ABD Hawaii

[LukenDC]

I recall that ABD offered a Hawaii tour last year. Can anyone give me a brief description of the itinerary? Was it constant activity or was there plenty of time for relaxation?

 

[DisneyKevin]

Hi there,

I realize that this is not what you asked, but ABD is not offering the Hawaii trip in 2007.

Kevin

 

[LukenDC]

Hi there,

I realize that this is not what you asked, but ABD is not offering the Hawaii trip in 2007.

Kevin

I realize that, but I am hoping that it will be offered in 2008.

 

[bicker]

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but I wonder why they'd have discontinued the tour for 2007.

 

[LisaTex]

The only reason I know of was that it was the least popular of the trips. I don't understand it - my family did the ABD Oahu/Big island trip and it was GREAT. Wonderful hotels, great activities -but to answer your question - lots of time on your own if you wanted. You could be as busy as you wanted to be. We had 2 adults, 2 grandparents, a7 and 8 year old. We all had a blast. I would go on it again. I was really surprised when our guides told us it was the least popular. Made our trip great though - only 21 in our group. I hope they bring it back.

 

[bicker]

Was it substantially more expensive than the others?

 

[LisaTex]

NO, - it was not as much as the London /Paris. That was very popular they said and it also rules out airfare concerns as part of the problem.

 

[bicker]

I know that in some places local communities are beginning to place more obstructions to certain types of tourism, trying not so much to eliminate tourism, but rather to bring it into the local communities more direct control, so the local community can have more of a say about how tourism adversely affects their everyday life. Maybe that had something to do with it?

 

[DisneyKevin]

We were told that this product (ABD) is in it's evolution stage. There were a handful of trips in 2005, twice as many in 2006 and twice as many as that in 2007.

I believe ABD is still trying to see what are going to be the most popular and cost effective destinations. Even though the Viva Italia trip is offered again in 2007 and it's major components are the same, there are still some changes to the itinerary.

There is also the question of scheduling and hotel availability for each destination.

It's my guess that we won't see a stadardized list of Adventures for quite a while, if ever. I'm hoping that they keep this product fresh and exciting with new places to explore.

If you see a trip that excites you, you should take advantage of it, it could be different or not offered at all next season.

Kevin

 

[LisaTex]

Possibly - however tourism is very important in that area. Disney just arranges local activities etc. and gets you from one place to another. It's all "locally done". I just think for some unknown reason - people didn;t want to go to Hawaii - at least not this type of trip. Maybe they felt Hawaii could be done "on your own" easily and for less price? Some may be a little less secure running around Europe - especially with kids - on their own? I know things must have gotten bad - they dropped the price and gave us partial refunds (grandfather clause) Actually, as I remember they made a kids go free plea and we were refunded what we had paid for the kids. I have been on quite a few "adventure trips" with many companies. It wasn't the trip itself - it was top notch.

 

[LisaTex]

For someone who plans on continuing travel with ABD - I agree - keep changing things up. However, if you have to plan way ahead and have your heart set on one trip - and next year it's not there?? There are so many places to go and see though..... just need to keep an open mind. The Disney cruises for example - I know some just like to "cruise" - I like to see new places. I was tired of the same disney itinerary and would not have gone again for awhile. So.... when they brought in the med. we signed up quick!

 

[dingoballs]

Hey DisneyKevin, do you know who at ABD makes the decision on where in the world a particular tour will be offered? Is it one person or a committee? I think Hawaii should definitely be on the ABD list...

 

[DisneyKevin]

Hi DingoBalls,

I dont work for the Disney company and am not privy to the decision making process.

Hawaii was offered during ABD's first year. I do not know why it's not being offered or if it will be offered again. It is not on the 2007 list of itineraries. We can specualate, but thats all it is...specualtion.

Kevin

 

[liveforthemagic]

My son has requested a trip to Hawaii to celebrate his 8th grade graduation--which would be May, 2008.

It was a trip we had considered back in 06 but felt the kids weren't quite old enough. Since then, I have not been actively reviewing ABD info.

Any idea when they come out with the itineraries for the following year?

Based on the individual pricing that I am getting for the tourist things that were included in the ABD--it looks like it would be very competitive in price. Plus you get the Disney experience and a tour guide to boot!

 

[DisneyKevin]

The 2007 itineraries were announced in late August 2006.