No More Adventure Handbook?

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Thanks for the email address. How far away is your Peru trip (although it couldn't be much more than 2 months!)

Sayhello

Our trip is December 30th, we leave on December 27th. After an e-mail to my TA I received the link for the digital guide. It's exactly as I expected, page after page of what we would have received in a nicely bound booklet. I absolutely hate it.

ABD repsonded to my e-mail. The girl called me back, had me on hold for over 10 mins (getting information about their app -- why she didn't have this before she called me I do not know) so I disconnected the call. She called me back and left a v-mail to return the call, but left a number for a medical devices company. DCL is doing a terrible job acting as the supervisors for ABD. It's been a great ride with ABD, but I am getting off after Egypt. For the price I pay I want exemplary service, and this is not my idea of good service.

Wait, good news, ABD is giving out free medical devices. Well, that's what I "won" when I called the number Kara left for me. For real she doesn't even know her phone number. Apparently they have "many" numbers (according to Brent), who does not know why she gave me the 1-800 number she did. It was a "mistake". Is this what ABD has been reduced to?

 

[TXTransplant]

abd@adventuresbydisneyonline.com. I knew she was with Disney Cruise Line when she first gave me their e-mail address and tried to correct herself when I asked why I would e-mail DCL about an issue I have with ABD. Oops. Her complete lack of knowledge about ABD was also a dead giveaway that she didn't work directly for ABD (she said she's a supervisor for both).

I am definitely going to e-mail them. I never got to let them know that I wasn't happy that the guides don't have cameras any longer. I wanted to put that on my survey after Japan, but no room for comments so I wasn't able to. Tomomi and James both had difficulty with my Sony A7III (the pics they took were quite blurry), so I was hoping their camera pics would be decent, but I wasn't a fan. For the first time ever I didn't upload any of the ABD pics this year.

I hate to hear the guide books are gone, but what is this about the guides no longer having cameras?!?! That bothers me more than not having a guide book!

I'm a single mom, and one of the great features of "guided travel" is having someone who can take pictures of me WITH my son. Not only that, but the guides always knew the BEST places for photos and always positioned us just right to get the perfect shot. And I LOVED getting the link to the pictures the guides took a couple of weeks after returning home. There were always some nice surprises/laughs in there!

Does ABD expect the guides to take these pictures with the guests' cameras? If so, what a ridiculous inefficiency! It's not like the group has unlimited time at each location. Giving the guides a camera that they are actually familiar with is the best way to get the pictures taken quickly and ensure that they won't be blurry.

We will be doing Japan in the next couple of years, and maybe Australia, and I was leaning heavily toward ABD since we've traveled with them before. This change would seriously make me discount ABD as an option. This seems like such a small thing, but for a family like mine, it's actually HUGE. What a stupid, short-sighted change...that probably doesn't even save any money!

 

[sayhello]

I hate to hear the guide books are gone, but what is this about the guides no longer having cameras?!?! That bothers me more than not having a guide book!

I'm a single mom, and one of the great features of "guided travel" is having someone who can take pictures of me WITH my son. Not only that, but the guides always knew the BEST places for photos and always positioned us just right to get the perfect shot. And I LOVED getting the link to the pictures the guides took a couple of weeks after returning home. There were always some nice surprises/laughs in there!

Does ABD expect the guides to take these pictures with the guests' cameras? If so, what a ridiculous inefficiency! It's not like the group has unlimited time at each location. Giving the guides a camera that they are actually familiar with is the best way to get the pictures taken quickly and ensure that they won't be blurry.

We will be doing Japan in the next couple of years, and maybe Australia, and this change would seriously make me look at other tour companies. This seems like such a small thing, but for a family like mine, it's actually HUGE. What a stupid, short-sighted change...that probably doesn't even save any money!

The Adventure Guides still take all the photos they used to. They now take them with their iPhones, however, not with an actual camera.

Sayhello

 

[dt14890]

Totally agree. Love the handbook. The luggage tags are a waste of money for us.

I agree about the luggage tag. It was so cheap looking. I just used the luggage identifier I was given by ABD back in 2007. I took the handbook with me on the trip I did in September for Backstage Magic and used it. These trips are expensive and my last one left me rather disappointed. Not sure I will ever do one again.

 

[TXTransplant]

The Adventure Guides still take all the photos they used to. They now take them with their iPhones, however, not with an actual camera.

Sayhello

Thanks for the clarification...but the cynic in me wants to snark back "Based on ABD's cost-cutting measures, the guides probably are given an iPhone 5."

 

[sayhello]

Thanks for the clarification...but the cynic in me wants to snark back "Based on ABD's cost-cutting measures, the guides probably are given an iPhone 5."

That I couldn't tell you. I'm a Samsung gal myself.

Sayhello

 

[CaliKris]

We just got back from our ABD So Cal Short Escape. We did receive a handbook, but I assume we were one of the last trips to get one. We took a T-A-U-C-K trip (won't let me type this word) for the first time this summer. We received a hardcover handbook as well as access to their app with all our trip details. This way people had a choice for which way they wanted to view their trip plans and itinerary. I chose to read the handbook cover to cover before the trip and used the app on the trip. How about doing that ABD? Why not provide both?

