Who is and who's not booking with ABD for 2010

[kjd469]

Yes, there will definitely be girls her age. At present we have girls who are 21,20,14,16,8,7. Boys 18,13,12,11,7,7. We would love to have you!

Thanks jenbadeaux....we're definitely gonna book this one too....my only problem is my Travel Agent is on vacation this week...she'll be back on Monday, so I'm going to send her the info. so she can book it then. Keeping my fingers crossed that there will still be 3 spots open for us! Looks like an awesome itinerary, and of course it will be full of former ABD'ers, so it should be a good group

 

[goofypa]

This will be our 1st ABD (Hollywood & Backstage Magic - 09/22/09). As for the price of our trip, yes it is on the expensive side! But with most other tour companies, you don't get 2 guides. Also, your pre-trip package is a copy of your itineray, that's it!! As with our trip, BSM we will be doing things that are not offered by any other tour company. I know that with any other tours that we did - we had to find our own transportation to the hotel or in a bus or a van. Not in a town car!!!

 

[Diskidatheart]

My wife and I did a lot of research this past week and finally decided to do the Viva Italia trip by ABD instead of thru Trafalgar. As I mentioned in past posts, the Trafalgar trip was $1,000 less per person, but as we researched more and talked to some individuals that toured with Trafalgar, there are some additional costs that will be incurred. With Trafalgar, there are optional tours that are offered and apparently everyone books those tours. Also with the Trafalgar trip we were considering, they just make a stop at the Coliseum and don't actually go inside. I'm wondering what else you don't get with Trafalgar...actually I'm not wondering now. With all the optional tours, the trip ends up about $350 less. For the $350 per person, I'd rather stay in a better hotel that is centrally located. I feel the ABD experience is worth the extra money. My thoughts are that with a less expensive trip, you may have a nice tour of Italy, but by paying the little bit of extra money, you will be able to experience Italy rather than just tour it.

 

[figmentfan2009]

so, Diskidatheart, when are YOU going to Italy?
;-)

 

[shawn2ca]

Hey all,

Just a thought...it seems to me that all that has changed regarding rates is a relabeling of EBD to whatever their lowest tier is. So last year, if you booked early, you'd get the Early Booking Rate..but if you didn't book it, prices would continue going up as the trip filled up.

This year, if you book early, you get the lowest rate, and if you wait, prices continue to go up. I don't see that the system has changed much. Just imagine that the tier that is currently on sale (assuming they are still the lowest tiers available, which may not be the case) is the early booking rate and then do your comps.

Regarding large increases in prices, are we surprised? At the Parks, Disney increases ticket prices every year. And the dollar has depreciated quite drastically against other foreign currencies. I'm guessing the changes in prices are less about tier strategy, and more about covering increased costs. I've been on an ABD tour and given all you get, I can imagine that they're not cheap to run.

Just a few thoughts.

Shawn

 

[marcemch]

When you say "tier", is tha the FIRST price range posted? I still don't understand this.
When I look at the Alaska 2010 price, I see
Adult $3,479 - $4,269

But when you look at the date specific rates, they range from $3,599 to $3,919 for an adult.

So how do you get the $3479 price?

I haven't voted yet, because none of the voting choices match what I'm doing, which is researching other companies to determine the best value. I don't think ABD will do any better than above or come out with itineraries I'm interested in. I'm not in any particular hurry now with no ABD. Our Alaska experience this year was good, but not the peak experience we had last year in Germany, so I feel like a price savings by going with another company may be worth it.

 

[Bobo912]

Hey all,

Just a thought...it seems to me that all that has changed regarding rates is a relabeling of EBD to whatever their lowest tier is. So last year, if you booked early, you'd get the Early Booking Rate..but if you didn't book it, prices would continue going up as the trip filled up.

This year, if you book early, you get the lowest rate, and if you wait, prices continue to go up. I don't see that the system has changed much. Just imagine that the tier that is currently on sale (assuming they are still the lowest tiers available, which may not be the case) is the early booking rate and then do your comps.

Regarding large increases in prices, are we surprised? At the Parks, Disney increases ticket prices every year. And the dollar has depreciated quite drastically against other foreign currencies. I'm guessing the changes in prices are less about tier strategy, and more about covering increased costs. I've been on an ABD tour and given all you get, I can imagine that they're not cheap to run.

