantee it. If you're uncertain, please contact me and I'll let you know if I can get it done in your time frame.
I don't understand the Fastpass+ service, or baby swap, or early entry, or Disney transportation, or some other aspect of Disney World
No problem. I'll make sure that you understand every relevant aspect of Disney World and can use them to your best advantage. And if you already know how everything works, I will show you how to use it better! At the same time, if something isn't relevant to your group, I won't waste your time with it (for instance, if you have all teenagers, I won't bother with explaining child swap - it just fills your time with stuff that's not useful for you).
Your service is more expensive than some other planning services - why?
Simply enough, it's 100% personalized for you, which means it takes a lot longer to make, and it's much, much better! Other books and websites give you general plans. Sure, they may have a few sort-of personalized plans or suggestions, such as "for young children" or "for seniors," but they are not personalized for you and may contain attractions you aren't interested (or omit ones you are interested in). And they won't account for the quirks of your situation. Optimal Magic, on the other hand, creates an itinerary and plans for each park that are customized for you. Many hours are spent on both your overall and day-to-day plan to ensure everything is perfect for you. The cost of a trip to Disney World for a family of four can cost $5,000 to $10,000 or more (depending on hotels, length of stay, plane tickets, etc.) Isn't it worth 5% of your Disney budget to have a much, much better time? I've had people say they've done two or three times as much using an Optimal Magic plan - it feels like a longer vacation for a fraction of the cost.
Can you give some examples of your customization and how it helps make my trip better?
Sure! Each Optimal Magic client is different, but here are some examples:
- One family has three children. One is old enough for the "bigger" attractions like Space Mountain and Splash Mountain - the other two aren't. They wanted to keep the family together as much as possible, but "maybe split into two groups once or twice, so the big kid can experience the big rides." No problem! Optimal Magic created a custom itinerary that enabled this to happen with an absolute minimum of time apart. (And we used several techniques that enabled the "big kid" to get THREE or even FOUR rides on the big rides with no wait, which mean all the adults could get a turn with the "big kid!").
- One family (experienced at Disney) was very specific on the attractions they MUST ride, and "the more rides on those rides, the better." They knew what they liked and they wanted to ride them often! Optimal Magic put together a plan and touring strategies, and the family reported "we rode everything many more times and unlike last time, hardly waited in lines!"
When I speak to you, I'll learn about your specifics and put together the optimal plan for you! No other service can offer this!
How do you come up with your recommendations?
First I collect data from many sources - official Disney wait time reports, personal experience, reports from prior clients, and other reputable Disney news sources. Second, I take what I learn from you about what you like, and what you want from your vacation. I also consider factors like your hotel location, kids ages, and several other factors (ability/desire to walk longer distances, need for naps by younger kids, number of days you want to spend in each park, etc.). I factor all of this information into my creating a plan optimized for you. It takes many hours to make each plan so I can hand-craft it and make it perfect for your situation.
Do you help me plan for all Disney World parks?
Yes! We will help you plan your entire Disney World vacation - all four major parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom), both Disney waterparks, and all other aspects of a Walt Disney World vacation.
Do you plan for Disneyland as well as Walt Disney World?
Yes! While I have not been to Disneyland nearly as often as Walt Disney World, most of the planning ideas that work for Disney World work for Disneyland. Through extensive additional research, I have been able to create optimized plans for Disneyland (including California Adventure), and my Disneyland customers have reported a terrific time on their visits!
What about Universal Orlando?
You don't need my planning service for Universal Orlando if you are willing to stay at one of the deluxe on-site Universal Orlando hotel for one night. This accomplishes two things:
- You get free front-of-line privileges all day at both their parks, for the vast majority of their rides (though not the Harry Potter lands). There's no need for a park plan if you can just skip all the lines. Note that if you stay for one night, you get front-of-line privileges for TWO days (the day you arrive and the day you leave).
- You get "early park admission" that gets you into the park before the general public. Use the early park admission to get to Wizarding World of Harry Potter FIRST THING in the morning - find out when early entry begins, and get to the park at least 30 minutes before that time with your room key, and go straight to the Harry Potter land.
If you are not going to stay on site at Universal Orlando, I certainly will help you with optimizing your park plan (it may make sense if you want to add a day to Universal as an add-on to a Disney trip, but don't want to switch hotels), but really, to have the best possible trip to Universal, you should just plan to stay on property for a night.
Can you create plans for my local amusement park? (Six Flags, Cedar Point, etc)
Generally no - if I don't know a park and its quirks, I can't create a plan to avoid the lines. Most of these parks have "skip the line" services for exorbitantly high fees, which may make sense on a busy weekend day during the summer.
I love Disney! Can I get a job with you?
We're not hiring right now. However, if you have a passion for making Disney trips amazing, and would like to become an outside contractor for Optimal Magic, please contact us! I am looking for people who can bring in customers and do the "initial interview" with them, and we will pay a commission for each customer you bring in. If you are interested, please contact us to learn more - I'm most interested in people who speak foreign languages fluently, or are in different parts of the country than me (I'm in Illinois).
Other questions?
Give me a call (847-901-3009) or better yet, send me an email - I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have!