Hearing about & deciding upon ABD - Questions

[Cousin Orville]

We first heard about ABD on Disney's Magical Express on one of our park trips. At the time my kids were too young, but we kept the idea in our heads--especially the Germany trip with the night in a castle.
We finally pulled the trigger in 2014... we had just built a new house, sold our old house, and moved, so I had no energy to plan a trip, but really wanted to get away that summer. We started planning in May and wanted an August trip, so we were very limited in our options. We ended up going with the one trip that fit the dates and still had openings--Scotland. Turned out to be a wonderful trip, and we booked our next trip shortly after we got back. We also didn't think we'd enjoy the group travel experience, but found that we met great people and enjoyed having everything taken care of for us. We have since gone to Galapagos and Peru, and are going to Costa Rica in a little over a week. We also have deposits on Wyoming and Australia.

I have to ask your overall thoughts on Scotland, Galapagos, and Peru as they are all on my 2018 (somewhat) short list.

 

[BluesTraveler]

We first heard about ABD on Disney's Magical Express on one of our park trips. At the time my kids were too young, but we kept the idea in our heads--especially the Germany trip with the night in a castle.
We finally pulled the trigger in 2014... we had just built a new house, sold our old house, and moved, so I had no energy to plan a trip, but really wanted to get away that summer. We started planning in May and wanted an August trip, so we were very limited in our options. We ended up going with the one trip that fit the dates and still had openings--Scotland. Turned out to be a wonderful trip, and we booked our next trip shortly after we got back. We also didn't think we'd enjoy the group travel experience, but found that we met great people and enjoyed having everything taken care of for us. We have since gone to Galapagos and Peru, and are going to Costa Rica in a little over a week. We also have deposits on Wyoming and Australia.

I hope you will please come back and post about Costa Rica. We have been to Costa Rica before on our own with the kids, but I'm really interested in The ABD.

 

[SingingMom]

We promised DD London & Paris for her high school graduation gift. She did all the research and discovered ABD had the best itinerary for her interests. It was our first visit abroad. We had such a wonderful time that we have since been on Germany ABD and Central Europe ABD, and will be taking the Spain ABD next month. What we love is that everything is taken care of for you - that's worth the price to me. I love two guides on each trip. We love the "Disney" connection - that breaks the ice in the beginning. We have made LIFELONG friends. All of our guides have become good friends. They convinced DD to study abroad and apply for a Disney internship. She has now graduated college and is a CM. Her ultimate goal is being an Adventure Guide!

 

[DCPhotoGal]

I have to ask your overall thoughts on Scotland, Galapagos, and Peru as they are all on my 2018 (somewhat) short list.

Yes! I am headed to Costa Rica tomorrow but when I get back I will share more thoughts.

 

[jackienut]

We first heard about ABD when Disney sent us a card in the mail. We requested a catalog and decided that the Viva Italia was the trip that we wanted to take. At the time we booked, ABD released their trips and dates for the following year in late August and we took our trip the following June.

 

[alicemouse]

I heard about AbD at our first onsite trip in 2010 and I desperately wanted to go, but at that time, we had bought a new house 13 months earlier and even a 6-night free dining trip at a moderate with base tickets for two adults was a reach for us. It's been 7 years since i first saw that advertisement and last year, I fortunate to secure a new job that gave us the bump in disposable income we needed to be able to book one of these trips. here I sit ready to embark on our first AbD trip in just 13 short days!! We'll be doing Souther California and when I saw the summer itineraries go on sale the other week, I actually talked my mom into doing the San Francisco long weekend with me in July! So after 7 years of waiting, I'll be doing two AbD trips in two months. The first step was taking steps to shift how much money we were allocating towards vacations each year. We've become more responsible about what non-necessities we spend money on on a regular basis and we use that money to travel instead. Liquidating my grandmother's assets for her move to the nursing home and helping my parents downsize over the past 5 years really drove home the point that we should be collecting experiences, not stuff. The strategy for doing a second trip in the same year was to invite someone who was not my husband to go with me (don't worry--I checked with him first, but his interest in the itinerary wasn't particularly strong) so that my household was only paying for half of the trip. So, if your SO isn't huge into traveling, recruit a friend or family member to shave down the cost a bit! Or choose an itinerary that your SO wouldn't mind missing. For example, I'd never take my husband on the Montana trip because there is nothing that's going to happen on that trip that he would consider fun. But I'd go in a minute and I'm quite certain that when I'm ready to take that trip, I'll have people lined up waiting for an invite!

 

[mmouse37]

I heard about AbD at our first onsite trip in 2010 and I desperately wanted to go, but at that time, we had bought a new house 13 months earlier and even a 6-night free dining trip at a moderate with base tickets for two adults was a reach for us. It's been 7 years since i first saw that advertisement and last year, I fortunate to secure a new job that gave us the bump in disposable income we needed to be able to book one of these trips. here I sit ready to embark on our first AbD trip in just 13 short days!! We'll be doing Souther California and when I saw the summer itineraries go on sale the other week, I actually talked my mom into doing the San Francisco long weekend with me in July! So after 7 years of waiting, I'll be doing two AbD trips in two months. The first step was taking steps to shift how much money we were allocating towards vacations each year. We've become more responsible about what non-necessities we spend money on on a regular basis and we use that money to travel instead. Liquidating my grandmother's assets for her move to the nursing home and helping my parents downsize over the past 5 years really drove home the point that we should be collecting experiences, not stuff. The strategy for doing a second trip in the same year was to invite someone who was not my husband to go with me (don't worry--I checked with him first, but his interest in the itinerary wasn't particularly strong) so that my household was only paying for half of the trip. So, if your SO isn't huge into traveling, recruit a friend or family member to shave down the cost a bit! Or choose an itinerary that your SO wouldn't mind missing. For example, I'd never take my husband on the Montana trip because there is nothing that's going to happen on that trip that he would consider fun. But I'd go in a minute and I'm quite certain that when I'm ready to take that trip, I'll have people lined up waiting for an invite!

Haha...this is what I am doing in July!!! My friend asked me to go on the Danube River Cruise with her this summer and I knew my husband would not be interested so it worked out!!! Only have to pay for one (me)!! We can't wait to go on this ABD River Cruise.

MJ