London/Paris June 2017 - Trip Report-FInally finished 11/5 - Including Disney Paris

[hilarys]

We have been home from our third ABD – London/Paris - for 12 days now and I wanted to pass along a few thoughts on this trip and reviews of some of the newer aspects of the trip. We had two pre-days in London and two post days at Disneyland Paris which I can also discuss.

A few items of background info: me, DH, son – 14 and daughter – 12. We have previously done the Central Europe ABD (2014) and Backstage Magic at DL (2016). DH and I have been to London once before (way back in 1996). Paris was a new destination for all of us. We love ABD because we love to travel but I don’t have time to plan and research a trip like this. Our whole family loves to make new friends when we travel and group travel is great to keep sibling rivalry in check. I also love the idea of having my luggage taken care of for me when I go from place to place.

Overall, these cities are easy to do on your own, but this trip turned out to be one of our best family vacations ever. I think the success of this trip was from a combination of things: no travel snafus, kids are turning into great travelers, great group dynamics, fabulous activities (none that we would preferred to skip), amazing cities, and awesome guides.

Our guides were Frankie and Adam who are both experienced guides who are also good friends outside of work and their friendship really came through. They worked really well together and had a great rapport. Our departure was their first trip of the year and they were as excited as all of the guests. Our group size was 31which I really liked. We had a great mix of people from family was high school/college age kids, grandparents, young honeymooners, and lots of kids (two 8 year olds were the youngest up to two that were starting college). Two of the groups were three generations travelling together. Frankie and Adam were always on top of details and had a good rapport with adults and kids alike. We have loved all of our guides and these two were right at the top of a great group. All of our prior trips have had two female guides so this was an especially fun dynamic for the kids – lots of treats were purchased for the kids when the guides took them off on their own.

I have had a question asked here (and by many friends IRL) about security. Yes, it did cross our minds before we left, but we were not going to let concerns stop our enjoyment of travel. The fact is that something is much more likely to happen to us driving on the highway every day. We arrived in London on Saturday June 3 (two days before the trip start). We did not have any travel issues and were all checked in at the Landmark. We tried our very best to stay awake for dinner and took a brief walk around the neighborhood around the hotel before turning in about 9 because of exhaustion. The good news is that we were safe and sound in our hotel when the attack on the Borrough Market happened. Unfortunately, because we were sounds asleep we were not able to answer all the texts and social media posts that started coming in from friends and family. It was a bit surreal to wake up to hear of the attack and very sad to hear about the injuries and loss of life to all the people out were out enjoying their Saturday night. We had quite a few concerned messages in our in boxes as one of the few things that I did have time to research and book was a walking food tour of the Borrough Market so our family had heard me mention that location several times.

After marking ourselves safe (never thought I would actually use that feature) and sending a few texts, we moved on with our pre-day activities. While we were out we received a phone message from one of the guides checking in with us to make sure we were ok and to see if we had any concerns. They also let us know they would be available that day in the hotel conference getting things arranged in case we wanted to check in and discuss anything. Adam let us know that the Disney Global Security team was staying on top of things and we would be notified if any of the activities in our Adventure had to change (they did not). Security issues were also discussed in the opening dinner on Monday night. The attack did have the understandable effect of cancelling our food tour, but really the Londoners kept up with their lives and we did not sense any difference. In Paris security was VERY visible at all of the tourist sites. Military guards with machine guns and side arms – they were very aware of things. At Notre Dame one member of our group put his back pack down for a moment while taking a picture and it did not take any time at all before the guards started moving for it before he picked it up again.

Each person/family needs to be comfortable with security and the world’s current state in choosing their vacations, but we would not hesitate to recommend this Adventure.

