England & France: Cities of Knights & Lights (London & Paris) Meets Thread

[sayhello]

Please post here if you would like to talk with anyone else who has signed up to travel to England & France (London/Paris) with ABD.

You can also share information/ask questions about the England & France Cities of Knights & Lights ABD.

Please try and keep this thread on topic to discussion and questions about the England & France ABD. Off topic posts will be deleted or moved.

Thanks!
Sayhello

Roll Call:

Previous

• May 20 - 27, 2013
  • - AZ Mom, DH, DS1 (20), and DS2 (18)
  • - hdry and DH
• May 31 - Jun 7, 2013
  • - mouthdoc & family
  • - oLora (Lora) & Mike & Nina (9)
• Jun 7 - 14, 2013
  • - DW, DH (one of these is AJMlovesRLM, I assume) & DS11
  • - old_faithful, DH, DS(15) & DD(13)
• Jun 28 - Jul 5, 2013 - TexasMouseFan & ?
• Sep 20 - 27, 2013
  • - GSLand & DH
  • - WorknFires (Cheryl) & DH (both 45), Dmom & Daunt (mid to late 60's)
• Sep 30 - Oct 7, 2013 - monkeyknuckler, DW & DD
• Jul 25 - Aug 1, 2014 - JRM815, wife, & twins (15)
• Sep 19 - 26, 2014 - calypso726 & DH Wally (W@LL-E)
• Dec 26, 2014 - Jan 2, 2015 - acndis, DH, DS (7), and acndis' dad
• Jun 19 - 26, 2015 - im4kycats & son (18)
• Jul 3 - 10, 2015 - Leenies & DD (15)
• Sep 28 - Oct 5, 2015 - GoGoJulie & Husband
• May 15 - 23, 2016 - seashell7290 & mom
• Jun 10 - 17, 2016 - GastoninMD, spouse & kids (11 & 8)
• Sep 26 - Oct 3, 2016 - mmcrazy, DH & daughter

 

[SingingMom]

We just returned from this trip May 14-21, 2012, so if anyone has any specific questions, I would be happy to answer them!

 

[joeyandangiesmom]

Thank you SingingMom for what you have posted...we are heading there in less than a week...EEEKKK!!!

Anybody else?

We have added on 4 nights at DLP them to Munich to spend a week with dear friends who we meet on a DCL Med cruise in 07!!!!

 

[SingingMom]

Thank you SingingMom for what you have posted...we are heading there in less than a week...EEEKKK!!!

Anybody else?

We have added on 4 nights at DLP them to Munich to spend a week with dear friends who we meet on a DCL Med cruise in 07!!!!

You will probably have Frankie as a guide. He is an absolute angel! We adored him! Don't pack too much, as it is annoying to have too much to sort through with three hotel stops. If you are looking for a place to eat in Paris, we thoroughly enjoyed George V on the Champs Élysées. Our guide Francesc recommended it and it was terrific!

 

[sayhello]

You will probably have Frankie as a guide. He is an absolute angel! We adored him! Don't pack too much, as it is annoying to have too much to sort through with three hotel stops. If you are looking for a place to eat in Paris, we thoroughly enjoyed George V on the Champs Élysées. Our guide Francesc recommended it and it was terrific!

We stopped at Cafe George V on the Champs Elysees totally by random! We were walking at night, and decided we all wanted to stop and sit and have a drink and talk while people watching on the Champs Elysees, and there was George V!

Sayhello

 

[SingingMom]

We stopped at Cafe George V on the Champs Elysees totally by random! We were walking at night, and decided we all wanted to stop and sit and have a drink and talk while people watching on the Champs Elysees, and there was George V!

Sayhello

George V was probably our favorite meal! Francesc stops there every time he is in
Paris and he lived there for a few years, so we definitely took his advice. DH had his recommendation of the French onion soup and duck. Said it was the BEST duck he ever had! DD had her beloved escargot, steak, and chocolate crepes plus champagne with strawberries. She was in heaven! I had fabulous escargot, chicken, and DH and I shared sorbets - black currant and lemon. We people watched and sipped champagne. When can I return?!

 

[sayhello]

George V was probably our favorite meal! Francesc stops there every time he is in
Paris and he lived there for a few years, so we definitely took his advice. DH had his recommendation of the French onion soup and duck. Said it was the BEST duck he ever had! DD had her beloved escargot, steak, and chocolate crepes plus champagne with strawberries. She was in heaven! I had fabulous escargot, chicken, and DH and I shared sorbets - black currant and lemon. We people watched and sipped champagne. When can I return?!

We just had drinks there (which were very nice!) I wish I'd known the food there was so good. The place we went for our "on your own" dinner was OK, but not that great, and it took us ages to find it. George V would have been much easier!

Sayhello

 

[kmitchel]

We are thinking of doing this tour next summer. I read some of the previous trip reports where they saw The Lion King or Mary Poppins when they were in London one night, but I did not see that in the current itinerary.

I'm worried about jet lag on the first couple of days too!

 

[SingingMom]

We are thinking of doing this tour next summer. I read some of the previous trip reports where they saw The Lion King or Mary Poppins when they were in London one night, but I did not see that in the current itinerary.

I'm worried about jet lag on the first couple of days too!

The tour has been revamped to add two nights in Foxhills and they took away the show on the West End. However, we did have a free night (second night) in London, and we went to see Les Miz on our own. There is a TKTS booth for half price or discounted tickets, similiar to Broadway in NYC.

