Brutally honest Scotland report

[Anon1]

What you don't read on the itinerary is that there are two very long coach rides. Our ride from Edinburgh to Isle of Skye was 10 hours. Yes there were stops but 10 hrs total until arrival. All the while being narrated by guide and no movie shown for the kids.

It is a pretty grueling schedule overall, some kids can take it some cannot. Some kids on our trip did not do well out of their routine and don't eat food other than chicken nuggets. One parent insisted her child needed 12 hrs of sleep each night and missed one amazing day of the trip so the child could sleep in. My advice if your child is like that do everyone a favor and do not take them on this type of trip.

All in all we had a fantastic time but you will be exhausted. The scenery is spectacular and the long coach ride certainly gives you the experience to take in all the gorgeous mountains of the highlands. Disney is changing the trip for 2016 to eliminate the one day visit to Isle of Lewis and everything solely related to the movie Brave....so you won't see the standing stones.

 

[lucky1]

Thank you for this honest report. 10 hours is long and some of us adults may go crazy on it. Who were your guides on this trip?

 

[carpenta]

Thank you for your report. Ten hours is LLLLLLONG no matter who you are and what is your age. I do wonder if a high speed train goes towards the island or short airline flight? I agree with you that parents should know the needs of their kid(s) and understand that on a lot of group travel sometimes schedules must be flexible.

 

[Anon1]

Our blue badge guide was Rosie and she is very lovely and knowledgeable. In defense of the long ride all I can say is that the scenery does make it in some way worthwhile, but would have wanted more quiet time and a movie for the kids. My husband was going bonky. Tips: bring anti nausea bands or pills. Kids threw up on the bus it rocks a lot on the roads. The throw up smell unfortunately lingered a few days too...double yuck.

Another tip someone gave me was to bring rain pants. You will be glad you did in the event any of your outdoor activities are rainy. It helps you to not get totally soaked and still participate.

Bring an extra bag for all the tartan/plaid items you will want to buy. Harris Tweed is prevalent everywhere as well as beautiful blankets.

Our favorite was hiking the Quaraing on Isle of Skye. Archery was popular and they did a great job teaching everyone. Someone said Scotland is definitely the more active itinerary.

I would compare to our Italy trip (Rome/Tuscany/Venice) like this: when I left Venice I was a bit weepy and didn't want it to end. When we left Scotland we were glad it was over... Not because it wasn't great but we had had our fill of the bus and the castles.

 

[Rapunzellover]

The Italy trip is so fab, nobody wants it to end.

 

[distravel]

How long was the hike in the Quaraing and how difficult was it. Thanks.

 

[kristilew]

It sounds like you had a similar experience to the one we had on the Southwest trip several years ago. There were little kids on that trip who should not have been doing group travel, and there was a LOT of bus time. That combination basically ruined the magic for us.

It's tough, because part of the great thing about these ABDs is that they make family travel possible, but every once in a while that backfires. Sorry it hit you this time. But I'm glad you posted because it's good info for the people who have been asking lately about trips for very young kids.

 

[Anon1]

The hike was maybe 2 hrs total half of which was walking and part of which was actually going up higher. Some people elected not to climb further. The guide makes it easy he would say just a little further and then stop, and the. Say lets go up to that spot etc.,before you knew it you were up looking down on an amazing view. Unless you are terribly unfit you will not have a problem.

To Kristilew: I think part of the issue is the cruise boat people get nudged to try ABD and realize it is nothing like a cruise. One parent expected that, like on the cruise ship, her child would be swept away and entertained by Disney employees all day. These trips are for mature acting children 7 and up. It is an amazing education for those children. One child was going into second grade and was awesome. It really depends on the child....if you know your kid is whiny and inflexible.....this is not going to be fun for them or you.

 

[Miss SD]

Yup, the smell of barf will always remind me of our Scotland ABD. A kid upchucked early on in the trip, and the bus never lost the unpleasant aroma.

As much as I loved the country, this adventure was our least favorite of the three ABDs we've taken for many reasons, which I won't rehash because I know our trip was probably an anomaly.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

We were considering the Scotland trip but with the removal of the Isle of Lewis we opted for a different trip since that was the one thing my mom really wanted to do. I guess it's good in a way cause if I had to do a 10 hour bus trip...I wouldn't be walking by the end of it thanks to my back locking up.

 

[OKW Lover]

Our ride from Edinburgh to Isle of Skye was 10 hours. Yes there were stops but 10 hrs total until arrival.

Were the stops just rest-room break kind of stops? Or were they stops at points of interest? How long were they?

 

[Anon1]

Yup, the smell of barf will always remind me of our Scotland ABD. A kid upchucked early on in the trip, and the bus never lost the unpleasant aroma.

As much as I loved the country, this adventure was our least favorite of the three ABDs we've taken for many reasons, which I won't rehash because I know our trip was probably an anomaly.

Ugg you had the barf bus too? You would think they'd warn us ahead of time and give all the kids barf bands.

 

[TXTransplant]

Ugg you had the barf bus too? You would think they'd warn us ahead of time and give all the kids barf bands.

A kid was sick on one of our bus trips, too. However, the kid knew she was going to be sick and her mom was able to get a bag under her in time. It was a plastic bag that one of the guides just happened to have. The situation made me wonder why there aren't barf bags at every seat on the bus, like there are on airplanes. Carsickness/motion sickness is pretty common, and it would be disgusting to have to travel your entire trip on a bus that is covered in vomit.

 

[Anon1]

Were the stops just rest-room break kind of stops? Or were they stops at points of interest? How long were they?

Once restroom stop where the kids saw some cows to feed. A lunch stop at fort William but you really only had an hour plus to eat and briefly walk around. A photo stop along the rode. I can't remember now but I think later was a stop at castle before finally arriving at hotel. Once there it was a quick change and then whisky tasting and dinner. The days were long. The nights we had dinner on our own we were so exhausted we barely wanted to go out.

 

[OKW Lover]

Thanks for the clarification Anon1. Yes, we've found that ABD trips can be pretty exhausting. Just completed #4 for us.

 

[SingingMom]

We find the ABD trips very exhausting, too! (just completed #3) But, we plug along! lol

I don't think I could stand 10 hours smelling unpleasant odors! On one trip to WDW, the child in back of us was sick in the middle of the flight and the parents left him in his clothes. Never even got up to try to clean him up. Poor child was miserable, and all around him, we were gasping for breath. I can handle blood, but I can not handle vomit! lol

 

[DisFan10]

The majority of the kids in our Scotland group were well-behaved, but there were a few who really needed a time-out. I blame the parents for those misbehaving kids though. These parents thought they were on a Disney cruise and expected the AbD guides to supervise and entertain their kids during the tour.

 

[Miss SD]

Ugg you had the barf bus too? You would think they'd warn us ahead of time and give all the kids barf bands.

We were one of the first tours (after all the press junkets) that went out when the adventure was introduced in 2013. I don't know if they'd had much experience with sensitive young stomachs at that time.