DCL Family Considering ABD Greece 2027 — New to ABD, Looking for Honest Takes

[TwinsDadG]

Hi all - we're a family of four that regularly goes to WDW and sails on DCL. I had originally been eyeing the Disney Wish itineraries in Europe in 2027 but my husband (understandably) is concerned about not actually seeing Europe if we're on the ship - which we do anyway at least once a year in Bahamas/Caribbean. So now I'm looking at alternatives and occurred to me to check out ABD. I understand that Summer 2027 itineraries will be released in May. Using 2026 as a proxy I'm eyeing the 10 days in Greece.

I've got a bunch of questions as we're new to this:

- Are the itineraries really family-friendly? Our twins will be 8.5 next June - is this age appropriate?
- Should we expect families on ABD or is it mainly adults?
- Is down-time at the hotels for the kids (and us adults!) to enjoy the pool/beach built in?
- Do itineraries book up quickly so I need to be ready when they're made available? For a June departure specifically, how early do I need to book, and is there meaningful price difference between booking at release vs. later?
- Is dining on our own as a family an option during the group dinners? (We always get our own table on DCL for context)
- My husband has a severe nut allergy — how does ABD handle dietary restrictions, particularly in Greece where nuts are common?
- I've seen some chatter about ABD canceling departures in 2026 — is this something to be concerned about for 2027, and is Greece specifically at risk?
- The "Bus Factor": For those who usually do DCL, how does the motorcoach time compare to ship life? Is it a "captive audience" vibe, or is it handled with enough Disney magic to not feel like a long bus ride? Especially curious about Greece given the inter-island transfers.

I'm sure I'm missing some initial questions. Looking for honest takes, including if you think we'd be better off doing Greece independently.

Thank you!

 

[jimmymc]

1. Trips are generally family-friendly, aside from the adults only dates. The kids will mostly be doing the same activities and tours as the adults, with a few exceptions which will be outlined in the itinerary. Trips might be half kids or only have 1-2 kids, depending on the trip and time of year.

2. It's usually a mix of everyone. Families, parents with adult children, couples, friend groups, and solos.

3. If there's nothing scheduled on the itinerary, then you are free to use it as downtime at the hotel. Check the specific trip to see the schedule. If the hotel is in a big city, chances are there isn't much time. If you're staying in a resort out in the country, then there probably is a half or full day to just enjoy the resort.

4. They usually don't fill that quickly unless there's something special going on, like a holiday. But it's normally cheapest to book early. Prices can vary by over $1000 per person if the trip is full.

5. Most group dining arrangements have private tables near each other, but there will probably be some meals with other travelers at the same table. Don't let this dissuade you, dining with new friends is genuinely one of the best parts of ABD.

6. Allergies will be handled by both guides. Nuts are common enough that 95% of restaurants will easily accommodate, and at least one guide will speak Greek and can communicate directly with the cooks. For that last 5%, the guides will make sure to get him something.

7. I would not worry about a June Greece trip being cancelled. Some trips are cancelled if they don't fill, but Greece in summer should be fine.

8. The bus rides are usually pretty good. They'll have stops at interesting things along the way if it's more than 2 hours. Sometimes the guides will play games or point things out, other times they'll read the room and just let people enjoy a chance to sit. You walk a lot on these trips, and it's very rare to have a crazy-long bus ride. The included flights are standard commercial flights. ABD guides will help you check in, but the plane experience is like any other flight.

Looking at the Greece trips, you get a lot done in 8 days, probably more than you'd get done on your own. But if you have the time available, sometimes stretching these out to a 2 week trip is better.

 

[Mathmagicland]

Should we expect families on ABD or is it mainly adults?

@jimmymc has provided some great info. One thing I’d add is to suggest you call Disney now on this years trips and ask both how many kids are signed up and which ages, for the itineraries and safes you’d be looking at. They will share this info, and while not a guarantee of future years, it will give you some insights to help with your decision-making process.

 

[pjacobi]

While a cruise is a good way to see the Greek islands, a cruise is not necessarily the best way to see parts of mainland Greece or other European countries that are far from the ocean. The Greek Islands cruise is a good introduction the Europe, but there is far more to explore in Europe beyond a cruise ship.


-Paul

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

@TwinsDadG

Something to take note of. Summer in Greece and Italy is brutal. To see al the sights you will be walking in open sun on uneven surfaces and very likely with high crowds. Hotels will not have the level of AC you are used to. The buses should have AC but when you are out of the bus doing things there is a high likelihood of the places you are visiting not having AC. Iced water like you are used to in America is also not a thing. You will get water of course but you wont get glasses of ice like you do in America.

 

[TwinsDadG]

Thank you all!

@jimmymc - thank you for the thorough answers! The note on price alone makes me want to keep a close eye on ABD's site in early-May and to be prepared to act if there's a date that matches with our timing in June!

@Mathmagicland - thank you! I will try them tomorrow. I didn't expect Disney to give out this info but good to know that it won't seem like an off request.

