Did Pete ever complain to ABD about the food?

[MaryKatesMom]

We're thinking about an ABD trip to Italy during my DD's spring break in 2013. She'll be a freshman in High School and as they get older, pulling them out of school becomes more difficult.

We had good friends of ours go to Rome for 7 nights this spring and they all raved about how spectacular the food was and they are foodies. If we went and had a lesser experience I would be greatly dissappointed.

Therefore, I hope Pete gets across to them the importance having choices and to carefully chose the locations.

 

[SteamboatStevie]

Now I'm really done and off to DTD and Bad Teacher.

Enjoy the movie, that's one with "real people"!

 

[Cap.Steamboat Willie]

Being a teacher, the movie does not appel to me, but enjoy your feast with your "Real People" movie

 

[GAN]

The food wasnt the issue.

That was poor timing and our guides being a bit overzealous with schedule maintenance.

It's my understanding that the April Adventure experienced none of that.

If I was fed French Fries in Rome -FOOD would be the issue, or at least one of the issues. Especially at $400/person per day.

 

[DisneyKevin]

If I was fed French Fries in Rome -FOOD would be the issue, or at least one of the issues. Especially at $400/person per day.

The post you quoted was in reference to an experience that happened at the Disney Studio in Burbank, California while participating in the Backstage Magic Adventure.

 

[GAN]

Sorry about that ...I swear I heard Pete mention that at one restaurant in Rome they had served them french fries of some type at a meal.

On a separate note... Driving in Italy is not as bad in Italy/Europe as Pete described. Driving in "cities" like Rome or Florence is not advised, but I assure you that renting a car in Tuscany(or wherever you may chose) is something not to be missed. My suggestion is don't worry about the locals, they will go around you like you are standing still -just worry about yourself. We were a little nervous and it had been a few years since I drove a 5-speed but it was a blast on those roads. I hope you do go back and head off on your own with a car -you won't regret it.

 

[sayhello]

Pete had indicated in his Podcast comments that the food was not a reason to keep from doing this ABD experience. I am booked on a 7day Med DCL w/ABD add-on for August 27th and have some concerns:

• DW is seafood allergic. Not just tummy ache type, in the hospital type. We ate at California Grill in Contemporary where someone didn’t prepare seafood away from her meal and she spent the night in the Celebration Hospital. From Pete’s comments, her only choice on the Monaco lunch is a cheeseburger. Not top notch cuisine on the Riviera when we are paying top dollar for everything.
• Paid big bucks for ABD and expectations are high. If ABD experiences are same tours as the DCL excursions, why am I paying more?
• Meals were average; excursions were nominal and not a lot of extras in Pete’s opinion. Why would he still highly recommend the ABD experience?
• We are two adults travelling together with no small children so the extra eyes are not a factor. Cast Members are good tour guides but are they worth double that the normal DCL excursion guides?

I would love to hear more of the ABD details from Pete and team. Possibly the team could have another podcast special segment or show? Interested in how they deal with finances (credit card versus cash versus travel cash card)? Did they carry passports or copies?

First off, I *HIGHLY* suggest you call ABD and DCL and let them know that your DW is allergic to seafood. They work very hard to accommodate such things when they know about it ahead of time. I took the ABD add-on for the 11-night Med cruise last year. I can't eat tomatoes or tomato products or citrus. I told them, and the Guides always got me an alternative meal. Occasionally, they had to negotiate it on the spot, but I *ALWAYS* got a reasonable alternative meal. Some of the alternatives were fabulous! We also had a family that ate gluten free, and they always had appropriate alternatives for them, also. I agree that they should have had some options at the Monaco buffet, but Pete never said that he'd told ABD ahead of time that he wouldn't eat seafood. Again, I agree that they should have had alternatives anyways, but if you tell them ahead of time that you need alternatives (and state a cheeseburger would not be acceptable) you can expect the Guides to do their absolute best to accommodate your wife's allergies. I agree. A lot of the food on the ABD was not great. But then, the food on the Magic was out and out BAD, and I didn't hear anyone saying the cruise part of the Med cruise was not worth it because the food was bad.