We took the red eye from NJ to Heathrow - arrived at 7:30 am London time... instead of taking a nap, we hit the streets right away. Went to Kensington Palace and the Gardens, had lunch at the Orangery, and got back in time to dress for dinner. We even stopped at a pub around the corner of the hotel after our welcome dinner.

We found by putting ourselves right on "London time", we did fine. Now, returning home, after all the fun of the week, we did experience jet lag for a few days! (might have had something to do with all that )

 

[kmitchel]

Oh wow! I bet Les Mis in Lodon was incredible! I can't wait!

 

[joeyandangiesmom]

Thank you for your help! We leave in less than 4 days....I will report back, but it will be midJuly as we do not return until the end of June and we hit the ground running with the kids activities!!!! Honestly, I am SO looking forward to the fact that someone ELSE is deciding where we will be going, etc! We tend to travel with my folks and even without them, 4-6 people to please gets on you....someone else's shoulders are bearing it!!!! And when we meet up with our friends in Germany, SHE is planning it!!!! We gave a bit of what we would like, but we said go for it! Now THIS is a VACATION! I can only hope that my 2 kiddos have someone near their ages to keep them entertained, but if not, no worries...I love having them around!!!!

PS...Keep the tips coming, because I DO have 4 days...and NOTHING packed!!!!

 

[joeyandangiesmom]

Wanted to add....Disney added "Lion King" and a behind the stage tour on the second day (after lunch at Herrod's) instead of an evening on your own...



This is our 3rd time to Europe since 2007...forcing the kids to sleep on the plane...have not yet had a problem with jet lag (hope I am not jinxing myself LOL!)

 

[sayhello]

Wanted to add....Disney added "Lion King" and a behind the stage tour on the second day (after lunch at Herrod's) instead of an evening on your own...

So they told you the itinerary had been changed to re-add "The Lion King"? That's interesting. I wonder if people complained because it was gone. How long ago did they tell you that? I'd be upset if I'd already made other plans.

Sayhello

 

[SingingMom]

Oh wow! I bet Les Mis in Lodon was incredible! I can't wait!

Beyond incredible! We've seen it twice on Broadway and once at a professional theatre in NJ, but this production was our favorite! Our guides gave us very easy directions on how to get the tickets, and the Chancery Court doorman got us a taxi before we even had to ask! We walked back after the show - felt very safe.

Wanted to add....Disney added "Lion King" and a behind the stage tour on the second day (after lunch at Herrod's) instead of an evening on your own...



This is our 3rd time to Europe since 2007...forcing the kids to sleep on the plane...have not yet had a problem with jet lag (hope I am not jinxing myself LOL!)

So they told you the itinerary had been changed to re-add "The Lion King"? That's interesting. I wonder if people complained because it was gone. How long ago did they tell you that? I'd be upset if I'd already made other plans.

Sayhello

That's interesting, because one of our guides is doing most of the rest of the trips this summer and he didn't mention that change. I'm really glad that it was not included on our trip, as we wanted to pick our own show since DD is a theatre major.

 

[joeyandangiesmom]

So they told you the itinerary had been changed to re-add "The Lion King"? That's interesting. I wonder if people complained because it was gone. How long ago did they tell you that? I'd be upset if I'd already made other plans.

Sayhello

We received the letter shortly before we received our packages!

 

[kmitchel]

Hmmm, then I wonder if that will still be in place for our trip next year. I'll have to keep an eye out over the next year to see what they say.

 

[Jenncram]

Wanted to add....Disney added "Lion King" and a behind the stage tour on the second day (after lunch at Herrod's) instead of an evening on your own...QUOTE]

Uh oh, I soooo wanted to see the Lion King that we have booked it for our free night!! (My 8 year old was in an amateur production of it here) I did ask a moderator if there was anyway to arrange a backstage pass and the answer then was no. We are going July 16-23, 2012. I wonder if I should try and get a refund? Who would I ask at ABD to confirm this beofre I start changing things?

 

[NejTheLion]

Wanted to add....Disney added "Lion King" and a behind the stage tour on the second day (after lunch at Herrod's) instead of an evening on your own...QUOTE]

Uh oh, I soooo wanted to see the Lion King that we have booked it for our free night!! (My 8 year old was in an amateur production of it here) I did ask a moderator if there was anyway to arrange a backstage pass and the answer then was no. We are going July 16-23, 2012. I wonder if I should try and get a refund? Who would I ask at ABD to confirm this beofre I start changing things?

The number for the ABD concierge team is 1-877-728-7282. They may be able to confirm what's being planned for the trip.

 

[SingingMom]

Wanted to add....Disney added "Lion King" and a behind the stage tour on the second day (after lunch at Herrod's) instead of an evening on your own...QUOTE]

Uh oh, I soooo wanted to see the Lion King that we have booked it for our free night!! (My 8 year old was in an amateur production of it here) I did ask a moderator if there was anyway to arrange a backstage pass and the answer then was no. We are going July 16-23, 2012. I wonder if I should try and get a refund? Who would I ask at ABD to confirm this beofre I start changing things?

Did you purchase tickets already? Usually theatre tickets are non-refundable. As I said, our may trip did not include the Lion King, which we were happy about, since we preferred les miz.

 

[Jenncram]

We did pay for tickets already (quite a lot!!) and I'm sure they're not refundable. Thank you so much for the concierge phone number, I'll call them tomorrow and confirm the plans before I make any decisions. Ugh!! (although I really want to see the show and I would be thrilled to see back stage!)