San Francisco Adults Only trip report

[calypso726]

We flew in to SFO the evening before our adults only San Francisco long weekend getaway. Our driver, Joey, was waiting at the entrance to baggage claim holding a sign with our names. After collecting our luggage he whisked us off in a Mercedes Benz to the Fairmont. During the drive to the hotel he gave us tips on places to eat, drink and what to see during our off time. The hotel is simply breathtaking and our room had a beautiful view of the city. Adventures by Disney had a letter waiting for us letting us know where and when to meet for breakfast in the morning.

 

[calypso726]

Day 1

Our group met for breakfast. We were able to meet our guides Hanneke and Jessica and got to know our fellow travelers who came from all over and ranged in ages from 20 somethings to sixty somethings. Some were couples, some were friends, some were family and some were single travelers. After breakfast we took a trolley and headed off to Blazing Saddles where we were outfitted with bikes and helmets. There was also an option of a trolley city tour for those who weren’t up for the biking. We biked along the bay and to the Presidio. We also made a pit stop at the Palace of Fine Arts for pictures and some story telling. You might notice that the Palace of Fine Arts may remind you of R2D2. After biking Adventures by Disney threw in a little surprise and took us to Ghirardelli Square and bough everyone some chocolates! Lunch that afternoon was at M.Y China. The food was awesome and so was the entertainment! Once lunch was over we had the afternoon to ourselves. We were trolleyed back to the hotel to spend the next few hours as we wished. Those who wanted to head to Fisherman’s Warf Festival Marketplace on Pier 39 were trolleyed there. We opted for that and walked around and got to see the sea lions that hang out at the pier. We all met back at the hotel lobby and then headed for dinner at the Waterbar. We were treated to a cocktail party style dinner reception in a private room. There was a tasty array of bite size eats and plenty of wine. Our private rom had a balcony that boasts an outstanding view of the Oakland Bay Bridge which we were able to see before sunset and then at night all lit up. AbD then took us to Treasure Island to enjoy the views from that vantage point.

 

[calypso726]

Day 2

Breakfast this morning was on your own so we slept in and just grabbed snacks from our guides on the bus. We made our way through Napa Valley as we headed to Silverado Vineyards which owned by the Disney family. While there we were treated to a tour of the winery and learned about wine making. Afterwards we were seated outside and experienced blending our own wines in a very picturesque setting. We enjoyed a catered lunch at the vineyard and paired different wines with our meal. All of the guests were gifted with a bottle of wine to take home. Next stop, Muir Woods National Monument. Here we enjoyed a self-guided tour through the majestic redwoods. Muir Woods is the inspiration for the Ewok Village and one can almost expect an Ewok to pop out at any moment. Pictures simply do not do this place justice. Dinner that evening was on our own so we met up with friends who drove us through the famous crooked Lombard Street, took us to the Coit Tower which looks like a fire hose nozzle. The area also provides great views. From there we headed to The Stinking Rose which is a cool little restaurant in North Beach aka San Francisco’s Little Italy. This place has become famous for its culinary homage to garlic. We only stayed for appetizers and then headed off towards Ocean Beach to Sutro’s at The Cliff House for dinner. The view is amazing and we had a really nice dinner. From there we visited Twin Peaks and could see the entire city since the weather gods were in our favor this whole trip. We capped off our evening on our own with some Mitchell’s ice cream near the Mission District. This place has been family owned and operated since 1953 and is a favorite of the locals.

 

[calypso726]

