Looking for Tips

[bgda24]

My 25 yr old daughter is very interested in all of us going on one of the Adventures. Im just not sure which one we should do

 

[sayhello]

There are so many trips, it would help if you told us what kind of things you like to do, what you're looking for in a trip, if you want to stay local or go to Europe, or do an exotic trip to Asia or something really relaxing or something really active or something with a lot of museums or something with a lot of hiking, etc, etc.

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

My 25 yr old daughter is very interested in all of us going on one of the Adventures. Im just not sure which one we should do

We have been on 11 and they were all wonderful. Over the years when I have asked others who have done 10+ trips which ones were the favorites, the two standouts I hear consistently from others have always been China and South Africa. I'd say my top 3 would be the original Scotland ABD (very different from the current one). China and Japan.

@sayhello is right though, it comes down to what kind of trip are you looking to take.

 

[Pmelonakos]

My 25 yr old daughter is very interested in all of us going on one of the Adventures. Im just not sure which one we should do

There are Adult only trips.. I’ve done the greece adult only and it was wonderful. Though we had to cancel our Spain trip two times because of covid and now we cannot take it due to the health of my husband we cannot get a refund for our deposit or a gift card to use for Disney world. It definately saddens me since we bought insurance. So beware. no trips to Spain in 2024. Ugh.

 

[sayhello]

There are Adult only trips.. I’ve done the greece adult only and it was wonderful. Though we had to cancel our Spain trip two times because of covid and now we cannot take it due to the health of my husband we cannot get a refund for our deposit or a gift card to use for Disney world. It definately saddens me since we bought insurance. So beware. no trips to Spain in 2024. Ugh.

Did you ask ABD if they can hold on to your deposit any longer? Maybe use it for a different ABD next year if your husband is up to it?

And unfortunately, even though they are a Disney company, there isn't that sort of reciprocal setup between different divisions of Disney (Disney Cruise Line could not give you a gift card or transfer a deposit to DisneyWorld. DisneyWorld couldn't give you a credit to use for ABD. They just aren't set up that way.)

I would think your two best bets are to either continue to postpone your trip, and look towards taking a different ABD when your husband is better (since Spain isn't an option anymore) or put a claim in to the insurance (which you may have already done, but you haven't mentioned doing that in any of the posts you've done on other threads). ABD will not submit the claim to the insurance; you have to do that yourself. If you did, and the claim was denied, I'd love to know the reason the insurance gave you for denying your claim.

Sayhello

 

[chuff88]

I've only done one ABD so far, Norway, and it was fantastic. I'll be doing Germany this year. I really liked that Norway seemed to be a good blend of more active days as well as cultural activities.

One thing I'd add is that it might be worth considering a destination where you'd find it difficult to navigate without the help of a knowledgeable and experienced guide. For me, the appeal of the Asia itineraries is not having to rely on myself in a country where I can't speak or read the language. I'm very interested in the Scotland and Ireland itineraries, but I can also see how I could probably put together a similar trip on my own and get around just fine. I don't think I could do that somewhere like China or Japan.

 

[bgda24]

There are Adult only trips.. I’ve done the greece adult only and it was wonderful. Though we had to cancel our Spain trip two times because of covid and now we cannot take it due to the health of my husband we cannot get a refund for our deposit or a gift card to use for Disney world. It definately saddens me since we bought insurance. So beware. no trips to Spain in 2024.

 

[bgda24]

I hope your husband gets better soon!

 

[jimmymc]

Would you consider yourselves big Disney fans? Not just the theme parks, but the movies and maybe the history of the company?

If yes, one of the cheapest and best value trips is the Southern California and Disneyland adventure. You visit Hollywood, the Disney Studios, Imagineering, and a bunch of behind the scenes tours/private experiences at Disneyland.

If that doesn't sound exciting, then a few of the popular ones are Alaska, Italy, Costa Rica, England and France, Japan, and Poland, Czech Republic, and Austria. These all follow the same basic format: you stay in nice, luxury hotels, get guides tours of the most popular spots without waiting in lines, private bus transportation from place to place, and enough free time to schedule your own things if you want to do something not on the schedule.

Some trips, like Australia or China, actually include flights around the country, so that may be appealing if you want to see a lot of places in a short time.

 

[jimmymc]

I've only done one ABD so far, Norway, and it was fantastic. I'll be doing Germany this year. I really liked that Norway seemed to be a good blend of more active days as well as cultural activities.

One thing I'd add is that it might be worth considering a destination where you'd find it difficult to navigate without the help of a knowledgeable and experienced guide. For me, the appeal of the Asia itineraries is not having to rely on myself in a country where I can't speak or read the language. I'm very interested in the Scotland and Ireland itineraries, but I can also see how I could probably put together a similar trip on my own and get around just fine. I don't think I could do that somewhere like China or Japan.

I second this. Many of the European trips would be easy to do on your own and travel by train, but planning multiple flights around China would be a pain and even worse if one gets cancelled.

 

[sayhello]

I second this. Many of the European trips would be easy to do on your own and travel by train, but planning multiple flights around China would be a pain and even worse if one gets cancelled.