 

[hilarys]

London Pre-Days

As I mentioned above, we arrived in London on Saturday afternoon with no delays and were met by our driver outside customs and taken to the Landmark Hotel. We loved the Landmark. It is such an elegant hotel with a beautiful courtyard atrium in the center. We booked the trip as two doubles and requested connecting rooms which we did get at the Landmark (we did not at Hilton in Paris). We had two rooms that faced the interior courtyard which made them nice and quiet at night with no city noise. One of the rooms had a king size bed, a desk, and two chairs next to the window looking into the courtyard. Both rooms had large beautiful bathrooms with separate showers, tubs, and toilet rooms and large closets. The adjoining room had a large living room with a sofa bed, tv and desk and was open to this room’s sleeping area which had two beds (either double or queen) another TV and its own bathroom. We had tons of space for the four of us. We had zero complaints about our rooms or the service. The Landmark had turn down service nightly.

After unpacking, we walked down to the concierge for recommendations for dinner. We wanted to go somewhere that was within walking distance and was casual (kids were in shorts). The concierge recommended the Grazing Goat. It was a very pleasant 10 minute or so walk from the hotel towards Hyde Park. The kids enjoyed their first experiences in London and learning to deal with traffic on the “wrong side” of the road. The restaurant had a very casual pub downstairs and the restaurant where the concierge had made us a reservation up stairs. It was early for dinner by European standards so the only others in the place seemed to be other Americans. The menu had a great diversity of things – fish and chips, burgers, steaks, veggie burgers and a great cocktail menu. We all thoroughly enjoyed our meal and despite the long day of travel, no one had the grumpies so it was a great start to the trip. We had had a very busy week leading up to the trip (8th grade promotion was Thursday, last day of school ended at noon Friday and then we left for the airport at 3:30 after I worked for half a day). As I mentioned above, we headed back to the hotel and crashed out by around 9 pm. I had not slept at all on the plane so this was actually one of the best nights of sleep that I had.



Sunday - Pre-day
On Sunday morning we were slow to get going and also were slowed down by social media responding to concerned family members at the attack in London. For Sunday I had booked a tour of the Harry Potter Studios. Because I had waited so long to book the tour, in order to get the day and time that I wanted, I had to book the VIP tour. We loved the experience and all of the extras it included, but it definitely was not “necessary” and I would have booked the regular tour if available. Because we wanted to maximize our time in London, we had arranged a car to take us to the Studios from the Landmark and then back after 4.5 hours (not enough time!). We arranged this through the hotel concierge and it was very easy and smooth. It is apparently very easy to get there on public transportation but it does take longer. We were running late that morning so we did not have time for the hotel buffer which was included in the pre-night package. The great thing about the Landmark is that is right in front of Marylebone Station (rail and Tube). The Station has a Starbucks and several other food stands where we were able to grab bagels and coffee to eat in the car.


Even though only one member of our family (DD) is a Harry Potter super fan, all of us enjoyed our visit and probably would have stayed longer if weren’t trying to squeeze so much fun into our pre-days. The VIP tour was a small group (8 if I remember correctly) with a guide who led us on a guided tour for two hours explaining the things that we were seeing and explaining how certain props were used in the films. My son who is not a HP fan (has maybe seen half of one of the films) loved the room with the animatronic creatures and the scale model of Hogwarts that was used for filming some panoramic scenes. DD was in heaven for the whole time. After the two hour tour we had lunch of our choice in the cafeteria and then we were free to go back into the exhibits. The VIP tour included 4 photos from the various photo stops, one video (you must do this even though it takes a bit of time), a souvenir guidebook, a full lunch and dessert and a coupon for a butter beer or butter beer ice cream at the snack stand. I had arranged for our car to pick us up at about 2:00 and we were running to the car at 2:15. The gift shop is overwhelming – I am glad we only left 15 minutes for it as otherwise my daughter would have wanted to do even more damage.



