Winter Wonderland

[wallawallakids]

Sounds AMAZING!!! Merry Christmas!

 

[sayhello]

It's Christmas morning and everyone's still asleep...and this trip is excellent. There are more "surprises" on this trip than we've had in the three, so I'm not posting spoilers at this point. Opening dinner was an over abundance of food and well done. For those of you who have taken several ABD trips, you know the usual presentations - but some nice added touches. The Wort Hotel continues to be above and beyond for the holidays. Fully decked out with the staff really "into" the season.

They've already had more snow than usual this time of year; we saw helicopters circling in the morning, and our driver told us they were preparing to blast for controlled avalanches. Just after he said this we drove by a temporary highway sign warning of avalanches. Whoa!

The dog sledding was much more than we anticipated. Use their gear! We all did, and were all grateful. The views were magnificent. The snow amazing. The dogs, powerful and for some a bit of a challenge. The guides they send along are outstanding. My daugther and I were on one sled, my wife, daughter and guide on a second. We made one team. They break you out so that there isn't a large group traveling together. You are a few minutes apart, but don't see or hear anyone else. Our sled's dogs were overly enthusiastic, so they had to be held back a bit which involves putting some of your weight on a drag pad. This will catch all the snow - so use their boots! When the dogs were substituted around, then it got physical for me, helping push the sled a bit. Whew! Several of us did this and I think this was chosen and planned to give us the full experience. I loved it, but my wife watching said she would prefer to stay in the sled...

So you drop your clothes at the hot spring, leaving only you bathing suit on, and run across a snowy boardwalk into the hot springs. Really nice. Several then exited the hot springs to dive into a snowbank (at 19 degrees) and then back into the water. Lunch was prepared while we were in the springs. The hard part is then running back over the boardwalk to go to the unheated changing room where your clothes were starting to freeze, dry off and get redressed for a great luncheon. Then the trip back. The trip back has some serious speed to it - its much more downhill than the trip up. With the sun slipping behind the mountains, again the scenery cannot be described. And the temperature drop is remarkable (and wonderful). Because it was Christmas Eve, the guides had made reservations at a number of restaurants to hold them for folks who had not made the calls. They magically got ours changed so we could have an earlier dinner and join another family. Christmas Eve is truly magical in Jackson Hole.
Today we are off to Yellowstone. SayHello - can I post a 15 second video link as well in a trip report? To hear the dogs - the sounds of the sled - (if I can make it work) better conveys the point.

Sounds magical Grifdog22! I'm seriously considering signing up for this trip!

Absolutely you can post a video here! Do you know how to do that? I've found that photobucket's links put a thumprint on the page, and clicking on it goes to the video! Or just post a link to wherever you manage to load it. I'd *love* to see & hear it!

Sayhello

 

[carpenta]

Thanks for this wonderful Christmas present Grifdog. Merry Christmas to everyone..

 

[acndis]

We are here now, too! Just met Whitney and Hanneka and are looking forward to the Welcome Dinner tonight. We love Jackson so far and the weather has been beautiful.

 

[sayhello]

We are here now, too! Just met Whitney and Hanneka and are looking forward to the Welcome Dinner tonight. We love Jackson so far and the weather has been beautiful.

Have a great time! Looking forward to your Report!

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

Thanks for this wonderful Christmas present Grifdog. Merry Christmas to everyone..

We are still at the Wort Hotel in Jackson Hole, tonight is our last night - the Disney tour finished yesterday. We will absolutely post a trip report with pictures plus. (You have to hear the dogs!) We enjoyed this tour, but probably enjoyed the pre and post times more. Today was snowmobiling, something none of us had ever done, and honestly not something I would expect Disney to do. It was great. So many excellent things - the Wort Hotel is fabulous - the Snow Lodge in Yellowstone (in winter) is unbelievable. The dogsledding was great. Yellowstone is great. We just didn't see much of it. Many hours in the snow coaches with only bathroom breaks, but not much else. The Hayden Valley - a half day promised in the tour, was cut - so we could hurry back for....we still don't know. Disappointed? You bet.

