Why Adventures by Disney? vs other tour companies

[Cousin Orville]

My favorite ABD hotels:
Hanoi - Sofitel Metropole - easily one of the top hotels in SE Asia
Chengdu - Ritz - amazing view at night, ridiculous marble floors
Shanghai - Peninsula - best hotel in Shanghai
Western Ireland - Dromoland Castle - Very unique historic hotel/castle. Restaurants and bars.
Zermatt - Grand Hotel Zermatterhof - Wonderful, quaint Swiss hotel with direct views of the the Matterhorn.
Rothenburg - Eisenhutt Hotel - Another quaint, historic German hotel with a perfect location.
Loire Valley - Le Chateau Domaine de la Tortiniere - A classic French chateau overlooking the beautiful Loire Valley.

These were all great well chosen hotels. ABD seems to strive very hard to find great resorts and hotels, and I think in that department they do a great job. I also happen to think it's important we always stress to ABD that their choices for hotels and meals are very important to us.

 

[acndis]

I'll play on the favorite hotels:

Greece - Porto Elounda
Ireland - Dromoland
Wyoming - The Wort
Grand Canyon - Enchanted in Sedona
London/Paris - Loved the Landmark but also loved the Paris Art Deco Hotel (chain but can't remember if it was the Hilton)
Vietnam - Loved the Metropole--we upgraded very, very worth it but also loved the place in Laos
Peru - Sol y Luna was awesome!

All were unique and very non-chainey. I think ABD does a pretty good job of putting you in the best 'family friendly' place in town.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I will give some context. I am very fortunate to have the parents that I have. And ABD does have some wonderful properties. My parents have taken me to many Four Seasons that cost 1000 a night. And I see some of the ABD take you to big room count chains. There is some truly wonderful properties in Africa like Cape Grace and Virgin Luxury Edition. I guess family is the main aim of disney. And what I am talking about a for a different market.

 

[Cousin Orville]

I'll play on the favorite hotels:

Greece - Porto Elounda
Ireland - Dromoland
Wyoming - The Wort
Grand Canyon - Enchanted in Sedona
London/Paris - Loved the Landmark but also loved the Paris Art Deco Hotel (chain but can't remember if it was the Hilton)
Vietnam - Loved the Metropole--we upgraded very, very worth it but also loved the place in Laos
Peru - Sol y Luna was awesome!

All were unique and very non-chainey. I think ABD does a pretty good job of putting you in the best 'family friendly' place in town.

I loved the Laos place too and how it looked out over the jungle and mountains. Gorgeous. It made me think of Jurassic Park. The resort in Cambodia was awesome too.

 

[wdwtheplacetobe]

I have loved every single ABD hotel, except the Westin Dublin. It was super generic. But an ideal location. And the Hilton Molino in Venice. Just not a good location or environment. None of the other hotels have felt convention like.

I'm curious...when did you stay at the Hilton in Venice? We were at the Hotel Bauer in May 2013.

 

[Rapunzellover]

I'm curious...when did you stay at the Hilton in Venice? We were at the Hotel Bauer in May 2013.

The Hilton is the current Venice hotel for ABD and has been for a while. I went in May 2015.

 

[SingingMom]

My favorite ABD hotels:
Hanoi - Sofitel Metropole - easily one of the top hotels in SE Asia
Chengdu - Ritz - amazing view at night, ridiculous marble floors
Shanghai - Peninsula - best hotel in Shanghai
Western Ireland - Dromoland Castle - Very unique historic hotel/castle. Restaurants and bars.
Zermatt - Grand Hotel Zermatterhof - Wonderful, quaint Swiss hotel with direct views of the the Matterhorn.
Rothenburg - Eisenhutt Hotel - Another quaint, historic German hotel with a perfect location.
Loire Valley - Le Chateau Domaine de la Tortiniere - A classic French chateau overlooking the beautiful Loire Valley.

These were all great well chosen hotels. ABD seems to strive very hard to find great resorts and hotels, and I think in that department they do a great job. I also happen to think it's important we always stress to ABD that their choices for hotels and meals are very important to us.

Eisenhutt Hotel was so perfect! Truly immersed in the culture - it was like a fairytale!
Loved the Kempenski in Munich. So classy. But I think my favorite was the Ritz Carlton in Vienna. I felt like a Queen!