We arrived back at our hotel and had time for about a 30 minute rest before we were off to our next adventure. We became friends with a great family that lives in the suburbs of London on a Disney Cruise in 2016 and had arranged to have an early Sunday supper with them at the Dove in Hammersmith. The Dove is a centuries old pub located on the river. http://www.dovehammersmith.co.uk/ What a great time we had catching up with our friends and having a delicious Sunday Supper – everyone was happy with their food choices from traditional Sunday roasts, to fish and chips to burgers. And, a Yorkshire pudding all around. Sunday was a lovely sunny day and we walked along the river a bit after our meal before saying our goodbyes (loaded down with more souvenirs and treats from our generous friends). It was about a 20 minute cab ride each way from the Landmark.







Monday Pre-morning/Day 1 of ABD

Our adventure was scheduled to begin at 5 or 5:30pm on Monday and this was a day that I had booked pretty full with activities. Our morning was going to be taken up with a food tour of the Borough Market area. With that tour cancelled (the immediate area was still blocked off for investigation Monday morning, we needed to find something to do before our 3 pm tea. After enjoying the Landmark buffet, we checked in with our guides at their welcome table and got to know them a bit. We decided to head off to the London Eye to catch views of the City as this had been highly recommended, and I had not been able to fit it into our schedule. We took a cab over because at this point I was feeling more comfortable being in a car than on public transit, but it would have been very easy and quick to take the Tube from Marylebone Station. This was a gray and slightly drizzling day, but the views from the Eye were great. We had not purchased tickets ahead of time, but really did not have a wait at all. We still had a few hours before the tea and the kids were lobbying hard for the London Dungeon which is right next to the Eye. I relented, hoping that it would at least teach them about some of the great times in history of London (the fire, the plague, Jack the Ripper). The Dungeon was an almost two hour walk through experience through different creepy points in history – I kept getting selected for audience participation which the kids thought was hilarious. The experience was creepy but not scary with some of the rooms having better actors than others. The kids loved the Dungeon. DH and I could take it or leave it. We grabbed a cab back to the Landmark and had a very short rest before I made the kids get a little more dressed before we headed down to tea.



I had decided on high tea at the Landmark because it received good reviews and the convenience factor in a busy day could not be beat. I also liked the fact that if the kids got bored after a while, they could head back up to the rooms. The tea is served in the beautiful atrium and was a great high tea service with sandwiches and more treats than we could eat. The staff very nicely boxed up all the treats that we were not able to finish. 2 of us selected the chocolate tea (all of the sweets contained chocolate of some type) and two had the standard tea. It was a very nice, relaxing experience (especially after the kids had their fill and headed up to the rooms). We were stuffed but well caffeinated when the time rolled around to start the official portion of our ABD.

 

[Calfan]

Great write-up so far! Looking forward to following along.

 

[Lawyer Mommy]

Thank you! This is great so far. I'm going on this ABD in August. I was the person who asked you about how security was. I'm glad to hear that nothing got canceled and that you all were fine. I was never considering not going on the ABD but have been somewhat concerned with the recent problems in Europe. You and I are doing things very similarly. I am also getting there two days in advance and am going to Disneyland Paris afterward, so your write-up is awesome because it's a preview of what to expect.

 

[sayhello]

Ooo, that tea looks scrumptious! Looking forward to more of your report!

Sayhello

 

[kristilew]

This is great - thank you! We go to London fairly often but haven't stayed at the Landmark or tried these restaurants. I am adding to my list!

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Oh, this looks wonderful! I can't wait to read more. (And although you already know this, your kids are gorgeous!!!)

 

[hilarys]

Great write-up so far! Looking forward to following along.

Thanks - hope we can do another trip together or maybe a RunDisney event in the future.

Thank you! This is great so far. I'm going on this ABD in August. I was the person who asked you about how security was. I'm glad to hear that nothing got canceled and that you all were fine. I was never considering not going on the ABD but have been somewhat concerned with the recent problems in Europe. You and I are doing things very similarly. I am also getting there two days in advance and am going to Disneyland Paris afterward, so your write-up is awesome because it's a preview of what to expect.

