Planning our first ABD trip

[DizGirl20]

Hi,

We are considering our first ABD trip for next summer - most likely Europe.

My burning question is... is it worth the money? I have never been to Europe on vacation (my DH has been several times on business) so I don't even know where to start in regards to planning. After looking through several of the itineraries, it appears Disney takes care of everything. I know I would be in good hands. But it's a lot of money for a family of 4.

What else is not included, other than airfare and souvenirs?

Also, how many people are in a tour group?

Thank you. I am sure I will be back to ask more questions (that have most likely have been asked and answered before)! I appreciate your responses.

 

[prmucha]

Well, I can tell you, any ABD trip is well worth it. Check the website for the items that are not included in terms of meals. All hotel rooms, tickets, etc that are needed for the trip are completely included, as well as any meals they say are. The trips are very accomodating, and really wonderful.

Now, I will say, my wife and I are going to Egypt with ABD next year and this year (2011) we went to Peru with ABD. Both of these trips we figured were something we really wanted to do with a tour group instead of ourselves. However, we did also say that we think Europe is absolutely something we can do ourselves. Europe is very much more English speaking, and these are places that are tourist mecca's with lots of transportation and ways of getting around. To us, the more exotic places are worth the ABD experience. We would love the trips that ABD is doing to Europe, but I think we'd love them equally by ourselves.

Surely you can do it cheaper, but what you have to ask yourself is:
1. Do I want to plan the entire trip myself, or just go?
2. Do I mind getting the tickets and a little bit of transportation for the money I'm saving?
3. Are there places that ABD is not going to, and will those mean I have to plan extra days before or after, or do they make it more worthwhile to make the trip myself?

There is no doubt in my mind you and your entire family will love the Disney difference on the trip. We don't think we would have enjoyed our first trip to Peru this year, and know our trip to Egypt will not be better without Disney. But even in those, we did think about places we would have wanted to spend more time at, or things we would have liked to do.

Oh, and tour group sizes vary greatly. Ours was something in the neighborhood of 30 people. I think all of us felt it was intimate enough to get to know the different families, and yet large enough to make us easier to find.

 

[Chropistopy]

Hi,

We are considering our first ABD trip for next summer - most likely Europe.

My burning question is... is it worth the money? I have never been to Europe on vacation (my DH has been several times on business) so I don't even know where to start in regards to planning. After looking through several of the itineraries, it appears Disney takes care of everything. I know I would be in good hands. But it's a lot of money for a family of 4.

What else is not included, other than airfare and souvenirs?

Also, how many people are in a tour group?

Thank you. I am sure I will be back to ask more questions (that have most likely have been asked and answered before)! I appreciate your responses.

I've been on two ABD trips and have booked a third. I think that it is totally worth the money. You could plan a trip on your own that would visit the same cities as ABD but you can't plan the experiences / exclusives that come with an ABD trip. No doubt, the trips are expensive...and I'm a single traveler! If you can swing the amount, then the trip will definitely live up to the price.

As for things not included, there will be meals that are not included. Any time you're with the guides, they pick the tab. Most trips, there are a few days that you'll have a free afternoon or night. You'll pick up the tab on any meals or activities you do on your own. As you stated, you'll cover the souvenir costs. Other than that, it is all included.

The trips that I've been on included 20 to 30 people in the group. I believe that they can go up to 40. That being said, all groups have two guides. I never felt lost in the crowd or that I didn't get enough time / information from the guides.

It's a costly vacation...but well worth it in my opinion.

 

[tinkerbell10309]

Robyn

Hi my family of 8 adults went on the Viva Italia trip in September - yes it is expensive but it was worth every cent. Once you arrive Disney takes care of everything - it's the service you are paying extra for. The two tour guides stay with you for the whole trip and in each city a local third tour guide joined the group for part of the day. Part of each day is planned out, by the guides, to make efficient use of the short time you have in each city. Each day allows for some "free-time" to explore and/or eat on your own.

You are not just taken to the Coliseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, The Vatican, etc you are told the history of the places you visit. You get up in the morning, eat breakfast and the bus is waiting outside for you. The guides provide snacks and water for the day. No need to wait on long lines to purchase tickets and get in - the guides already took care of that and have front of the line access - just like "fastpass" in the Disney parks. Where meals are included... the restaurants have tables already set and waiting for us - no need to linger and wait. When you move from one hotel to the next - just leave your luggage outside your room and like magic it appears in your next room - no need to lug it to the lobby and onto the bus. No need to check in/out of your room - when you arrive at the next destination the guides pick up the room assignments and hand out keys.
Looking for something to do or eat on your free time - they can offer suggestions and make dinner reservations if you want them to.

What I really liked is that the "must see" sights in Italy were planned out and scheduled - being we were 8 adults, with 8 different time preferences, the bulk of the day was scheduled. No stressing out trying to decide where to go next and what time to go. All you had to do was show up at the meeting time.

Individual arrangements to the airport for the return trip home was taken care of by the guides based on when your flight left.

For our Sept 15th tour there were a total of 36 people - 8 were my family, 8 were children ages 4-11 and then there were 20 other adults (age 23-80). The guides considered everyone's needs and ability - if walking or stairs in a particular place was too difficult they made other arrangements for those guest to meet up with the rest of the group.

As for spending money for on your own time - you can eat inexpensive and have sandwiches or pizza or you can go to restaurants for fuller meals. The choice is yours. The cost to visit other venues (top of bell towers and a church) not included in the tour were about 5 euros each.