 

[jackienut]

My husand and I did ABD-Viva Italia several years ago (2008), and planned on the ABD Paris to Provence trip 2 years later; however, Disney eliminated that trip. We booked a grand tour of France in 2013 (17 days) with a different company and had a wonderful trip. We may even have left our hearts there in Normandy. I would say the biggest difference in ABD and the France tour were the 'optional' experiences which brought added costs vs. ABD's 'all inclusive' experiences. After paying for the 'optional excursions' we found that the ABD costs were relatively the same as the costs associated with the other group. There is no way we would ever regret BOTH travels.

 

[Cindy Duffy]

AbD has been wonderful for our family for the past three summers (BSM 2014, London/Paris 2015, Costa Rica 2016) but as my kids get older (now 16/14) our family availability is end of summer when most adventures are adult only exclusives. We're squeezing in the Med Cruise but sadly I think this may be our last unless AbD changes their late August restrictions.

 

[DCPhotoGal]

AbD has been wonderful for our family for the past three summers (BSM 2014, London/Paris 2015, Costa Rica 2016) but as my kids get older (now 16/14) our family availability is end of summer when most adventures are adult only exclusives. We're squeezing in the Med Cruise but sadly I think this may be our last unless AbD changes their late August restrictions.

Yes, I agree on this! That's why we picked Scotland for our first ABD, because it was one of only a couple of family trips available in late August.

 

[calypso726]

I was surprised to see there aren't any trips during Thanksgiving week. It is a time of year that many people decide to do a family vacation. For many people and schools there are 2 built in days that Thursday and Friday you don't have to take off work or miss from school.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

We traveled our first Europe trip ever with ABD (Bella Italia) in 2013 and we chose it for a few reasons. 1) The ease of planned travel, and the fact that Disney is a trusted brand. I researched other travel companies but we just felt most comfortable with Disney. 2) The prince is essentially all inclusive. There's always a few meals on your own, but you know those in advance, and other than that and your guides' tips, there's nothing extra you HAVE to pay. For my number crunching husband, this was freeing mentally. If we had gone on our own, I know for SURE we wouldn't have paid to do some of the things we've done along the way, but now that we've done them they are some of our favorite memories.

Now, 10 ABDs later, I can tell you why we STAY with ABD! 1) We have made life long friends. I thought that was hokey when I read it before our first trip. We don't ever travel with other people. When we cruise, we like to just eat with the three of us. But ABDs....there is something magical and special about the groups of people that are drawn to Disney and we still travel with multiple families we met along the way. By the end of this year, we will have done 7 ABDs with one family alone that we met on our first trip! We always say that there's usually something magical about the types of people drawn to Disney brand. We've found that the vast majority of people on the trip love their families, the kids love their parents and aren't turds, and that even couples without kids enjoy the energy that a trip with kids offers. 2) It may not be the cheapest by a long shot, but we know it will be top notch. We'll be taken care of, needs met, requests worked on, any problems fixed. The guides work so hard to make sure these trips are amazing.

Regarding hotels....Hubby is a Lifetime Platinum with Marriott, so guess where we stay when we book hotels on our own? Marriotts, and only Marriotts. Which is awesome, BUT our adventures take us to so many amazing hotels along the way now! Some of our favorites have been quirky boutique hotels, fancy boutique hotels, villas that felt so cozy...places I would have never in a million years booked on our own but are so glad ABD had us there! Even places SO FAR out of our comfort zone (I'm talking to you, Tortugero) but that one night that for us was essentially glamping is one of our fondest memories of LOOK WHAT WE DID! We've become less "indoorsey" and more willing to try hotels, adventures, foods, etc than we may have otherwise because ABD has led us there!

Another reason we stick with Disney is because I feel 100% confident that they have our SAFETY as a top priority. No matter where we are in the world, I know that we are being led to safe places, eating in safe places, taking safe routes to where we are going. We've had folks get injuries on our trips...our guides whipped out that first aid kit and made sure everyone was ok before moving on. We've had folks get sick on trips....our guides were diligent in making sure people had what they needed, even setting up a doctor visit to a hotel for one of our trip mates.

We are in a place where we could pick any outfitter, and other than a trip to Antartica (once it's our last continent to check off), I can't see us taking any other guided trips with anyone else!

 

[Calfan]

I was surprised to see there aren't any trips during Thanksgiving week. It is a time of year that many people decide to do a family vacation. For many people and schools there are 2 built in days that Thursday and Friday you don't have to take off work or miss from school.

