Phone: 1-800-670-4312 ext 151
Email: Karen@travelwiththemagic.com
Hello. My name is Karen Kalinowski. I live in Vernon Hills, Illinois with my husband, David, and my two children, Josh (15) & Haley (13). I have been taking trips to Florida since I was an infant.
My favorite theme park is the Magic Kingdom. My favorite resort at Disney World is Disney’s Beach & Yacht Club. My favorite resort at Universal Studios Orlando is The Hard Rock Hotel.
With my 20 plus years’ of experience booking travel, I am the perfect person to help you on your next vacation. I completed travel school in 1996 and worked as a full time travel agent booking clients all over the world. I joined Travel with the Magic’s team in May 2012.
I am a Disney College of Knowledge graduate, Royal Caribbean University of WOW graduate, Legoland Specialist, Atlantis Specialist, SeaWorld Parks Specialist and Marriott Hotels Sales Specialist. I also help manage the agents with Travel with the Magic.
In July 2013 and March 2016, I attended Agent Education Programs at Disney World. I have toured or stayed in all of the Disney Resorts. My family took their very first Disney cruise in February 2014, on the Disney Dream. We have since been back on the Dream in 2015, 2018 & 2019 and the Fantasy in 2017. My family will be sailing again on the Fantasy in July of 2019.
In February 2017, I traveled to Universal Orlando for an Agent Education Program where we toured all of Universal’s 5 resorts and I stayed at Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort. I enjoyed a VIP tour with Universal which got me on all the most popular rides at both Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure theme park. I also participated in the Mardi Gras Parade at Universal Orlando throwing beads out to the crowd.
In March 2018, I traveled out to Disneyland and stayed at the Grand Californian Resort. I spent a week in California visiting Disneyland, Universal Hollywood, Warners Bros Tour and also Santa Monica Pier.
I have a LOVE for helping people book their dream vacations and also the knowledge of locations all over the world. My services are always free when booking a vacation package with me.
Contact me at: (800) 670-4312 x 151 or Karen@travelwiththemagic.com
We are beyond words of appreciation for Karen’s service. Her knowledge and skill is exceptional. Karen assisted the planning for our family Disney Fantasy cruise. She was efficient in everything she did to make our travel plans of 10 people smooth and organized. The tips she provided and documentation given made our trip easy and clear. Thank you to Karen Kalinowski for making this cruise on the Fantasy a trip to never forget. We have and will continue to recommend her as a Disney travel planner.
Karen was nothing short of a rockstar for us. While we had been to Disney World before, this was our first time actually booking the trip. This was intimidating to begin with, but Karen waked us through step by step and made sure everything was taken care of from, including hotel, dining, and FastPass+ reservations. She was able to get our first choice for each of our reservations, and even found us a discount on an upgraded room at Coronado Springs. I would not hesitate to ask for Karen’s help for future trips and would recommend her services to anyone looking to book a Disney vacation!
Karen made our recent trip to Disney World extra magical! She is extremely knowledgeable and helpful in all areas of anything Disney related. She was amazing in assisting us with our FastPass+ reservations, Advanced Dining reservations and she was so on top of everything in such a timely manner that she was able to procure the coveted Free Dining Plan Promotion for us when so many other people were shut out. She was always willing to help, answer questions at all times and days. I will promote Karen and her skills to anyone who will listen to me. We will definitely be using her again to plan our 2017 Disney Cruise!!
Karen was awesome in planning our Disney vacation and helping us get on the new Avatar rides in Animal Kingdom using fast passes and getting them weeks in advance. Thanks Karen for a magical time!!!!
Karen was an excellent planner who met each and every need as we planned a trip with our 5 year old and 2 year old grandchildren. She offered very valuable advice and her responses to our questions were immediate. She is highly recommended.
Karen was very helpful and did a great job planning our trip. We could not have asked for a better trip planner.
Karen is wonderful. She was able to get us everything we wanted in Disney and make the planning and the actual vacation stress free. We’ve worked with Karen to several vacations and she never disappoints. Karen is extremely responsive to questions and is a Disney expert. I recommend her services to all of my friends.
Karen was amazing! She was prompt to answer my questions (which were many) and always looking for the best deal or way to fit everything in in the most relaxed way possible. Couldn’t have done it without her!
We have just finished 4 days at Disney and 4 days at Universal which were pretty close to perfect – because of Karen. When we first started planning this trip, all the choices seemed impossibly daunting until we were lucky enough to find Karen. Her knowledge, diligent attention to detail, responsiveness, passion and enthusiasm made planning the trip so easy. It was such a pleasure dealing with her. I could almost see her smile on the other end of the phone.
