It's official...ABD is going to Japan!

[BluesTraveler]

I've only skimmed it this morning, but the Japan itinerary looks fabulous. And for those who wanted parks, looks like really good add-on options. Looking forward to reading more it more closely when I'm back at my desk. Good job ABD!!!

 

[danv3]

Itinerary looks great but at 11 days not including the parks, I don’t see it working for me. I’d want three days in the parks, so I’d be at 14 days before accounting for travel. Hard to make that work.

 

[ImprovGal]

Does anyone know which travel agency has the Oct 13th one blocked?

 

[sayhello]

*Before* the trip has gone on sale, the shoulder season trips start at $1000 more expensive than the summer dates! And one of the 2 Adult Only itineraries is already gone to an exclusive trip.

Sayhello

 

[calypso726]

I was hoping to see more dates for the fall and disappointed to see only 2 and one is booked. I was thinking fall or cherry blossom season. Getting a aed flights for April will be tough at this point.

 

[keaster]

Japan is our bucket list family trip, either on our own or with a tour company. At $9,500 US each (there are three of us), that would be over $36,000 CDN plus flights. I wish we had deeper pockets lol!

 

[BluesTraveler]

I've now had a chance to read through the itinerary. It does look excellent. However, the price is...wow. Especially compared with the Nat Geo family trip, which is one night less but almost $3000 per person less, and limited to 25 people max. I don't think we are going to do an ABD for 2019 but this definitely goes on the list for 2020. (We are focusing researching France or Switzerland for next year and doesn't look like ABD trips will be the right ones.)

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

the dates do not work for us at all. My niece is getting married on June 15th. If we leave on June 16th we won't be in Kyoto until June 17th, meaning that IF our flights were on time, we'd miss the first day.

The June 26th date gets us back too late; the June 2nd date would only allow us 2 days in the parks (to make the wedding on June 15th). This is the absolute worst case scenario for me .

I don't think I can miss the wedding. I'd just feel awful doing this to my brother and his family. Although they did miss dd's Bat Mitzvah (which was due to his health). I can't believe I am considering asking my niece to move her date to June 8th (though I don't think I can -- she told us the date in January).

Any suggestions? Anyone? I am very conflicted.

I LOVE the itinerary, hotels and pretty much everything about the trip.

Also I think the price is fair. To be honest I was thinking it might be over $10,000.00. They did a FANTASTIC job on this trip.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I've read through it quickly once. My initial disappointment that parks weren't included was somewhat lessened by the inclusion of Hiroshima and the add-on. Does anyone have pricing info for the resort addition yet? Agree with @BlueTraveler though about the pricing compared to other tour companies. The private NatGeo is still much cheaper. I also wonder if the resort addition is just for ABD or can be arranged in conjunction with another tour (i.e. like Nat Geo). It's nice to have a package without the 6 month stress.

 

[bearsgirl]

I've read through it quickly once. My initial disappointment that parks weren't included was somewhat lessened by the inclusion of Hiroshima and the add-on. Does anyone have pricing info for the resort addition yet? Agree with @BlueTraveler though about the pricing compared to other tour companies. The private NatGeo is still much cheaper. I also wonder if the resort addition is just for ABD or can be arranged in conjunction with another tour (i.e. like Nat Geo). It's nice to have a package without the 6 month stress.

What is the 6 month stress?

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

What is the 6 month stress?

Tokyo Disney property hotels are released at 6 months, which means that you have to be on the computer at exactly 6 months from your stay to try to book a room. @calypso726 went through it for her upcoming stay. I'm sure she can chime in on it.

 

[bearsgirl]

Tokyo Disney property hotels are released at 6 months, which means that you have to be on the computer at exactly 6 months from your stay to try to book a room. @calypso726 went through it for her upcoming stay. I'm sure she can chime in on it.

Ah yes, I have heard of that. Wondering if 2 nights, 3 days is enough in TDR though.....

 

[Lulu27]

I've now had a chance to read through the itinerary. It does look excellent. However, the price is...wow. Especially compared with the Nat Geo family trip, which is one night less but almost $3000 per person less, and limited to 25 people max. I don't think we are going to do an ABD for 2019 but this definitely goes on the list for 2020. (We are focusing researching France or Switzerland for next year and doesn't look like ABD trips will be the right ones.)

And you only have 2 dinners OYO, whereas with ABD you have 3 OYO dinners and 4 OYO lunches. I do like that ABD goes to Hiroshima, though.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

The itinerary looks fabulous! I was really hoping they would start in March so we could go over DS's spring break (which is two weeks long), but oh well. This is definitely on my radar for 2020!

 

[tgeorge]

The October date would be awesome because I could do the add on and spend my birthday in the parks. Obviously, that won’t work since it is a private trip. I guess I really do have to wait until 2020. I do like the itinerary and agree that the hotels also look very good.

How many people do ABD max with? Is it 36? I would also be interested if you could do the add on alone and possibly do the Nat Geo private tour like CaliforniaGirl mentioned??

My husband would die if he saw the price. This is why I pay for our vacations At least we have the itinerary and I’ll be able to read some great reviews from those of you who are able to go in 2019! Looks awesome

 

[aggiedog]

Hmmm, for 6 of us, plus airfare, that would equal to almost an entire college education for one of my kids. Bummer, but I'm not actually surprised.

 

[disneyphx]

Ahhh, this looks fabulous! I like all the different activities they have, not just looking at temples.......We spent 4 days in Kyoto and 4 days in Tokyo (3 at the parks one in the city!) a couple of years ago - and most of the other family trips duplicate more of what we have done. So I think ABD has done a nice job of making it a bit different.
The date I looked at, trip would be Sun-Wed. So leave US Sat, arrive Sun, end trip Wed, couple of days in the parks and home - so 2 weeks away.....
Last time we went, we stayed at Hilton Tokyo Bay which is a Good Neighbor hotel or something - we booked the trip too late to get Disney hotels, but it was super convenient - could walk to the monorail stop.
We were hoping for Spring Break to see the cherry blossoms, but unfortunately for us that one is Adults only. Last trip was Thanksgiving and the fall colors in Kyoto were mind-blowing!

 

[calypso726]

Tokyo Disney property hotels are released at 6 months, which means that you have to be on the computer at exactly 6 months from your stay to try to book a room. @calypso726 went through it for her upcoming stay. I'm sure she can chime in on it.

I’d rather not ever have to do that booking again. It took a good amount of research and booking online at exactly the right time in Japan each night of our stay 6 months out. We still weren’t able to get all 4 nights so we had a backup plan and are doing a split stay with 2 nights at MiraCosta and 2 nights at Tokyo Disneyland hotel.

 

[calypso726]

It looks like we will be going for the September/October date on booking day and will do a post stay in the parks as well. Pictures of the fall scenery in Japan look amazing! Ideally, I’d like an adult exclusive but April cuts it too close on our vacation time allotments and travel hacking the flights. Besides, some of the most awesome people we’ve met were on family trips, so it’s all good. Let the countdown to booking day begin!

 

[AquaDame]

I’d rather not ever have to do that booking again. It took a good amount of research and booking online at exactly the right time in Japan each night of our stay 6 months out. We still weren’t able to get all 4 nights so we had a backup plan and are doing a split stay with 2 nights at MiraCosta and 2 nights at Tokyo Disneyland hotel.

Am I crazy or does the ABD site only mention the Disneyland Hotel...? I don't see them saying anything about Miracosta in their packages....

https://www.adventuresbydisney.com/asia-africa-australia/japan-vacations/tokyo-disney-resort/