Just a few thoughts.

Shawn

What you say is true, but I think it is more appropriate to compare ABD with other travel companies rather than with Disney theme park price increases. As I've been researching other travel companies I have found that most are pricing their trips basically the same as last year and for the trip I am looking at Tauck Bridges is actually $200 less than last year. My research certainly doesn't include every company out there, but I have looked at several companies that offer itineraries that are similar to ABD's. Also, I don't think you can be certain that you are getting ABD's best price if you book now. In April 2007 they had a kids free offer on some trips. In May 2008 they had up to $600 off per person on some trips (I booked that one myself). In June 2009 they offered $500 air fare credit per person on certain trips. So I don't see that there is really any incentive to book early.

 

[Diskidatheart]

so, Diskidatheart, when are YOU going to Italy?
;-)

We are going on the Adults Only trip in May. I believe the dates are May 2nd to May 10th. I also want to thank everyone for all their posts (both good and bad) regarding the ABD trips. It's a lot of money to spend on a vacation no matter who you end up going with and this site really helps figuring out what you are getting and whether it is worth the price. In this case, I definitely think it's worth the price.

 

[Bobo912]

We are going on the Adults Only trip in May. I believe the dates are May 2nd to May 10th. I also want to thank everyone for all their posts (both good and bad) regarding the ABD trips. It's a lot of money to spend on a vacation no matter who you end up going with and this site really helps figuring out what you are getting and whether it is worth the price. In this case, I definitely think it's worth the price.

Hope you have a wonderful trip! I'm still hoping that it works out for us to go with ABD in 2010. Just going to wait and see.

 

[Tissa]

We decided to go with ABD but we are going to Germany instead of Ireland.
I've looked into other tour companies but they were either too expensive or not nice enough. ABD seems just right for us.

 

[Diskidatheart]

We decided to go with ABD but we are going to Germany instead of Ireland.
I've looked into other tour companies but they were either too expensive or not nice enough. ABD seems just right for us.

We are hoping to do Germany in the next couple of years. It looks like a great trip. We were going back and forth between ABD's trips to Italy, Germany, and Alpine Magic, but decided to do Italy first.

My TA told me that her Disney rep recently went to Germany with ABD and it was the best vacation she ever had.

 

[beansf]

I would like to go on the "Adults Only" Italy trip in October. I have done some research into other companies' Italian tours to compare to ABD. Of the ones I have looked at, only Tauck World Discovery comes close to ABD as far as what is included. In fact, when priced out, they seem very similar. However, I think I am going to put decisions on hold until I come back from my cruise in October. I don't feel there is any rush to make a decision. If the price goes up before I book, then the decision will be made for me: NO. I am just not sure if I want to spend that much money this year. I want to do WDW in January of 2011 and I have other household things I want to take care of, so maybe we will just go to Hawaii. We can do it cheaper and on our own.

 

[puggymom]

My wife and I did a lot of research this past week and finally decided to do the Viva Italia trip by ABD instead of thru Trafalgar. As I mentioned in past posts, the Trafalgar trip was $1,000 less per person, but as we researched more and talked to some individuals that toured with Trafalgar, there are some additional costs that will be incurred. With Trafalgar, there are optional tours that are offered and apparently everyone books those tours. Also with the Trafalgar trip we were considering, they just make a stop at the Coliseum and don't actually go inside. I'm wondering what else you don't get with Trafalgar...actually I'm not wondering now. With all the optional tours, the trip ends up about $350 less. For the $350 per person, I'd rather stay in a better hotel that is centrally located. I feel the ABD experience is worth the extra money. My thoughts are that with a less expensive trip, you may have a nice tour of Italy, but by paying the little bit of extra money, you will be able to experience Italy rather than just tour it.

HI, I have also been comparing Trafalgar to ABD and I see a much larger price difference. The 9 day Rome, Florence, Venice on Trafalgar is $1499, even if you added every optional tour that is signifcantly less than $3859 for ABD. I'm considering though one of the 11 day trips (great Italian cities) they offer and again even with the optional tours it is still less than ABD and you would see more of Italy.

Can I ask what tour you compared to for only $350 difference (understanding you added in all the optional tours), because I agree if that was the difference I would choose ABD too.
Thanks

 

[glassslipper2004]

We aren't sure what we are doing next year. Disney eliminated the trip I was most interested in (Flavors of France), plus we had some additional expenditures for next year other than vacations, so - especially since there is no EBD - we've decided to wait and see.