Karen – thank you for making our vacation truly magical.
Karen was invaluable. As a Disney novice, I heard from friends there is lots of planning involved. Karen provided me with guidance that helped make our vacation amazing. While we were on the trip, my mom asked how we could contact Karen’s boss to give her a great review! I’ve already insisted to a friend thinking about a Disney trip that she must contact Karen. As for us, it goes without saying that I will work with her for our next Disney trip!
Karen is amazing! She booked a Disney Cruise for my family. She was great in helping me make my decision from which part of the ship to be in, to booking time for character meet and greets to telling me all about what to do in the ship. She has an excellent folder of information that my kids and I all read and devoured. This is the 2nd time I have used her services. The prior one was staying in the Disney World property. I can’t wait to use her services again for my next trip.
Karen is great to work with. We have used her multiple times. She is quick to respond and very thorough. It made the trip planning super easy.
Karen was an amazing planner and partner for our trip. She was incredibly responsive to all my questions and did extra research for special needs we had. Karen even put all our plans in a nice folder to take with us for reference. I will definitely use Karen again for our next trip.
I always get so excited when it’s time to book another trip with Karen! She’s so quick to respond and has all the answers to my questions! She will always be my “go to person” with traveling.
Karen is the best! When we started the process of planning our trip, we didn’t have a clue. Karen is a fountain of knowledge and information. She made the planning easy, simple, and fun. Our trip exceeded our expectations.
Karen is wonderful. When we started planning our vacation with a family of eight, I was a little nervous, but the trip to Disney was one of the best vacations we have taken. Karen helped us plan every detail from the room selection to the FastPass+ and food choices. My family will remember this vacation as one of the best. I would recommend Karen to anyone booking a Disney vacation.
Karen Kalinowski is awesome! I had sooo many questions about our vacation since we have never traveled out of the country before with kids and also never have done an all inclusive. Karen answered every one of my questions with patience. She also took the worry out of planning our vacation. We had a wonderful trip to Dreams Punta Cana. Thanks again!
This was our very first cruise so I feel like I had quite a few “stupid” questions and Karen never ever made me feel like they were stupid questions!! Quite the opposite! She ALWAYS replied in a very timely manner and was extremely nice and helpful. She took care of every detail and I never had a concern. Our Alaska Cruise on Ruby Princess was spectacular and BEAUTIFUL! We were extremely happy with how kind and helpful all the staff was on our ship. This trip was the best way for my husband and I to celebrate our 35 year wedding anniversary! And Karen helped make that happen. Thankyou Karen!!!! We will definitely cruise again! I can not say enough good things about Karen!!! Our cruise was magical
Thanks to Karen, my family and I had the most amazing Disney/Universal vacation. She knew exactly what to ask and suggest so that we got the trip we wanted and didn’t quite know how to plan. She answered every question I had and made sure that nothing was forgotten. Everything worked out perfectly and we had the best time. We’ll certainly make our way back to Orlando and will absolutely use Karen’s help again.
As Disney and Universal newbies, we relied on Karen’s expertise to help our family of 6 with booking a 10 day trip to Orlando. She was so knowledgeable and great to work with. What seemed daunting was made much easier with her guidance. She took care of everything including hotels to meet our needs, park admissions, help with fast passes, suggestions on booking meal reservations and getting groceries delivered to our hotels. I would highly recommend considering her for your future travel needs.
My family and I cannot recommend Karen enough!! She hands down made this trip easy, memorable and so special to all of us. She walked me through every step I needed to take- she even booked all my fast passes for me! The ease she made what could have been a very stressful experience was unbelievable. She was thorough, detail oriented and followed up every step of the way. If you want to actually enjoy your Disney planning experience please work with Karen! Everyone should feel as good about their trip as we did. Thank you a million times over Karen- you are simply the best!!
I have now utilized Karen’s skills twice. The first time was primarily because friends of ours were booking a Disney Cruise through Karen and had talked us into joining them. The second time was because Karen was such a pleasure to work with the first time. While I love Disney, I can’t honestly say that I find their online services to be very user-friendly. Karen helped ease this annoyance by doing all my onboard cruise ship bookings for me. She also helped me set up a dinner show at one of the resorts the night before our cruise left, and helped me decide whether or not it would be worth it to get an extra hours pass. Our trip was wonderful and a success, but that is not where the work stopped for Karen. She contacted me after we got back from the cruise to see how everything went as well as to help me fix an error that was made when I placed a holder on my next Disney cruise. While the error might not have been a huge deal to fix right now, I have a feeling it would have been a pain to fix later on, and honestly, if it had not been for Karen, I would not have even noticed the issue.
