San Francisco ABD

[AquamarineSteph]

He was fantastico!

 

[wdwtheplacetobe]

Marco B is a gem, isn't he?

YES!!!! Absolutely!!!

 

[mathgeek]

I'll be back with a trip report then!

I'll look forward to that too!

I'm looking to do this trip in the summer of 2016 and will hopefully be pairing it with a week at Aulani.

 

[OKW Lover]

Val & I did this ABD as part of the special DIS Boards/Dreams Unlimited trip which combined the SF weekend with Back Stage Magic. This is the tour that Kevin mentioned earlier in this thread.

In short, SF was very fun and exhausting. You get a really great experience of the city and the surrounding area. Our guides were Hanneke and Summer Rose, both of whom were spectacular. They worked well together (along with a special SF local guide Eleni) to ensure that the group got to see the highlights.

Parts of this trip were customized for just our group so I won't go into all the experiences since they might not be the same on a "standard" trip. We thought the visit to the Disney Family Museum was a really special part of the trip. Wish we had more time to wander through all the exhibits there. There were several meals included in the trip at some SF restaurants which were fun dining experiences. Our hotel was the Fairmont, which is like a grand old dame of SF. We upgraded our room on arrival to a tower room ($50/night extra) and had beautiful views of the bay.

 

[tgeorge]

Thanks OKW Lover for the information! Now I just have to wait until next October!! That's great to know that we can upgrade our room at check in if there is availability. I would definitely do it if it meant views of the bay. So glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip.

Now I'm contemplating 2017...either BSM or the Italy/Switzerland trip. Very different, but it also depends on whether or not I take a trip to London that I have semi planned. Is it bad that I'm already addicted to ABD and I haven't taken my first one yet??

 

[YodasMom]

We thought the visit to the Disney Family Museum was a really special part of the trip. Wish we had more time to wander through all the exhibits there.

Isn't Disney Family Museum awesome??? I flew up to SF last summer, on my own after BSM, and spent an entire day at the Museum. I got there at opening and left when they were locking the doors that night! I was there for a little over 8 hours and still felt like I could have spent a lot more time. Mary Blair's exhibit was also there at that time.

Sounds like your whole Adventure was amazing! Wish I could have been able to do it.

 

[OKW Lover]

Isn't Disney Family Museum awesome??? I flew up to SF last summer, on my own after BSM, and spent an entire day at the Museum. I got there at opening and left when they were locking the doors that night! I was there for a little over 8 hours and still felt like I could have spent a lot more time. Mary Blair's exhibit was also there at that time.

Sounds like your whole Adventure was amazing! Wish I could have been able to do it.

The special exhibit while we were there was "Disney & Dali" which compared the lives and works of Walt and Salvador Dali. I know they were contemporaries and apparently were interested in each others work, but to me some of the stuff was pretty forced. I also learned that I don't care for Dali's art.

 

[YodasMom]

The special exhibit while we were there was "Disney & Dali" which compared the lives and works of Walt and Salvador Dali. I know they were contemporaries and apparently were interested in each others work, but to me some of the stuff was pretty forced. I also learned that I don't care for Dali's art.

Yes, I knew Dali's exhibit was there. Was wondering how it was. Hopefully, you can get back there some time. I felt like I did not allow myself enough time for the exhibits of last couple of decades of Walt's life, even though I was there the entire day. There was also a 1964 World's Fair video shown on the lower level from the Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV show when Walt announced the Disney pavilions for that fair. It was awesome, too!

Just. Too. Much. Good. Stuff!!!.........LOL!!!

 

[LPinFL]

I'm considering this trip in 2016 since I can't do Australia for a couple of years. Has anyone done it? Thoughts? I looked through the trip reports and I didn't see anything posted. Thanks in advance.

We did this trip last September and loved it. We're in FL, so we flew out three days early to get to my favorite jewelry store and for the wine drinkers to hit Napa. We hired a private guide that day to handle driving, reservations, winery selection, etc., and that really enhanced the experience.

The AbD portion of the trip was excellent. Great restaurants, especially MY China, Martin Yan's restaurant. Going to Lucasfilms made all of my nerd friends incredibly jealous! It was a great way to hit some highlights other than Alcatraz and get a good feel for the city and some of the outlying sites such as Angel Island. The Walt Disney Family Museum was very interesting.

Yes, as mentioned, the Fairmont is stunning. Check what singers might be appearing at Feinstein's at the Nikko. We were lucky enough to catch Linda Eder, who then autographed her new CD and posed for pictures after the show. If you've never been, try to fit in Beach Blanket Babylon. The hotel will let you take advantage of their car/driver if it's available for those short runs.

 

[drbayside]

Val & I did this ABD as part of the special DIS Boards/Dreams Unlimited trip which combined the SF weekend with Back Stage Magic. This is the tour that Kevin mentioned earlier in this thread.

In short, SF was very fun and exhausting. You get a really great experience of the city and the surrounding area. Our guides were Hanneke and Summer Rose, both of whom were spectacular. They worked well together (along with a special SF local guide Eleni) to ensure that the group got to see the highlights.

Parts of this trip were customized for just our group so I won't go into all the experiences since they might not be the same on a "standard" trip. We thought the visit to the Disney Family Museum was a really special part of the trip. Wish we had more time to wander through all the exhibits there. There were several meals included in the trip at some SF restaurants which were fun dining experiences. Our hotel was the Fairmont, which is like a grand old dame of SF. We upgraded our room on arrival to a tower room ($50/night extra) and had beautiful views of the bay.

Thanks so much for letting us know about the SF trip, DH and I are going on the Adult Exclusive in October using our DVC Points. We are arriving a day early at the Fairmont. Any restaurant suggestions for dinner?

 

[OKW Lover]

Any restaurant suggestions for dinner?

Not really. We did most of our dining by grazing during the day and settled for just wine and cheese in our room at night. What we did was to go to the Ferry Building and bough wine at the Wine Merchant, cheese at the Cowgirl Creamery (Mt. Tam is wonderful), bread at the Acme Bakery, and salami at Boccalone. Brought that all back to the room and had it there. We then retired early so we would be well rested for the start of the adventure.

 

[RSM]

If you like Seafood, take a look at Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf. Over the years it's gotten a little touristy, but the food is still really good.

 

[OKW Lover]

If you like Seafood, take a look at Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf. Over the years it's gotten a little touristy, but the food is still really good.

This reminded me of another place we ate that was pretty good. Francisco's which is very near Fishermans Wharf.