Which trip to choose - kids 9 & 11???

[Popovich]

We are looking for something educational as well as a fun family vacation

Our kids are 9 & 11. We have made many trips to WDW with DVC and 2 DCL trips and all have been great but looking for something new.

We've enjoyed the 1st class accomodations and special surprises on all of our Disney trips.

In looking at some of the trips with rafting and mule rides, I wasn't sure if the kids were old enough for me not to be terrified!! I think they would feel fine about either. I'm also a little afraid of heights, so I don't see myself riding any animal down skinny trails on the edge of a mountain side LOL!

All of the Europeon trips sound great. My husband and I have been a few times. Not sure if the kids are old enough to appreciate and remember that type of trip. Also not sure if the history and educational factor will be absorbed.

Any thoughts are appreciated

Thank you!

 

[abdmom]

Before I recommend which trips I would do with children ages 9 and 11, I'll give you my perspective as to why I chose the adventure I did for my own two children, ages 9 and 12.

My late husband was Chinese. He'd always promised to take the kids, especially the oldest, to China. Unfortunately he passed away when the kids were 7 and 10. He never did take us. I promised to take the kids this year. I looked high and low for a kid-friendly trip to China. Couldn't find one. Finally booked a different trip as consolation. Found ABD. Cancelled other trip and booked ABD China.

For us, the trip will have special meaning and it is somewhere the kids have head about their whole lives and have wanted to go to. In addition, the ABD trip will have special excursions that aren't usually found on China trips, such as visiting the panda breeding center in Chengdu and staying at Hong Kong Disneyland.

For me, if I were to choose a trip other than China, knowing my kids and their interests, out of all that ABD has to offer, I would choose the Australia trip. It involves seeing raw nature, i.e. snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef and visiting iconic natural wonders of the world, such as Uluru. It's right up there with China for expense though. Other trips to consider would be Costa Rica or Southwest Splendours. Again, they have more to do with nature and being active, rather than looking at historical monuments. I once took a class of middle schoolers to Costa Rica and they loved it.

Hope this helps.

 

[Popovich]

Thanks for the reply. I think the China and Austrailia trips would be amazing. However, those are out of our price range for this ABD trip. I think the airfare would be expensive and since it's so far away, we'd want to extend the trip on our own for another week. So, unfortunately those places will have to stay on our "to do" list. We just spent 10 days at WDW in April and we're doing the Eastern Magic Disney cruise in November.

I like the advice of looking at the activity and nature sites. I hadn't thought of that. From a kids perspective that would be huge. It keeps things interesting.

I'll re-read Southwest Splendors. I get it confused with the other Western trip until I read the descriptions!

Have a great time in China with your children. Friends of ours adopted a daughter from China 10 years ago. She's in 5th grade now. They have 3 other children. They went to China for two weeks for spring break. They all loved it and said it was amazing.

Thanks again!

 

[JulieWent]

We took our son (who was 11 then) on the London / Paris trip last summer. He had an amazing time. As a side benefit, he has studied many of the things we saw on our trip this year in social studies. (He enjoyed talking with his social studies teacher about the Magna Carta, Stonehenge -- we went there on our own on a side trip before the tour, and the various things he saw in the Louvre that ended up being in his textbook. His favorite things were just "being" in Paris and trying to speak French a few times. (He kept asking various French men and women if they spoke French -- in their own language. It became a very funny ongoing joke. The French were wonderful, kind, and in very good humor with him.) Going to the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame (he loved climbing! lucky us!) And the Tower of London. He has very specific things he wants to go back to see, and he's helping us try to decide whether we want to go to Italy, Germany, or Costa Rica next. I KNOW that he will remember our tour.
Julie

 

[jlou]

We took our son (who was 11 then) on the London / Paris trip last summer. He had an amazing time. As a side benefit, he has studied many of the things we saw on our trip this year in social studies. (He enjoyed talking with his social studies teacher about the Magna Carta, Stonehenge -- we went there on our own on a side trip before the tour, and the various things he saw in the Louvre that ended up being in his textbook. His favorite things were just "being" in Paris and trying to speak French a few times. (He kept asking various French men and women if they spoke French -- in their own language. It became a very funny ongoing joke. The French were wonderful, kind, and in very good humor with him.) Going to the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame (he loved climbing! lucky us!) And the Tower of London. He has very specific things he wants to go back to see, and he's helping us try to decide whether we want to go to Italy, Germany, or Costa Rica next. I KNOW that he will remember our tour.
Julie

Hi Julie,
could you tell us how you did Stonehenge? We are arriving a day early, quite early in the day. We already have plans for the morning/early afternoon of the day the tour starts. Additionally, I have a friend we'd like to catch up with at some point. So I thought we'd probably do dinner with her the night we arrive. I'm wondering if it's possible/advisable to make a trip to Stonehenge the day we arrive. I think that would be the only option, as the rest of the time is filled, or we only have the afternoon/evening. I already think we'd like to do London Eye and British museum on our "afternoon on your own". Did you do a combination tour of Stonehenge and Bath? Did you do it on your own, or through a tour company? Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[JulieWent]

Hi!