No one every lingered around waiting for a tip - it's all taken care of. Except for your two Adventurer Guides which you tip at your own discretion.

Any other questions feel free to post.

 

[abbyjt]

We've been on 5 and have booked our 6th for next summer. Definitely worth it. Tips are not included for the guides. I think they are suggested at $6 to$9 per person per day. An 8 day trip would be $6 X 8 (or however many)days X 4 people. We usually give the higher amount for tips. for our family of 5, on a longer trip like China, tips can run over $1000. We stil feel it's well worth it.

 

[mapsd]

Hi,
We are considering our first ABD trip for next summer - most likely Europe.
My burning question is... is it worth the money? ... .

We were in about the same situation as you and are signed up for the 7/9/12 Viva Italia with our 2 girls (14 & 11). We know this probably will be a once in a lifetime trip, so we're saving up now and skipping a few of our usual things this year to justify the cost.

Doing the math, you could definitely do the same activities for less on your own, but, the big factors for us were the comfort level of it beng our first time to Europe and putting a value on skipping lines, not getting lost, and all the indecision about where to eat each meal, etc.. made us confident that an escorted tour was the right choice.

Having been treated so well on our WDW trips and the fact that we want other kids along made ABD an obvious choice.

We're satisfying some of our desire for independent adventure by arriving earlier to visit Pompeii/Amalfi Coast and stopping in London on the way home (actually much cheaper airfare) for a few days.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

In my opinion, it is definitely worth the money. We did the Knights and Lights trip in September and it was our first trip to Europe. It was so nice not to have to worry about where to eat, figure out how to get places, etc. The guides are fantastic and very sensitive to individual needs and preferences. The ABD hit the highlights we wanted to see so I felt like I could really enjoy our free time.

I thought this would be a once in a lifetime trip, but we will definitely do ABD again!

Laurie

 

[familygoboston]

Chiming in- we've done 1 ABD, and have another booked. We've also taken many other trips with other tour companies also. I can say that ABD is competitive price-wise with other high end smaller group tours, however the ABD groups are slightly larger ( more like 30-50 vs 15-20). However, because ABD includes 2 guides plus a local guide in each location, you break into smaller groups for activities. I never felt the group was too big.
The guiding is excellent; everything is literally done for you.
The biggest " worth it" factor for me: the very unique, special access, authentic travel experiences. I was blown away by the local, authentic, insider opportunities that were provided. I arrived execting the trip to be a bit "disneyfied" and sanitized, but I left feeling I had met the people, understood the culture and natural history as well as seen some of the amazing sights.
Another factor I noticed: on other tours or travels we have sometimes come across snobs, or people who are negative. With our ABD I noticed no one had that attitude ( hey, maybe I was the snob). My DH and I theorize that people who appreciate Disney are generally not cynics, and they approach life with an attitude of being open to the " magic". These destinations are definitely not Disneyfied, but frankly we found the people on our trip were open to the magic of the place where we travelled. And traveling with people like that is well worth it

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Robyn

Hi my family of 8 adults went on the Viva Italia trip in September - yes it is expensive but it was worth every cent. Once you arrive Disney takes care of everything - it's the service you are paying extra for. The two tour guides stay with you for the whole trip and in each city a local third tour guide joined the group for part of the day. Part of each day is planned out, by the guides, to make efficient use of the short time you have in each city. Each day allows for some "free-time" to explore and/or eat on your own.

You are not just taken to the Coliseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, The Vatican, etc you are told the history of the places you visit. You get up in the morning, eat breakfast and the bus is waiting outside for you. The guides provide snacks and water for the day. No need to wait on long lines to purchase tickets and get in - the guides already took care of that and have front of the line access - just like "fastpass" in the Disney parks. Where meals are included... the restaurants have tables already set and waiting for us - no need to linger and wait. When you move from one hotel to the next - just leave your luggage outside your room and like magic it appears in your next room - no need to lug it to the lobby and onto the bus. No need to check in/out of your room - when you arrive at the next destination the guides pick up the room assignments and hand out keys.
Looking for something to do or eat on your free time - they can offer suggestions and make dinner reservations if you want them to.

What I really liked is that the "must see" sights in Italy were planned out and scheduled - being we were 8 adults, with 8 different time preferences, the bulk of the day was scheduled. No stressing out trying to decide where to go next and what time to go. All you had to do was show up at the meeting time.

Individual arrangements to the airport for the return trip home was taken care of by the guides based on when your flight left.

For our Sept 15th tour there were a total of 36 people - 8 were my family, 8 were children ages 4-11 and then there were 20 other adults (age 23-80). The guides considered everyone's needs and ability - if walking or stairs in a particular place was too difficult they made other arrangements for those guest to meet up with the rest of the group.

As for spending money for on your own time - you can eat inexpensive and have sandwiches or pizza or you can go to restaurants for fuller meals. The choice is yours. The cost to visit other venues (top of bell towers and a church) not included in the tour were about 5 euros each.

No one every lingered around waiting for a tip - it's all taken care of. Except for your two Adventurer Guides which you tip at your own discretion.

Any other questions feel free to post.

I did a 14-nt Perillo tour with a college friend back when I was single and this sounds just like it, except for water provided. Also our airfare was included & breakfast/dinner every day & wine with dinner. I'd love to take my family but it would be outrageous $$$$ for a family of 4. Even if I hit the lottery, I couldn't get that much time off my job in the summer.