In theory I agree with this, but I think China is a pretty big chunk for a first ABD where they may not even know if they like group travel, maybe haven't traveled internationally before, etc. I know that even as my 9th ABD, China was a challenge what with all the paperwork and vaccinations and internal flights, etc. that it requires. I'd reserve those kinds of trips as a second ABD at the least. I think something like Italy or Greece or Costa Rica would be much better as a first international ABD.

Sayhello

 

[chuff88]

In theory I agree with this, but I think China is a pretty big chunk for a first ABD where they may not even know if they like group travel, maybe haven't traveled internationally before, etc. I know that even as my 9th ABD, China was a challenge what with all the paperwork and vaccinations and internal flights, etc. that it requires. I'd reserve those kinds of trips as a second ABD at the least. I think something like Italy or Greece or Costa Rica would be much better as a first international ABD.

Sayhello

Again, I have no frame of reference, but I felt like Norway was also a great first ABD and there were a lot of others in our group who were on their first ABDs as well (and some experienced ABDers who were on their first international ABD).

Admittedly, we originally planned for Greece to be our first ABD but COVID got in the way of that. One thing I'll say about Greece is that, coming from a smaller city on the west cost of the US, booking flights was a bit tough, especially at the end. The departure day is out of Heraklion, and we ultimately ended up having to book round trip flight to/from Athens and a short flight from Heraklion to Athens. By comparison, the Norway ABD starts in Bergen and ends in Oslo, and our upcoming Germany ABD starts in Munich and ends in Berlin, which are much easier cities to access. Just something to keep in mind if you don't have easy access to a major international airport.

 

[sayhello]

Again, I have no frame of reference, but I felt like Norway was also a great first ABD and there were a lot of others in our group who were on their first ABDs as well (and some experienced ABDers who were on their first international ABD).

Admittedly, we originally planned for Greece to be our first ABD but COVID got in the way of that. One thing I'll say about Greece is that, coming from a smaller city on the west cost of the US, booking flights was a bit tough, especially at the end. The departure day is out of Heraklion, and we ultimately ended up having to book round trip fl

And I haven't done the Norway ABD yet, so I'll leave that recommendation to those who have!

And you are right, the fact that the flight from Crete back to Athens is no longer included in the ABD (it was when I did the ABD in 2013) makes that part of the trip a bit trickier for someone not used to setting up international flights.

Sayhello

 

[chuff88]

And I haven't done the Norway ABD yet, so I'll leave that recommendation to those who have!

And you are right, the fact that the flight from Crete back to Athens is no longer included in the ABD (it was when I did the ABD in 2013) makes that part of the trip a bit trickier for someone not used to setting up international flights.

Sayhello

I don't know why my post got cut off, I thought I'd written more so I just updated it with my complete thoughts lol

For me it's not so much that setting up international flights is difficult, I just prefer to book all legs as one unit because it makes it easier if something goes wrong. Unfortunately, being in the non-California part of the west coast means it's fairly expensive for us to fly just about anywhere. We're hoping to do Peru in 2025 and I think that'll be our cheapest ABD flights by a wide margin.

 

[aggiedog]

We just got back from Peru and the Galapagos (not with ABD.) Something I hadn't really thought of until it happened was that when traveling to that part of the world there is minimal jet lag. THAT was much appreciated, and made the trip just that much better since.

 

[AquaDame]

I've only done one ABD so far, Norway, and it was fantastic. I'll be doing Germany this year. I really liked that Norway seemed to be a good blend of more active days as well as cultural activities.

One thing I'd add is that it might be worth considering a destination where you'd find it difficult to navigate without the help of a knowledgeable and experienced guide. For me, the appeal of the Asia itineraries is not having to rely on myself in a country where I can't speak or read the language. I'm very interested in the Scotland and Ireland itineraries, but I can also see how I could probably put together a similar trip on my own and get around just fine. I don't think I could do that somewhere like China or Japan.

I do speak some Japanese now, but for our first trip I did not and it was honestly not an issue even back in 2005 in the days before smart phones and we were all still printing out directions ahead of time. (Was the original one mapquest? I honestly can't remember anymore). They require English in their schools from grade 3 onwards (meaning most have 8 years of it, though it is not uncommon to skip HS) and it is almost everywhere in the cities. Rural there is less signage and such, but it is still easy to get around if you are used to using public transit anywhere else already. Signs have romanji (our letters, their names/words) so you don't need to know their alphabets to be able to read signs. It is easy to find folk wiling to help you with directions, often they come to you if you look lost, and strangers might approach you to practice their English by asking if you need help with anything or just chit chat and be friendly. This is a country where people leave their computers out and on and their bags/coats/etc while they use the restroom in Starbucks. It is very safe compared to the US. Googlemaps and other apps work beautifully with telling you which trains at what time on which platform and every exit from the metro has a map showing the main tourist sites.

I'm not saying there are no pains (explaining complicated things like food allergies if you have those, or knowing to expect just how small a single person hotel room can be for example) but compared to China as a Westerner Japan is a literal cake walk.

@bgda24 what would your group look like aside from you and your 25 year old daughter? Are you interested in staying in the US, or traveling abroad? Disney nuts, or not really? Have you done group tours before? What time of year are you thinking? What has been your memorable or favorite trip(s) before now?