Adventures by Disney?

[welovedis]

It is great to hear so many positive trip reports about ABD. Makes me wish I could afford to book something now!

 

[perdidobay]

Pricing these Adventures by Disney Trips, I've decided to stick with tours like CIE where the price is less than half (same exact itinerary) with excellent service and 5 star hotels, also all inclusive. But if you want Disney, your only choice is ABD.

 

[welovedis]

Pricing these Adventures by Disney Trips, I've decided to stick with tours like CIE where the price is less than half (same exact itinerary) with excellent service and 5 star hotels, also all inclusive. But if you want Disney, your only choice is ABD.

We've taken a CIE tour and had a less than stellar experience. I got very ill in London and needed to go to the hospital, they wouldn't even help my DH with directions or a cab, anything. Once they found out I was ill, they did nothing at all to help us. The hotel concierge and other tour guests were more helpful that our guides!

After we returned (I ended up in semergency surgery and we flew home a couple of weeks later) I sent a letter stating what had occurred and they did apologize & offered to let us tour again for free. I honestly turned it down because we felt the guides were so ignorant to what was going on and really couldn't have cared less about my situation. I would never tour with them again.

I also go to many travel nights and hear about other's experiences and there isn't really one tour company that I've good things about. Some people have 1 good experience and try it again, only to have a really bad one. Our local tourism council is sponsoring another tour night and they do have ABD on their schedule so I'm going to look forward to hearing more trip reports.

 

[perdidobay]

We've taken a CIE tour and had a less than stellar experience. I got very ill in London and needed to go to the hospital, they wouldn't even help my DH with directions or a cab, anything. Once they found out I was ill, they did nothing at all to help us. The hotel concierge and other tour guests were more helpful that our guides!

After we returned (I ended up in semergency surgery and we flew home a couple of weeks later) I sent a letter stating what had occurred and they did apologize & offered to let us tour again for free. I honestly turned it down because we felt the guides were so ignorant to what was going on and really couldn't have cared less about my situation. I would never tour with them again.

I also go to many travel nights and hear about other's experiences and there isn't really one tour company that I've good things about. Some people have 1 good experience and try it again, only to have a really bad one. Our local tourism council is sponsoring another tour night and they do have ABD on their schedule so I'm going to look forward to hearing more trip reports.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience... DH and I have done CIE twice in Ireland and had such great times with our fellow travelers and the CIE staff that we all cried on the last night...we didn't want it to end...but maybe that's the difference between the British and the Irish j/k

 

[ppiew]

For comparison with our ABD London/Paris trip, the closest I could find with similar itinerary etc. was a Tauck tour and the price was VERY comparable. However, they didn't take our luggage from London to Paris and they lacked the touches only Disney can provide. I loved the separate but equal tours for children and adults plus it gave a brief respite with the separation. The kids tours were very similar but geared to their interests, ie. the 'Art Detectives' at the Louvre and Versailles, biking thru Versailles, artist drawn caricatures of each child, food likes and dislikes for children. The hotels were very nice but I certainly had no quarrel with the ones we stayed in! The one thing I did NOT like about the Tauck itinerary was that it had a full day of touring the day of arrival in London! After being up all night on the plane and the time difference, I sure didn't want to tour immediately after the plane landed!!

I try to select tours based on destination and sites to see first, then look for accommodations of the type I would like, and then I look at the price. If any tour can satisfy those needs - go for it! We selected ABD not only for the Disney name, but also because we were 3 generations of people - grandmother, daughter, granddaughter and I felt this particular tour addressed ALL of our wants. There was also a comfort level being with a DISNEY sponsored tour.

 

[Jynohn]

Thank you, everyone who has posted their reviews. My family and I are very interested in taking an ABD tour and info has been hard to come by. Does anyone have an idea when Disney will release their 2008 itineraries? We already have a summer trip planned for next year, but it sounds like we'll need to start saving already if we want to go in 2008!

Also, I have been unable to find pricing on ABD's website. Any idea where I can find this?

Thanks again!

 

[DisneyKevin]

Hi all,

I frequently travel with a wheelchair bound adult and this tour is NOT handicapped accessible for adults, I am sorry to say. I have not traveled with a person small enough to lift however.

The Rome portion of the trip is very fast paced with an abundance of stairs, cobble stone streets, uneven pavement, streets with no sidewalks, narrow streets with barely enough room for a person and a car etc. Our hotel had four steps up to the lobby and three steps up to the elevator.

The Tuscany portion of the trip involves multiple bus rides on a non-accessible bus with several stops at places with conditions similar (or more difficult) to that of Rome.

I hate to discourage anyone, but the conditions are very difficult and Venice has small bridges over the canals every couple of blocks. While a few of the major bridges have a lift, I never saw anyone use them and they are the exception rather than the rule.

This is the ABD discalimer about guests needing assistance:

"Please note that this vacation includes activities that present certain challenges to Guests with special needs. It is strongly recommended that persons requiring assistance be accompanied by a companion who is capable of and totally responsible for providing assistance. Neither Adventures by Disney nor its suppliers may physically lift or assist Guests onto transportation vehicles."

