Other Options...

[disneyphx]

Oops - iPad froze!
We did ABD first to see what we thought of game drives - most other tours seem to have more game time and less general sightseeing.
Thinking of another trip to Africa in 2017....so you might be there first!

 

[acndis]

Also, on the SE Asia trip, you have your hotel room until you leave the hotel so it is, in essence, an extra day. We left the hotel @ 6 pm. We still had breakfast on ABD and use of hotel facilities and our Park Pass to Angkor Wat was still valid. So while there are no formal activities on that last day, I felt I more than got my money's worth!

 

[disneyphx]

Just checked back in to this thread after a few months - I love reading what everybody else has explored and investigated.
For us it is all about itinerary and dates.
We did Thomson Family Adventures in Peru because it spent 2 nights near Machu Picchu, and the dates worked.(We were with a dad/daughter team and he got pretty bad altitude sickness. She could only tour that day because we agreed to be responsible for her - there were only 5 of us on the trip)
We did Tauck in Switzerland because we had already been to some of the places the ABD Italy/Switzerland visited.
This year is back to ABD for Norway (only ones that go), then likely Tauck for Costa Rica (Itinerary/date combo).
Galapagos is the one that makes my head spin with choices - all boat; or a few days land in Ecuador and a few days boat in Galapagos; or land in Galapagos......and which boat! I need to check out Ecoventura

 

[Woodview]

A 14 day vacation could end up being a 17 day vacation if travel to & from home is included

( Remember there are time zones to take into account )

 

[EllinK]

Yes, we also noticed that Disney devoted less time to game drives. How did it feel? Was it enough?

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Also, on the SE Asia trip, you have your hotel room until you leave the hotel so it is, in essence, an extra day. We left the hotel @ 6 pm. We still had breakfast on ABD and use of hotel facilities and our Park Pass to Angkor Wat was still valid. So while there are no formal activities on that last day, I felt I more than got my money's worth!

That's not exclusive to ABD. On our Nat Geo South East Asia trip we have our hotel until around the same time on our departure day.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Just checked back in to this thread after a few months - I love reading what everybody else has explored and investigated.
For us it is all about itinerary and dates.
We did Thomson Family Adventures in Peru because it spent 2 nights near Machu Picchu, and the dates worked.(We were with a dad/daughter team and he got pretty bad altitude sickness. She could only tour that day because we agreed to be responsible for her - there were only 5 of us on the trip)
We did Tauck in Switzerland because we had already been to some of the places the ABD Italy/Switzerland visited.
This year is back to ABD for Norway (only ones that go), then likely Tauck for Costa Rica (Itinerary/date combo).
Galapagos is the one that makes my head spin with choices - all boat; or a few days land in Ecuador and a few days boat in Galapagos; or land in Galapagos......and which boat! I need to check out Ecoventura

I agree. We went with Nat Geo because the dates worked for us. ABD dropped their adult only excursion for South East Asia and I have no desire to travel there during monsoon season (and while you could say the same about travelling to Florida in hurricane season, hurricanes don't always make landfall nor in the same area whereas monsoons are an annual occurrence). Also the trip dates we chose lead into a holiday Monday so it seemed to make sense as it gives us an extra day off to readjust to the time change upon our return. Plus the itinerary has more of what we want to do in it.

 

[Calfan]

NatGeo limits its Family Adventures to 25 people, in case anyone is considering those trips. We haven't taken one but are likely to do their Ireland Family Vacation within the next few years.

 

[carpenta]

We did the Nat. Geo Family adventure to Yellowstone and it was 24 people. A perfect size and mix of adults and kids.

