ABD for a family of 5?

[SevenSeasLagoon5]

It seems that you can't do ABD as a family of 5 unless you book two rooms. That's just not possible with kids who are grade school aged. Does anyone know if this is expected to change? Thanks!

 

[clarabelle]

Do you mean 1 adult with 4 kids?
If you have two adults -you put one adult in each room. Unless the rooms are connected (often possible) and then you leave the connecting door open.

I don't imagine the two room thing will change. Hotels in Europe don't have rooms for 5 as a rule.

 

[SLK1]

I agree with PP...the rooms in Europe are teeny-tiny, often with twin beds. Assuming you're two adults with three children, you put an adult in each room and divvy up the kids. No biggie there!

 

[Tozzie]

It seems that you can't do ABD as a family of 5 unless you book two rooms. That's just not possible with kids who are grade school aged. Does anyone know if this is expected to change? Thanks!

Why isn't it possible?

 

[SevenSeasLagoon5]

Do you mean 1 adult with 4 kids?
If you have two adults -you put one adult in each room. Unless the rooms are connected (often possible) and then you leave the connecting door open.

I don't imagine the two room thing will change. Hotels in Europe don't have rooms for 5 as a rule.

No, 2 adults and 3 kids. I don't want to go all the way to Europe with our family and have DH sleeping in another room. I've been to Europe many times. There are other options for families of 5. I guess, sadly, ABD won't be an option for us.

 

[SevenSeasLagoon5]

Why isn't it possible?

It's not possible b/c I don't want to sleep in a separate room from my husband on our vacation, and the kids are too small to sleep in a room alone.

 

[abdmom]

It's not possible b/c I don't want to sleep in a separate room from my husband on our vacation, and the kids are too small to sleep in a room alone.

If the kids are too small to sleep in a room by themselves, then I would agree that ABD is not for you. ABD is not for small children. The days are long and are geared more to families with kids 12 and up - at least on my ABD they were. Maybe consider and ABD when your kids are older.

 

[SevenSeasLagoon5]

If the kids are too small to sleep in a room by themselves, then I would agree that ABD is not for you. ABD is not for small children. The days are long and are geared more to families with kids 12 and up - at least on my ABD they were. Maybe consider and ABD when your kids are older.

Thanks so much for the insight. I didn't realize this, as most trips say suggested age for "6 and up" . It's a shame. I remember my first trip to Europe like it was yesterday. I was 9 yrs. old. We will pursue other options, and hopefully try ABD someday! Thanks again.

 

[clarabelle]

I would say 8 and up -just my opinion. You will see kids as young as six -and they do fine -just a lot more work for Mom and Dad I think.

I wonder if any other tour company has rooms for 5?

I assumed this was standard

We were a family of 4 -but still got two rooms. We have a teenage daughter -we did not want to all share one bath. It wasn't an issue. We were together so much that we certainly didn't feel deprived. We always had connecting rooms -but I understand that is not guaranteed.

 

[whiteside61]

we are a family of 6 and always have to get two rooms. It has never been an issue for us, we always get connecting rooms when we travel (disney and otherwise) and now that the kids are older, we just request adjacent rooms instead! When the kids were younger, we almost always were given connecting rooms by a hotel, and in the event they were not available, the hotel would make sure they were at least adjacent rooms. In those circumstances, we would stick the younger ones in our room and let the older two have their own room. It really has never been a problem for us!

 

[abdmom]

I was on the ABD China trip. Minimum suggested age was 8. The single 8 year old did fine, but she was used to walking a lot. I have a 4 year old and I asked one of the seasoned ABD guides which would be good for a 4 year old which is the minimum age on some trips. I don't recall his specific suggestions, but there were not many. It was also more labor intensive for me as the mom of an almost 10 year old than it would have been if dd had been older.

 

[clarabelle]

I understand ABD mom
No way would I want to take a 4y.o.

I should have added in my post that I had limited experience
We did Ireland -which I think may be less taxing than China
I understand the Italy trip is pretty exhausting as well

 

[Grifdog22]

We are a family of 5 - and have visited on two ABD trips. Although always requested, upon arrival on both trips, most of our rooms were NOT connected, and not even always real close by. It depends on the hotel. On one of our trips, the ABD folks were spread across many floors as well - not at all together as a group either.

Even tho we asked, there was no flexibility at 5 in the room. Our trips were in South America, and the rooms were spacious at all times.

If this is an issue, it's not one you'll likely reach a resolution you want.

 

[WeLoveABD]

We have been on 4 ABD trips, and every time we had a connecting room (except when we stayed at a Disney theme park hotel--such as in Hong Kong--where all 4 of us were in one room). It hasn't been a big issue for us and has seemed to work out--but no guarantees; I agree the European hotels are much smaller--the China rooms were average in size but nicely appointed! (In Rome we actually had a two story room, so one room but two separate sleeping areas (pullout beds on the first floor)--the kids thought this was the coolest thing ever. It has been my experience that Disney will do its best to accommodate you--but not every location will have the ability to provide you with everything you want. It remains part of the adventure!

 

[slg]

We are a family of 5, and we went to Ireland last year with ABD. Kids were 8(turned on his birthday, it was the best day of his life. ABD had surprises every hour or so...fantastic!),10, and 13. We had connecting rooms in all 3 of our hotels. Just opened the door, no problem, almost like the same room.

I thought that 7 was a fine age for this particular adventure. I actually think 12 is getting kind of old. We had 28 people, 13 kids, ages 7-15, 15 adults.

Other families didn't always get connecting rooms, but ABD certainly tried to accomodate them. I wonder if we were so lucky because we were the first people booked on the tour!

It was the best tour possible for families of younger kids. I wouldn't even consider another company for kids under 10

Good luck. It was a wonderful experience.

PS All our hotel rooms in Ireland were massive!

 

[jomat]

We have taken 2 ABD trips to Europe with our 3 children, the youngest being 6.5 years in 2008 and she had a wonderful time. We had 2 rooms and had requested connecting rooms and got them both times. ABD makes every effort to fulfil your request and we were very satisfied both times.

 

[SevenSeasLagoon5]

We have taken 2 ABD trips to Europe with our 3 children, the youngest being 6.5 years in 2008 and she had a wonderful time. We had 2 rooms and had requested connecting rooms and got them both times. ABD makes every effort to fulfil your request and we were very satisfied both times.

So good to hear.....THANKS!

Can I ask what trips you took with the three kids?

 

[jomat]

So good to hear.....THANKS!

Can I ask what trips you took with the three kids?

We did the Imperial Cities in 2008(Austria & Czech Republic) -this trip is no longer available and Knights and Lights(London and Paris) in 2009.