Short Escapes vs. Full Trips

leannak

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2011
Can anyone who has done both a regular ABD trip and a short escape comment on the general differences? Are the short escapes as much fun? Do they have as many treats/surprises, etc.? My guess is that the biggest difference is you don't get to know your travel companions and guides as well and that seems to be one of the biggest selling points.
 
We've been on 12 adventures, three of those were short escapes (San Francisco, Barcelona and Prague). My general sense is that the short escapes are crammed packed with activities. We felt like we had little to no down time which was great! On the longer trips there seems to be more "on your own" time (even more on recent trips :oops:) We prefer packed itineraries.

I definitely remember our travel companions from the longer trips and in fact have kept in touch. We've even planned subsequent ABD trips together. I really don't remember the folks or the guides on the short escapes but do remember that they were fun and that we enjoyed their company.
 
We have done both and either way I add days on to enjoy time alone with my family. I booked Boston for next summer purposefully b/c we enjoyed NYC so much. I think the full trips are a better value when priced per DAY but the shorter trips are jam packed as the above poster said.
 
Can anyone who has done both a regular ABD trip and a short escape comment on the general differences? Are the short escapes as much fun? Do they have as many treats/surprises, etc.? My guess is that the biggest difference is you don't get to know your travel companions and guides as well and that seems to be one of the biggest selling points.

I’ve done 5 regular ABDs and I short escape (NYC). I also have the Budapest short escape scheduled for next year before I do the Danube river cruise. I did the NYC short escape in 2013 with my sister, so my recollections may be dim. Although both of us had been to NYC several times (I actually lived in the area for years) we decided to do the trip because the experiences ABD was doing were not ones we had ever done on our visits to NYC. The days were jam packed and there wasn’t much down town. It was my sister’s first ABD and she actually felt the pace was too fast. I was used to the pace of ABDs so it didn’t bother me. I had as much fun as when I was on a regular ABD and you get a pin each day. They took pictures of us throughout the trip, but I don’t remember if we had the final slideshow because of where we had the final dinner.

You are correct in that you have less time to learn everyone’s name but I don’t think this diminished our enjoyment of the trip. IMO ABD does short escapes in areas worth seeing but that wouldn’t have a full weeks worth of activities. When I did a DCL cruise from Copenhagen, I came in early and did sightseeing on my own. At the time, they didn’t have the Copenhagen short escape. However, the only things on the short escape that I didn’t do on my own were the Viking museum and Frederiksborg Castle. They were on my list but I decided the travel logistics were a bit much.
 


Thanks for the info! We're going to try a short escape as a way of dipping our toes in the ABD water. : ) It's nice to know it's not too terribly different than a regular adventure, aside from it being shorter and having less downtime. We'll definitely try and make sure to go into it well-rested!
 
Thanks for the info! We're going to try a short escape as a way of dipping our toes in the ABD water. : ) It's nice to know it's not too terribly different than a regular adventure, aside from it being shorter and having less downtime. We'll definitely try and make sure to go into it well-rested!
We did this same thing - used the Rome Short Escape as a way of trying ABD, and it really was perfect. We were busy and enjoyed the other guests and have kept in touch with a few other couples. But we added on another week on our own, and I was glad to have time with the group as well as a longer trip just with my husband. I really don't know if I'll choose another Short Escape next time or go for a longer trip.
 

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