Expensive vacation for early/pre teens?

[Goofy4]

We received something in the mail from ABD a few weeks ago. This was the first we became aware of it (yes, I've been under a rock for a while).

Seems expensive. If my memory serves, it's like $8-10k for a family of 4 (Sadona/Grand Canyon)? Even if I've inflated that figure and it's like 6K, it still seems expensive.

Can anyone tell me more about going the Disney route vs. roll-your-own? At what age do you think kids might start to outgrow these trips (and not get much out of the "Disney" experience).

 

[welovedis]

In the 2007 ABD brochure, the Sedona/Grand Canyon/Monument Valley/Moab Arches trip is $2199 p/p (Quad rate) in regular season or $1959 p/p in Value Season. With a child between the ages of 4-14, there is a child discount of $150 for each child. An early booking discount of $700 (reg season) or $500 (value season) p/p applies if you book before 12/2/06.

So lets say you booked soon for a trip during regular season and have 2 adults and 2 children in your party. You'd be looking at $5696 for the trip including seven nights accomodations, 7 breakfast, 3 lunches, 5 dinners and all your activities.

I definitely think that price-wise you could spend less money to take the trip on your own, but I think (from what I've heard/read from people who've done an ABD tour) you are getting a first-class experience from experienced guides. Whether or not the "Disney" part of things really comes into play, I cannot say. But I would have no problem taking a tour like this when my son is a pre teen or older teen.

 

[starlionblue]

At what age do you think kids might start to outgrow these trips (and not get much out of the "Disney" experience).

You mean they might not want to go to "The happiest place on earth"? Then can I have the ticket and go?
On a more serious note, I've seen a lot of adults without children at the parks and plenty of people who are older than 16 having a great time, even on the cheesy rides! I guess your kids have "seen it all before"!

 

[Goofy4]

You mean they might not want to go to "The happiest place on earth"?

WDW is not a problem. I don't think I will have to encourage them much to keep returning.

It's the ABD trips http://abd.disney.go.com/abd/en_US/index?name=HomePage. They easily can cost more than a WDW trip, and I'm just not sure if it would be worth the extra $ over just planning a similar vacation yourself (given the ages of my kids -- 12/10).

 

[ppiew]

Just took the ABD London/Paris with 9 yr old granddaughter and it could not have been better for her! She loved everything! Personally, I think pre-teens are the best age! Our group also had 'kids' to age 22!!!! I think they felt a little 'out of it' at first but soon melded in with everyone and had a good time.
There seems to be a misconception about an ABD trip - maybe I am wrong, but I sense that people think it is comparable to the MK or something. Rest assured - it is NOT! We are talking a high quality tour product here with excellent guides and excellent tour choices. Mickey & friends were NOT to be found. Yes we got the pins and lanyards and next year there will be a Disney movie nite on most tours, but it definitely was not a theme park experience at all. As one lady said, 'I took this tour because Disney always does the job right.' That sums it up pretty much.

My decision was based on :
#1 Itinerary - did it deliver where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see.
#2 Accommodations - were the hotels/accommodations/travel of VERY high quality
#3 Price

I have been stung before on tours with substandard (by my assessment) hotels, run down coaches, second class trains, sightseeing locations of very uninteresting and subpar types, so this time I went with a company that knows the tourist business inside and out - and they didn't fail me!

 

[the who #3]

our abd was just for kids 25 thru 85, but would have also been terrific for the younger set. i could not have planned such a marvelous tour my self, even with the help of more traveled friends.

the guides are not only great travel companions but very experienced. they handled everything without missing a step.

italy was a dream come true. i will save my money for another and hope to take my grandson along the next time.

