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[Tdisney]

I know there is ongoing threads about is ABD worth it but has anyone tried to book exact same accommodations and a tour guide and meals and compare to ABD. What percentage you could save if you did it on your own but staying in same accommodations. What is Disney's up charge ? Had a friend who took family of 8 to France and spent about 20,000 including airfare. For 4 through ABD it is 20,000 without airfare.

 

[Woodview]

Check out your air fares to Europe ( Economy Class )

Rent a SUV ( 99 per cent are STICK Shift ) use a firm like rentalcars.com, ( Europeans use them for car rental in Florida )

And I use them in Europe as well ( The Netherlands , France ,Germany )

Then Pick your City on Google Earth .... Type in Hotels .. bring up balloon of Hotel. & Check it out

Remember the best value is Half Board or Half Pension ... This is Bed & Breakfast & Evening Dinner

There are the usual USA chains like Best Western etc BUT half the fun is using Local hotel chains

Try Ring Hotels, Logis , & Choice hotels .

Driving is easy as it is driving on the same side as you do in USA.

Do you really really need a tour guide ? ..... Use your Google Earth for Maps & Buy a good Sat Nav.

Or pay & ADD Central Europe to your own.

But you Cannot Beat an Old Fashioned MAP.

Hope this helps

 

[Cousin Orville]

For hotels, I'm sure that's easy to find. Transportation between cities can be compared although you'd have to decide what mode of transportation (train, rental car, private transportation). If you wanted an accurate comparison, a private transfer between cities would be it and you'd need to find and email potential drivers. Food is a bit of a wild guess. Private guides are also difficult to quantitate. How many hours per day and days per week would you want a guide? From my experience, private guides in France are generally $70-100 per hour. And there are the intangibles. What's your personal time worth when spent arranging transportation between cities and hotels, etc? It's tough to compare ABD vs on your own.

I think the above advice from Woodview is good if you are looking for a way to manage costs on a European trip. However, it is a different experience from Adventures by Disney. I've travelled to Europe with ABD, on cruises, and on our own (both on an extreme budget and at very nice hotels) over the years. They're all fun and I've enjoyed every trip. However, the trips I enjoy the most and look forward to the most are the ABD trips. Maybe the costs can be compared, but the intangible qualities cannot. If it is within budget, I would recommend planning just one ABD vacation to see if you like it.

 

[sayhello]

I agree with what Cousin Orville has said! Also, on some of the itineraries, there are private events that you just can't arrange on your own.

But I think the biggest intangible for me is what an ABD is worth if something goes wrong (from minor to major somethings).

My flight was extremely late leaving Anchorage, and greatly delayed my arrival in Fairbanks for my Alaska ABD. The Adventure Guides were calling me and making sure everything was OK, and letting me know they were tracking my arrival time. WELL after midnight, as I got off my plane and down towards baggage claim, there was Adventure Guide Jesse, ready to help me retrieve my luggage, and then take me directly to the hotel. Man, was that a load off my mind.

We also had one family here on the DISBoards that went to China back when the swine flu outbreak was so bad, and she and her 3 children were quarantined because they were sitting within 3 rows of someone who was ill with something or other. ABD unfortunately couldn't do anything about them being in quarantine, but they kept in constant contact with her, made sure she was OK, and took care of everything once she was released.

I remember a while ago, there was a fire in the Chunnel, and the Eurostar train could not get from London to Paris. The Adventure Guides, behind the scenes, arranged alternate transportation for everyone so they could continue their adventure without a major interruption.

And we had another person who is currently posting a Trip Report who said that there was a strike, and a chance that their flight the next day would be cancelled. Rather than having to drop everything and research alternatives, they continued with their adventure while one of the Guides made a ton of phone calls to figure out what their options were.

When I was in Florence, I got lost during our on-your-own time. I was a little worried about getting back to the bus late, but I wasn't panicking, because I knew there were 2 Adventure Guides out there who would do everything they could to locate me and get me to the bus (or the ship) on time.

I really like having that kind of help and service, especially when I travel Internationally.

Sayhello

 

[kristilew]

I know there is ongoing threads about is ABD worth it but has anyone tried to book exact same accommodations and a tour guide and meals and compare to ABD. What percentage you could save if you did it on your own but staying in same accommodations. What is Disney's up charge ? Had a friend who took family of 8 to France and spent about 20,000 including airfare. For 4 through ABD it is 20,000 without airfare.

When you say "book a tour guide," to get the same experience as you have with ABD, you'd have to book a private guide for about 14 hours a day! It's one thing to meet up with a guide for a 2 hour walk - which we have done, and spent anywhere from $150 to $400 for our family of 3, depending on the subject and the country - and quite another thing to have two guides catering to your every whim, anticipating your every need, making dining reservations for you, making sure your hotel room is perfect, sending someone for your luggage, entertaining your child, entertaining your cranky spouse, remembering what you liked at dinner three nights ago and making sure it's available at the next stop, figuring out early on what you're most interested in and making sure the local guides address it every time, turning up with a snack and a bottle of water right before you think "hey, I could use a snack and a bottle of water!" and generally taking incredible care of you every waking moment, plus planning more great things and printing out great pictures of you and your family, long after you've gone to sleep.