 

[acndis]

Three years ago I took the itinerary from the ABD Montana/Alberta trip and the Tauck Bridges Canadian Rockies trip and combined them and did the trip on my own. Started in Montana (which isn't included in the Tauck trip), then to Banff (which is in both ABD and Tauck) and then to Jasper (which isn't included in the ABD) and then Lake Louise (which is included in both). Did all of their activites plus some more of our own choosing. We stayed in the park at GNP and at the Fairmont hotels in Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise and had rooms with gorgeous views. And even with the extended itinerary and luxury hotels, it was about half the cost of the ABD trip. Even with no guides, my son and I both agree this was one of the best vacations we've had - probably only topped by the Nat Geo trip to the Galapagos. Of course, somebody has to drive, (for us, that would be me), and the distances are long, but there are lots of opportunities for stops along the way and there is almost no traffic. Just watch out for the occasional moose or bear.

Bobo,

We have been inspired by you and are thinking of doing this trip on our own, too! I have the following questions:

1. How did you get from Montana to Canada (drive, fly, bus?)
2. Did you drive from place to place in Canada?
3. Were most of the activities available through the Fairmont or did you book on your own?

Thanks! This is a great idea for a trip we have really wanted to take but don't want to spend close to $10,000 for the ABD/Tauck versions. Since DS will be 9 when we do it, we feel more confident. We call these trips "Adventures by Mom and Dad."

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

 

[Bobo912]

Bobo,

We have been inspired by you and are thinking of doing this trip on our own, too! I have the following questions:

1. How did you get from Montana to Canada (drive, fly, bus?)
2. Did you drive from place to place in Canada?
3. Were most of the activities available through the Fairmont or did you book on your own?

Thanks! This is a great idea for a trip we have really wanted to take but don't want to spend close to $10,000 for the ABD/Tauck versions. Since DS will be 9 when we do it, we feel more confident. We call these trips "Adventures by Mom and Dad."

I had originally planned to fly into Calgary, but I was booking our flight with miles and between the extra taxes I had to pay flying into Canada and the higher rental car rates I was quoted at that time, I decided to fly into Glacier Park International Airport in Kallispell. I really like the airport. It is recently remodeled, small and easy to navigate. It turned out to be a good plan, because just before we arrived, there was a big flood in Calgary, and I even changed our driving route from GNP to Banff so that we totally bypassed Calgary. We spent a few days in GNP, then drove to Banff and stayed there for a few day, then up to Jasper, then south to Lake Louise and finally back to Montana, where we spent the night in Whitefish, which is a very nice little town near the airport, before flying back home. We covered a lot of distance, but the driving was easy. There is practically no traffic and the scenery is beautiful. The long drives were always broken up by having some activity planned along the way or making spur of the moment stops whenever we saw something interesting, which was often. And it's not uncommon to see moose, bear, Rocky Mountain Sheep, etc. along the way. You could easily book your activities at the Fairmont, but I had all of ours planned out beforehand and booked them myself online and in most cases the vendors came to the hotels and picked us up. If you don't want the long drive from GNP to Banff, flying from Kallispell to Calgary would be a good alternative and then renting a car there.

 

[carpenta]

I agree with you Bobo that Kallispell is a great little airport.

 

[Woodview]

Here is what we are doing in late August.

Flying from Cork to London Heathrow then to Vancouver.

Next day Pick up pre paid Hired Car & drive via ferry to Victoria , stay with relations , then back to Vancouver

then Whistler , Lytton , Hope, Osyoos , Castlegar,

Crossover to USA to Newport . stay with relations ,

then to Spokane, Grand Coulee Dam , Levenworth, , Darrington ,

Back into Canada via Abbotford to Vancouver Airport .

..........................

Just the 2 of us & me doing the Driving .

First night booked & the nights in Victoria are booked.

We take to the road & try for motels when we wish to stop.for the night.

Yes I have looked up motels & picked the ones we would like to stay in .

Yes we do have 20 days to do the trip .& we have done most of it before.

It is one way of seeing the sights at our pace & at our price range

 

[acndis]

That sounds fabulous! I have already booked the Fairmont Lake Louise and Banff. We decided to do Jasper (like Tauck) but the rates have not been released for July 2017 at that resort. The other two seem to fill completely so I went ahead and reserved.

We will fly into Calgary. This trip is 1.5 years away but we are so excited! Thanks for the great advice on this board.