Appreciate your thoughts. Yes, it was definitely something that was in our minds and it was quite surreal to have something happen while we were there. I think it was more stressful for everyone at home. I did modify our plans by sticking to cabs rather than the tub the first few days. I really hope you have Frankie and Adam for your guides they are so awesome. Did you book your DL Paris post days through ABD? I am going to crank through this update as quick as I can so that I can pass along ideas for on your own time.

This is great - thank you! We go to London fairly often but haven't stayed at the Landmark or tried these restaurants. I am adding to my list!

We were really pleased with the Landmark. In addition to being beautiful it was very convenient to transportation and we like that it wasn't smack in the center of the most touristy areas.

Ooo, that tea looks scrumptious! Looking forward to more of your report!

Sayhello

It really was delicious. Very happy with our choice to enjoy tea right at our own hotel.

Oh, this looks wonderful! I can't wait to read more. (And although you already know this, your kids are gorgeous!!!)

Thank you. They are also both big personalties. It was very rewarding to see them enjoy this trip so much.

 

[sayhello]

Oh, and I meant to say, Adam was one of the Guides for my London & Paris ABD! He's great. Say "Hi!" from Tobi!

Sayhello

 

[Chirple]

Thanks for this report. I really want to go to London, but I'm a weirdo who has no interest in Paris so I'm looking forward to seeing your photos and reading your thoughts.

Your kids are adorable, and the high tea won me over with the word chocolate.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Great trip report. That high tea looks amazing! How was the chocolate tea?

 

[disneyphx]

Enjoying this! Our trip starts Friday - so can't decide if I wish you were done or am happy you're not so there will be more surprises......
DD has never had any interest in Harry Potter - but weirdly she watched it on her flight to London on Monday (they got to go earlier - dang, limited vacation time). Maybe we will do the studio tour when we return in April.

 

[tgeorge]

I'm what my friends call a 'Harry Potter super fan', so I loved the info on the studio tour. I'm actually waiting to go to London until I can get tickets to the play. I know, it is silly, but, I figure I can add all the other things I want to do in London too Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

[Calfan]

Thanks - hope we can do another trip together or maybe a RunDisney event in the future.

Me too! Either or both would be awesome.

 

[hilarys]

Enjoying this! Our trip starts Friday - so can't decide if I wish you were done or am happy you're not so there will be more surprises......
DD has never had any interest in Harry Potter - but weirdly she watched it on her flight to London on Monday (they got to go earlier - dang, limited vacation time). Maybe we will do the studio tour when we return in April.

I will post info about London on your own time tonight. I think you already have a sneak peak of everything from social media posts

There were two things on the trip that were surprises to me (They were not on the detailed trip description and I have not read about them here) so I will not discuss them to keep the surprise for others. They were both great and one was in London and one in Paris. L was not a HP fan until March when she oddly picked up the book that had been unread by either kid for years. I would suggest waiting until your next trip when she has had a chance to watch all of the movies as the studios have props, scenes and characters from all of them. We definitely need another trip to London, we did not even hit any museums.

 

[hilarys]

I'm what my friends call a 'Harry Potter super fan', so I loved the info on the studio tour. I'm actually waiting to go to London until I can get tickets to the play. I know, it is silly, but, I figure I can add all the other things I want to do in London too Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

I did not even mention the play in London to DD. She knows that it will be coming to NY sometime so has that on her watch list.

 

[hilarys]

Great trip report. That high tea looks amazing! How was the chocolate tea?

The chocolate tea meant that all of the desserts served had some form of chocolate in them. They were awesome! The picture above does not include the tray of chocolate desserts that we had. A teaser for chocolate fans to keep reading is a new activity on this trip that takes place in Paris. I have pictures and it was amazing, but you will have to wait to see them.

