AbD Private Jet - What do you want to know?

[bookbabe626]

The thread title says it all. Just back, and now that I’ve recovered from the jetlag, I’ll offer up my experience to either people booked on trip two or the just curious.

Not doing a full review, I did daily posts on FB and I can mine those for answers pretty easily if I need specifics.

What would you like to know?

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Was it worth it?!

 

[bookbabe626]

Was it worth it?!

Absolutely. We’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Our only “meh” stops were India and Egypt, only because we were on the trip for the Disney experiences, and we could visit the Taj Mahal and Pyramids on our own anytime. Although those were good rest stops to catch up on sleep.

 

[aggiedog]

How do you normally do with jet lag, and was this worse/better than a trip where you generally stay in one time zone once you're there?

 

[bookbabe626]

How do you normally do with jet lag, and was this worse/better than a trip where you generally stay in one time zone once you're there?

The jetlag during the trip was weird, only the first big jump from Cali to Japan made a difference at all. Most stops, we just looked at what time the clock said and ignored what time our bodies thought it was.

There were so many early mornings, almost every day of the trip but especially on luggage pickup days, so we were getting up at 5am or earlier, so we were living on a much different time schedule than we would have at home anyway.

 

[WeLoveABD]

Was Kira your guide?

 

[Eastridge]

Was your trip fully booked, or did they still have spots remaining?

Who were the guides?

Were there any significant differences from last year's inaugural trips?

Separate from the cost: did you think it was worth it given that there is a lot of travel time? Were there any problems with customs or immigration/emigration at any destination?

 

[jimmymc]

How comfortable was the plane, and was it the same one all trip?

What were the best and worst activities?

How were the hotels and included meals?

Do you feel like you got to fully experience all the parks?

Do you think you will do it again in the future?

Thanks in advance for dealing with the barrage of questions.

 

[bookbabe626]

Was Kira your guide?

One of them…we had Kira, Bryon, Nancy, Ralph, Michael and Damien.

 

[bookbabe626]

Was your trip fully booked, or did they still have spots remaining?

Who were the guides?

Were there any significant differences from last year's inaugural trips?

Separate from the cost: did you think it was worth it given that there is a lot of travel time? Were there any problems with customs or immigration/emigration at any destination?

Spots remaining…I think we had 66 on ours, and I heard a rumour the next one is only around 40.

Guides were Kira, Bryon, Nancy, Ralph, Michael and Damien - all going on second trip too, except for Ralph.

I’m not sure about differences, I didn’t notice any major ones, but I didn’t follow last year too closely, so I’m not 100%

Absolutely worth it, most people used the plane rides to catch up on sleep, although Becky Cline did really interesting talks on each flight for those who were awake.

Customs and immigration was generally pretty easy, YMMV though depended on your citizenship and the passport you were using. None of the American travellers seemed to have issues. Their only noticeable snag was long lines in Tokyo. The guides were a total machine in getting us in and out of the couple airports where we had to use the main terminals (most were smaller or business airports/terminals, plus the military airport in Agra) and between our accompanying guides, the logistics (going ahead) team and the local guides, it was smooth and pain free for the most part. The few people who had trouble with security screenings caused it themselves for the most part, like forgetting to take out liquids for screening or packing passports in their checked bags.

 

[bookbabe626]

How comfortable was the plane, and was it the same one all trip?

What were the best and worst activities?

How were the hotels and included meals?

Do you feel like you got to fully experience all the parks?

Do you think you will do it again in the future?

Thanks in advance for dealing with the barrage of questions.

Very comfortable plane, same one for all flights, same flight crew. Seats were switched once at the halfway point, so you had one seat for the first bunch of flights and one for the second. You could leave stuff on the plane between flights, and the flight crew moved it all to your new seat at the switch point.

Best for us was all the backstage and exclusive stuff. I mean, how many people get to tour Marvel and Lucasfilm while they stay at Skywalker Ranch. And having breakfast backstage at Galaxy’s Edge, pre-park open, sitting at a table with Becky Cline, and then Kim Irvine joins our table, that was a pretty “fangirl” moment too.

Worst for us, the non-Disney stops at Agra and Cairo. It’s not that the stops were bad, we just weren’t interested.

Hotels were great, any issues were location-based. Asian hotels have small, hard beds, for example, so that’s just a thing there. Weakest hotel was the Marriott in Cairo. Good, but nowhere near the level of the Disney ones…and the Disney hotels in Asia treated us like celebs, so that was cool.

Meals were great, although by the end I was craving a burger or chicken nuggets. Lots of fancy meals, accompanied by speeches from the park CEOs and lead imagineers. You were given local cash and/or gift cards for any non-group meals.