We arrived in the UK a week before our tour began and rented a car. My husband "learned" to drive lmao: long story and full of arguments and funny moments), and we toured Stratford-Upon-Avon and Warwickshire, a themepark called Alton Towers, and then we drove down to Salisbury (Stonehenge). It took us about 2 hours to drive from Salisbury to Gatwick Airport. (We went back to Gatwick to drop our rental car and to meet up with the tour the morning the tour began.)

I do not think I would recommend making this trip with limited time, though. We stayed overnight at Salisbury and went on an afterhours tour that allows a small number of guests inside the stone circle. During normal hours, guests are kept back a good distance from the stones, and I would imagine it is very frustrating to drive that far to have to just stand and look. (If you're ever able to get there and do an after hours tour, though, it was amazing. We got to touch the stones and walk amongst them, see the graffitti carved by people in the 1800's -- apparently people haven't changed all that much! We watched the sunset as we sat in the midst of Stonehenge. It was really awe-inspiring.) If I'd driven for two hours to sit 25 yards outside the circle and simply look at them, I don't know if I would have felt them same, though.

The other thing is logistics. It's definitely at least 1 1/2 hours out there. It sounds like you have a really busy day planned already. I'm not sure if you could get out there and back in the time you have planned, and the first day we were there, we felt like we were going to die from jet lag. (We drove from Gatwick to Stratford-Upon-Avon, which is supposed to be a fairly easy drive. I don't think I've ever survived a more brutal drive in my life. Next time we go, I've vowed that we'll arrive, check into a hotel nearby, sleep for a time, and then move on down the road. I know all the guide books say to stay awake, but driving while we were in that state was not safe.)

It's a wonderful tour. You're going to have the time of your life.

Julie

 

[cindy18]

We're doing Southwest Splendors this July and our daughters are 12 and 10. We picked it because none of us (me, DH or either DD) had ever been to that part of the country, and it seems really important to see the Grand Canyon and stuff like that. We've taken them to Europe, and it seemed like a good idea to do something closer to home that was beautiful and majestic. We're already thinking about Costa Rica next time!

 

[LisaTex]

HI - I took my then 8y/o niece and 10 y/o nephew on the London/Paris trip - we were WITH JULIE - Hi Julie - PM me sometime ....sorry - back on topic. I had been very concerned that they would be the "B" word (bored). Especially as we were doing the Med. cruise after with even more "touring old stuff". I could not have been more wrong or pleasantly surprised. They had a blast, they were so interested in everything they saw. I think part of the fun was the big group of kids that was on the trip - especially Julie's son for my nephew. They may not remember it all, but the feeling of the experience I think will stay with them. My nephew and I are going to Costa Rica soon for his birthday - I'll let you know how that goes!!

 

[Kidoctr]

Hi - my kids will be 9 and 11 next month. We've booked the Spirit of America tour in October as our first ABD experience. We are DVC and have been to the World and DL a lot both with and without the kids. The kids will be missing 4 days of school in October (it's over Fall Break and Columbus day) but we figured it will be very educational for them. I've been to DC but not the other places on our itinerary so it'll be a new experience for me too. My DH is a history buff whereas I'm doing well keeping WWI and WWII straight. LOL. We checked into the ABD China trip as well (I'm Chinese).....WOWSY - a little pricey. I was hoping to see the price drop after the Olympics this year so maybe we'll consider China in the near future. I'd do it in a heartbeat with ABD if it wasn't for the hefty pricetag.

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

My kids are 9 & 12 and we are going on Viva Italia in Sept. We are of Italian heritage and that is part of the reason we chose that trip. Also, all the sites and museums were of interest to us. Though, every ABD tour looks like we'd thoroughly enjoy it. I don't think you can go wrong. Also, ask the kids for thier input. You never know- they may surprise you with what their interests are.

 

[Popovich]

Eve,
I think the fall is a great time to visit DC. If we weren't booked for a Disney cruise in the fall, we would go this year.

Do you think there's a price difference if you book during a spring/fall promotion vs. booking with the early booking discount - or does it work out the same?

Friends of ours went to China on spring break this year and they loved it. They have 4 kids, one was adopted from China. They originally planned to go in the summer but going in the spring was a huge savings.

Have a good trip!

Thanks for the input everyone!