 

[Calfan]

Without even seeing the chocolate desserts, I was dying over the scones in the pic you posted above when I first saw it on social media I just went ahead and booked the high tea at the Landmark for the afternoon we take the train back from Cornwall to London on our upcoming trip. 5pm was the latest reservation they had, so I hope we make it. Our train is supposed to arrive in London around 3:30pm, so crossing fingers we'll have time to dump our luggage at our hotel in London and get over to the Landmark. It's an OpenTable reservation, so I'll cancel if we aren't going to make it. And it was a 1,000 point reservation, so bonus! I didn't want to book it our second day in London because that's the day we are doing the Harry Potter Studios, and our entrance time is 11am. Given what you said about how you could easily have spent more than 4.5 hours there, I didn't want to schedule tea at 5pm and feel rushed to make it back. The only other thing we have scheduled in London so far is tickets to the London Eye, but we can use those either day, and I'd like to do that in the evening.

 

[hilarys]

Without even seeing the chocolate desserts, I was dying over the scones in the pic you posted above when I first saw it on social media I just went ahead and booked the high tea at the Landmark for the afternoon we take the train back from Cornwall to London on our upcoming trip. 5pm was the latest reservation they had, so I hope we make it. Our train is supposed to arrive in London around 3:30pm, so crossing fingers we'll have time to dump our luggage at our hotel in London and get over to the Landmark. It's an OpenTable reservation, so I'll cancel if we aren't going to make it. And it was a 1,000 point reservation, so bonus! I didn't want to book it our second day in London because that's the day we are doing the Harry Potter Studios, and our entrance time is 11am. Given what you said about how you could easily have spent more than 4.5 hours there, I didn't want to schedule tea at 5pm and feel rushed to make it back. The only other thing we have scheduled in London so far is tickets to the London Eye, but we can use those either day, and I'd like to do that in the evening.

So glad you booked it. In my opinion you should try to do the Eye after the tea. There is a tube station (Marylebone) right behind the hotel and I think it is a direct train to the Eye (double check me on that). It would be good to get up and move around outside after the heavy amount of food at the tea. I agree to not do the tea after your Studio Tour.

 

[hilarys]

ABD Begins

I liked how CJinMD did one summary of On Your Own Time in one spot in their trip report. Here is a summary of OYO time in London and what we chose to do:
Day 1: See prior post for our activities before the Welcome Dinner
Day 2: No OYO Time
Day 3: We had about an hour and half in Windsor before scone making to grab lunch and shop. We grabbed lunch at a small shop in the main tourist street (the one closed to traffic) that served all types of Cornish Pasties (West Cornwall Cornish Pasty Company). These were so good and they had a great vegetarian option for me. This was recommended by Adam and was a good choice. The guides had also recommended a shop right next door to our lunch stop that had all kinds of custom shakes. According to the kids the shakes were awesome – DS had Nutella and DD had a peanut butter cup shake. We spent the rest of the time buying souvenirs. The evening of Day 3 had OYO time and dinner after returning from WIndsor. We ran into a bit of traffic coming back and did not get back to the hotel until 6pm (or maybe even later). We had hoped to hit Harrod’s and grab dinner, but we did not have time for both. DH and the kids really wanted to have dinner at the original Hard Rock. We took the Tube (wanted the kids to have that experience) to the Green Park station and walked a bit through Hyde Park to Hard Rock for dinner.



Back to Day 1. The group met in a meeting room off the rear lobby of the hotel. We received our lanyards and a piece of paper listing off all of the meals for the week where we would have a choice of food and all the choices were listed. Each family member filled out the sheet with their meal selections for the week. This was a change from our 2014 European adventure where our guides would ask in advance of the meal, but not all at once at the beginning of the trip. The room was set up with a bar serving soft drinks, beer and wine. I was too stuffed from tea to eat or drink anything. The room was set with several tables and chairs so everyone tended to grab a seat rather than mix and mingle. Each table had a few light snacks on it. Adam and Frankie introduced themselves and then we went around the room and one member of each family introduced the family and said what they were most looking forward to on the trip. We then boarded a coach and headed out to a local pub for dinner. Our group had a private room downstairs and the seating was at long tables with several families at each table. This was great and allowed the groups to begin to get to know each other. Dinner was very fun with lots of interaction by the kids so the ice was broken quickly. We had the choice of several different entrees and a beer. On the drive back to the hotel Frankie and Adam went over the plans for the week and told us what to expect re start times (if it was an early day Adam would tell us the meet time, and if we were getting to sleep in Frankie would let us know). Most days of this trip we heard from Adam.



