ABD with young children?

[hdnyc]

Are there any ABD tours that are good for kids under 5 years old? We have two young daughters, currently 22 months and 4 years old. Would love to plan a trip for them in the next year, and I love the itineraries of the ABD tours, but I haven't been able to find any that seem to be good for their age group. Thanks!

 

[kristilew]

The age limits are there for a reason. These trips have long days and lots of grown up sight seeing. Disney is on the name, but they are not like the parks. Definitely not stroller friendly. There are meals than run for hours in nice restaurants, early morning departures that can’t be missed, and very full schedules.

Also, while I’m sure your kids are amazing and totally up for intense travel, the other Adventurers in the group are not laying out tens of thousands of dollars to be on a bus with a toddler. We’ve done ABDs with well-mannered kids as young as 7, who had already done a lot of international travel, much younger than that is asking a lot of the kids, the parents, and the others on the tour.

 

[hdnyc]

The age limits are there for a reason. These trips have long days and lots of grown up sight seeing. Disney is on the name, but they are not like the parks. Definitely not stroller friendly. There are meals than run for hours in nice restaurants, early morning departures that can’t be missed, and very full schedules.

Also, while I’m sure your kids are amazing and totally up for intense travel, the other Adventurers in the group are not laying out tens of thousands of dollars to be on a bus with a toddler. We’ve done ABDs with well-mannered kids as young as 7, who had already done a lot of international travel, much younger than that is asking a lot of the kids, the parents, and the others on the tour.

Thank you - I’m not trying to bring someone under the age limit. I’m just wondering if any of the tours would take children that young, and which of those would be best for younger kids. For example, the Winter in Wyoming trip that involves having dinnner in a teepee and a dogsled race and a sleigh ride seems like something that younger kids would like, and the minimum age is 4 years old. I’m just asking if any tours have a minimum age of 2 years old. Also, can an adult stay back at the hotel with a younger kid while the older kids do some of the more strenuous activities? We are considering some kind of ABD trip with our extended family (8 adults, 7 kids of varying ages), so just trying to find something that everyone could attend, even if the younger kids can’t attend every activity.

 

[Cousin Orville]

The youngest age limit on an ABD is 4 as far as I know. Even with that in mind, sometimes it's recommended to be a bit older depending on the child. A parent can always stay back at the hotel with a child, but it would be difficult for a parent to leave the group midday to go back to the hotel with a child. Having done many with a young child, I'd suggest that ABD is best for children who do not midday naps and can basically go out touring the entire day without getting overly tired.

I've been traveling with my 3 young kids for many years now. If you want to travel under the Disney umbrella with kids under 5, I'd recommend looking at Disney Cruise Line. We did many European cruises with them and they did great. Great way to travel while giving parents some freedom and flexibility. Aside from DCL, we usually travel on our own. I've done many ABD's but none with kids under 7. FWIW, I'm considering taking my youngest on her first ABD next year at age 6.

 

[elat27]

I am taking my youngest to ABD Italy in July. He will be 7 and will be the youngest on the tour. There will also be other 9 year old boys on my tour, so he will have kids close in age. I think he is at a great age for his first ABD.

 

[lpm23]

We did two ABDs last year and our daughters were 5 and 7. We did NYC and Wyoming. My kids did a great job and had an amazing time. With that said I really wouldn’t take a kid much younger than that. A lot of days started at 8 am and went past 8 pm. While there were some days you could skip an activity there were also several days when we were traveling between hotels etc and it would have been impossible to go back.

My kids were the youngest on both of our trips. Most kids were 10+. I don’t think there would have been a lot of tolerance for a toddler on the bus or the group meals.

I think adventure by Disney is amazing and we are doing more this summer but I would suggest you wait a couple more years.

I agree with poster who said to check out Disney Cruise. We have done that with kids at age 3 and it was great!

 

[hdnyc]

Thanks all! We just did a Disney cruise and loved it. Just love the ABD itineraries and can’t wait to try one of the trips!

 

[Cassamenia]

Thanks all! We just did a Disney cruise and loved it. Just love the ABD itineraries and can’t wait to try one of the trips!

Oh man do I ever understand. My oldest is quiet and a reader. He loves history and museums and learning in general, he is 7 and could have enjoyed a number of different ABD''s (in my opinion) these last 2 years. His sister turns 4 this summer but is more active and would rather spend an entire day at a park or pool then an hour in a museum or on a bus. That is as close to torture as I could dream up for her. I know my oldest would love the Washington DC/ Philadelphia ABD Washington and Lincoln are his favorite presidents and the combo of Ghettysburg and Mt. Vernon would make his little 7 year old mind blow. I couldn't even take his sister on the boat to Pearl Harbor because she couldn't even watch the pre show movie! We always vacation together so I am stealing some of ABD itenerary and throwing in Sesame Place and pool and park time for her. Also, children''s museum and hoping for some balance this summer in Washington DC. I also hope someday she will be old enough and interested enough to enjoy maybe a European ABD. If not, her brother and the rest of us would like Alaska.

