Odd question of the day...Have you ever driven to an ABD?

[global_mom]

We would really like to try the Spirit of America at the end of May. We live within driving distance (about 8-9 hours away) and would like to stop on the way home to add another day of seeing more sights.

Has anyone done this? Would we need to move our car for each leg of the journey or would ABD return us to the starting point?

Driving would also save us about $1500 in airfare which would be great b/c we have several other big Disney trips taking place this year (DL in March, 3 trips to WDW, and 2 trips to HHI).

Thanks everyone!!

 

[Stepht5]

We would really like to try the Spirit of America at the end of May. We live within driving distance (about 8-9 hours away) and would like to stop on the way home to add another day of seeing more sights.

Has anyone done this? Would we need to move our car for each leg of the journey or would ABD return us to the starting point?

Driving would also save us about $1500 in airfare which would be great b/c we have several other big Disney trips taking place this year (DL in March, 3 trips to WDW, and 2 trips to HHI).

Thanks everyone!!

That would be very easy to do! There were a couple of families that did that on the back end of our trip! They both wanted to add a week and they rented a car on the last day. Both of those families flew in from CA.

Make sure that you arrive by mid afternoon since you don't want to miss the first evenings activities!

 

[vvblue]

We rented a car at the Grand Junction airport after the trip and spent 2 days visiting other National Parks in the area! ABD dropped us off at the airport and stayed w/ us until we picked up our car!

Others rented cars at Grand Junction and drove 3 hours to Denver because the flight was much cheaper.

I have heard other people have also drove in, left the car at the first airport and rented a car from the final airport and returned to their car

Being on the bus is a great part of the adventure - it is alot of fun and you get great information from the ABD guides as well as local tour guides.

 

[global_mom]

Thanks Stephanie! I guess that I still need to find out what we would do about the car while we are on the various legs of the trip. Of course, we could simply drive to the next desitnation instead of riding the motor coach and we would just need to make sure that we knew where we were going.

I see that you did ABD Spirit of America in August. How was it? We would be taking DS12, DD9 and leaving DS6 at home as she would get bored easily. We have already taken DS and DD to Washington DC but they are dying to go back and the other legs of the trip sound so great to them. This is also one of the more affordable itineraries so we thought that we could give it a try before committing to a European trip. Any suggestions/thoughts are greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!
Elizabeth

 

[global_mom]

Being on the bus is a great part of the adventure - it is alot of fun and you get great information from the ABD guides as well as local tour guides.

I thought that this would be a time for good information and for getting to know others on the trip. Plus we are technically paying for this transportation in the price.

I like the idea of renting a car at the end of the trip and returning to the original airport. This could work for us.

Lots to think about.....

 

[Stepht5]

Thanks Stephanie! I guess that I still need to find out what we would do about the car while we are on the various legs of the trip. Of course, we could simply drive to the next desitnation instead of riding the motor coach and we would just need to make sure that we knew where we were going.

I see that you did ABD Spirit of America in August. How was it? We would be taking DS12, DD9 and leaving DS6 at home as she would get bored easily. We have already taken DS and DD to Washington DC but they are dying to go back and the other legs of the trip sound so great to them. This is also one of the more affordable itineraries so we thought that we could give it a try before committing to a European trip. Any suggestions/thoughts are greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!
Elizabeth

If you had your own car you would have to drive it from hotel to hotel. IMHO you would be missing out on a good part of the experience. You may want to check to see if it would be worth it to rent a car on the back end for a few days and then drive back to the first airport and fly out. I would think the tickets would be quite a bit cheaper that way.

I will be posting my trip report soon --- I'm trying to work on it making sense! LOL!
Dh and 6dd stayed home -- we didn't think she would be able to keep up and stay in a good mood! LOL! It was myself, 16dd & 9ds. We had a BLAST!!!

We are hoping to do one of the Italy ABDs in 2009, with friends we met on our ABD --- our 2008 is already quite full with trips! LOL!

 

[global_mom]

If you had your own car you would have to drive it from hotel to hotel. IMHO you would be missing out on a good part of the experience. You may want to check to see if it would be worth it to rent a car on the back end for a few days and then drive back to the first airport and fly out. I would think the tickets would be quite a bit cheaper that way.

I will be posting my trip report soon --- I'm trying to work on it making sense! LOL!
Dh and 6dd stayed home -- we didn't think she would be able to keep up and stay in a good mood! LOL! It was myself, 16dd & 9ds. We had a BLAST!!!

We are hoping to do one of the Italy ABDs in 2009, with friends we met on our ABD --- our 2008 is already quite full with trips! LOL!

I cant wait to read your report! Our kids are similar in age so your experiences will be so relevant to what we would experience. Our DD6 thinks that a week at her grandmothers is much better than going on an ABD trip with "yucky museums" so we feel OK about leaving her at home.

Another poster also suggested getting a car at the end and driving back to the original airport and we are going to strongly consider this.

I will be on the look out for your report.....