Alaska: Taming the Last Frontier Meets Thread

[DizMagic]

We are looking at the Alaskan ABD in either July 2016 or the Adult Exclusive in August. (2 adults). Can anyone comment on the major differences between the two dates as far as weather and activities. Ie - would we miss any character ops on an adult only that we may could have seen on a regular. This will be our first ABD, so complete newbies. Also, generally speaking - what are the group size maximums as we prefer smaller.

 

[sayhello]

We are looking at the Alaskan ABD in either July 2016 or the Adult Exclusive in August. (2 adults). Can anyone comment on the major differences between the two dates as far as weather and activities. Ie - would we miss any character ops on an adult only that we may could have seen on a regular. This will be our first ABD, so complete newbies. Also, generally speaking - what are the group size maximums as we prefer smaller.

There aren't character ops on ABDs. There may occasionally be local characters, but there aren't any Disney characters. It's not like the Parks or DCL.

Generally the Adults Only ABDs do the same things you do on the "regular" ABDs. They won't have a Junior Adventurer movie night, and occasionally they'll throw in a more "Adult" activity. When I did the Adults Only Alaska ABD in 2009, there was lunch at a family restaurant in Anchorage on the regular itinerary, and our Guides took us on a Brewery tour instead. Cousin Orville had a pub crawl on his Ireland tour. But mostly it's the same. The Adults get to do some of the activities that are normally done by the kids, like the "Olympic" race in Athens.

The maximum trip size is 44, but generally, the Adults Only trips are smaller than that (they are usually during the "shoulder season"). Most of my Adults Only trips have been under 20 people.

Sayhello

 

[SarahInMN]

My husband and I are considering the 2016 adults only trip: his biggest issue/concern is the iditarod experience in terms of ethics and treatment of animals. Can someone who has done the Alaska trip chime in what that half day experience is like? Or can we opt out of it? I realize that sleddogs are part of Alaskan history and were necessary/are necessary in some parts of Alaska. We struggle (as city dwellers) with the sporting aspect of sled dog racing.

I don't want to offend anyone with the question but it is a major hang up in terms of me convincing the husband that this is a good idea.

 

[sayhello]

My husband and I are considering the 2016 adults only trip: his biggest issue/concern is the iditarod experience in terms of ethics and treatment of animals. Can someone who has done the Alaska trip chime in what that half day experience is like? Or can we opt out of it? I realize that sleddogs are part of Alaskan history and were necessary/are necessary in some parts of Alaska. We struggle (as city dwellers) with the sporting aspect of sled dog racing.

I don't want to offend anyone with the question but it is a major hang up in terms of me convincing the husband that this is a good idea.

I'm sorry, I don't know what the controversy is; I've never heard of cruelty to Iditarod dogs. When I did this trip in 2009, we did a different Kennel in Fairbanks, and the dogs seemed happy, healthy and eager to run.

That said, you can opt out of any activity you want. You're not required to participate in anything. There may not be anything else for you to do while the others participate, since this is on the way from Denali to Girdwood, so you'll need to be on the motorcoach. I'd discuss it with the Adventure Guides.

Sayhello

 

[SarahInMN]

Thanks for the response! I'll pass that along to my husband- truthfully, I think he is worried sled dogs are unhappy and not treated well and he doesn't want to have to think about dogs working when they don't want to.

Again thanks!

 

[AquamarineSteph]

We are looking at the Alaskan ABD in either July 2016 or the Adult Exclusive in August. (2 adults). Can anyone comment on the major differences between the two dates as far as weather and activities. Ie - would we miss any character ops on an adult only that we may could have seen on a regular. This will be our first ABD, so complete newbies. Also, generally speaking - what are the group size maximums as we prefer smaller.

Sayhello did a beautiful job answering your question, but I wanted to add two things. We just did the Adults Only Alaska ABD trip this year, and one difference between the earlier trips and the later ones would be the size of the puppies at the kennel. The puppies we saw were adorable, but they were definitely larger than what the earlier tours saw. If this is an important detail for you, then I'd go with an earlier tour date with all ages.

I've done three adult-only ABD tours. The size of the tour can vary greatly. My first ABD adventure had only 12 people. Our Alaska trip in August had a total of 26, I believe, and the San Francisco Adults Only tour we just did had around 32 people. In all fairness the tours move fairly well regardless of how many people are on them. You'll see the biggest difference in delays with the larger groups at restroom stops just because of the logistics.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Thanks for the response! I'll pass that along to my husband- truthfully, I think he is worried sled dogs are unhappy and not treated well and he doesn't want to have to think about dogs working when they don't want to.

Again thanks!

The sled dogs are work dogs, and trust me - they truly want to run. It was incredible to watch them, and those dogs are very well loved and apparently very well cared for during their races. They sound like they have better care than the people on the sleds.

 

[DizMagic]

Thanks sayhello and AquamarineSteph. While I LOVE puppies (we have 11) seeing an 8 week old versus a 12 week old wouldn't change our minds - but great point. I think we are leaning towards the adult only. As 2 adults with no children, our tolerance level is not what others may be when it comes to children. I think the adult only trip would probably be just what we are looking for. And by knowing we wouldn't be giving up anything "fun" that kids got to do (we are children at heart) makes the decision easier.

Do you guys have recommendations on booking? We have a travel agent we have used for our DCL cruises that seem to offer a slight discount when booking. Any advantages to booking through them versus direct? We are also DVC members if that makes a difference.

 

[sayhello]

Thanks sayhello and AquamarineSteph. While I LOVE puppies (we have 11) seeing an 8 week old versus a 12 week old wouldn't change our minds - but great point. I think we are leaning towards the adult only. As 2 adults with no children, our tolerance level is not what others may be when it comes to children. I think the adult only trip would probably be just what we are looking for. And by knowing we wouldn't be giving up anything "fun" that kids got to do (we are children at heart) makes the decision easier.

Do you guys have recommendations on booking? We have a travel agent we have used for our DCL cruises that seem to offer a slight discount when booking. Any advantages to booking through them versus direct? We are also DVC members if that makes a difference.

The main thing to keep in mind here would be that DVC members can book at opening day prices, no matter when they book. But I don't know if that requires you to book through DVC, directly through ABD, or allows you to book through ABD or a TA. I tend to think it's the latter, but I just don't know, as I'm not a DVC member.

If you book through a TA, you have to go through the TA for everything, but that's true for DCL, also. I would make sure that the TA is an ABD expert, as there's a lot of differences between DCL and ABD. Just because they know one does not necessarily mean they know the other.

If your TA offers you a slight discount (which I don't think they can - is it actually a rebate?) then that would be an advantage, as ABD won't offer you that. (It comes from the TA, not ABD).

Just depends on what's important to you.

Sayhello

 

[sherismith11]

We are booked on this trip Aug. 1 - 8, 2016. Me, DH, and our 2 boys who will be ages 8 and 11. Can't wait.

We are coming on that tour also! We have an 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter! Can't wait to meet you and your family!

 

[BluesTraveler]

We are coming on that tour also! We have an 11 year old son and 8 year old daughter! Can't wait to meet you and your family!

That's great! We are really looking forward to it!!