That was a major run-on sentence, but it's hard to describe the advantage an ABD guide gives you without running on and on!

Trips on your own are great too. We love both kinds of travel. But they're not the same, and you get what you pay for.

 

[Rapunzellover]

I left my travel clock in London, when we left to the countryside. I figured no big deal, cause I could schedule wake up calls. I just happened to mention to my guide that it was missing, and the next day before we left for Paris, she called the hotel and when we got into London, hopped in a cab and retrieved it from the hotel.

Also, in Paris, a young boy got sick and this guide, fluent in French, stayed with them while a doctor was brought to the hotel for them. She really helped this poor scared family out.

 

[carpenta]

In my life I don't have the time to sit down and plan out a detailed trip that coordinates tours and tour guides, transportation, restaurants, hotels etc. My vacations are too precious so I appreciate that all I have to do is pack and show up at the designated time. Like the posts before I appreciate the planning ABD has done and the pampering on the trip itself. Expensive yes but to me worth it in great memories and no stress.

 

[Tdisney]

Thanks for all the advice. I am sure planning a trip of the magnitude would one great undertaking and I would not have the time for it. But i was just curious if anyone tried to make a comparison booking it themselves.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Oh it can be done. Especially with England/france. But there are still intangibles you can't quantify in monetary terms. And the trips with in tour flights, like Scotland, Australia, etc would probably be impossible to replicate afforably.

 

[paddles]

I think it really depends on the trip/itinerary. If the adventure is out of country and goes off the beaten path, then I think it's more worth it (but that's just my opinion).

We went to Japan for 9 days over Spring Break (we had been contemplating Aulani or Backstage magic), but we decided to do something more exotic. I planned the whole thing and it was a really fabulous vacation - but it did take me hours and hours over many weeks to do all the planning. I called it "Adventures by Mommy" and we all had a really good time. Overall, we spent $19k including airfare....I'm sure if it were ABD, it would have been nearly double.

There are definitely advantages to ABD:
- the local tour guides are all fabulous. I hired 4 different private tour guides in 4 cities in Japan, and only 2 were really good. Even with lots of planning, it's hard to always get the right guides.
- other kids to play with. 'Nuff said.
- meals/snacks on-time. We often ate meals late on our own because we didn't know where to go or how to order (but we always figured it out).
- a lot of stress for Mommy who was basically the adventure guide on the trip!

But the benefits were that we got to set our own itinerary and got to do stuff that wouldn't have been included in ABD (like going to a sumo match since the tournament happened to be in town the week were in Osaka). And of course, we saved a lot of money vs. ABD.

We're doing an ABD Baltic cruise add-on this summer, and I have to say, I'm so excited that I don't have to do as much planning for the trip.

 

[Tdisney]

I guess what I don't understand in the pricing is why there is no discount for multiple person booking. If more then one person shares a room why would each pay for the rooms rate again. I looked at the London hotels and they are at about 450 dollars a night for 2 queens. Which would work for a family of 4. So if the adult is already paying for the room, shouldn't the rest of family be discounted the room rate ? When we book at dinsey the room cost the same whether it is for my wife and i,( which we sometimes go without the kids but don't tell them) or for a family of 4. Or am I looking at the wrong rate chart ? Is there a different one for a family rather then individual.

 

[sayhello]

I guess what I don't understand in the pricing is why there is no discount for multiple person booking. If more then one person shares a room why would each pay for the rooms rate again. I looked at the London hotels and they are at about 450 dollars a night for 2 queens. Which would work for a family of 4. So if the adult is already paying for the room, shouldn't the rest of family be discounted the room rate ? When we book at dinsey the room cost the same whether it is for my wife and i,( which we sometimes go without the kids but don't tell them) or for a family of 4. Or am I looking at the wrong rate chart ? Is there a different one for a family rather then individual.

Actually, if 1 person books a room by themself, they pay an extra 40% "single supplement", which mostly covers the cost of one person in the room instead of 2. The cost for the one person sharing a room with another person actually includes 1/2 the cost of the room. I do think there should be some sort of discount for 3 or 4 in a room, but they can't always accommodate 3 or 4 in a room, so that would make figuring out how much to charge folks a real mess. It's usually just as cost efficient to get 2 rooms.

When I did the Med cruise ABD add-on, it cost exactly the same for me as for everybody else (per person) because the cost of the room (ie, the cruise) was not included in the price of the ABD add-on.