Almost all of the highlights of the trip we did on our own. One couple actually cut out of the ABD tour for the Yellowstone day so they could actually see and do something.
When this tour started last year it was five days, six nights. They cut a day, and cut the lifeblood out of the trip. You spend time rushing to get to something, and miss everything in between. We made time, early before sunrise, and late late at night, in Yellowstone to experience some of the winter wonderland magic. The sky so clear and full of stars you could almost read by them. Old faithful shooting her show into the night sky - with only you there to see and hear it. Priceless. Bison blocking the boardwalk around the geyser for your sunrise hike - and trying to figure a safe way back to the snow lodge....wow! But this was us - totally on our own, with help from the front desk of the hotel.

Again in fairness, this was our fourth ABD trip. Our expectations were very high. The hotels both exceeded our expectations (wait for the trip report!). Jackson Hole vastly exceeded our expectations. (Hang on to your wallets and pocketbooks - it's hard not to spend here). Many of the other participants in the tour were terrific and we had a really good group, for which we are grateful. Several of the non-Disney folks blew our socks off. (We'll give details in the trip report).

Would we visit here again - in a heartbeat! But ask the 14 year old twins their top two highlights of the trip? Neither were Disney related. Ask them the bottom two parts of the trip - both were part of the Disney experience. My wife and I felt the same way. One party cancelled at the last minute, and our guides were amazing in offering us to use the extra room for the twins. Wow. They didn't have to do that, and they really worked hard at the logistics.

We received lots of "things" - but all of us agreed that the true ABD "magic" of the last three trips was lacking here. We've had a really good time, and this place truly is a "winter wonderland" well worth seeing. We'll share that in a detailed picture filled trip report. But I hesitate in recommending the ABD trip to others in its current format. Since it is so new, perhaps the two trips that follow us will work through the lessons from us and the magic will sparkle through. Dress warmly. Tomorrow at breakfast it will be 3 degrees - and it is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!

 

[acndis]

We are now also in our post days and had an absolutely wonderful time on this trip. We ranked it as one of our favorites. Our guides, Hanneka and Whitney were amazing. They established a fabulous group for the Junior Adventures and all the kids were fantastic! Our son was by far the youngest but he was included in all the activities and had a ball. Our favorite moments were dog sledding and hot springs. We also loved the snow coaches. Our snow coach guides/drivers were amazing and a hoot. They were an attraction in themselves. Everyone in our group was very interested in photography so the itinerary really catered to that. We decided early on that snowmobiling was not for us so a more action- packed itinerary would not have worked for us. I would enthusiastically recommend the trip but would recommend that you look over the itinerary to make sure it's right for you. If you know a lot about Yellowstone and visit often, this is a tour that introduces you to impressive sights. Almost everyone on our tour had never visited before so that was also a bonus. It is cold but with the right gear, it's incredibly pleasant. It was really my son's first experience with snow. He absolutely loved every minute and will remember the trip forever. He ice skated, dog sledded, swam surrounded by mountains, and had fantastic snowball fights in one of the most beautiful places on earth! We could not ask for more than that.

 

[sayhello]

It's funny how 2 different families can take the same trip and have 2 such different experiences. But I guess that's why ABD does so many different itineraries.

Griffdog22, I did want to set one thing straight, though. I found John's post from 2012 where the first Winter Wonderland trips were announced, and I verified that it was always a 5 day, 4 night trip. I'm not sure where you saw a 6 day, 5 night itinerary.

Here's the post:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2917217

I found a few other websites that list it as a 4-night trip for 2012, too.

This is not in any way a comment on your experience or opinion of the trip. Just wanted to straighten that one item out. (PS, John lists all the highlights of the trip as one per day, but that can't be right, because that would mean the entire trip was in Yosemite. I think it was just supposed to be bullet-points like it is on this year's website.)

