When choosing an ABD trip...

[themilesfamily]

What pushed you in the direction of one particular trip over another? Was it a location you always wanted to visit? Was it a particular activity that caught your eye?

Just curious to know what made that one particular trip jump out at you.

I'm in the decision-making process, myself, so am curious to know how others chose their trip!

 

[lakerz5]

for us, it was sitting around in below zero temperatures during Christmas break trying to figure out what to do for New Year's in 2009. My DH was worried about flying east with weather issues always possible, so I looked into west coast destinations and called ABD to see if there was a Backstage Magic Early Booking Discount available. Disney sounded like a great place to be on New Year's as long as the pipes don't freeze and burst while we are gone

 

[kristilew]

The Peru trip we chose because it was somewhere we'd always wanted to go, but we were a little nervous about doing it by ourselves. With the language barrier and the food and water safety concerns, we just didn't want to chance it. We knew Disney would make it enjoyable. And they did

This year, we really wanted to do the Galapagos one. But it was way expensive, plus shared some similar experiences with the Peru trip, which would be a little much two years in a row. So we decided to aim for 2010 with that.

We still wanted to do an ABD, though, so were looking for a less expensive one. That's how we ended up with Southwest Splendors. Grand Canyon has been on our list for years. We know we could do it on our own, but we really like the whole don't-worry-about-anything way of traveling. Plus we have friends in Sedona, so can add on several days pre trip for very little extra outlay.

Europe doesn't hold as much appeal for us as far as ABD goes, b/c DH works there every month (various countries) so we can easily add on to one of those trips and have locals to show us around, plus have DH's airfare covered by the man.

 

[sayhello]

What pushed you in the direction of one particular trip over another? Was it a location you always wanted to visit? Was it a particular activity that caught your eye?

Yes and Yes. Both. With Southwest Splendors, it had places (Monument Valley, Arches Natl Park) that I'd always wanted to go to. But I wouldn't have chosen the trip if it also didn't have activities that really appealed to me (hiking to Delicate Arch, rafting on the Colorado river, etc).

This year, with the Montana/Canadian Rockies trip, I really wanted to go to the places it went to. But the activities didn't grab me. It wasn't until I had a long discussion with the travel specialist for that trip, getting a more in-depth idea of what the activities entailed, that I decided on the trip. For the Alaska trip, I really loved the activities, but I'd been to Alaska recently, so didn't choose it (although I'm *very* happy with it as an alternate due to the cancellation).

So it *really* comes down to a combination of the 2.

Sayhello

 

[tarak]

I chose Ireland because I've never been there and would like to go (my mother's family comes from Wicklow). My mom has been there, but would like to go back. So I thought I'd take my older daughter along and we could travel as three generations.

 

[Pakey]

We chose London/Paris because we could go to Disneyland Paris after the tour.

 

[Dahly]

All of last summer, we planned to do London/Paris in 2009, but were disappointed when the trip details came out. The trip had been cut by 1 day, and it was more expensive than 2008. I was okay with the higher price, given the changes in the economy, but I wasn't okay with paying considerably more for less.

Then we saw the Galapagos trip, which wasn't previously offered, and even though the base price was higher than L/P, the trip is longer, so the per day price is lower. All meals are included, so that is one less expense to budget for. There isn't a lot of "free time" so there won't be much out of pocket for side trips.

My son is very into turtles (we have 3) and is very excited about the possibility of swimming with sea turtles, as well as seeing the tortoises on the islands.

 

[TDC Nala]

always wanted to go to Australia.

I suppose I was looking at the tour with Disney because it was with Disney but am not sure I would have booked one if they hadn't had tour dates for adults 18 and over only. Maybe I would have. Didn't have to consider it though.

 

[BecABD]

My first ABD trip was in 2007 with my sister on the Viva Italia tour. We just always wanted to go to Italy because our family is originally from there. The viva tour was diverse with Rome, Tuscany and Venice. We are a major Disney loving family so when we found out they were doing tours everywhere, we hopped on board. It might have also helped that my sister's best friend was one of our ABD tour guides on that trip!!

I loved it so much that my friend and I just booked Australia for this summer. We were going to do London/Paris, but for a little more money Australia is a longer trip with more adventure, so we opted for that. Plus it was highly recommended by my sister's BF!!

We might try to do London/Paris in December though. I want to be at the Eiffel Tower for NYE. Also will add on the Disneyland Paris trip to the end of the ABD if we end up going!

 

[Aburns8]

In December my husband and I did the Backstage Magic tour. I chose this one for us because I always have wanted to go to Disneyland and thought it would be the best way to see it. We do Disney World every year at Christmas and have done the Behind Scenes tour there, so I thought we should go in December to Disneyland to see all of the decorations. It was a trip of a lifetime and I want to do it again in about 5 more years!