SO.....if they are gonna cancel....how much notice do they give you?

[smores]

just booked myself and two kids (i guess in disney's eyes my 12 yr old is an adult --so, 2 adults one kid....)on the china adventure for 7/26/09 thru 8/7/09....at what point can we say WE ARE GOING! and dont have to be worried about cancellation...all they told me when i booked is that "there is still availability" what ever that means.....i see they cancelled the one before ours and another earlier in the month

 

[sayhello]

just booked myself and two kids (i guess in disney's eyes my 12 yr old is an adult --so, 2 adults one kid....)on the china adventure for 7/26/09 thru 8/7/09....at what point can we say WE ARE GOING! and dont have to be worried about cancellation...all they told me when i booked is that "there is still availability" what ever that means.....i see they cancelled the one before ours and another earlier in the month

Um, *officially*, their policy is that they can cancel at any time until the tour leaves. They already went through a large effort of cancellations and consolidations of tours, (looks like they overestimated the economy) so the hope is that what's left is not so much at risk for cancellation. They gave most of us several months notice.

Sayhello

 

[Tozzie]

just booked myself and two kids (i guess in disney's eyes my 12 yr old is an adult --so, 2 adults one kid....)on the china adventure for 7/26/09 thru 8/7/09....at what point can we say WE ARE GOING! and dont have to be worried about cancellation...all they told me when i booked is that "there is still availability" what ever that means.....i see they cancelled the one before ours and another earlier in the month

I had 5 months notice, there was a post late last year that someone had 60 days notice but from what I understand ABD is trying to give more notice if they are cancelling trips. Here is a question, was the early booking discount available for you or not? It is not a great method but if it wasn't then the trip had at least 20% booked.

 

[figmentfan2009]

There were 10 rooms booked when we booked a month ago now. We made 12... you make at least 13. I figure it is pretty safe that it will be a go. We "were" on the one they canceled right before this one, and it was a month ago when they canceled it for low interest. There were 3 rooms booked on it (and we were 2 of them) and there was only one on the other July trip they canceled.

When we re-booked to this trip, they said there was now for sure guarantee, but given the number of rooms already booked when we booked it was a safe bet that it would be a go (failing major uprising or catastrophe).

We have a 'will be 15 on the trip' daughter and a 17 year old son.

Where are you from, Smores? Looks like there will be at least 3 Disboards families on this trip.

April

 

[smores]

well...we booked today...live about 90 miles northwest of down town chicago...my daughter will turn 12 on 7/24/09 (2 days prior to our trip...probably be flying that day)...son will be 5 1/2...almost 6 at time of trip. is it safe to work on getting visas? hate to waste time/effort (have to take time off work and drive to chicago) if they might cancel our trip.....

kids can hardly wait....daughter is trying to hit all the continents....got n america, s america, europe, will get africa next summer on magic....that will only leave australia....and antarctica---she's gonna need to find someone else to bring her there!

are there any other families with "younger" kids going? daughter is a little worried about the potties (friends have told her stories)


anybody know what kinda clothes we should pack for china...probably hot and humid...do we need any dressy clothes or all casual?

karen

 

[figmentfan2009]

We already got our visas back. DH didn't want to have to drive to Houston twice (it would have been two whole day trips, one to drop off the paper work, one a week later to pick it up) so he used the company that does it for you (the one you can link to from the ABD site?). It cost a bit more, but we got them back, we didn't have to go through the hassle, and we saved gas. They have been back for a couple weeks now. AND you have a year to use them... but you can only stay for 60 days each trip in a year.

Silly man bought China money already, too... from the bank here. That way he doesn't have to worry about exchanging there... got hong kong dollars and chinese.

From what I've been able to figure out, it is pretty much causal. I'm probably going to take a skirt just in case, but mostly capris and sandals and t-shirts.

This is my kids' first real trip outside the US (except for Canada day trip and Mexico day trip and Nassau on the Disney Magic). DS is looking forward to weird food. BOTH want to take pictures of the public toilets. I was talking on Thursday to our CIO who used to live in China and he said that for the most part you are most likely to see "western" type toilets unless you use public restrooms (that you apparently have to pay to use) while you are out adventuring. Next year, Germany and Czech Republic

We are from central texas (now) and monydave is from New York.