I'm sorry the ABD portion of the trip wasn't all you wanted it to be. I look forward to your detailed (photo-filled!) report!

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

Thanks Say Hello. The days as posted was my understanding too. But our Disney Guide Dean offered the day change as one of the explanations when pressed as to why the Hayden Valley was cut out on our full day at Yellowstone. We only made 1/2 loop with bathroom stops and then returned. The first day is really only a welcome dinner, and the last day is the exit from the park. That leaves one day for dogsledding, one day for travel into the park and (hopefully) touring and one day for the park itself.

We also had different guides, and we know that makes all the difference. Yellowstone remains one of my favorite places. There is so much to see and do right along the road. But you DO have to stop the snow coach!

 

[wallawallakids]

We are still at the Wort Hotel in Jackson Hole, tonight is our last night - the Disney tour finished yesterday. We will absolutely post a trip report with pictures plus. (You have to hear the dogs!) We enjoyed this tour, but probably enjoyed the pre and post times more. Today was snowmobiling, something none of us had ever done, and honestly not something I would expect Disney to do. It was great. So many excellent things - the Wort Hotel is fabulous - the Snow Lodge in Yellowstone (in winter) is unbelievable. The dogsledding was great. Yellowstone is great. We just didn't see much of it. Many hours in the snow coaches with only bathroom breaks, but not much else. The Hayden Valley - a half day promised in the tour, was cut - so we could hurry back for....we still don't know. Disappointed? You bet.

Almost all of the highlights of the trip we did on our own. One couple actually cut out of the ABD tour for the Yellowstone day so they could actually see and do something.
When this tour started last year it was five days, six nights. They cut a day, and cut the lifeblood out of the trip. You spend time rushing to get to something, and miss everything in between. We made time, early before sunrise, and late late at night, in Yellowstone to experience some of the winter wonderland magic. The sky so clear and full of stars you could almost read by them. Old faithful shooting her show into the night sky - with only you there to see and hear it. Priceless. Bison blocking the boardwalk around the geyser for your sunrise hike - and trying to figure a safe way back to the snow lodge....wow! But this was us - totally on our own, with help from the front desk of the hotel.

Again in fairness, this was our fourth ABD trip. Our expectations were very high. The hotels both exceeded our expectations (wait for the trip report!). Jackson Hole vastly exceeded our expectations. (Hang on to your wallets and pocketbooks - it's hard not to spend here). Many of the other participants in the tour were terrific and we had a really good group, for which we are grateful. Several of the non-Disney folks blew our socks off. (We'll give details in the trip report).

Would we visit here again - in a heartbeat! But ask the 14 year old twins their top two highlights of the trip? Neither were Disney related. Ask them the bottom two parts of the trip - both were part of the Disney experience. My wife and I felt the same way. One party cancelled at the last minute, and our guides were amazing in offering us to use the extra room for the twins. Wow. They didn't have to do that, and they really worked hard at the logistics.

We received lots of "things" - but all of us agreed that the true ABD "magic" of the last three trips was lacking here. We've had a really good time, and this place truly is a "winter wonderland" well worth seeing. We'll share that in a detailed picture filled trip report. But I hesitate in recommending the ABD trip to others in its current format. Since it is so new, perhaps the two trips that follow us will work through the lessons from us and the magic will sparkle through. Dress warmly. Tomorrow at breakfast it will be 3 degrees - and it is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!

I was wondering if you posted a trip report. I am very interested in reading it if so. Thank you.

 

[bliscum]

I also posted pictures of my trip. I went the first year it was offered and loved it. The pictures are on page 3 of this thread.

 

[wallawallakids]

I also posted pictures of my trip. I went the first year it was offered and loved it. The pictures are on page 3 of this thread.

Thank you. Your pictures look amazing!