Cheyenne66
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2023
My group of seven just returned home from Disney's first private adventure in New Zealand. While there were many positive aspects to the trip, it's clear Disney has many kinks to work out in handling a private tour. We all loved NZ. If it isn't on your bucket list, it should be. NZ is likely the most beautiful place on earth. The scenery is spectacular and the people quite friendly. Added to that, there are no natural predators and no creepy, crawlie, slithering, or bounding creatures who will do you harm so absent getting lost or falling, it is a remarkably safe place to experience the great outdoors. I can't speak to the group ABD trip, but I do have thoughts on the private adventure. I think the most significant issue is that Disney simply takes the exact itinerary it uses for 40 for a much smaller group, but a small group traveling together -- in our case two families -- is seeking more flexibility. Also, although the itinerary we received offered the activity options available for the large group, in reality, these options were not made available to us. For example, the itinerary in Auckland offers a choice of either a sail on an America's Cup Yacht or waterfront biking, but in fact only the sailing was an option. This, too, was unavailable. And in Queenstown, although the itinerary included options of a trip on a steamship and a farm show, this wasn't available. Finally, when adults were visiting a wine cave and enjoying a wine tasting, the itinerary said kids would experience an olive oil infusion activity or juice tasting. My 13 year-old was quite disappointed when this didn't materialize so the winery brought her a bottle of juice -- not exactly the same thing. Other things included on the itinerary also were not available -- in Rotorua, the initinerary said we'd see a dog herding demonstration, but did not. After we took the train to Arthur's Pass, we were supposed to visit a local brewery and have lunch there, but that was unavailable. This was replaced with a completely uninteresting tourist trap canopy walk and cafe with bad food. Punting on the Avon river in Christchurch wasn't available because it was Christmas Day -- something the travel agency could have checked on well before our arrival, and although the itinerary suggested we take advantage of spa services in our free time (and at our own cost) at the hotel in Franz Joseph, the spa had been closed for several months. Sadly, we wasted some of our valuable time in Auckland (a big city with the same shopping as every other major city from Gucci to H&M) and on unimpressive activities, leaving no time to spare for perhaps one of the most major NZ attractions, Milford Sound, which is not included in the itinerary, but should be as others consider it a must-see. Presumably, we were charged for punting on the Avon, but received no refund for this or other missing activities.
On the hotels: the Park Hyatt in Auckland is lovely. The Pullman in Rotorua is not. For those who value privacy, be aware that hotel rooms do not have separate bathrooms; the shower opens directly into the hotel room, albeit facing away from the beds. The Crowne Plaza in Christchurch is fine. The St. Moritz in Queenstown does not have air conditioning.
Some of the included food was unimpressive. The food at the Tree Top Cafe was bad and the food at the Makarora Country Cafe on the way to Wanaka was all but inedible. It would have been much preferable to eat at one of the many restaurants in Wanaka. Dinner at the St. Moritz was not very good. Our group included 3 vegetarians who often felt they had few good options. Also, when meals were included, given that they were paid for with our money, we would have preferred to have been told the budget and then been able to order exactly what we liked and cover any overage rather than being told what was covered: only tap water for example, no bottled sparkling water. Sometimes some members of our party weren't hungry so didn't order, which in theory should have allowed us more flexibility in ordering. We certainly understand there is a budget for meals, but at least in our case it seems likely we underspent, allowing Disney or the tour operator to pocket the difference.
While Disney employees manage and conduct the tours for the large groups in NZ, ABD contracts with a NZ tour operation, Pan Pacific, for the private adventures. Pan Pacific seemed to have trouble understanding we were two families traveling together and when we arrived at the Park Hyatt, there was no record of one family's reservation. Disney had failed to provide us with any tour contact information so we had no one to call to sort this out. Thankfully, a hotel manager took it on himself to figure out the issue, sending us off to breakfast while he did so. Perhaps alos because Disney wasn't really running things, we didn't receive a revised itinerary until two days into the trip. Only then did we learn that many of the things promised when we booked the trip were no longer scheduled. For the tours themselves, Pan Pacific contracts with local guides. This seemed hit or miss. Our guide in Auckland was terrible and seemed perplexed about what to show us on the walking tour, asking us what we wanted to see. She had next to no knowledge of Auckland's history. We were more impressed by our guide and driver in Rotorua and once we flew to Christchurch the role of driver and guide were combined by one individual, a truly lovely man named Chris Lewis who did all he could to make up for the (many) deficits of the tour.
In sum, we loved New Zealand, but weren't impressed by the ABD private adventure. If you are a single family or small group, I'd strongly recommend visiting NZ, but suggest booking elsewhere at least until Disney makes substantial changes to the way it handles private adventures.
On the hotels: the Park Hyatt in Auckland is lovely. The Pullman in Rotorua is not. For those who value privacy, be aware that hotel rooms do not have separate bathrooms; the shower opens directly into the hotel room, albeit facing away from the beds. The Crowne Plaza in Christchurch is fine. The St. Moritz in Queenstown does not have air conditioning.
Some of the included food was unimpressive. The food at the Tree Top Cafe was bad and the food at the Makarora Country Cafe on the way to Wanaka was all but inedible. It would have been much preferable to eat at one of the many restaurants in Wanaka. Dinner at the St. Moritz was not very good. Our group included 3 vegetarians who often felt they had few good options. Also, when meals were included, given that they were paid for with our money, we would have preferred to have been told the budget and then been able to order exactly what we liked and cover any overage rather than being told what was covered: only tap water for example, no bottled sparkling water. Sometimes some members of our party weren't hungry so didn't order, which in theory should have allowed us more flexibility in ordering. We certainly understand there is a budget for meals, but at least in our case it seems likely we underspent, allowing Disney or the tour operator to pocket the difference.
While Disney employees manage and conduct the tours for the large groups in NZ, ABD contracts with a NZ tour operation, Pan Pacific, for the private adventures. Pan Pacific seemed to have trouble understanding we were two families traveling together and when we arrived at the Park Hyatt, there was no record of one family's reservation. Disney had failed to provide us with any tour contact information so we had no one to call to sort this out. Thankfully, a hotel manager took it on himself to figure out the issue, sending us off to breakfast while he did so. Perhaps alos because Disney wasn't really running things, we didn't receive a revised itinerary until two days into the trip. Only then did we learn that many of the things promised when we booked the trip were no longer scheduled. For the tours themselves, Pan Pacific contracts with local guides. This seemed hit or miss. Our guide in Auckland was terrible and seemed perplexed about what to show us on the walking tour, asking us what we wanted to see. She had next to no knowledge of Auckland's history. We were more impressed by our guide and driver in Rotorua and once we flew to Christchurch the role of driver and guide were combined by one individual, a truly lovely man named Chris Lewis who did all he could to make up for the (many) deficits of the tour.
In sum, we loved New Zealand, but weren't impressed by the ABD private adventure. If you are a single family or small group, I'd strongly recommend visiting NZ, but suggest booking elsewhere at least until Disney makes substantial changes to the way it handles private adventures.