And @Bad Pink Tink 2.0 - all good notes and reminders! Not our first (summer) trip to Europe but a thought perhaps to get better insulated water bottles for the kids.

One last question for the group for those who have done a Greece itinerary: While the itinerary provides some guide of several "free afternoons," how much unstructured time did you actually have at Porto Elounda or other hotels to enjoy the resort?

 

[pjacobi]

Are you considering a bus trip to Greece? I suggest watching "My Life in Ruins".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Life_in_Ruins


-Paul

 

[sayhello]

One last question for the group for those who have done a Greece itinerary: While the itinerary provides some guide of several "free afternoons," how much unstructured time did you actually have at Porto Elounda or other hotels to enjoy the resort?

For the Porto Elounda, I would say a goodly amount of free time, but not nearly enough. It is an amazing resort, and I (and many others) really wished we'd booked an extra post-day at the Elounda to really get to enjoy it.

Sayhello

 

[TwinsDadG]

For the Porto Elounda, I would say a goodly amount of free time, but not nearly enough. It is an amazing resort, and I (and many others) really wished we'd booked an extra post-day at the Elounda to really get to enjoy it.

Sayhello

Great tip - thank you!!

 

[Eastridge]

I haven’t been on either ABD Greece trip, but I have done 8 trips with ABD so I can give some general guidance.

It’s a very different experience than a cruise on DCL. Rather than being surrounded by 2000-4000 of your closest friends, you’ll be in a group of 20-40 (for the land tours). The dining situation varies by trip and venue. Some places they will only have large tables. In others, individual families can get their own table. It’s usually a mix. Since it is a small group, the trip is a chance to mingle and get to know other families. If you have no interest in that, talk to the ABD guides at the start of the trip but they may not be able to guarantee that you’ll have a table solely for your family at every restaurant.

Similarly the bus can’t provide anything like the amenities of a Disney cruise ship. The guides may do things like offer trivia contests, play a Disney movie or do other activities during the bus rides. The guides can’t show Disney movies that are currently in theaters, unlike the DCL ships.

If the trip has “on your own” time, look at the itinerary and talk to ABD to see if you are back at the hotel during that time. Assuming you want to spend that at the pool. I generally prefer to have less “on your own” time due to the cost of these trips; I’d rather have ABD providing activities.

ABD takes dietary allergies very seriously. But the food is provided by external vendors, not Disney. This is different from the cruise ship where they control everything. So you can count on the guides to inform the restaurants, but it is then up to the restaurant to execute.

Trip cancellations are always a possibility, but I don’t think Greece is particularly vulnerable. It has been popular and many trips are offered each season, so I assume there is demand.

ABD does dynamic pricing, so the price of a trip usually increases as the trip fills up. So some people book when trips are first released, similar to how some people buy DCL trips when released to get the lowest cost. Since Greece is an established itinerary, I doubt you must book when the trips are released just to get a spot. Usually the new itineraries are the ones at risk of selling out quickly.

Usually, the ABD guides are very good with children. Most trips have at least one “junior adventurer” night where the guides take the kids to a separate dinner/movie to give the adults a separate dinner. For activities that might be boring to kids, such as a museum visit, the guides will take the kids on a scavenger hunt. 8.5 should be old enough to go on an ABD trip.

As @Bad Pink Tink 2.0 warns, check the weather forecast. Greece might be very hot in the summer. I did an ABD Italy trip in early June and even then temperatures reached the high 80s (F).

I suggest looking at some trip reports in the trip report thread at the top of this forum. Those will give you a better idea of what an ABD trip is like.

 

[TwinsDadG]

If the trip has “on your own” time, look at the itinerary and talk to ABD to see if you are back at the hotel during that time. Assuming you want to spend that at the pool. I generally prefer to have less “on your own” time due to the cost of these trips; I’d rather have ABD providing activities.

I haven’t been on either ABD Greece trip, but I have done 8 trips with ABD so I can give some general guidance.

It’s a very different experience than a cruise on DCL. Rather than being surrounded by 2000-4000 of your closest friends, you’ll be in a group of 20-40 (for the land tours). The dining situation varies by trip and venue. Some places they will only have large tables. In others, individual families can get their own table. It’s usually a mix. Since it is a small group, the trip is a chance to mingle and get to know other families. If you have no interest in that, talk to the ABD guides at the start of the trip but they may not be able to guarantee that you’ll have a table solely for your family at every restaurant.

Similarly the bus can’t provide anything like the amenities of a Disney cruise ship. The guides may do things like offer trivia contests, play a Disney movie or do other activities during the bus rides. The guides can’t show Disney movies that are currently in theaters, unlike the DCL ships.

If the trip has “on your own” time, look at the itinerary and talk to ABD to see if you are back at the hotel during that time. Assuming you want to spend that at the pool. I generally prefer to have less “on your own” time due to the cost of these trips; I’d rather have ABD providing activities.