Day 2: After breakfast we all met at 8:30 to start our Adventure. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and windy. We had all received ponchos in our rooms, but most people had brought along umbrellas. We boarded our vintage double decker bus and met our step on guide Steven who would be with us all day today and all day on Day 3. Steven is an amazing storyteller and made history come alive. By the time end of the trip all of the Junior Adventurers were still talking about him and Henry the VIII’s wives. We started with a tour of Westminster Abbey where we split into two groups one led by Steven and the other by another local guide. It was still pouring when we came out so our changing of the guard/Buckingham palace stop basically turned into a 15 minute get off the bus stand in front of the palace in the rain for a family photo and then dash back to the bus. All of the guests including us had been sitting on the upper deck but with the weather and everyone on one level the windows were completely fogged up and we couldn’t see out. My family moved downstairs with the guides for the ride over to our lunch spot. It was much nicer to be able to see and to joke around with Adam, Frankie and Steven.






Lunch was at a nice modern restaurant right at the foot of the Tower Bridge. It was a pretty leisurely lunch which allowed us time to warm up, dry off and for the rain to stop. We next headed over to the Tower and started our visit there with a private introduction to a Beefeater and of course pictures. Steven then took us on a tour through the grounds of the tower and then we had time to explore on our own. The line for the Crown Jewels was non-existent so we were able to spend time viewing that exhibit and the tower itself. We barely made it back in time (no time for the gift shop here).



We then walked as a group to the dock for our jet boat ride. Everyone seemed to be equal parts excited and a little nervous about the jet boat. Everyone was suited up in water and windproof pants and jackets (both were optional but I think everyone opted to put them on) and life vests (required). We caught a lucky break with the weather on this as the rain had completely stopped and the sun was peeking out. I am not sure whether they would have cancelled if the heavy rain had continued but we certainly would have been miserable. As it turns out we really did not get too wet – just a little bit of spray. The jet boat ride was a slow river tour at first where we saw many of the riverside sites and then we headed along the river to a less busy section where the fun started. Our driver took our boat up to speed and did a number of turns and circles accompanied by James Bond (and oddly Hawaii 5-0) music. It was a ton of fun at not scary at all. I do not like speeds and had thought this would be much faster. After the process of taking all of our gear off it was back to the coach and the Landmark.



Night 2 is Junior Adventurer movie night. All the J.A,. and the older ones like my son who would not have missed it for the world, were invited to have a kids buffet and movie with Frankie and Adam in one of the hotel conference rooms from 7 to 9. Reservations had been made for each adult family party at either 7 or 7:30 in the hotel’s restaurant, TwoTwentyTwo. This night solidified the JA adoration for Adam and Frankie, and we were dragging our kids out as the last to leave at just past 9. The hotel restaurant was very enjoyable – great cocktail menu, good food and elegant but cozy setting. Many of the ABD guest were seated at adjacent tables so we were able to get to know a few of our fellow travelers better. My only slight disappointment was that we did not get to order from the full menu. We had a choice of two different appetizers, three entrees, and two desserts. I think one glass of wine or beer was included (I may have enjoyed one of the lovely cocktails and a glass of wine). The food was well prepared and I enjoyed each of my courses. We took our time eating and chatting with the tables next to ours so we finished up just about 9 pm and collected the kids. I had specifically told the kids to stay away from caffeinated sodas (I have learned on other trips that these are freely offered at the JA dinners) and they complied but it still took a while to settle them down from all the fun with Uncles Adam and Frankie .