Karen is absolutely wonderful, and I would highly recommend her to anyone who wants or needs help in planning their Disney vacation or cruise!
Not only is Karen a Disney expert, she is a vacation expert! She gets to know her clients and works with them to plan the perfect vacation. My family of 9 just returned from a truly memorable Walt Disney World trip. Karen really outdid herself in coordinating this trip among three families! What made it extra challenging, is that we have enjoyed Disney World (thanks to Karen) several times, but many in our party were new to the magic. She suggested activities we would all love and made it possible for each family to have experiences of their own. We can’t thank her enough for helping us create memories that will last a lifetime. Karen, you are truly the best! I will continue to sing your praises and recommend you to all of my friends!
Karen is THE BEST! My husband and I haven’t been to Disney World in more than twenty years and Karen made everything so easy! From her advice and guidance, to booking character meals and fast passes, she is amazing. Our daughters, ages 6 and 8, had a most memorable and magical experience and we were so grateful to absorb the magic of Disney stress-free. Karen’s knowledge of the parks, resorts and EVERYTHING Disney is exceptional. She comes highly recommended from the whole family!
If you’ve never been to Disney you need to talk to Karen … I had no idea where to even begin with my trip and Karen is truly a Disney expert. She guided me through the hotel process … so many to choose from and for this picky mom … I wanted something not too kiddie and more “corporate” … she recommended the perfect place … her help with parks, rides, fast passes, dinner, etc made our trip stress free. She stayed on top of Hurricane Dorian and checked in with me constantly … thank goodness Dorian was not an issue and we had an amazing trip. 5 stars and 2 thumbs up for Karen!!
We LOVED working with Karen!!! She was always two steps ahead of me and always had time to answer any of my questions.
I can’t recommend Karen highly enough. We had literally no idea how to plan our Disney adventure and she provided constant, helpful, insightful support to make our trip absolutely perfect. She was even right on hand while we were in Disney helping us to make last minute changes as our adventure and plans progressed. Thank you for planning a seamless, magical trip for our family.
Karen is amazing! She helped us plan our Disney vacation this year and we had THE BEST time! We had never been to Disney and were overwhelmed by the planning, so I reached out to Karen and she made everything feel seamless – hotel booking, park passes, meal reservations, fast passes, Magical Express, even where to rent a stroller and get groceries – you name it, she covered it. She’s so helpful and easy to work with, and you can never ask her too many questions (trust me, I tried!). Karen is on top of everything and provided invaluable help to making our trip the success it was. I highly recommend her services and will be using her again for our future needs!
Karen was amazing!! We had attempted to coordinate a Disney vacation, and we canceled because it was so overwhelming for me as the Grandmother trying to take my grandchildren. Once we had Karen’s name, everything changed: from booking the dining reservations to the fast passes, she made it effortless and removed the stress. In addition, she was able to take advantage of discounts at the hotel/dining plan that we were unaware of, plus she found reservations for restaurants previously unavailable. Once we were there, she was phenomenal helping with issues at the hotel and additional fast passes. The poor woman was so accessible every time I needed clarification and would take her time and address every concern and list of questions. I would never go to Disneyworld without using Karen!!
I have been a customer of Karen for 10+ years. Karen remembers EVERY nuance of me and my families travel likes and dislikes. From the hotel room preferences to the transportation preferences. I trust Karen completely with having my best interest when she provides me pricing and vacation options. Karen is available at all times to help with any unexpected itinerary changes. I look forward to working with Karen on future trip planning!
I can’t recommend Karen enough. She was simply amazing and made our recent trip to Disney World extra magical! Karen is extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Our sole goal with this trip was to hit all the new Star Wars attractions. I was so anxious about being able to secure boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance. Karen kept me up to date with all the latest news on the ride and with her help we were able to secure boarding passes. My family was so happy and had a great time! Karen was also helpful with assisting us with our FastPass reservations, advanced Dining reservations and all my on the go questions. Karen was always willing to help and answer my questions and was so prompt. We have done Disney many times before on our own and I will never plan a Disney trip on my own again. Karen was invaluable and I can’t recommend her enough. I will definitely use her again in the future. Thanks Karen for all your help and for making our 2020 Disney Vacation extra special and magical!