 

[laceltris3]

We did our first Tauck Bridges trip when my youngest was 4, and he was the youngest in the group, but he had traveled internationally before. We did the Costa Rica itinerary (lots of activities, no museums, not a long flight from Texas and the same time zone for us) which was similar to the ABD at the time, and he was the kind of kid who was willing to zipline by himself at that age (the next youngest was 6 and declined). We pretty much spent all of the on your own time in the hotel pools, but it was an incredible trip. We are doing Tauck Ireland in June and he is now 6 (but we have since done the Baltic on Disney Cruise Line) and are doing our first ABD, the Danube River cruise next summer when he is 7.

 

[hdnyc]

Oh man do I ever understand. My oldest is quiet and a reader. He loves history and museums and learning in general, he is 7 and could have enjoyed a number of different ABD''s (in my opinion) these last 2 years. His sister turns 4 this summer but is more active and would rather spend an entire day at a park or pool then an hour in a museum or on a bus. That is as close to torture as I could dream up for her. I know my oldest would love the Washington DC/ Philadelphia ABD Washington and Lincoln are his favorite presidents and the combo of Ghettysburg and Mt. Vernon would make his little 7 year old mind blow. I couldn't even take his sister on the boat to Pearl Harbor because she couldn't even watch the pre show movie! We always vacation together so I am stealing some of ABD itenerary and throwing in Sesame Place and pool and park time for her. Also, children''s museum and hoping for some balance this summer in Washington DC. I also hope someday she will be old enough and interested enough to enjoy maybe a European ABD. If not, her brother and the rest of us would like Alaska.

Mine are the same way - the older one is so easy and we can take her anywhere. The younger one is a maniac and I dread having to dine out with her. We took them both from NY to London to Sweden last year and the older one was 3 years old and loved the trip - tea at Harrod's, Museum of Natural History, watching a tennis tournament at Queen's Club, boat down the Thames. As long as she has snacks and we don't make her walk when she's exhausted, she's happy to go anywhere. Maybe I will just have to copy some of the ABD itineraries like you and put the trips together on my own!

 

[hdnyc]

We did our first Tauck Bridges trip when my youngest was 4, and he was the youngest in the group, but he had traveled internationally before. We did the Costa Rica itinerary (lots of activities, no museums, not a long flight from Texas and the same time zone for us) which was similar to the ABD at the time, and he was the kind of kid who was willing to zipline by himself at that age (the next youngest was 6 and declined). We pretty much spent all of the on your own time in the hotel pools, but it was an incredible trip. We are doing Tauck Ireland in June and he is now 6 (but we have since done the Baltic on Disney Cruise Line) and are doing our first ABD, the Danube River cruise next summer when he is 7.

Thanks! I will look at the Tauck tours if your son seemed to like them when he was 4!

 

[disneyphx]

Our daughter's first ABD was when she was 5 (China) - part of my confidence in booking it was that we knew how she handled long flights and jet lag. The trip was much much busier than we had thought though. We all loved it and have done many more. (The age on that one is now 6....). Until she was 10, she was always the youngest.....just by a fluke.
We did Tauck Bridges Costa Rica and there were some very young kids - I want to say a 2 year old, a 4 year old, 2 5 year olds and a 6 year old - the mom of the 2 and 4 year olds did not get to do a whole lot....but the kids had fun.
Have fun deciding and anticipating!

 

[acndis]

Our son did Greece and 4 years old and it was fantastic! He did really well and I think it's a great itinerary for kids. He actually really enjoyed the museums and artifacts but there was also lots of swimming and hiking to keep him engaged.

 

[hdnyc]

Our daughter's first ABD was when she was 5 (China) - part of my confidence in booking it was that we knew how she handled long flights and jet lag. The trip was much much busier than we had thought though. We all loved it and have done many more. (The age on that one is now 6....). Until she was 10, she was always the youngest.....just by a fluke.
We did Tauck Bridges Costa Rica and there were some very young kids - I want to say a 2 year old, a 4 year old, 2 5 year olds and a 6 year old - the mom of the 2 and 4 year olds did not get to do a whole lot....but the kids had fun.
Have fun deciding and anticipating!

It seems like a lot of people have done these Tauck Bridges tours...will have to check them out! How do they compare to Disney?

 

[elat27]

It seems like a lot of people have done these Tauck Bridges tours...will have to check them out! How do they compare to Disney?

There was a thread talking about this recently...

https://www.disboards.com/threads/abd-vs-tauck.3675724/#post-59065290