Australia vs. Galapagos

[adambomb85]

Hi All! Although a while since I posted here, I still check very regularly!

At any rate, my fiance and I are in the midst of planning our honeymoon. We actually got engaged on our Backstage Magic AbD last June! Because we loved our experience on our first AbD (and because of the connection to our engagement) we have decided to do an AbD for our honeymoon!

So, this is where I need some help. Our objective is to do something more "once in a lifetime." So we have narrowed down our choices down to two: Discovery Down Under OR Treasures of the Galapagos.

I was wondering what others thoughts are? Has anyone done both? Looking for any feedback on either. I haven't found any solid trip reports from these - so if you know of some good ones, please recommend?

Thanks so much!

 

[sayhello]

adambomb85, I haven't been on either of these trips, so I can't help there, but I just wanted to say Congratulations!!!! on your engagement! I think an ABD Honeymoon sounds like an *excellent* idea!

Sayhello

 

[Bobo912]

I haven't been on these two itineraries either. I am going to the Galapagos in March with another company, so I can give you some general impressions when I get back if you can wait that long. I booked the Australia ABD in 2009 and it was cancelled, but it's at the top of my list for 2012, so I'll be interested in hearing how it goes if you decide on that one. If you go to the DIS Unplugged blog and look through the archive you can find some entries about Pete Werner's (Webmaster Pete) trip last year (I think). Congratulations on your engagement! I think either trip would be great.

 

[Dahly]

DS and I did Galapagos with ABD in 2009, and it truly was a trip of a lifetime. I haven't been to Australia, so I can't compare the two, but I can tell you we had an absolutely fab time with Disney on our trip. The Guides, Chris and Eduardo, were wonderful, and the country of Ecuador is beautiful. We were lucky to be part of a "smallish" group of 20, 7 kids and 13 adults, and everyone got along well. Although there are lots of other places in the world I would like to go, I would return to the Galapagos in a heart beat if I had the chance....and DS would too..he has requested a return trip for a HS graduation present!

Please let me know there are any specific questions I can answer, I will try my best!

have fun deciding!

 

[beansf]

I have to vote Australia! It is the only ABD I have been on, so I can't compare with other trips, but it is a wonderful trip. It is such a nice mix of adventure, animals and nature, but then also the beauty of Sydney. We spent an extra day in Sydney so that we could do the bridge climb. We truly felt like this was a trip of a lifetime. We are excited about our upcoming Knights & Lights, but know going in that it is possible it may pale in comparison.

I didn't do a big trip report, but I would be happy to answer any question you have about your possible adventure Down Under. I posted a few pics at one point...somewhere on here...

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

 

[lb4747694]

I would vote Galapagos. I haven't been on either ABD, but I've been to Australia enough to know that the ABD itin is a bit rushed and misses, what I would consider to be high points--like going to Taronga Zoo over Featherdale Wildlife Park or spending more than 1 day on the Great Barrier Reef.

You're going to be flying a long way to get to Australia, do you really want to "rush" it?

 

[czycropper]

I went to the Galapagos with a different company and I would vote for Galapagos! It was truly a trip of a lifetime. I do see that ABD are only really in the islands for 4 nights and goes to a few islands but I'm sure it's still worth the trip. The company we went with we were on the ship 7 nights-8 days but we didn't go to Quito or Octavo.

Having said that our next trip of a lifetime will be Australia and Great Barrier Reef but we'll be there for 3 weeks and visiting with some of my college friends.

OH! on our trip to Galapagos last March there was a honeymoon couple which we became friends with since they live about 2 hours from us and they had a great time.

Congrats on your engagement and you're sure that have a great honeymoon on either of these trips!

 

[MNSusan]

I went with ABD to Australia in Sept 2010. We did Taronga Zoo with the group (special VIP breakfast and tour) and Featherdale on our own. The Taronga Zoo experience was 100% better, IMHO. You can interact with the kangaroos at both places. We felt Featherdale was small and dirty compared to Taronga.

Although there's only one day planned at the Great Barrier Reef, there is downtime where you could go back if you wanted to. There were two couples on our tour that did just that, and another couple that arrived a couple of days early in order to scuba there. The hotel that ABD uses in Cairns is a premier luxury resort and they have access to lots of local tour buses to take you anywhere you want in the area.

We added one day before and two days after the tour. We spent the day before in the rainforest near Cairns - there's a great railroad trip up to Kuranga and we took the Skyway back down the mountain. The two days post tour we spent on tour buses from Sydney. One was to the Blue Mountains and another was to the Hunter Valley wine region. After being thoroughly pampered by ABD, "regular" tours were an eye opener. SO glad we went with ABD and didn't try to plan the trip ourselves.

We didn't feel rushed on the tour and our guides were incredible. It was a life long dream of ours to see Uluru and it was simply amazing.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

[lb4747694]

I went with ABD to Australia in Sept 2010. We did Taronga Zoo with the group (special VIP breakfast and tour) and Featherdale on our own. The Taronga Zoo experience was 100% better, IMHO. You can interact with the kangaroos at both places. We felt Featherdale was small and dirty compared to Taronga.

Sure, but let's compare apples to apples here. You're comparing the $84 VIP Tour Taronga cost to the $23 Featherdale general admission cost. While Taronga is a very nice zoo and has spectacular views, it follows the typical zoo format, where there's not a lot of interaction with the animals--unless you pay extra for the pictures/VIP tours.

Featherdale is definitely smaller, but I look at that as an advantage. Taronga is massive and you spend a lot of time walking all over the place. I don't need to go to an Australian zoo to see gorillas or elephants. I can go to my local zoo to see that. Taronga is also kept in immaculate shape, so I'll agree that Featherdale is "dirty" when compared to Taronga, but is by no means dirty.

The great thing about Featherdale is that you get to interact with the animals for as long as you like. The last time I went, my wife spent 2 hours, while I took (free) pictures of her petting koalas, wallabies and their joeys. I guess my thing is that I didn't feel like I was getting nickeled and dimed at Featherdale.

Most Ozzies I know, would tell you to go to Featherdale over Taronga, but to each his/her own. I think calling Featherdale "small and dirty" with no context, is a disservice to a great park.

 

[bekkiz]

I have been to both places, though neither with ABD, so I can't help you with that aspect of it. I can help compare places though!

I found Australia very nice, but also...sort of familiar. For example, I found Sydney to be so close to San Francisco. I did not go to Ayers Rock, so maybe that would have changed my mind, but for me, the long flight to go somewhere so similar to home seemed a little bit of overkill. (Yes, this is very much my opinion, and I know many people would feel very differently. I might feel differently too with another visit).

I LOVED Ecuador and the Galapagos. I found it enchanting and exciting. The wildlife and terrain is so different every where. You could be in a lush coffee plantation and 15 minutes later, a desert like area with cactus. The people were amazing, the food was great (although we got sick of patacones--fried plantains--a few days in) and honestly, the sheer wildness of the place, I cannot believe any zoo could ever compare to seeing these animals out in the wild.