London / Paris Disaster

[hardcorestitch]

They tried to replace some of them, but with very subpar alternatives and even those didn’t go according to plan.

Arrogance by Disney™

 

[SCDisneyDad02]

Disney has still yet to make this right. If you want my honest opinion, I would look at other tour operators. Disney has had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to make this right. Their best offer? $250 per person refund (up from a future credit). If it weren't for our two fantastic guides, this entire thing would have been the most colossal let down of a trip I've ever had. Short of Disney comping another AbD to make it right, I won't even consider another one which is unfortunate because going into this one, we were already looking at others. This AbD was supposed to be the highlight of a 16 day London/Paris vacation for our 15 year old's 16th birthday and Disney let us down.

 

[Minnie1222]

In your opinion (and others reading this), should we move forward with planning? We have not made our reservations yet.

I usually avoid group tours since I don't like the rigid schedule. I am a paranoid vacationer (the exact opposite of a world traveler), yet I have no issues navigating London and Paris on my own or with my family. If you stay at a well-known hotel chain, like the Four Seasons, you can arrange airport transfers and private tours through them (the popular tours are listed under "Experiences" in their menu). Their concierge can also help you with other excursions if necessary.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I am very sorry that your special vacation was ruined.

I had an awful experience with ABD on the China / HK ABD I did with my daughter. I won't go into details because I have already done so on this boards, but ABD was awful to deal with and refused to take any accountability. I did end up getting some resolution, but nothing replaces the stress of a sleepless night worrying about missing a flight due to an impending typhoon, in a city where there is a huge language barrier and the ABD guides saying "sorry, the tour is finished, we are done, good luck, peace out". ABD 1-800 number was just as useless. I did manage to escalate to ABD management after many, many frustrating calls.

Then I had another terrible experience trying to get my deposit for the Egypt ABD returned during COVID.

I won't say that I am completely done with ABD, but I think their prices are very high for what they offer and have realized that i) I like touring on my own with no set schedule and ii) if I want to go somewhere I'm not comfortable traveling without a tour company, there are many good alternatives to ABD that don't charge your first born.

I do not think that ABD is going to offer your family a comped ABD.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Disney has still yet to make this right. If you want my honest opinion, I would look at other tour operators. Disney has had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to make this right. Their best offer? $250 per person refund (up from a future credit). If it weren't for our two fantastic guides, this entire thing would have been the most colossal let down of a trip I've ever had. Short of Disney comping another AbD to make it right, I won't even consider another one which is unfortunate because going into this one, we were already looking at others. This AbD was supposed to be the highlight of a 16 day London/Paris vacation for our 15 year old's 16th birthday and Disney let us down.

I wanted to add that I think a $250 pp refund is fair based on what you described. Our resolution was in the form of a future trip credit, not much more than what you were offered, which I thought was fair; note that I have done 9 ABDs with my kiddos and had history with ABD. I also felt that the resolution ABD offered (to me) was fair -- indeed we took several trips after the China and Hong Kong trip.

You don't state how many, if any, ABDs you have done, and you seem to have created an account just to bash ABD, which is fine, but keep in mind that many on this forum and subforum are here because we love Disney. There was a time when ABD provided an outstanding product and my kids and I have very fond memories of our time together on those trips. I think that their product has been watered down over time, but I also think that they have a captive market that will continue to use them due to brand loyalty and an excellent product (albeit at a high price point).

If they were to offer a trip that I really wanted to do then I would give serious thought to booking with ABD. However as a solo traveler I don't foresee that happening with their steep single supplement. But I will never say never to another ABD.

 

[Minnie1222]

I recently looked at ABD to Egypt. I think the cost is reasonable for all the amenities and tours provided. The airport meet-n-greet lounge service alone is $270/person if booked privately. A guided trip to the Giza Necropolis is close to $1000 for a family of four. Egypt is not an easy country to navigate. ABD seems to remove the stress of planning and traveling.

 

[sayhello]

I'm sorry you had this experience, and also a little concerned now about the trip we are considering. It would be the London and Paris trip that you had, but not at a holiday. We are looking at late September this year. In your opinion (and others reading this), should we move forward with planning? We have not made our reservations yet.

While sh!t can happen at any time, the issues that @SCDisneyDad02 had were very specific to the fact that their trip was over a major holiday, and during the winter, so things that were not normally closed were closed, and alternatives were apparently hard to come by. ABD's London/Paris itinerary has been running for a *very* long time, and to my knowledge does not normally have issues like this. While I think ABD's position on the issues that SCDisneyDad02 had were not handled well, the trip itself is fantastic. Late September is still the shoulder season, and I really don't think you'll have any of the issues that they had. I would say if the itinerary sounds good to you, and you aren't planning on booking during a holiday, you should go ahead with planning. ABD back office is definitely not what it once was, but the itineraries are still great, and the Adventure Guides are still fabulous. I think this trip is a great way to see London & Paris!

Sayhello

 

[epski]

I don’t know if management of ABD is ever alerted to public comments like these, but they should, because I had considered booking one, and now I’m pretty sure I’ll stick with planning my own vacations.

 

[peder]

For the price of ABD, it's really unacceptable to have issues like this in very well known / well traveled areas like London and Paris, where the skip-the-queues type of processes are not a surprise to travel groups.

 

[pjacobi]

well traveled areas like London and Paris, where the skip-the-queues type of processes are not a surprise to travel groups.

You don't need to be in an organized tour group to skip the queues!

Just go to the website and book your own dated and timed entrance to any major attraction in Europe. It just takes a little effort.


-Paul

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

For the price of ABD, it's really unacceptable to have issues like this in very well known / well traveled areas like London and Paris, where the skip-the-queues type of processes are not a surprise to travel groups.

There was a time several years ago when they def monitored this sub-forum; whether or not they still do is anyones guess.

 

[peder]

You don't need to be in an organized tour group to skip the queues!

Just go to the website and book your own dated and timed entrance to any major attraction in Europe. It just takes a little effort.


-Paul

Right, that's what I mean: it's completely unacceptable for a tour group to mess these things up when there's no mystery to it, especially in an extremely well traveled area like Paris or London. It's not like it's some obscure location where everyone's just figuring things out for the first time.

 

[ThatCubT]

I would be beyond frustrated at this - escalate this with immediate effect. This is not how to treat any customer, never mind one that has spent this amount.

 

[TheHulamuffins]

The changes really do seem to me like too many substitutions of experiences that were not as good as those advertised. I think Disney should do more for you.

I do appreciate the challenges of organizing tours in Britain around the holidays. For anyone planning a future trip, it would be a good idea to check for the "Bank Holidays" as well. This is a term with quite different meanings in the UK and the US (at least for people who learned about FDR's bank holidays in school.). Bank Holidays in the UK will interfere with normal tour operations, very likely.

 

[Lewisc]

. Bank Holidays in the UK will interfere with normal tour operations, very likely.

Tour operators should be aware of holidays and adjust the itinerary IN ADANCE when the itinerary is released.

 

[TheHulamuffins]

I agree that it is the responsibility of the tour operator to know about holidays that will prevent the advertised itinerary from being followed.