Anyone thinking of doing the Glamping trip on their own? We are saving Montana to consider that one. It sounds pretty cool!

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

I am aware of this and my money is going to other companies as a result.

Ours is too. We've booked South East Asia with National Geographic Adventures. I told my Disney TA not to worry about ABD trips for next year cause we booked Nat Geo and her response to me was to let her know how the Nat Geo trip was.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

That's interesting. The dates for the China ABD for September and October are listed as Adults Only in the brochure, but not on the website. I wonder if it's a mistake or if they changed them. That would really suck if they stopped doing Adult Only trips for China, as it's very high on my list for 2017, but I'm not sure if I want to do it non-Adults Only.

Sayhello

I think you'll find that the website is the more accurate of the two. Once the book has gone to print, they can't change it but they can change the information on the website easily enough.

I was looking at the Australian trip last night and my mom said that if they had had an adult's only trip we would consider it for the future but they don't so if we do Australia then we'll be doing it with Nat Geo. The Private Expedition to Australia with Nat Geo stays at a hotel at Uluru (Ayers Rock) that has an age limit on it. They only allow children 10 and over to stay there so no way Disney would ever stay at this resort which is quite an amazing hotel. That's one of the things that draws me to this particular trip. Waking up and looking out at Ayers Rock from my window.

 

[sayhello]

I think you'll find that the website is the more accurate of the two. Once the book has gone to print, they can't change it but they can change the information on the website easily enough.

I was looking at the Australian trip last night and my mom said that if they had had an adult's only trip we would consider it for the future but they don't so if we do Australia then we'll be doing it with Nat Geo. The Private Expedition to Australia with Nat Geo stays at a hotel at Uluru (Ayers Rock) that has an age limit on it. They only allow children 10 and over to stay there so no way Disney would ever stay at this resort which is quite an amazing hotel. That's one of the things that draws me to this particular trip. Waking up and looking out at Ayers Rock from my window.

I realize that about the brochure, but I've also noticed a lot of errors on the website, especially after they've made changes like they did last week.

And there's no way I could or would take a Private Expedition with NatGeo. I travel solo, and a) I'm sure it would be way out of my price range & b) I *like* having travel companions like you do on group trips. That's one of the things I love about doing ABDs.

Sayhello

 

[RhiannonGator]

I was looking at the Australian trip last night and my mom said that if they had had an adult's only trip we would consider it for the future but they don't so if we do Australia then we'll be doing it with Nat Geo. The Private Expedition to Australia with Nat Geo stays at a hotel at Uluru (Ayers Rock) that has an age limit on it. They only allow children 10 and over to stay there so no way Disney would ever stay at this resort which is quite an amazing hotel. That's one of the things that draws me to this particular trip. Waking up and looking out at Ayers Rock from my window.

I was looking at the same Private Expedition with NatGeo. It looked interesting (amazing hotels!) and the itinerary appealed to me. But, like sayhello, I have found I like having the other travel companions. I would actually say my husband and I need the other travel companions

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

I was looking at the same Private Expedition with NatGeo. It looked interesting (amazing hotels!) and the itinerary appealed to me. But, like sayhello, I have found I like having the other travel companions. I would actually say my husband and I need the other travel companions

See my mom and I are the exact opposite actually. We like to travel as just the two of us and doing the group tour to Southern California with ABD was a huge step out of our comfort zone. We had 24 people on the trip and even that felt too big for us. We have about the same number currently booked on our Central Europe trip in the fall. We've actually done a few tours at WDW where it was just us. I did Mickey's Magical Milestones tour with my girlfriend and we were the only ones on the tour and my mom and I did Wild by Design at AK and it was just the two of us. It was great because we could go as fast or as slow as we wanted, we didn't have to wait on others or feel like we were holding others up. I ended up taking most of the photos on our BSM ABD because my mom is not very fast when it comes to taking photos and she doesn't want to make people upset because she's holding the group up so she can take pictures. This is why I think the smaller groups on Nat Geo and the private expeditions will be good for us.