Viva Italia Sept 30, 2007

[ronny1]

I know I've asked before but I thought I would check and see if anyone else is travelling on these dates? I know Disneytraveller is on this tour with me (looking forward to meeting you!) but is anyone else booked yet?

 

[disneytraveler]

Yes i will be on the tour. Ugh i had to rebook the flight as i had it arriving on oct 1 and not sept 30th. I dont know how much i will be paying now as the whole ticket had to be rebooked. I am flying Lufthansa.

 

[ronny1]

Oh no! What a pain. I hope it doesn't cost too much! We are arriving 3 days early and are staying at Anne's Place outside of Rome (check it out on Tripadvisor). I take it you didn't book airfare through Disney? I didn't either. I am beyond excited as I've never been to Europe! Can't wait to meet you

 

[disneytraveler]

Yes i booked the flight myself. I have been to Europe before but it was mostly years ago. Last summer though i went to Sweden for a week to attend a magic convention. That one i had a travel agent book and my dates
were ok. I got a little confused with this itinerary. Will be good to meet everyone on the trip.

 

[MJGirl]

Hi Ronny ... Just thought I would give you a heads up. I got my backpacks yesterday, plus a notice to pay $41.27 in duty. I had to call ABD because I had the wrong information in my package, and mentioned the duty. They said they would reimburse me somehow. Hopefully this will be fixed when you get yours. Take care, your trip is getting closer!!!

 

[ronny1]

Thanks for the head's up, MJ. Your trip is coming up really soon. You must be sooooo excited! I am really excited too. It's four months away exactly from yesterday till we fly to Rome! Yippee!

 

[disneytraveler]

I just paid the remainder of my trip. I dont know if i was overcharged because it has hard to understand the cm. My figuring i owed around 3378.00
but they still had it 3878.00. It was 4178.00 and i paid 800.00 .
Where are they getting 500.00 more. She told me they received 800.00

 

[disneytraveler]

I reconfirmed the amount paid and i all set. I guess it was the cm;s accent.
Cant wait for the adventure!

 

[ronny1]

I paid off mine last Saturday too. I cannot wait! Only three months now. I remember booking the trip thinking it was so far away, now it's so close.

 

[Our Angel]

We will be traveling to Italy on 29 September 2007 for the Adventures by Disney trip starting in Rome and completing in Venice. We will be traveling with Anna, who will be just turning 4 on 1 August 2007. No one panic, she is a great traveling companion. We went on a marvelous trip to Naples, Isle of Capri, Isle of Iscia, and the Amalfi coast last year. We are looking forward to a wonderful Autumn trip in Italy.

 

[ronny1]

Our Angel, it's great to meet someone else that will be on our adventure. Don't you worry about Anna, if we didn't want kids to be around we would have booked on an adult's only trip. Where are you from? Looking forward to meeting you

 

[Our Angel]

We are from Saint Louis, Missouri. We are also looking forward to meeting everyone on the tour. We are hoping that the weather will be perfect in October! We are anticipating the tour package that they apparently send out about 2-3 weeks before the trip.

 

[ronny1]

OurAngel...see you in two months!

 

[disneytraveler]

We are from Saint Louis, Missouri. We are also looking forward to meeting everyone on the tour. We are hoping that the weather will be perfect in October! We are anticipating the tour package that they apparently send out about 2-3 weeks before the trip.

Hi Our Angel I will see you in 2 months to, I am anticipating the package also.

 

[hack2112]

I just came back from Viva Italia, and let me just say, you will NOT be disappointed. There is a little walking, but overall it is a great trip. Of course, the Adventure Guides make the trip, and ours were incredible. I hope you have as good of a time as we did!

 

[ronny1]

Wow, finally someone is back from Viva Italia! How were the hotels? Food? Any details you can give us???

 

[Peek-a-boo]

Hi Ronny! I just returned yesterday, 8/3 from my adventure and I agree with hack...you will NOT be disappointed. I have to admit that after listening to Kevin's Podcast I thought "what did I get myself into?" If you have heard it - disregard... if you have not, don't bother. The tour is much, much better than he makes it out to be. Our group was made up of 7 - 80 year olds and everyone was able to keep up. It really was the adventure of a lifetime. If you need any specific info, I will be happy to help you out if I can...

 

[hack2112]

Wow, finally someone is back from Viva Italia! How were the hotels? Food? Any details you can give us???

Your wish is my command.

Hotels: In Rome, you stay at the Exedra, a Boscolo luxury hotel, if you've heard of the chain before. Beautiful rooms, the food is OK at best. Overall the experience in Rome is great, but when you have an on your own dinner, well, I'll get to that later.

In Tuscany, you stay at the Borgo San Luigi. The grounds are INCREDIBLE, but the rooms, not so much. Be warned, The rooms in the Borgo are all completely different from each other, which means, your experience in your room will vary. I'll talk about the food later.

Finally, in Venice, you stay at the Hotel Dei Dogi. This is another 5 star Boscolo Luxury Hotel. Unlike other Venetian properties, the hotel has its' own private garden inside of the property. I recommend walking it both in the day, and at night when all of the lights turn on. As for the rooms, they are also varying in size, but they are all clean and very nice. One more thing. In both Rome and in Venice, the showers have half doors, so, be careful where you place the shower head!!

Food:

Rome: The food varies. At the Hotel it is OK, at the other restaurants, it is good to great. On your on your own dinner, they may try to send you to Target. You can go if you want, but ask about where they eat. Also, ask them about a restaurant with a blue awning and it has pictures of movie stars on the wall. The BEST meal we had in Italy, hands down.

Tuscany: At the hotel, the food is incredible. The Tuscan barbecue was good too, but the meats may change at any time based on what they can find, we actually had rabbit.

Venice: The food at the restaurant at the hotel is very good, and the other meals (except breakfast of course) are on your own. There's food.

Other Stuff:
Rome: The walking tour is long, but enjoyable. If you don't think you can do it, tell your Adventure Guides and they will help you back to the hotel or wherever you need to go.

Tuscany: In Orvietto, also some walking, but it's nice and leisurely, even on the scorching hot day we had. Also, Florence has a walking tour, so be aware.

Venice: Walking tour, yes. Bad, no. Also, you have to walk to the mask shop. It's a two mile walk, and about a three mile walk back, if you walk back, because after the mask shop, you are on your own.

Overall:
The trip is INCREDIBLE! There is not one bad part of the trip. If you have any other questions just ask me. I'm just here to help! Hack2112

 

[hack2112]

Hi Ronny! I just returned yesterday, 8/3 from my adventure and I agree with hack...you will NOT be disappointed. I have to admit that after listening to Kevin's Podcast I thought "what did I get myself into?" If you have heard it - disregard... if you have not, don't bother. The tour is much, much better than he makes it out to be. Our group was made up of 7 - 80 year olds and everyone was able to keep up. It really was the adventure of a lifetime. If you need any specific info, I will be happy to help you out if I can...

Who are you??? It's Max. Did your flight get in OK?? Hack2112

 

[ronny1]

Thank you so much Hack for your review. I am over the moon excited Everything sounds wonderful. I've been waiting for someone to come back and give me a review. I'm not worried about the walking as I have been running and walking all year so I'm in not too bad of shape. I hope more people will post about their Viva Italia trips.

Thanks again, Hack!