Day 3

The normal itinerary includes a guided tour and picnic on Angel Island. However, our group had an itinerary change due to the holiday weekend. Instead, we experienced a ferry boat tour om the Tamalpais with Captain Maggie that took us beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and a wonderful tour of the area. I was really glad we got to experience this. Captain Maggie was awesome and is a fantastic storyteller! After our Bay cruise we headed off to Lucas Films. We took pictures in front of the Yoda Fountain with Jedi Hanneke. There were a number of people who were not with our tour and would peek inside windows of Lucas Films trying to catch a glimpse of the interior before we made our way inside and some even tried to sneak in with our group. The general public is not allowed inside. This is a unique experience only for the guests on this particular tour with Adventures by Disney. The lobby is decorated with life size replicas of Darth Vader and Boba Fett. The bookcase is chock full of Star Wars memorabilia. We were allowed to take pictures in the lobby to our heart’s content. Then we were shown George Lucas’ collection of vintage movie posters as we made our way to the Lucas private screening theater. Here pictures were not allowed but we were able to sit and enjoy a private screening that was put together just for Adventures by Disney. After our stop at Lucas Films we made our way to the Walt Disney Family museum. Here were given a private tour and told about the life and history of Walt Disney. I learned quite a few new things which is rather rare for this Disney fan girl. I could have easily spent all day here and will definitely be coming back. Our farewell dinner that evening was at San Francisco’s award winning One Market restaurant. The worst part of these trips is having to say goodbye to all of your new friends and the guides who have become family. This group didn’t want the evening to end and say goodbye just yet so 20 or so of the 31 people in the group decided to get together for drinks at the Tonga room in the Fairmont at one giant long table.

Day 4

Say goodbye to our guides who are now like family while awaiting transport back to the airport also provided by Adventure by Disney. Give our guides their well-deserved gratuities and hope we have the pleasure of their company and expertise on a future adventure.

This was our 5th Adventures by Disney and we have 3 more already booked. Our first one was to Scotland in 2013 and then we were hooked. Like most people we were very reluctant to try out these adventures due to the cost. Many say you can create the same itineraries for less. Perhaps in some cases that is true, to an extent. However, there are normally unique experiences that you simply can NOT do on your own as they are exclusive to AbD. Visiting Lucas Films, canoeing off of Urquhart Castle onto LochNess in Scotland are just a couple that come to mind. In addition, the planning it to squeeze in all of the experiences that AbD does is daunting to say the least. If something goes wrong you don’t have to worry about it because they will take care of it. The experience of two amazing guides is something you can’t really put a price tag on. So the value/cost benefit is subjective but you can’t simply look at the itinerary. Personally, I like having them plan and take care of everything so I can relax and enjoy my vacation. I like only having to plan our on your own time or pre and post AbD stays. It makes things so much easier.

 

[k5jm]

Love the Trip Report! Hanneke is fantastic!

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Loved the trip report! We were on the trip with you guys!

Have you been able to access your ABD photos from the trip yet? Every time I go to the site and enter the code, nothing comes up.

 

[calypso726]

Loved the trip report! My daughter and I were on the trip with you guys!

Have you been able to access your ABD photos from the trip yet? Every time I go to the site and enter the code, nothing comes up.

Thanks AquamarineSteph It was a great trip and I thought we had a really awesome group of people on our trip! Nope, I don't think it has been uploaded yet. Hopefully, soon!

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Thanks AquamarineSteph It was a great trip and I thought we had a really awesome group of people on our trip! Nope, I don't think it has been uploaded yet. Hopefully, soon!

We DID have a fantastic group which was all the more remarkable because we had so many! Then again, I have never had a bad group of fellow Adventurers.

 

[RebelHawk]

Thanks for a great report.

 

[sayhello]

Sounds like a really nice trip! Very tempting...

Sayhello

 

[tgeorge]

Thanks so much for doing this trip report! I'm even more excited for next October now (if that was even possible)

It is nice to know about the free time since I'm going to try to book a vacation photographer (thanks Cousin Orville for the info in that)!

I agree. We could have easily planned our own trip and saved money,however there are just so many things that I don't think we could experience on our own. I know that it will be worth it! And I already have a couple more that I know I want to do. However, I think either the Ireland trip or the Italy/Switzerland trip will be the one I book next. Unless, of course, I can talk my friend into the London/Paris trip instead of doing London on our own ;-)

Thanks again for the insight and I'm so glad to hear that you guys had such an awesome time! The photos look great! You can definitely tell everyone was enjoying themselves. And the Muir Woods look breathtaking!!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Looks like a fun trip! Thanks for the trip report! Out of curiosity what's the other ABD you have booked? I see the River Cruise and Wyoming, but my browser is cutting off your third.

 

[OKW Lover]

Love the Trip Report! Hanneke is fantastic!

