Back from Southwest Splendors! - Final thoughts

[EllinK]

Final thoughts:

Was it a great trip: yes

Did I consider other itineraries: yes, but selected ABD because at the Grand Cyn, you stay right on the Rim!

Am I sold on group travel in general and ABD in particular: equivocal. After our first Disney Cruise, I was hooked. Since then, we have done at least one Disney Cruise each year -- we especially enjoy the long European cruises. With ABD, I don't feel as convinced. I'm not sure we found as much value for the cost as we have with DCL.

favorite thing: the itinerary

least favorite thing: the food. This is a huge factor for me. When I go on vacation, I want to enjoy delicious food. That didn't happen much on this trip. On the one hand, it is what it is. In some places, like MV, there aren't great options. But, Disney is a huge multinational company. If they wanted Goulding's to up their game, I think it would happen. Especially now that they've doubled down by spending a night on the Goulding's property. We also had several 'conference room' meals. Uh uh. For the price point, that just doesn't work for me.

Truly final thought: We loved the trip. We enjoyed meeting other families and my son had fun traveling with teens. I am completely obsessed with reading this board so I know that some adventures (I'm looking at you China!) have amazing meals. I guess you can't just go with the brand and know that Disney will deliver a quality product (including food) commensurate with the price. Due diligence is required.

Where I'm going next: Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; NYC; DCL to Iceland/Norway/etc

What I'm considering: self-guided adventure with Inside Japan; Audley Travel to Australia; OOO to Rome or Paris

Thanks for reading! (And thanks to everyone for writing! It's a real pleasure to read the thoughts of other people obsessed with travel.)

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Loved the report! Thanks for taking the time to do it. I think the food would be a deal-breaker for me. That’s a lot of hamburgers lol!

 

[EllinK]

Loved the report! Thanks for taking the time to do it. I think the food would be a deal-breaker for me. That’s a lot of hamburgers lol!

Agreed! Our travel style varies -- sometimes we go high-end, other times we are budget-friendly. Even on one of our low-cost trips we wouldn't have eaten this many hamburgers!

But, we are still engaging with Disney, of course. This weekend we are booked for the chef's counter at Napa Rose. (We've done it before and know it will be great.)

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

Loved the report! Thanks for taking the time to do it. I think the food would be a deal-breaker for me. That’s a lot of hamburgers lol!

I agree. I'm not a foodie, but the meals sound rather unpleasant. I know there's only so many options out that way, but I think this is a trip where smaller groups would fare better. For example, the AA guides prepared fantastic lunches for us every day on our Yellowstone trip (complete with a pinata for the kids during our taco fiesta). Dinners were from the menu and when there wasn't much of an option for dinner, we had a cookout prepared by the AA guides. No conference room dinners, no uninteresting buffets, etc. I don't think ABD could replicate that.

Thanks so much for this report! Grand Canyon and Arches are high on my list.

 

[carpenta]

Agree 100% about the food. We did a Back Roads and even the picnic lunches were quite varied and "high end" rather than hamburgers. I do wonder how much ABD saves by offering conference room dining rather than ordering off the menu? Even offer limited items on the menu would be good for me and I understand taking lobster and high end meat cuts off the selection list but anything would be better than the constant high school cafeteria selections we have been offered on some of our ABD trips.

 

[sayhello]

I have to agree, the food on some of the ABDs leaves a lot to be desired. But some of them do have excellent food. China, Scotland, the Danube River cruise, Greece, the onshore meals on the Med Cruise add-on, were all good to great.

Sayhello

 

[DollyM]

I was on this adventure last year and only had a hamburger once (the cookout lunch at RCL before rafting). I don’t even remember them being offered at other meals, it was often steak and/or chicken but there were also taco and pasta buffets. It was an adults only adventure if that made a difference. I agree about the conference room dinners and the repetitive meat heavy buffets. I was tired of those by the end. I thought the food at the Sedona resort itself was really good.

 

[Chirple]

I was on this adventure last year and only had a hamburger once (the cookout lunch at RCL before rafting). I don’t even remember them being offered at other meals, it was often steak and/or chicken but there were also taco and pasta buffets. It was an adults only adventure if that made a difference. I agree about the conference room dinners and the repetitive meat heavy buffets. I was tired of those by the end. I thought the food at the Sedona resort itself was really good.

Ours in 2016 was similar to ^^, and it was not an adult exclusive ABD.

 

[DCPhotoGal]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences! Your photos are great and I love the candor. We reserved this trip for next March, so this is all good information to have. We'll set our expectations low re: food. We met Diana on our Alaska trip in late June, where she was a shadow guide. She mentioned that she had just come from doing the Arizona tours.

 

[EllinK]

We met Diana on our Alaska trip in late June, where she was a shadow guide. She mentioned that she had just come from doing the Arizona tours.

Diana was great! How was the Alaska trip?

 

[DCPhotoGal]

Diana was great! How was the Alaska trip?

We loved it! It was one of the more outdoorsy and active trips we have taken and it was a great trip for my young teenagers. We added on a bear viewing excursion on our pre-day and I highly recommend that as well.

 

[mmmears]

I was looking at the ABD site for this trip, and it looked really interesting so I searched for more info here and found your fantastic TR. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I see you're going on the DCL Norway/Iceland cruise (or did you go on it in Aug 2018?) We were on it this summer and it was absolutely fantastic!

 

[EllinK]

We are going to Norway/Iceland in July 2019. I would LOVE to hear about your trip! Especially excursions. What did you most enjoy?
I've read a lot about Copenhagen being very hot, which I guess is unusual. Where did you stay? Did the hotel have AC?

 

[mmmears]

We are going to Norway/Iceland in July 2019. I would LOVE to hear about your trip! Especially excursions. What did you most enjoy?
I've read a lot about Copenhagen being very hot, which I guess is unusual. Where did you stay? Did the hotel have AC?

Oh, you're in for a fantastic trip! We stayed at the Scandic Palace in Copenhagen, which is really close to Tivoli park (which was really fun). It was warm but not hot at all - the heat wave broke about a week before our trip. The hotel has some sort of cooling system, but from what I heard all the hotels couldn't keep up with the heat wave. We really liked the hotel and would happily stay there again. We did private excursions in Iceland and Scotland, booked the Rodne cruise on our own in Stavanger and then went to the petroleum museum, and did 1/2 DCL excursions to the open air museums in Kristiansand and Alesund (they were reasonably priced and went to the places we wanted to see). It was all incredible. The early morning sail in into Alesund had the most breathtaking scenery.