I have to say all these cuts are just going to result in losing your loyal following. Having 40 people on our ABD resulted in lots of wasted time. Many people on our trip were DCL and DVC customers who were trying out ABD with a short trip. Their feedback was that the trips are "off brand."

It is a shame because the guides are amazing. We will consider another ABD trip, but unfortunately the guides alone are not enough to keep our business.

 

[SL6827]

Sounds like the wonderful world of Disney- pay more - get less.

 

[tink1970]

Thanks for the clarification...but the cynic in me wants to snark back "Based on ABD's cost-cutting measures, the guides probably are given an iPhone 5."

I’m pretty sure our ABD guides had the most up to date iphone-our photos they took 2 weeks (ish) ago were amazing. YMMV, though. They were very flexible about taking photos with both their camera and our camera and knew the best places and were very efficient with our group of 34.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Thanks for the clarification...but the cynic in me wants to snark back "Based on ABD's cost-cutting measures, the guides probably are given an iPhone 5."

They have iPhone X's. Better quality than the point and shoot's before IMO. But it's still frustrating the books were removed.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I have been given access to the Peru ABD app for our upcoming trip and it's essentially the handbook in a digital version that you can upload to your phone (you'll get an icon on your home screen); it can apparently be viewed without wifi. I am impressed with the app, but would still like a printed copy of the handbook. I will definitely use the app and appreciate that they made the interface so easy to use. It will also be nice to have the information at my fingertips without having to rummage through a bag to find the handbook. They should have put on the card in our package that there was an app available for smart phones, but at least I have it now and am happy with it.

 

[WeLoveABD]

I have been given access to the Peru ABD app for our upcoming trip and it's essentially the handbook in a digital version that you can upload to your phone (you'll get an icon on your home screen); it can apparently be viewed without wifi. I am impressed with the app, but would still like a printed copy of the handbook. I will definitely use the app and appreciate that they made the interface so easy to use. It will also be nice to have the information at my fingertips without having to rummage through a bag to find the handbook. They should have put on the card in our package that there was an app available for smart phones, but at least I have it now and am happy with it.

And it is better for the environment to just go digital-- I can't see this as a reasonable deal breaker for a trip IMHO....

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

And it is better for the environment to just go digital-- I can't see this as a reasonable deal breaker for a trip IMHO....

I agree, however what really bothers is me is their communication during the process to get the app. I may have felt differently if they had made it clear when they sent the box there was an app available. But I had to make numerous phone calls and talk to quite a few people, and finally received a link to upload the app this morning.

For the record, I like having the handbook in printed form even after my trips. I keep them in the travel section of my "library" and looking through them always brings back fond memories. So it is kind of a big deal for me to have this taken away. Not one of my Adventure Handbooks has ended up in recycling. Maybe the solution is to offer a printed copy of the handbook for those that want it and have the others use the app only.

 

[DCPhotoGal]

For the record, I like having the handbook in printed form even after my trips. I keep them in the travel section of my "library" and looking through them always brings back fond memories. So it is kind of a big deal for me to have this taken away. Not one of my Adventure Handbooks has ended up in recycling. Maybe the solution is to offer a printed copy of the handbook for those that want it and have the others use the app only.

When we book 2 rooms we get two handbooks, which was maybe a little excessive. However, my daughter used that book to help her pack and plan. She went online shortly before the trip and wrote down the weather for each day on each page and then went through the suggested packing list and packed her bag. She also wrote in our OYO time activities into the book and referred to it daily. It helped a lot with her anxiety to have it there mapped out. I'm disappointed we won't have that for our March trip.

 

[cschaaf]

To me, it's a bit of a loss, but nothing critical. On our SE Asia trip, the printed book was wrong on a few days. Flights had gotten moved around between when we booked and when we received the book. Probably an anomaly, but it made me care much less about the book.

It might be nice if they gave the option to opt into the book. I think 99% would still opt in even if it wasn't something important to them, so I'm not sure that would solve the issue if it's purely a money saving move.

I built my own schedule in Word that printed on a single page and folded into a small booklet that is pocket-sized. I was able to get all of our trip details on one side (including flight info, every detail about our pre-trip days, etc) and on the other side I had lists of optional activities and restaurants on the other.

I'm not sure I get the 'loose pages all over the place' comments. Staples or paperclips could fix that.

I agree that the luggage tag was worthless.

Our SE Asia guides took plenty of good pictures with their phones. They were also willing to take any pictures using your phone/camera.

 

[sun_seekin]

If we are booked on an ABD River Cruise do we still get the spiral book from AMA Waterways or has that been discontinued as well?

 

[kathryndavis28@yahoo]

Got my ABD box today and was surprised to find the handbook in the box.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Got my ABD box today and was surprised to find the handbook in the box.

What trip are you on? This makes no sense as I asked ABD if they could send me an extra and they said they didn't have any.

 

[sayhello]

What trip are you on? This makes no sense as I asked ABD if they could send me an extra and they said they didn't have any.

Maybe they still have some stock left for some of the trips, but not all of them? And they'll just give them out for this season until they're all gone?

Sayhello

 

[kathryndavis28@yahoo]

Maybe they still have some stock left for some of the trips, but not all of them? And they'll just give them out for this season until they're all gone?

Sayhello

Southern California Jan. 5