Arrival prior to ABD and hotel

[mimmiepnp]

In anticipation that we are able to go on our Rome short escape prior to our DCL cruise next June to Greece, we decided that it may be better to fly in early rather than the morning we start our escape. Will ABD be able to make the reservation to stay in (same) hotel for night before our short escape begins or do I have to do it independently? This will be our first ABD so I am unsure of many things. Thank you

 

[Networth]

They can make the booking for you and transport you to the hotel from the airport.

 

[Theta]

I have done it both ways.

ABD will quote you their rate if adding on a pre-night hotel stay through them. I usually check to see what the price is if I book directly through the hotel. We always have two rooms for our family and if the difference is significant I book directly on hotel website. If you book directly through the hotel, the ABD hotel shuttle is usually not included. There is also a chance you may have to move rooms when the tour starts.

On other adventures, I have booked through ABD since the price wasn't that much different. If you book through them you are guaranteed hotel pickup when you arrive early and don't have to move rooms.

 

[lovetotravel]

ABD prenight rooms include breakfast so that’s something to consider in the price if that’s important to you.

If you book your own prenight they will transport you to the first hotel on the itinerary so you can technically stay at another hotel nearby if you want to go through that trouble.

 

[sayhello]

If you book your own prenight they will transport you to the first hotel on the itinerary so you can technically stay at another hotel nearby if you want to go through that trouble.

Not always. It seems to vary trip by trip, year by year. I booked the *SAME* hotel as ABD on my own for the pre-night before my Rhone cruise, and they would not transport me from the train station to the hotel (included normally). Not only that, but they would not transport me from the hotel to the ship.

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

Not always. It seems to vary trip by trip, year by year. I booked the *SAME* hotel as ABD on my own for the pre-night before my Rhone cruise, and they would not transport me from the train station to the hotel (included normally). Not only that, but they would not transport me from the hotel to the ship.

Sayhello

I had the same when we did the AbD NYC long weekend a couple of years ago - booked the pre-night on my own at the same AbD hotel and had to arrange my own airport transportation to the hotel.

 

[sayhello]

In anticipation that we are able to go on our Rome short escape prior to our DCL cruise next June to Greece, we decided that it may be better to fly in early rather than the morning we start our escape. Will ABD be able to make the reservation to stay in (same) hotel for night before our short escape begins or do I have to do it independently? This will be our first ABD so I am unsure of many things. Thank you

You need to check with ABD. Most times, they can arrange a pre-night or two for you at the same hotel the ABD starts at. Occasionally they can't, but usually they can. It will include transportation from the airport to the hotel, and breakfast each morning of the pre-stay you book with them. And then you won't need to change rooms once the ABD starts. But expect it to be *very* expensive. Frequently at least twice as much as booking the hotel on your own. However, I've found it very useful when either arriving very late or when traveling somewhere where you can't even read the language, like China or Japan. It's frequently been worth it for the convenience. And there is something nice about seeing that sign saying "Adventures by Disney" with your name on it as you exit customs. Also, you *do* need to factor the transportation and breakfast into the equation. Hotel breakfasts can be very pricey.

I *HIGHLY* recommend that you *do* arrive at least a day or 2 early. You want time to get over jetlag, and if your flight is delayed for any reason, you don't want to be worried about missing part of your short escape. Why put yourself through that anxiety?

Sayhello

 

[Grifdog22]

You need to check with ABD. Most times, they can arrange a pre-night or two for you at the same hotel the ABD starts at. Occasionally they can't, but usually they can. It will include transportation from the airport to the hotel, and breakfast each morning of the pre-stay you book with them. And then you won't need to change rooms once the ABD starts. But expect it to be *very* expensive. Frequently at least twice as much as booking the hotel on your own. However, I've found it very useful when either arriving very late or when traveling somewhere where you can't even read the language, like China or Japan. It's frequently been worth it for the convenience. And there is something nice about seeing that sign saying "Adventures by Disney" with your name on it as you exit customs. Also, you *do* need to factor the transportation and breakfast into the equation. Hotel breakfasts can be very pricey.

I *HIGHLY* recommend that you *do* arrive at least a day or 2 early. You want time to get over jetlag, and if your flight is delayed for any reason, you don't want to be worried about missing part of your short escape. Why put yourself through that anxiety?

Sayhello

As usual, Tobi is right about everything. But one more reason to come in early - and it happened to us - American Airlines screwed up our flights so bad we were two days late getting to Australia. We had a pre-day booked with great tickets in the Opera House for a concert. We got there at the start of day two...but for the pre-day, we would have missed all of Sydney.

 

[RSM]

We always went anywhere from 2 to 4 days early, typically booking the hotel on our own as it was much less expensive. Our experience has been that the comprehensiveness and time spent in the first city is not enough to get a full sense of the destination. I don't want to say they short-change the city, but it usually feels like that first city is rushed and there is not enough time. So, we will typically look at what is on the itinerary, and then book other activities for the day(s) we have on our own. We have found that booking a private tour guide for the day works out really well as they can tailor a day around what ABD does not do.

 

[ImprovGal]

Flying in early definitely helps when crossing multiple time zones. ABD usually offers pre-night packages available at the starting hotels, and as others have mentioned, those packages definitely include transportation to the hotel if booked in that manner. If their pre-night package is more expensive then you'd like or they're offering fewer nights than you'd like, it may be worth a little research for alternate options.

Here are a couple of examples from my Japan trip in which I arrived 2 days prior to the start of the trip, but my friend arrived only 1 day prior. ABD offered pre-nights at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto, but I searched out less expensive options for booking that hotel since I had some World of Hyatt points I could use.

1) Inquire about ABD transportation exceptions: I requested a transportation exception from ABD from the KIX airport to arrive at the Hyatt the day prior to the start of the ABD without booking the night through them. I arranged to get back to KIX at my friend's landing time so we could consolidate our transfer into one vehicle. As it turned out, other parties had traveled on my friend's flight so a van was provided to transfer the 6 of us at once. With the transfer exception granted, I was able to book the night at the Hyatt using a cash + points rate.

2) Consider alternatives convenient to the arrival airport: As I mentioned, my flight was landing the day prior to my friend's flight. I was arriving solo, had never been to Japan before, and had no knowledge of the Japanese language. I did a little bit of research and discovered that the Osaka-area (and Tokyo-area, for that matter) airports had a robust "airport bus" network of contracted companies and routes. Since my primary hotel loyalty points program was Marriott Bonvoy, I looked for their hotels that were convenient to airport bus service. I opted for the Sheraton Miyako Osaka, as it was not only right at an airport bus stop, but it was also the ONLY stop for most of the scheduled runs. I figured that no matter how tired and jet-lagged I was when I landed, I'd be able to successfully get myself to the hotel. It worked out fantastically, and in hindsight I probably should have considered it as an option for the entire pre-stay as it was indeed so easy to get to and less than half the cost of the Kyoto Hyatt, but we had a bit of tunnel-vision for the pre-night at the ABD hotel.