What Mike said!!!!

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

Great trip report...I have to ask...where did you get your ABD fleece jacket?

 

[calypso726]

Thanks for a great report.

You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!

Sounds like a really nice trip! Very tempting...

Sayhello

It was really nice. I do hope they come up with more of the long weekend ones. I loved the New York trip. Nashville though doesn't intrigue me though.

Thanks so much for doing this trip report! I'm even more excited for next October now (if that was even possible)

It is nice to know about the free time since I'm going to try to book a vacation photographer (thanks Cousin Orville for the info in that)!

I agree. We could have easily planned our own trip and saved money,however there are just so many things that I don't think we could experience on our own. I know that it will be worth it! And I already have a couple more that I know I want to do. However, I think either the Ireland trip or the Italy/Switzerland trip will be the one I book next. Unless, of course, I can talk my friend into the London/Paris trip instead of doing London on our own ;-)

Thanks again for the insight and I'm so glad to hear that you guys had such an awesome time! The photos look great! You can definitely tell everyone was enjoying themselves. And the Muir Woods look breathtaking!!

You are welcome! We did London/Paris last year and it was awesome. Scotland is still my favorite ABD though. I spoke with someone on a previous ABD that did the Italy/Switzerland one and she said it was awesome!

Looks like a fun trip! Thanks for the trip report! Out of curiosity what's the other ABD you have booked? I see the River Cruise and Wyoming, but my browser is cutting off your third.

Oh, I didn't add that one on yet. It's the post River Cruise ABD in Prague, but there are more planned We are planning Backstage Magic after our Aulani trip in Hawaii for 2017, China in 2018 and South Africa for my 50th B-day in 2019. This is all assuming ABD doesn't announce something new that I must do right away in case they don't offer it again. Then again, if DCL announces new ships I'd forgo my plans for another Maiden Voyage.

What Mike said!!!!

Totes agree!

Great trip report...I have to ask...where did you get your ABD fleece jacket?

I understand ABD used to sell merchandise a while ago. Some of it winds up on Ebay now and then.

 

[drbayside]

Thanks so much for the trip report. DH and I are beyond excited for our trip in October. Great Pics and perfect account of your trip. We are ABD newbies. We wanted to book the River Cruise for 2016 but it sold out so quickly that we ended up booking a 10 day Viking River Cruise with 3 days pre cruise stay in Prague. We are now torn between booking ABD River Cruise or another destination with ABD for 2017.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Great trip report, Calypso! This one is right in my backyard Very fun to see you and DH with Hanne again.

 

[drbayside]

Day 3

The normal itinerary includes a guided tour and picnic on Angel Island. However, our group had an itinerary change due to the holiday weekend. Instead, we experienced a ferry boat tour om the Tamalpais with Captain Maggie that took us beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and a wonderful tour of the area. I was really glad we got to experience this. Captain Maggie was awesome and is a fantastic storyteller! After our Bay cruise we headed off to Lucas Films. We took pictures in front of the Yoda Fountain with Jedi Hanneke. There were a number of people who were not with our tour and would peek inside windows of Lucas Films trying to catch a glimpse of the interior before we made our way inside and some even tried to sneak in with our group. The general public is not allowed inside. This is a unique experience only for the guests on this particular tour with Adventures by Disney. The lobby is decorated with life size replicas of Darth Vader and Boba Fett. The bookcase is chock full of Star Wars memorabilia. We were allowed to take pictures in the lobby to our heart’s content. Then we were shown George Lucas’ collection of vintage movie posters as we made our way to the Lucas private screening theater. Here pictures were not allowed but we were able to sit and enjoy a private screening that was put together just for Adventures by Disney. After our stop at Lucas Films we made our way to the Walt Disney Family museum. Here were given a private tour and told about the life and history of Walt Disney. I learned quite a few new things which is rather rare for this Disney fan girl. I could have easily spent all day here and will definitely be coming back. Our farewell dinner that evening was at San Francisco’s award winning One Market restaurant. The worst part of these trips is having to say goodbye to all of your new friends and the guides who have become family. This group didn’t want the evening to end and say goodbye just yet so 20 or so of the 31 people in the group decided to get together for drinks at the Tonga room in the Fairmont at one giant long table.