I have to just add my plug for the Viva Italia trip - it was such a fabulous trip, you will definitely enjoy it. Whether it is the best value I don't know, but it is a wonderful time.

 

[Diskidatheart]

HI, I have also been comparing Trafalgar to ABD and I see a much larger price difference. The 9 day Rome, Florence, Venice on Trafalgar is $1499, even if you added every optional tour that is signifcantly less than $3859 for ABD. I'm considering though one of the 11 day trips (great Italian cities) they offer and again even with the optional tours it is still less than ABD and you would see more of Italy.

Can I ask what tour you compared to for only $350 difference (understanding you added in all the optional tours), because I agree if that was the difference I would choose ABD too.
Thanks

I am comparing it to the Flavours of Italy tour, which I think is the most comparable to the ABD Italy trip. There is one extra day on the Trafalgar trip (keep in mind that with Trafalgar, Day 1 is your flight from the US, whereas Day 1 on Disney is your first full day in Italy). The extra day is a trip to Pisa, but from what I've heard, there is nothing in Pisa except the Leaning Tower and the town is dirty...which I've heard from 2 people. Also be careful with the budget trips with Trafalgar. I spoke with someone who has taken 3 Trafalgar tours (2 of them were close to the same trip through Europe, but one was first class and one was budget). She said the budget trip was pretty much identical as far as what you saw, but they stayed at cheap hotels that were not close to anything, thus you couldn't really explore on your own because it was too difficult to get anywhere.

Personally, I'm a little hesitant on going on a trip that visits a different city everyday. I think you'll spend more time traveling, packing, and unpacking than if you stayed in one place for a few days at a time, but that is obviously my opinion based on my travel experience. Others may and probably do have different opinions.

I may be stating the obvious, but don't forget the optional tour prices on Trafalgar are listed in Euros, so with an exchange rate exceeding 1.41, the optional tours are more expensive than they may appear.

One last comment, I think with ABD, you get more meals included in the price, so there may be even less of a price difference when comparing apples to apples.

I hope this helps.

 

[RSM]

Hi Glassslipper2004. Like you, we were really looking forward to doing "Flavors of France" in 2010. ABD threw a monkey wrench into those plans though. After hours and hours of searching for comparable family friendly tours that would keep a very active 7 year old boy engaged, we found nothing that excited us. Many of the tours were heavy on museums and walking excursions. So, basically, we re-thought our reluctance to go with ABD for all the reasons posted on this board. In looking at the adventures in Europe, the one that intrigued us the most was the Alpine Adventure. So, we decided to combine the Alpine Adventure with four additional nights (5 days) in Paris on our own. We booked the June 20, 2010 trip. So, there will be at least 2 adults and one 7 year old boy (who loves to make new friends) on the trip. It will be our first ABD. Still need to iron out the logistics between Zurich and Paris, but it's really a matter of do we fly or take a train across France.

BTW--Disney really should give Gibson4 a commission for this sale. If not for their blog/trip report posted on this site, we probably never would have considered doing the Alpine adventure as we had our heart set on Paris and southern France. But now that the decision is made and the trip is booked, we are very excited although we are a good 10 months away.

 

[Bobo912]

Has anybody booked a 2010 trip through Costco? Since the new itineraries have been out for a couple of weeks now, I'm wondering why Costco still has only the 2009 itineraries on their website.

 

[beachbunny]

Last year, I booked my Galapagos trip through Costco long before they put it up on their website. Just call the number listed on the Costco website and you'll be put through to an ABD operator.

 

[Bobo912]

Last year, I booked my Galapagos trip through Costco long before they put it up on their website. Just call the number listed on the Costco website and you'll be put through to an ABD operator.

Hmmm...now that you mention it, I did that too. Last year, I booked through Costco the week the trips were announced. I don't think I even looked at their website except to get the phone number. I'm still in wait and see mode for 2010.

 

[Techtravler]

Last year, I booked my Galapagos trip through Costco long before they put it up on their website. Just call the number listed on the Costco website and you'll be put through to an ABD operator.

I just called Costco to see if they had any deal, and I found out you are routed back to Disney. So you are actually talking with Disney Directly anyway. They said sometimes Costco does offer a gift card, but not currently.