Bryan Cullen – Concierge Travel Advisor | Walt Disney World & Universal Orlando

Bryan Cullen is a Concierge Travel Advisor with Favorite Grampy Travels, specializing in Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Halloween Horror Nights, based in Bluffton, South Carolina.

Ten Houses and Two Shows in One Night at Halloween Horror Nights

All ten houses and both shows fit into a single night, and I have done it most years for close to a decade with time left over for the themed food and the merchandise stands. The route is the entire trick, and because the lineup changes every year, I rebuild it from scratch before opening night.

Halloween Horror Nights 35 runs select nights from August 28 through November 1, 2026, with ten houses, two shows and Jack the Clown sharing icon duty with Dr. Oddfellow for the first time.

Most first-timers walk the park in the order the map suggests, stand in the longest line at the worst possible hour, and go home with three houses unseen. I tell my clients where to start before they scan in, and whether an Express Pass is worth adding on their particular night, which depends more on the date than people expect.

How I Take Lightning Lane Off Your Plate

Lightning Lane trips up more Walt Disney World first-timers than anything else about the trip, so I set the strategy up front and tell you what to tap and when. You get a plan for your morning instead of a booking system to learn on vacation.

The part of this job I love most is landing a dining reservation that disappeared an hour earlier, or getting a family into an Enchanting Extra they did not know existed. Those are the wins people remember, and usually the things nobody would have found on their own.

I watch the Universal Orlando crowd calendar and the Disney planning windows the way I used to watch a release schedule, which is to say constantly and slightly obsessively.

No Two Trips I Plan Look the Same

Some clients want every hour accounted for and some want three anchors with open space around them, so the first thing I ask is which one you are. I build both, and a travel advisor who plans everyone the same way is really just filling in a form.

Most of my clients are families planning a first trip to Disney World or Universal Orlando, repeat visitors who want this one to feel different, and adults and older teens building a night around Halloween Horror Nights.

For twenty years before this I tracked warehouse inventory by day and played music at night. One of those taught me that a few hundred small details either line up or they do not. The other taught me that the best nights are the ones where the plan leaves room to improvise.

The message I want after a trip is the one telling me that something I suggested turned into the family’s new favorite thing, which is the whole scoreboard for me.

The Best Day of Your Trip Might Not Be Inside a Park

Take a day off in the middle of your trip, because a slow resort morning, an afternoon around Disney Springs or CityWalk, or nine holes of Disney miniature golf sends you back through the turnstiles the next day like a different person. It is the advice I give most often, and the one people argue with hardest.

When we are in a park, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is my home base. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is the closest thing to living inside that world, Rise of the Resistance is three rides stacked into one, and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster reopened on May 26, 2026 with Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem in the driver’s seat, which delighted the lifelong Muppets fan in me, because the refurb kept the Muppets in the park when it could easily have shown them the door.

My Gideon’s Bakehouse collection has gotten out of hand, and my long game is a night at every Disney resort on property.

The Trip I Measure Every Other Trip Against

A week at Walt Disney World with my wife for our honeymoon, during the Christmas season, ending with New Year’s Eve at Hollywood Studios. Neither of us had been to the parks together before, and we spent seven days discovering we loved the same things for the same reasons.

We are both from Long Island and we live in Bluffton, South Carolina now with our puppy, close enough to drive to Orlando that we use it several times a year. From here I plan trips for families all over the country.

I became a travel agent in 2026, after two decades in a job that had stopped fitting, which is not a move anyone makes casually about a hobby. I am finishing the Certified Travel Associate program through The Travel Institute, and I came in through the College of Disney Knowledge, because parks that change this often reward a travel advisor who never stops studying them.

Ask Me This Before You Book

Q: Why book Disney or Universal through Bryan Cullen?

Because I have spent close to a decade in these parks as a guest rather than reading about them. I hold specialist training for Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, and I am completing my Certified Travel Associate program. You get someone who already made the mistakes for you.

Q: How many haunted houses can you do in one night at Halloween Horror Nights?

All ten, plus both shows, if the order is planned and you arrive early. I have done it most years for close to a decade. The people who go home having missed houses are almost always the ones who worked the park in map order and hit the biggest lines at the busiest hour of the night.

Q: Do I need Express Pass for Halloween Horror Nights?

It depends entirely on your night. On a quiet early September weeknight you can often skip it, while on a peak October Saturday house waits can climb past ninety minutes and change the shape of the whole evening. I look at your specific date before telling you either way.

Q: I have never used Lightning Lane. Will you handle it for me?

Yes. I build the strategy before you leave, tell you which attractions to book first and what time to have your phone out, and stay reachable during the trip when the plan needs to move. Most first-timers lose an entire morning learning this system on the fly.