Day 4

Say goodbye to our guides who are now like family while awaiting transport back to the airport also provided by Adventure by Disney. Give our guides their well-deserved gratuities and hope we have the pleasure of their company and expertise on a future adventure.

This was our 5th Adventures by Disney and we have 3 more already booked. Our first one was to Scotland in 2013 and then we were hooked. Like most people we were very reluctant to try out these adventures due to the cost. Many say you can create the same itineraries for less. Perhaps in some cases that is true, to an extent. However, there are normally unique experiences that you simply can NOT do on your own as they are exclusive to AbD. Visiting Lucas Films, canoeing off of Urquhart Castle onto LochNess in Scotland are just a couple that come to mind. In addition, the planning it to squeeze in all of the experiences that AbD does is daunting to say the least. If something goes wrong you don’t have to worry about it because they will take care of it. The experience of two amazing guides is something you can’t really put a price tag on. So the value/cost benefit is subjective but you can’t simply look at the itinerary. Personally, I like having them plan and take care of everything so I can relax and enjoy my vacation. I like only having to plan our on your own time or pre and post AbD stays. It makes things so much easier.

 

[drbayside]

Thanks so much for your report, very thorough. Pictures are fantastic!

 

[drbayside]

Day 3

The normal itinerary includes a guided tour and picnic on Angel Island. However, our group had an itinerary change due to the holiday weekend. Instead, we experienced a ferry boat tour om the Tamalpais with Captain Maggie that took us beneath the Golden Gate Bridge and a wonderful tour of the area. I was really glad we got to experience this. Captain Maggie was awesome and is a fantastic storyteller! After our Bay cruise we headed off to Lucas Films. We took pictures in front of the Yoda Fountain with Jedi Hanneke. There were a number of people who were not with our tour and would peek inside windows of Lucas Films trying to catch a glimpse of the interior before we made our way inside and some even tried to sneak in with our group. The general public is not allowed inside. This is a unique experience only for the guests on this particular tour with Adventures by Disney. The lobby is decorated with life size replicas of Darth Vader and Boba Fett. The bookcase is chock full of Star Wars memorabilia. We were allowed to take pictures in the lobby to our heart’s content. Then we were shown George Lucas’ collection of vintage movie posters as we made our way to the Lucas private screening theater. Here pictures were not allowed but we were able to sit and enjoy a private screening that was put together just for Adventures by Disney. After our stop at Lucas Films we made our way to the Walt Disney Family museum. Here were given a private tour and told about the life and history of Walt Disney. I learned quite a few new things which is rather rare for this Disney fan girl. I could have easily spent all day here and will definitely be coming back. Our farewell dinner that evening was at San Francisco’s award winning One Market restaurant. The worst part of these trips is having to say goodbye to all of your new friends and the guides who have become family. This group didn’t want the evening to end and say goodbye just yet so 20 or so of the 31 people in the group decided to get together for drinks at the Tonga room in the Fairmont at one giant long table.

Day 4

Say goodbye to our guides who are now like family while awaiting transport back to the airport also provided by Adventure by Disney. Give our guides their well-deserved gratuities and hope we have the pleasure of their company and expertise on a future adventure.

This was our 5th Adventures by Disney and we have 3 more already booked. Our first one was to Scotland in 2013 and then we were hooked. Like most people we were very reluctant to try out these adventures due to the cost. Many say you can create the same itineraries for less. Perhaps in some cases that is true, to an extent. However, there are normally unique experiences that you simply can NOT do on your own as they are exclusive to AbD. Visiting Lucas Films, canoeing off of Urquhart Castle onto LochNess in Scotland are just a couple that come to mind. In addition, the planning it to squeeze in all of the experiences that AbD does is daunting to say the least. If something goes wrong you don’t have to worry about it because they will take care of it. The experience of two amazing guides is something you can’t really put a price tag on. So the value/cost benefit is subjective but you can’t simply look at the itinerary. Personally, I like having them plan and take care of everything so I can relax and enjoy my vacation. I like only having to plan our on your own time or pre and post AbD stays. It makes things so much easier.