Adventures by Disney Vacation packages??

[Lizardbeth61]

Can't say enough about it and on the DVC board, they're waiting for a trip report. Will post it here when I get caught up.

However, does that fact that we're planning on doing the Wyoming Adventure with our kids (10 & 13) this summer and London/Pairs with just DH this fall tell you anything? I'd be afraid to try another tour company after such a fabulous experience with ABD! I don't think any could compare! It was practically perfect in every possbile way!

 

[AuntieM03]

WDW4life and I are planning on taking the Spirit of America adventure in 2008 to celebrate turning 40. I am really looking forward to it.

 

[Magix]

Can't wait for our June 8 trip to London/Paris -- also extending a little at DLP. Hope we'll meet up with DISers traveling, but I guess it will be less likely than on the cruises.

We're trying to learn a little French (since we already know a little English ), but it's not an easy language to just pick up. I'm a teacher, and our French teacher is trying, but she rolls her eyes a lot when she tutors me.

Can't wait to hear from everyone who's planning or thinking about planning!

Julie

I'd highly recommend picking up a CD called "In Flight French". You can get it at any major bookstore. It's a 60 minute CD of native speakers giving proper pronunciation of different phrases and is accompanied by a booklet of all the phrases that's very convenient to take with you. It's what I used to pick up some traveller's French before the London/Paris trip. I only had 3 months from the time I booked to the time I travelled, so I had to pick it up fast. The CD was great and gave me everything I needed for travelling situations. It even got me through buying stamps at the post office, when the clerk said he did not speak English! Ha ha! I thwarted his evil plan and asked for stamps to send a post card to the United States. He didn't expect me to be able to do that, did he?!?

I've already picked up "In Flight Italian" for my trip next year!

 

[the who #3]

viva italy it was the trip of a life time. all hotels were luxuriious. one not quite as much as the others, but still very nice. i want to experience every abd possible. we were so fortunate to have the disney majic.

 

[MJGirl]

Magix ... Thanks for the heads up about the books. In Canada we have to take French in school but that was a long time ago!! I'm also going on the Med cruise, so the Italian will come in handy as well!

I'm actually just got off the phone with the bookstore goes and they are holding for me ... I'll pick them up tomorrow.

Thanks for the tip!!!

 

[LisaTex]

JULIE - We will be on the June 8 LOndon/Paris - can't wait!!

We had a greatime on our Hawaii ABD trip this summer - won't give particulars since it's not available this year but it was well worth the $$ I did try to compare if we did the exact same things on our own it would have been barelyl less$$ and SOOOOOOOOO much more stressful!!
We would also have missed out on a lot of Disney "perks". Going with ABD again should speak for itself!!

 

[JulieWent]

Hey, Lisa! Are you still doing the Med cruise as well? We opted out of it because we kept finding ourselves planning other trips to London, Paris, and other parts of the UK. We thought, "Hey, are we really going to the part of Western Europe that we wanted to go to?"

Cool! A fellow DIS'er and someone from Austin! (We lived there for about five years while my DH went to grad school. Our son is named Austin, so you can guess how we feel about the place!)

Can't wait. We're in Orlando now (at Universal for Halloween Horror Nights), but after this trip, we get to start planning for the summer in earnest. Yeah!

Julie

 

[DisneyMeMa]

If you haven't listened yet, I want to reccommend the podcast that Kevin and John have here on the DIS. My DH and I did the Italy trip earlier in the year, and had many of the same experiences that John and Kevin reported. While overall I think it is a positive report, it does tell everyone thinking about a ABD vacation to go into it with your "eyes wide open." Thanks to Kevin and John sharing their trip with us, IMO, many of us here on the DIS have an opportunity to have an even better ABD trip. By the way, we are looking forward to doing another ABD trip in 2008.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Thank you DisneyMeMa!

Thats really nice to hear.

Kevin

 

[disneytraveler]

The Podcast echoes to much to listen to

 

[DisneyKevin]

Hi Disneytraveler,

I'm sorry you are having trouble with the podcast.

I have listened to it on desktop speakers, laptop speakers and downloaded to an Ipod and have not had any trouble. The recording is very clear.

I have forwarded your post to the technical crew to see if there is something that can be done

Thanks,
Kevin.