We were told by our ABD guides that if at any time we would like to return to our hotel, a taxi would be arranged and paid for by ABD. We were also offered during our free time in Rome, the option of visiting the catacombs and again, this would be on ABD's dime.

We were told of a guest on a previous trip that needed a vist to the hospital and one of the adventure guides accompanied the guest and stayed with them until another Disney representative was able to take over. It was only then that the ABD guide returned to the trip.

We felt very safe with ABD. They did a phenomenal job of making this as easy as possible.

Kevin

 

[DisneyKevin]

Disney has just released the 2007 itineraries and prices

2005 offered a very limited number of destinations and most familes were invited to participate.

2006 ofered 6 destinations.

2007 offers 12 destinations and many more departure dates. There were some major changes made to some of the itineraries

I would not expect 2008 dates until late summer 2007 and I would expect to see more "tweaking" from Adventures By Disney.

The best definition I have heard about ABD's current itineraries is to consider them "limited edition" trips.

Hope this helps.

Kevin

 

[DisneyKevin]

If you are interested in pricing for the 2007 itineraries, you can contact me at ABD@wdwinfo.com.

I'll be happy to help.

Kevin

 

[ppiew]

To Jynohn

re: pricing/dates/tours

go to adventuresbydisney.com website; click on area/tour you are interested in, and on the lower left is a menu with dates/prices for the tours.

Have fun!

 

[welovedis]

.but maybe that's the difference between the British and the Irish j/k

You may be right!

 

[ppiew]

I have noticed that some of the 2007 tours have (what I consider) 'downgraded' parts of the tour. On the London/Paris for example, dinner at the Eiffel Tower is changed to lunch, hotel changed from Westin to Hilton; the Regents Canal cruise and stop at Camden locks is no longer on the website as an attraction, no Seine cruise in Paris, and it doesn't look like there is a caricaturist to draw pix on the kids. Doubtful that there is a group excursion to Montmarte/Sacre Coeur either. Whoops! waaaay over on the left side of the ABD page still lists the Regents Canal and caricaturist features! Great! Still loved the trip!

 

[Jynohn]

To Jynohn

re: pricing/dates/tours

go to adventuresbydisney.com website; click on area/tour you are interested in, and on the lower left is a menu with dates/prices for the tours.

Have fun!

Thanks for the info. Going to check it out now!

 

[DisneyKevin]

I agree that some of the details have changed. They have changed the Viva Italia trip a bit as well.

I believe that we will see some "tweaking" going on, just as Disney did with Disney Cruise Line during the first few years.

Finding what works, what doesn't and what some other alternatives might be will be an ongoing process.


Kevin

 

[Golf4food]

Anyone have photos they took while on an ABD trip?

I would love to take the ABD trip through Prauge and Vienna, etc. Anyone tried it?

And once again - Moderators: Can we get a freaking ABD dedicated forum already? We have one for everything else on Earth...

 

[DisneyKevin]

Morning....

There are several galleries of our trip to Italy and you can find them all here:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/pictures.htm

The first Imperial Cities ABD begins May 15.2007. No one had taken this Adventure as of yet.

I am working on getting an Adventures By Disney dedicated forum up and running. Please be patient. It's in the works.

Kevin

 

[ppiew]

I took a lot of pix but don't know how to load them, BUT if you PM me I will give you the info for seeing the pictures of our tour on the internet.

I agree about the forum bit! I sent messages to 2 or 3 moderators asking for this months ago and never even got a response!

The Austrian trip is one we are actually looking at for next summer! Now that granddaughter has had a taste of Europe, she doesn't want to go anywhere else! (Maybe I made a mistake taking her the first time!!)

 

[disneytraveler]

I agree that some of the details have changed. They have changed the Viva Italia trip a bit as well.

I believe that we will see some "tweaking" going on, just as Disney did with Disney Cruise Line during the first few years.

Finding what works, what doesn't and what some other alternatives might be will be an ongoing process.


Kevin

Kevin,
I hope the Viva Italia is not changed to much. Looks like some activities might be just for younger people ie mask making and pasta making on the new
brochure. Not to sure as it marked especially fun for jr adventures .Hope its not just for children ,i would have fun in making a mask to. But your pictures
capture alot of the excitement! And the rest of the tour description
is grand!

 

[erikthewise]

If you are looking at a brochure, be sure to go to the website as the offerings have changed a lot for 2007. More options in Europe, but NO HAWAII. I feel responsible as I considered the Hawaii offering for our family of four, and decided to do it ourselves for a variety of reasons including cost and length of stay. Apparently the Hawaii offering didn't sell well.

 

[disneytraveler]

The website i see has been revised since i last saw it. The viva italia trip
looks good . Mask making and pasta making are family and jr activities which
many people can enjoy including myself , a solo traveler. The gondola ride and
the hotels with their descriptions are great.