Final Thoughts:
I've had a few days now to reflect on the trip and wanted to put my thoughts in some kind of order. Overall I think Greece is a very solid ABD offering, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves history, mythology, beautiful beaches, lots of sunshine, and mediterranean food. We all had a great time—even special needs DS19, which was wonderful. It is probably my second favorite ABD. The first year Scotland itinerary that we took in 2013 I suspect is going to be hard to beat. We did Ireland in 2007 so I don’t remember it well enough to compare, but I think Greece edges ahead of it because of the food.
Chris and Mary were both exceptional, which seems almost axiomatic with ABD guides. But I suspect they are among the elite in rankings from surveys. Our tour did have a slightly different tone/feel than the other ABDs we’ve been on, and I think that’s because neither of them were/are cast members. On every trip we’ve taken before one or both of the guides were cast members, and the tone was definitely more rah rah. Not in a bad way at all, but the difference at least for me was noticeable. I liked it toned down—more real, if you like—although the Disney feel was distinctly missing. ABDs in general have a very muted Disney feel, but this one was even more so. We could easily have been with Tauck.
I think the muted Disney aspect of the tour also might have something to do with the location of our particular tour. In Europe, I suspect, because of the anti-American sentiments in some areas, they probably don’t want to do anything to draw attention to the “Disney” part of the equation. The guides didn’t hold the paddle one time—Mary usually held up an orange umbrella or her blue clipboard. I think I saw an ABD sign on our bus once. They wore their badges, but no one—including the kids—wore the lanyards or pins at any time. The first night we weren’t exactly told not to but it was not so subtly suggested. Except for the pins that quickly went into our suitcase and a couple Disney movies we watched on the bus rides, there wasn’t anything Disney at all about the trip. Whether this would be disappointing to anyone with younger children, I’m not sure, but I thought I’d mention it.
What I liked:
—The archeological sites we stopped at were all must sees. There wasn’t anything that I would remove, and I had quite a few unexpected surprises. I expected to love the Parthenon—and I did—but I didn’t expect Knossos and Akrotiri to be so incredible.
—The balance in the itinerary between “whisperer time” (aka museums and archeological sites) and activities. I personally would have liked less on my own lunch and shopping time (and maybe a few more walks/hikes/kayaking/donkey rides or something), but I thought overall the mix was good.
—The food. If you like roasted meats, incredible cheeses, the best pita bread I’ve ever had, farm fresh fruits and vegetables, olives, honey, and yogurt, you are in for a treat. Some of the best meals we had were at the seaside on your own restaurants, recommended by the guides, but pretty much all our meals were terrific.
—The cultural activities. This ABD had a lot of them, and I really think they add so much to the overall richness of the experience. My kids loved the dancing and music, and I love how they incorporated the rural village, cheese-making, etc, and worry bead making. Some of these arts and crafts things seem silly when you are reading the itinerary, but I’ve learned from experience that those are often the things that stick out when you look back.
--The hotels were all nice or very nice. They also gave us connected rooms at all locations, which was really nice. I think I mentioned before that as it's the same cost either way, we always book our family of 4 as two reservations to get the two bathrooms.
What I didn’t like:
—The heat.
—I thought there were maybe too many shopping visits and on your own lunches. It felt like we had too many of these in a row. There were too many on your own meals in general for me.
—Not being able to use a credit card in many eateries in Athens
—Having to put toilet paper in the wastebasket. Sometimes being from a “new” country with good pipes is not a bad thing, LOL.
—The transition day. I wasn’t alone in feeling as if this were an awkward day. Given the need to catch the ferry to Crete, I’m not sure how it could be changed, but it felt like a wasted day. A late check out would have made all the difference.
—I was surprised by the number of families that skipped a day to stay at the resort in Crete. I’m not sure if this was just our group, but it’s something Disney should think about. I suspect people were craving more beach/resort/water time. I, too, would have preferred maybe one more physical outdoor type of activity. The ones we had were all my highlights: the hike to the top of the volcano, jumping from the boat into the sea, and the sea kayaking.
—I wanted to ride the Donkeys up the hill. I wish they would put it back on the itinerary or make it an option.
Value:
—This is always hard to qualify, but given the nice hotels, the interior transportation involved, the paid for by Disney meal at the restaurant of our choice, and the great meals, this felt like a decent value to me (at least not a total rip off like the ABD add-on felt like last year). We didn’t really have any VIP/special access type of experiences like we did on our Scotland or Backstage Magic trips, which made those stick out value/worth it wise, but the overall quality and balance of the tour made paying the Disney premium feel more worth it. I do prefer the way
Nat Geo does it with paying for all the meals—it’s easier to budget for, and we were often too tired to think about food. A handful of “on you own” meals may not seem like a big deal, but they add up. Those six or seven meals ended up adding quite a bit to our overall vacation budget.
Surprises:
—These were one of the things that really stuck out for me with my early ABD trips, and Disney seems to be moving away from them. I wish they would put some more back in.
Group Size:
—35 worked out well. I really think ABD should go back to limiting the groups to 35 or at the VERY max 40. The 49 we had last year on the Baltic’s Add-on really negatively impacted the enjoyment of our trip. An extra 14 people makes a huge—huge—difference. The ideal group size to me is for a family trip is 30-35. That is enough to hopefully give a good age mix for the kids, and yet not too many people to get to know. The really nice thing about this trip was that we pretty much sat with every family at least once.
Extra costs:
—Since I was keeping track of it for this trip, I thought it might be useful to give you an idea of our actual extra costs for this trip (not including airlines which I used miles for).
—Note that the cost of meals is not for super fancy dinners, and it doesn't include alcohol so adjust accordingly.
—The “extras” include: Hotel pre-night (one family room), guide gratuities, airport transfer at end of ABD (grrr), misc. food while on tour (i.e. stopping for coffee), all the “on our own” meals, and room service breakfast for our first night. The grand total was an extra $2091 for the four of us. We also bought insurance that covered our extended trip for about $640 (not through Disney).
Thanks to everyone for reading along. Hope you enjoyed
Fortunately, one of the folks on the trip had a video camera with him, and taped it, and then sent out a DVD of it for everyone. For Scotland, I video'd it, and put it out on dropbox for everyone. The quality is not that great on either one, but it's so much better than not having it at all. Only problem with this solution is, my phone & tablet are Androids, and my iPod is probably too old for Air Drop. 