Totally agree with this! Our kids get the whole week off, so it's a great time for us to travel.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

We have the time and funds to do as many ABDs a year as we can fit into our calendar...we homeschool and Hubby is retired. But we run into trips, too, that are only during school holidays! If they could throw in a November itenerary that woudl be excellent! haha

 

[sayhello]

AbD has been wonderful for our family for the past three summers (BSM 2014, London/Paris 2015, Costa Rica 2016) but as my kids get older (now 16/14) our family availability is end of summer when most adventures are adult only exclusives. We're squeezing in the Med Cruise but sadly I think this may be our last unless AbD changes their late August restrictions.

I'm going to have to check my old brochures when I get home, but I'm pretty sure that ABD used to do trips up through the start of September. If they don't do it any more, I have to think there just wasn't the demand for it. But again, I'll verify that later.

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

Trips are offered throughout the year. If you go to the ABD main website you can click on "Getting Started" and select the date period you are interested in, and it will provide the trips and dates.

Indeed, while we are going to Australia in June, they have an available late August date. You and your family should go "Down Under" or better yet, our favorite ADB was South Africa, and that is at the tail end of August, which is what you are looking for. It's also not an adults only trip. You'll love it.

 

[Lulu27]

AbD has been wonderful for our family for the past three summers (BSM 2014, London/Paris 2015, Costa Rica 2016) but as my kids get older (now 16/14) our family availability is end of summer when most adventures are adult only exclusives. We're squeezing in the Med Cruise but sadly I think this may be our last unless AbD changes their late August restrictions.

I have wondered...since our children over 12 are charged as adults by ABD, are they able to go on "adult exclusive" trips?

 

[CrazyZeus1]

I have wondered...since our children over 12 are charged as adults by ABD, are they able to go on "adult exclusive" trips?

Nope! We pay full price but they can't go until they're.... 16 or 18...I forget which. ha!

 

[OhanaCuz]

We traveled our first Europe trip ever with ABD (Bella Italia) in 2013 and we chose it for a few reasons. 1) The ease of planned travel, and the fact that Disney is a trusted brand. I researched other travel companies but we just felt most comfortable with Disney. 2) The prince is essentially all inclusive. There's always a few meals on your own, but you know those in advance, and other than that and your guides' tips, there's nothing extra you HAVE to pay. For my number crunching husband, this was freeing mentally. If we had gone on our own, I know for SURE we wouldn't have paid to do some of the things we've done along the way, but now that we've done them they are some of our favorite memories.

Now, 10 ABDs later, I can tell you why we STAY with ABD! 1) We have made life long friends. I thought that was hokey when I read it before our first trip. We don't ever travel with other people. When we cruise, we like to just eat with the three of us. But ABDs....there is something magical and special about the groups of people that are drawn to Disney and we still travel with multiple families we met along the way. By the end of this year, we will have done 7 ABDs with one family alone that we met on our first trip! We always say that there's usually something magical about the types of people drawn to Disney brand. We've found that the vast majority of people on the trip love their families, the kids love their parents and aren't turds, and that even couples without kids enjoy the energy that a trip with kids offers. 2) It may not be the cheapest by a long shot, but we know it will be top notch. We'll be taken care of, needs met, requests worked on, any problems fixed. The guides work so hard to make sure these trips are amazing.

Regarding hotels....Hubby is a Lifetime Platinum with Marriott, so guess where we stay when we book hotels on our own? Marriotts, and only Marriotts. Which is awesome, BUT our adventures take us to so many amazing hotels along the way now! Some of our favorites have been quirky boutique hotels, fancy boutique hotels, villas that felt so cozy...places I would have never in a million years booked on our own but are so glad ABD had us there! Even places SO FAR out of our comfort zone (I'm talking to you, Tortugero) but that one night that for us was essentially glamping is one of our fondest memories of LOOK WHAT WE DID! We've become less "indoorsey" and more willing to try hotels, adventures, foods, etc than we may have otherwise because ABD has led us there!

Another reason we stick with Disney is because I feel 100% confident that they have our SAFETY as a top priority. No matter where we are in the world, I know that we are being led to safe places, eating in safe places, taking safe routes to where we are going. We've had folks get injuries on our trips...our guides whipped out that first aid kit and made sure everyone was ok before moving on. We've had folks get sick on trips....our guides were diligent in making sure people had what they needed, even setting up a doctor visit to a hotel for one of our trip mates.

We are in a place where we could pick any outfitter, and other than a trip to Antartica (once it's our last continent to check off), I can't see us taking any other guided trips with anyone else!

Thank you for taking the time to share this. As someone who hasn't taken an ABD yet it is very helpful.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Thank you for taking the time to share this. As someone who hasn't taken an ABD yet it is very helpful.

You bet! Hope to see you on one someday!