 

[MJGirl]

I've been listening to it for a while now (on part 4) and have had no problems! I'm finding it very helpful and am now feeling better about justifying the cost. Thanks to Kevin and John!

PS: DisneyKevin ... I'm assuming you are the Kevin in the podcast, or is that being presumptuous!

 

[DisneyGirlie]

Wow, all of these adventures sound great. I'd love to do the Italy one.
Unfortunately, for now money has been spent out on vacations.
I'm going to WDW next month and next summer i'm going with my school to England and France, so that costs a pretty penny.
Maybe I'll get to go on an Italy ABD for my graduation present.
Although thats 2 years away...
Oh well, I'll just look forward to it and enjoy reading everyone's reviews.

 

[disneytraveler]

Wow i finally was able to hear the Podcast!
Kevin ,
You trip must have been wonderful! And all the photos are stunning to. The combination of them really makes my choice for Viva Italia great.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Not being presumptious at all.

It is me...or I am he.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Thanks DisneyTraveler, I'm happy to hear that it's working for you.

And thanks for the compliments regarding the photos. I took them all myself.

You cant go wrong with the Viva Italia trip.

If there is any way I can assist, you can reach me at ABD@wdwinfo.com or Kevin@DreamsUnlimitedTravel.com

Kevin

 

[disneytraveler]

Thinking about the podcast and cultural differences.
DisneyKevin

Were you charged for asking for butter in Rome or any place. I have traveled
over to Europe about 15 years ago on a tour and before going i knew about
the bread and butter. For example ,in Innsbruck there is charge for asking for butter ,no problem in getting it though. I remember dining with a couple from
New York and they asked for butter, but i tried to warn them. Well when they got the bill, they could not believe there was a charge for it. I was
laughing out loud !

Then while dining solo in Germany, i noticed pretzels were on the tables. So i thought i wonder if they charge for eating any, so i did not .When i asked for the bill, the waiter asked me if had any pretzels . I said no.

But i also traveled and stayed in Romatic hotels that had the best meals
ever!

 

[DisneyKevin]

Hi DisneyTraveler,

We were aware ahead of time of the additional charges at some restaurants.
We paid the bread and water charges and the service charges without question. I was not charged for butter but was told twice that it wasnt available. When I asked for olive oil (knowing they had that) I was told that dipping your bread in olive oil was not something people in Italy normally do. It's an American custom. While I was provided with oil, I could tell that they thought it was unusual.

I never found the additional charges to be out of line except for Harry's Bar in Venice. There was a service charge, a bread and water charge and an 18% gratuity added to our check.

We had seen on the Travel Channel that Harry's Bar was famous in Venice. Hemingway, Bogart and Bacall etc hung out there. It's also where the Bellini was created. I also understood that they served the "best ham. and cheese sandwich". So we decided to go.

Two very small Bellinis and 4 slices of ham and cheese sandwiche (1 slice = approximately 1/4 of a whole sandwich...so 4 slices was the equivalent of one sandwich) with all additional charges and gratuities was 80 euros or approximately $104.00 US.

While this was OUTRAGEOUS pricing....we were in a very famous tourist location (also very very small) in a very expensive city. We should have known better. At the time I was upset about spending that much on so little, but in hindsight....I'm glad I did it.

I will add that the bread (delicious) came with butter and there was ice in our water

Kevin

 

[disneytraveler]

I saw Harrys on the Travel and Food channel to. Thats is great !
Thanks again Disney Kevin

 

[Lizardbeth61]

As I've mentioned,we were on the same Adventure as DisneyKevin and have to agree with everything he's said. We missed the Harry's experience, but had one he hasn't mentioned. That same night we (DH & I) met up with Kevin at the Cafe Florian in St. Mark's Square. The moon was almost full and shining over the water and there's a small orchestra that plays every night in front of the cafe. People were sitting at cafe tables listening . . . some were even dancing. We joined Kevin for dessert and tea and listening to the wonderful music. It was one of the highlights of our trip. I bought a CD at the cafe and I think it's my favorite souvenir. I can't stop listening to it.

So glad for the London/Paris adventure. We're going on that with Kevin in October. ABD rocks!