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

I guess what I don't understand in the pricing is why there is no discount for multiple person booking. If more then one person shares a room why would each pay for the rooms rate again. I looked at the London hotels and they are at about 450 dollars a night for 2 queens. Which would work for a family of 4. So if the adult is already paying for the room, shouldn't the rest of family be discounted the room rate ? When we book at dinsey the room cost the same whether it is for my wife and i,( which we sometimes go without the kids but don't tell them) or for a family of 4. Or am I looking at the wrong rate chart ? Is there a different one for a family rather then individual.

I'm very impressed you found a room that accommodates 4. I haven't been in London in a while, but that's very unusual in Europe at least for most of the traditional hotels in main areas. Usually you have to bump up to a junior suite or have 2 rooms.

For 3 people sharing a room, I tend to agree there should be a discount. It's annoying paying full price for a 3rd person when the hotel squeezes a roll-a-way bed in. On the other hand, the 3rd person is often a child, and the guides work amazing hard and give special attention for those children. It also gets tricky, because I think 4 people in a family would usually be split into 2 rooms. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I think it just gets too complicated for ABD considering the number of adventures and hotels they deal with and the ever changing nature of it. Which hotels accommodate 2, 3, or 4 in a room and which don't? How much is this hotel vs that. How should the price be adjusted? Even though it's Disney, I think ABD is still such a small niche player, it's likely just more complicated than it's worth. I'd say if the majority of the 3rd (or 4th) guests across the board are staying in the same size room as 2 people, they should get some discount - maybe 15-30%.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

It also gets tricky, because I think 4 people in a family would usually be split into 2 rooms.

We certainly do every since our first ABD when we realized there was no cost savings to booking as a party of 4. We received two rooms on one of our stops and it was so much nicer--even with small children at the time. Two bathrooms is always better than one

 

[Miss SD]

It will be interesting to see if the fall in the euro is reflected in ABD's European tours for next year.

 

[carpenta]

I would bet no because most contracts are signed year(s) in advance.

 

[DisneyKevin]

All you have to do is see people trundling their luggage down narrow cobblestone streets to realize that ABD is worth the money.

ABD guests never have to move their own luggage.

 

[SingingMom]

All you have to do is see people trundling their luggage down narrow cobblestone streets to realize that ABD is worth the money.

ABD guests never have to move their own luggage.

It's these types of little extras that you really take for granted until you actually experience it!

The other thing is all the travelers usually have one "common bond" - Disney! It makes for a great "connection" !

 

[minnie4ever]

Sorry but I must get this out....I HATE paying extra because I am a solo traveler. Whew, sorry about that!
That being said, I have been traveling all my life. It started at first with my parents, then with friends and other family members and then by myself. We usually did all the planning and traveling ourselves or (in the case of Europe and Hawaii) with the help of travel agents. I have gone on short group tours by a local tour group to Canada and was not impressed but never a true group tour so I was reluctant to do the ABD Viva Italia in September. I know it is way expensive and I am such a cheapskate(see rant above!) but I am secretly excited and relieved that I will not have to worry about a thing. I will not be getting lost for hours driving in Germany, wondering if my hotel ends up being in the Red Light district in Vienna(yes that happened)or that I will be mugged by gypsy children at the Tuileries Gardens in France(don't ask!!). I have read every trip report and I think (and hope)in the end it will be worth every penny. I will let you know! So that is my 2 cents worth on making my own arraignments vs. an all inclusive guided tour.

 

[sayhello]

Sorry but I must get this out....I HATE paying extra because I am a solo traveler. Whew, sorry about that!

I'm totally with you on this. I'm kind of used to it by now, but it still hurts the wallet. But the other option is to not travel, and that's not going to happen!

But it's also made me much, MUCH less likely to cruise now, because a lot of lines (including DCL) actually charge an extra 100% now for a solo cruiser (it used to be a lot less!). At least ABD is "only" an extra 40%.

That being said, I have been traveling all my life. It started at first with my parents, then with friends and other family members and then by myself. We usually did all the planning and traveling ourselves or (in the case of Europe and Hawaii) with the help of travel agents. I have gone on short group tours by a local tour group to Canada and was not impressed but never a true group tour so I was reluctant to do the ABD Viva Italia in September. I know it is way expensive and I am such a cheapskate(see rant above!) but I am secretly excited and relieved that I will not have to worry about a thing. I will not be getting lost for hours driving in Germany, wondering if my hotel ends up being in the Red Light district in Vienna(yes that happened)or that I will be mugged by gypsy children at the Tuileries Gardens in France(don't ask!!). I have read every trip report and I think (and hope)in the end it will be worth every penny. I will let you know! So that is my 2 cents worth on making my own arraignments vs. an all inclusive guided tour.

I've been traveling all my life, too. And I have done trips I planned myself. But just like you said, it's SO NICE to not have to worry about the kinds of things you listed. In my opinion, yes, it *is* worth every penny.

Sayhello