ABD takes dietary allergies very seriously. But the food is provided by external vendors, not Disney. This is different from the cruise ship where they control everything. So you can count on the guides to inform the restaurants, but it is then up to the restaurant to execute.

Trip cancellations are always a possibility, but I don’t think Greece is particularly vulnerable. It has been popular and many trips are offered each season, so I assume there is demand.

ABD does dynamic pricing, so the price of a trip usually increases as the trip fills up. So some people book when trips are first released, similar to how some people buy DCL trips when released to get the lowest cost. Since Greece is an established itinerary, I doubt you must book when the trips are released just to get a spot. Usually the new itineraries are the ones at risk of selling out quickly.

Usually, the ABD guides are very good with children. Most trips have at least one “junior adventurer” night where the guides take the kids to a separate dinner/movie to give the adults a separate dinner. For activities that might be boring to kids, such as a museum visit, the guides will take the kids on a scavenger hunt. 8.5 should be old enough to go on an ABD trip.

As @Bad Pink Tink 2.0 warns, check the weather forecast. Greece might be very hot in the summer. I did an ABD Italy trip in early June and even then temperatures reached the high 80s (F).

I suggest looking at some trip reports in the trip report thread at the top of this forum. Those will give you a better idea of what an ABD trip is like.

Incredibly helpful, thank you!

 

[WeLoveABD]

While a cruise is a good way to see the Greek islands, a cruise is not necessarily the best way to see parts of mainland Greece or other European countries that are far from the ocean. The Greek Islands cruise is a good introduction the Europe, but there is far more to explore in Europe beyond a cruise ship.


-Paul

In other words-- the ABD Greece trip is a great way to see the mainland and Santorini/Crete. We did it (with our two youngest) in the inaugural year and loved it! There have been relatively minor changes over the years-- a testament to its solid itinerary.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Couldn't remember whether I did a trip report ... I did! Can't believe this was 10 years ago: https://www.disboards.com/threads/abd-greece-2016-trip-report.3522516/page-4

 

[Donalyn]

I second watching "My Life in Ruins" - cute movie. But note that ABD has better buses and hotels than in the movie!

ABD has always been good with my daughter's food allergies (peanuts/nuts) and my newly acquired ones.

Bus time - the guides try to shake up bus time, some times there is a movie playing, other times a game, other times just down time (as these trips are busy, and down time is not a bad thing), other times the kids are hanging out together at the back of the bus having fun, other times I was answering work emails, other times talking to random other people on the trip. But you are sitting on a bus...

Meal time - on the group meals, it always depended on the table arrangements. If a table of 6, then usually two other people were with us. Or one time, we were at a table of 4, but one of my girls was sitting with some other kids, so one of the other moms sat with us. Other times it was big long tables and all of the adults were together (this was kids movie night). Etc. I don't actually recall on my Italy trip any group meals (other than breakfast) where my family of 4 sat alone at a table all together. But again, each trip situation is different on this front. And we had our on our own meals and hotel time to be together alone.

On whether the itinerary is enough kid-friendly for your kids - that is really only something that you can decide. And I think that this is very, very important to having a good trip. Does it have things that your kids will enjoy? Or at least be good sports about trying? (I haven't been on the Greece adventure, and my kids aren't joiners, but they had fun making pasta in Tuscany and painting masks in Venice, when I wasn't sure that they would. They even grudgedly played some games with the other kids on movie night.) And I think that asking the kids whether these are things that they'd like to do is really important. I mean, they don't have to enjoy everything, but enough to have a good vacation for everyone.

For instance, a good friend of mine has two boys - they have been on three ABDs, but they tend to focus on the more outdoorsy ABDs, like Norway and Switzerland, after doing the Rome/Florence/Venice trip for their first one. I have two girls and they both love the palaces, castles, churches and history of Europe, so our ABD trips swing that way. It is about finding what works for your family.

Good luck.

 

[ngl]

We have done 2 ABDs albeit not Greece so will leave those specific questions to others but wanted to mention that for ABD trips the days are packed, in a good way imo, but some people do not enjoy that. We have friends who were considering ABD and are not early risers nor like than more than one activity per day and guided them not to do a ABD trip because they would not enjoy the pace. I love ABD (and we have done Tauck Bridges as well) because for once I just get to "show up" and do not have to plan everything! But the flip side is that your schedule is not fully your own. I agree that if you want to truly explore a European country, the DCL cruises are not the best for that. We consider those more of a "survey" vacation and they have their own benefits but if you want to do anything in the port city, those are usually full days.

One of our ABDs was Amalfi and our kids were older than yours at the time but there were younger ones and they seemed to all enjoy it. As others mentioned, call to see how many kids have signed up on the Greece itinerary you are looking at. We had friends who did ABD Amalfi and the next year did ABD Greece and they thought Amalfi was more kid friendly but that is also because their Greece group had older kids so that is an important factor.

We did Amalfi in July and it was hot but we live in Florida and found it similar so if you have ever been to WDW during the summer you will be prepared! Have a great time!