I really feel our excursions were way above the "normal DCL excursions". Not "nominal" at all!! We had a smaller group than the DCL excursions, and VIP access several places. We were able to go from place to place because ABD had arranged all our transportation seamlessly. I thought the local guides we had were also fabulous! I don't know, I guess "worth it" is a subjective thing, but I TOTALLY thought the ABD add-on was worth it. If you want, you can read my Trip Report (link in my Signature) if you want to hear the positive sides of the ABD add-on.

Sayhello

 

[OhioDisneyDavid]

Say Hello,

I appreciate your post and your trip report is what convinced me to book the DCL/ABD experience. I am looking forward to a very special trip.

I have already noted my seafood allergy concern on both the DCL & ABD reservations. After I listened to Pete, I called back and confirmed. I also plan to alert the ABD tour guides and DCL chefs. We do not need time in the infirmary on our Mediterranean cruise.

Pete did mention that the food issue was "his opinion" and I am trying to balance that with other comments that were made during the podcast trip report along with your top notch trip report. I would like for Pete to share some of the special "magic" without spoiling the whole ABD experience. What I heard in the podcast is that the food overshadowed this special treatment. My wife and I looked at each other during the podcast and said out loud, "Did we waste our money?" "Should we have done private tours or DCL excursions instead?"

I was thrilled about what Pete said on the DCL food quality and experience. I simply want to hear that Pete is happy (or thrilled) with the ABD experience and feels that the money spent on the Add-on was worth it along with some of the reasons why. I hear this loud and clear in your trip report and would like to see it echoed from the podcast team. If they can't do that, I would hope that they would communicate that to the ABD people and get it fixed.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[sayhello]

Say Hello,

I appreciate your post and your trip report is what convinced me to book the DCL/ABD experience. I am looking forward to a very special trip.

I have already noted my seafood allergy concern on both the DCL & ABD reservations. After I listened to Pete, I called back and confirmed. I also plan to alert the ABD tour guides and DCL chefs. We do not need time in the infirmary on our Mediterranean cruise.

Pete did mention that the food issue was "his opinion" and I am trying to balance that with other comments that were made during the podcast trip report along with your top notch trip report. I would like for Pete to share some of the special "magic" without spoiling the whole ABD experience. What I heard in the podcast is that the food overshadowed this special treatment. My wife and I looked at each other during the podcast and said out loud, "Did we waste our money?" "Should we have done private tours or DCL excursions instead?"

I was thrilled about what Pete said on the DCL food quality and experience. I simply want to hear that Pete is happy (or thrilled) with the ABD experience and feels that the money spent on the Add-on was worth it along with some of the reasons why. I hear this loud and clear in your trip report and would like to see it echoed from the podcast team. If they can't do that, I would hope that they would communicate that to the ABD people and get it fixed.

Thanks,
Dave

Dave, I hope you get the answers you're looking for from the Podcast team. And I hope you REALLY enjoy your cruise & ABD add-on!!

Sayhello

 

[GAN]

The post you quoted was in reference to an experience that happened at the Disney Studio in Burbank, California while participating in the Backstage Magic Adventure.

Actually, Pete said they were served "Waffle" Fries -since Fries were also offered on the Backstage Magic Tour, I'll assume that the Waffle Fries are ABD's idea of "Luxury Food."

 

[DisneyKevin]

Actually, Pete said they were served "Waffle" Fries -since Fries were also offered on the Backstage Magic Tour, I'll assume that the Waffle Fries are ABD's idea of "Luxury Food."

I truly understand what you are saying.

You wont be happy with French Fries on your Med DCL add on.

I get that.

In one of your posts, you quoted one of my posts regarding an issue on a Backstage Magic Adventure.

The issue had nothing to do with the quality of the food or French Fries. It had to do with being horribly rushed through lunch. I also wanted to let the other poster know that the issue had been addressed on a following trip.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I swear.