Italy - ABD or Tauck Bridges

[JJPCheers]

We are planning a trip to Italy in July 2010 with our 13 year old son. We have travelled with Tauck Bridges to the Grand Canyon several years ago but have never tried Adventures by Disney. Has anyone been on the Italy trip with either of these tour operators and can give the good and bad. I am a little worried about ABD being to "kiddy" for a teen. Of course at 13 everything has to be cool.

 

[Bobo912]

We are planning a trip to Italy in July 2010 with our 13 year old son. We have travelled with Tauck Bridges to the Grand Canyon several years ago but have never tried Adventures by Disney. Has anyone been on the Italy trip with either of these tour operators and can give the good and bad. I am a little worried about ABD being to "kiddy" for a teen. Of course at 13 everything has to be cool.

I can't specifically comment on the Italy trip, but I have been on two ABD trips and they are definitely not "kiddy". I would describe it as the kids participating in more "adult-like" activities. There is one night when the kids have dinner together and watch a movie or pariticpate in some other kid-geared activity while the adults have a lesiurely dinner. The teenagers usually stick with the adults on that evening. There are no Disney Characters or anything like that.

 

[JJPCheers]

That is good to know about the kids dinner. I read that in the itinerary and figured it was going to be a Disney movie which my 13 yr old would not want to watch. If he can just eat with the adults that night that would be fine.

 

[boldfamily]

Hi!
We recently booked the Viva Italy trip for June 10-18, 2010, and our family includes a 12 year old boy and 13 year old girl. They, too, prefer "cool" and grown-up things (including activities, food, etc.). Although this is our first ABD, we were told that (since we have to pay adult price for them) they will have the choice between the "kid" stuff and the adult stuff... I also asked at booking if there were any other tweens/teens on the trip, and happily there are several 11 - 14 year olds already booked! So, if you're not totally set on July, perhaps you may want to consider June!!!!

 

[JJPCheers]

We have to go in July because our son has been invited to play in an ice hockey tournament in Sweden and we want to do this tour before flying to Sweden. ABD will not tell you whether the kids are boy or girls. Tauck Bridges gives you the kids ages as well as gender which is good to know. I think we are leaning towards the ABD because the kids ages they did give me for our tour date seem to match more closely to our sons age.

 

[abdmom]

That is good to know about the kids dinner. I read that in the itinerary and figured it was going to be a Disney movie which my 13 yr old would not want to watch. If he can just eat with the adults that night that would be fine.

Well, um, yeah, it will be a Disney movie. On our ABD trip, most of the "kids" were 16-18. There were only a handful 12 and under.

They all went to watch the Disney movie. The "adults" mostly left dinner early and joined them. The movie was much more fun.

 

[Bobo912]

That is good to know about the kids dinner. I read that in the itinerary and figured it was going to be a Disney movie which my 13 yr old would not want to watch. If he can just eat with the adults that night that would be fine.

You might be surprised. The guides stay with the kids and they are so cool your son might want to hang out with them.

 

[disneytraveler]

i was Viva Italty 3 years ago. There werefamilies with kids in the9-12 years old. They seemed to really enjoy the activies like pasta making and the mask making . They did lot better than i in those things.

 

[kjd469]

On our Southwest Splendors tour in July, we had a large number of teenagers in our group (up to and including 18yr. olds), including our 15 yr. old son....we were very surprised that ALL of the teenagers wanted to go to the Jr. Adventurers night, and they all had a great time. You will be surprised how all of the kids get along, regardless of ages, and don't mind participating in the Jr. Adventurers activities.

 

[SLK1]

I took my 15yo son last June on this tour and he had a blast. We had kids of various ages (even a 5 & 6 YO!) and they all had so much fun, especially at the villa in Tuscany, swimming and playing on the grounds. It really depends on the kids, but I would bet he'll have a fun time, and nothing is "uncool". In fact, the older kids in our group really bonded with the little ones and kept them entertained. The tour guides were also great with all ages. Don't worry at all!