 

[ppiew]

I think I should also mention the dual aspect of some of the city tours. There were times (london -Westminster; Paris - Louvre and Montmartre) where the younger adventures had separate tours (although covering the same stuff) but different guides. It really made us ALL appreciate the tours so much more. Example - in the Louvre, the adults did the adult tour thing with headset guides; the kids played Art Detective where they saw the identical stuff we did, but had an add on of identifying the art work and translating it into a clue to solve the next day at Versailles. This made such a HUGE difference to both adult & child. Definitely one of the very big plusses I would give to ABD. I know it is hard to put a price tag on this, but it is a huge enhancement for all levels of the tours.
These tours address any age group. If you have ever been on a DISNEY CRUISE you know what I mean. You DON'T have to have kids to have a great time - if you DO have kids the needs of both are included making it such a nice experience for all levels. Plus you have supervised time apart making the together time so much more special.

 

[LisaTex]

I totally agree - Our Hawaii trip last year had kids from 6-18. They all became friends and had a great time together. We booked ABD rather than a different tour company becauses we knew Disney is so huge that they CAN and will do what they need to to make things "special" (they also have a reputation to keep up) With the way they plan - I just couldn't imagine it not being a first rate trip - we were not disappointed. There were Disney "peeks" here and there, but except for these you would have never known it was "Disney". We were actually a little sad that Mickey didn't show up anywhere! The kids will be 8&10 this year when we go to London/Paris - they can't wait.

 

[Jynohn]

My concern is with my son, who is 14. He's kind of at the in between stage where he's not quite old enough to be interested in all of the adult activities, yet he'd be mortified if he had to go off with a "kid's group" with his 7 year old sister.

I guess my question is, would he have the option to stay with the adults if he wanted to when there are "kids" activities offered? I know that some of the tours seem to be separate, and I wouldn't want him to feel pressured to go off on the other tour if it was made up of all younger kids. I've also seen some itineraries where they had "adults-only" dinners while the kids ate on their own. DS would be pretty upset if he had to go eat chicken fingers and watch Lady and the Tramp or something during that time. Are older children not welcome at these dinners?

For people who have gone on one of these tours, were there many pre-teens there, and were the other tours geared more toward much younger kids as opposed teens?

 

[ppiew]

Really, you shouldn't have any worries. The kids in our group ranged in age from 5 to 22. LOTS in the early teens! At the kids/adult meals, they were held in the same room, they just sat at a different table.
The college age kids were a bit uncomfortable the first day, but got over it very quickly. The families that had more than one child and the age difference was 6-9 yrs. I never saw the eldest having to 'babysit' at all.

Many times the kids were given the option of adult meal selections or childrens. The kids seemed to gravitate to their own age group and gender group very very quickly. The separation from parents was hardly more than 1 1/2 hrs. I am sure the child could easily be absorbed into the adult groups with no problem, I just never saw any child (other than the youngest) that had this happen.

I think a lot would depend upon the composition of your tour group. If you book the tour, they are able to tell you how many and what age the children are that have already booked the tour. That should give you some insight. They also seem to 'limit' the # of children to about 15 or so. That way it is a more manageable group. Hope this helps!

 

[Jynohn]

Hope this helps!

Yes, it does. Thank you!

 

[LadyLion]

During our August ABD in Hawaii, ages of the children ranged from 6 to 16 (more in the pre-teen and teen ages than under 10). The guides were SO good interacting with each child/teen at their own level - the teens "buddied up" to the guides just as much as the younger children did. The guides always made everybody feel included in the group.

There were always plenty of food selections for all ages - adults could eat the "kid food" and vice-versa. For one outing, we pre-selected our meal (lunch at the volcano) and one of our guides noticed that my 12-year-old son selected something from the kids' menu that may not fill him up. She proactively discussed his choice with me - since she had seen him enjoying lots of other adults' selections during our week - and promptly submitted a choice that we thought would be best for him. She was right!

During the "kids night", there was a huge spread and many, many selections - beyond nuggets! All of the teens and pre-teens seemed very happy with that outing. I'm not sure if any of the younger adventurers could have joined in the adult dinner, because none of those in our group wanted to!

 

[dogs64p]

I have a 10 and 14 year old, they couldnt ask for any more. My 14 year old didnt complain!