 

[smores]

we have travel a fair amount (italy, france, spain, croatia, greece, mexico, etc)....but never had the experience of what my daughter calls "the freaky toilet"...son could care less...he just goes along with anything....

when are you leaving....i havent booked my flights yet but looks like we will have to leave on friday to arrive by sunday....

i didnt realize i could "hire" someone to get the visas....what do they need? passports and what else? how much where they? ($150 each?)

hope my kids arent the only "little" ones....but i'm sure they will have fun and learn a ton! when i asked they were very "hush hush"...wouldnt tell me anything expect there is "availablity"

 

[figmentfan2009]

Most of our travel has been in the US. Yellowstone, Florida, 8 day river raft trip down the colorado river in the grand canyon, Rocky Mountains, Smokey Mountains, Philly...


The 4 visas...

130 for each visa (get the for a year one, not the 90 day one... they are the same price for the visa)... this cost is regardless of who gets them for you.
23 to send it back to you (they will pack them all in the same envelope so this is one fee)
58 for their fee for each

It means no time off work. No Gas or parking fees... no wear and tear.

You fill out the papers that are on line for each person and send them the papers and your Passports. The ABD website has a link to the company. Larry said it was worth the cost to not have to deal with the hassle... driving 200 miles each way... dealing with traffic, parking and whatever the embassy hassle is.

We are leaving 6 am Friday and will get there Saturday at 2 (we booked an extra early day)... continental through Newark. O Hare probably has direct flights. Austin doesn't... neither does Houston. You could probably get better air fare than we did.

If I recall correctly, MonyDave has a little person about the same age as your son... I have been trying to find the thread but haven't been so lucky with that yet.

They were very nice when I had to rebook and 'fessed up on how many rooms were booked because I REALLY didn't want to have to reschedule my vacation another time and we need to be back in enough time for a little recovery before school starts. Otherwise, they are pretty tight lipped about how many. They couldn't/didn't tell me how many PEOPLE but if I do the math... it could be as few as 27 with you, or as many as 37 (2 per room or 3 per room average).

 

[smores]

what airlines did you use? still debating if i should book it or let disney book it...was thinking of flying friday night to "where ever" (newark would be good)....then flying to beijing saturday (arrive sunday)...but not sure yet (i have to work some on friday.....hard to get time off)

 

[figmentfan2009]

we got continental, and we got the same rate whether Disney booked it or we did, so it was all good

 

[smores]

flight would arrive on 7/26 at 1:50...was told we have to arrive by 2...although appears to be a "day of rest"..not sure why 2pm is so important....what if flight is delayed???

 

[monydave]

Smores,
We're also on the July 26 China trip. We have 3 DS (as a newbie I'm pretty sure this stand for sons?) aged 12, 9 and 6 going on the trip. We are taking Continental non-stop from Newark and arriving a day early to adjust. We also added an extra day at the end. And figment, I'm not being rude. I got your private message but I'm too new (you need 10 posts) to reply. Can't wait to meet you all.

 

[smores]

so glad there will be other kids ....my daughter will turn 12 on 7/24 and my son will be 5 1/2 (almost 6)....daughter is very excited...son doesnt know yet....but i'm sure he will love it....he had a great time in greece last fall....too bad there isnt a site to start roll call or something similar to cruise meets....a couple years ago we did a transatlantic cruise and my daughter met several kids before our trip (on disboards) and still keeps in contact with them--flying to nyc memorial day weekend to see her friend from out cruise....

 

[LisaTex]

Just saying hi! We are on the 7/12-24 china trip - no one else on the dis is with us, so going to tag along with you guys for info etc. if that's ok. i think there are at least 6 of us on different trips this summer.
any ideas for our extra time yet?
can't believe it will be here so soon! this is our 4th ABD trip, I know it will be great!!

 

[LisaTex]

anyone game for a "China trip" thread where we can all post and would be easy to find?

 

[smores]

sounds great to me...would be good to share tips, packing ideas, etc

 

[figmentfan2009]

Smores,
We're also on the July 26 China trip. We have 3 DS (as a newbie I'm pretty sure this stand for sons?) aged 12, 9 and 6 going on the trip. We are taking Continental non-stop from Newark and arriving a day early to adjust. We also added an extra day at the end. And figment, I'm not being rude. I got your private message but I'm too new (you need 10 posts) to reply. Can't wait to meet you all.

Don't sweat the small stuff... Once I sent the private message I realized how many posts you had and figured that was the case.

Sounds like we are on the same Newark Beijing flight.

When did you book your trip? Is this your first ABD trip?

 

[smores]

just got a calll from disney air....i can save $2000 if i fly friday instead of saturday...might be on same flight too