We did do everything we wanted to in the parks, but we opted for extra park days instead of doing city tours and such. We can go to Japan on our own any time, but a park day at Tokyo DisneySea including unlimited celebrity-style priority access to every ride (even Fantasy Springs) can only be done via AbD. Totally spoiled for park-going now. Lines were not a thing we had to deal with at all. Had either priority access or a VIP guide or both. So spoiled now. ;-)

Yeah, I would do it again if they offered it. We had one couple on the trip that was on last year’s too, so we aren’t the only ones who felt that way.

 

[starry_solo]

How were the pins? Were they the same as last year? Did you actually get to stay the night at Skywalker Ranch? Asking cuz I heard they took that way (spending the night, not the visit itself).

 

[Mathmagicland]

What’s behind the drawings in your original post?

 

[bookbabe626]

How were the pins? Were they the same as last year? Did you actually get to stay the night at Skywalker Ranch? Asking cuz I heard they took that way (spending the night, not the visit itself).

No idea if the pins were the same as last year, but we got tons of them and a AbD pin binder to hold them. I’ll add pics and you can see. Most we were given, but some I bought.

Spent two nights at Skywalker Ranch. Nice place, good food, great gift shop.

 

[bookbabe626]

What’s behind the drawings in your original post?

They were gifts that appeared in our rooms the last night. Pre-trip, we’d been asked what our fav character was, I assumed it was for an ice-breaking activity of some kind but it was so they could prep these. Also got Mickey cels at the Ink & Paint dept tour, and so many other gifts. Pretty much everywhere we toured they gave us either a small gift or a pin or souvenir of some kind. Coolest was probably either the chunk of monorail track from the Transportation Depot or the handmade ornaments from Holiday Services.

 

[bookbabe626]

What were the best and worst activities?

Actually, rethinking this, I think the visit to Tri-Circle D Ranch at WDW was probably the worst stop. At least in India and Egypt, the people were eager to have us visit and excited to show us around. The CM at the ranch gave off serious “I have better things to do” vibes and sped through the tour as fast as he could. The kids getting the $10 pony ride were having a much better ranch experience than we did.

 

[OKW Lover]

Great info. I believe I know two of the people that were on this trip with you. Terry & Rebecca, who were on our London Paris trip a few years ago.

You mention one of your tour guides was Michael. Wondering if that's the same Michael that in his other persona is a VIP tour guide at DL. I believe his last name is Roderick's. I've had him on several BSM trips and he's great.

In Hong Kong, how much time did you have to see the actual city vs the park? Also, what hotel did you stay at there? Was it at the park? Or the Peninsula?

In Shanghai, did you stay at the Disneyland hotel or were you more in Shanghai city? What else did you do there? Also, as far as Shanghai goes, We loved the Pirates ride there. So different and amazing technology.

 

[bookbabe626]

Great info. I believe I know two of the people that were on this trip with you. Terry & Rebecca, who were on our London Paris trip a few years ago.

You mention one of your tour guides was Michael. Wondering if that's the same Michael that in his other persona is a VIP tour guide at DL. I believe his last name is Roderick's. I've had him on several BSM trips and he's great.

In Hong Kong, how much time did you have to see the actual city vs the park? Also, what hotel did you stay at there? Was it at the park? Or the Peninsula?

In Shanghai, did you stay at the Disneyland hotel or were you more in Shanghai city? What else did you do there? Also, as far as Shanghai goes, We loved the Pirates ride there. So different and amazing technology.

Yes, Terry & Rebecca were also along for the journey. I think about half the group had done at least one AbD before, maybe? Quite a few had had one of our guides on a previous trip, even.

Yes, that’s the Michael, unless there’s two AbD Guide Michael’s that are also VIP guides at DL. Great guide, really nice guy.

We only did the parks at all our stops. I know the one day people went out on a city tour, I think it was an afternoon/evening thing since the stop at HK DL was shorter. We stayed at the Explorers Lodge there.

Shanghai we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, across the lake from the entrance to DL. All of the park stops were at Disney deluxe level hotels. Only non-Disney hotels were in Agra and Cairo, plus Skywalker Ranch technically.

Shanghai Pirates is unreal. I don’t even count it as a PoC really, it’s in a league of its own. Zootopia there was also pretty awesome. Best traditional Pirates was Tokyo, theirs is a total 1980’s WDW version, but impeccably maintained.

 

[OKW Lover]

Best traditional Pirates was Tokyo, theirs is a total 1980’s WDW version, but impeccably maintained.

Yes, that is good. I had to chuckle (to myself) about the Jungle Cruise experience there. The skipper was about the most enthusiastic one I've ever seen. But it was all going over the head of the guests who were just sitting there not even smiling.

 

[Mathmagicland]

Yes, that is good. I had to chuckle (to myself) about the Jungle Cruise experience there. The skipper was about the most enthusiastic one I've ever seen. But it was all going over the head of the guests who were just sitting there not even smiling.

Same with us! We loved our Tokyo JC! The skipper was so into the spiel, even with only understanding about 3-4 words of it, we still “got it” and could follow along. We ended up riding it s second time just for for skipper experience.