Three new short adventure ABD trips announced

[RebelHawk]

I just saw a Facebook update from ABD.

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Just Announced! The latest additions to our expanding line-up of Short Escape vacations: three brand-new adventures in Boston, London and Vancouver, Canada, launching next year! Bookings for new Short Escapes open Sept. 20, 2018.
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I would have loved to have that Vancouver option prior to our DCL Alaskan trip.

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

I saw that, too. We're sailing DCL to Alaska next year, so I took a look at the Vancouver Short Escape. Holy moly!! That's a lot of money for what looks to be the same touristy stuff most people do on their own. I didn't notice any kind of exclusive experiences that would make this worthwhile for me, though I'd love to hear the experiences of others who choose to do this.

 

[Beachmom0317]

Anyone know where we can find further details about this?! We live in the Boston area so I’m excited to know!

 

[DCPhotoGal]

Looks like a good option in conjunction with cruises. I laughed a little when I read through the London itinerary, though. It's basically a 1.5 day trip and there is an "afternoon on your own" as part of the main day (https://www.adventuresbydisney.com/...tinerary/westminster-buckingham-crown-jewels/). I mean isn't the point of these so you don't have the afternoon on your own?

 

[DCPhotoGal]

Anyone know where we can find further details about this?! We live in the Boston area so I’m excited to know!

The trips are featured on opening page of the ABD website now.

 

[sayhello]

Looks like a good option in conjunction with cruises. I laughed a little when I read through the London itinerary, though. It's basically a 1.5 day trip and there is an "afternoon on your own" as part of the main day (https://www.adventuresbydisney.com/...tinerary/westminster-buckingham-crown-jewels/). I mean isn't the point of these so you don't have the afternoon on your own?

OMG, that's ridiculous. Who needs an afternoon off on a 1 1/2 day adventure?

Sayhello

 

[Jess_S]

I agree it's odd that the short escapes have own your own time built in. I looked at the Boston itinerary because I live here and I was nosy about it -- and it has an afternoon off too. But it also has a lot of unique activities built in that I think an average tourist here wouldn't think to do, so I was impressed with the itinerary overall.

 

[acndis]

I agree it's odd that the short escapes have own your own time built in. I looked at the Boston itinerary because I live here and I was nosy about it -- and it has an afternoon off too. But it also has a lot of unique activities built in that I think an average tourist here wouldn't think to do, so I was impressed with the itinerary overall.

Jess_S Is there anything on the itinerary that looked really exclusive (like you could not do it yourself?). All of the North American options sounded like pretty good itineraries (the London one was not working for me, either!) but they were all too pricey in my opinion. Seeing if I missed something in the itineraries.

 

[Ava]

Looks like a good option in conjunction with cruises. I laughed a little when I read through the London itinerary, though. It's basically a 1.5 day trip and there is an "afternoon on your own" as part of the main day (https://www.adventuresbydisney.com/...tinerary/westminster-buckingham-crown-jewels/). I mean isn't the point of these so you don't have the afternoon on your own?

I also noticed that they take you to a restaurant after the changing of the Guard, but lunch isn't included. That strikes me as very odd. Either include the lunch or just let people go off on their own from Buckingham Palace.

 

[Calfan]

Agree these look to be ridiculously pricey. The Vancouver one sounds like fun, and I'd consider it for a long weekend getaway for my family, but not for $10,000 for my family of four for two days of activities. Seriously, ABD?

 

[sayhello]

I also noticed that they take you to a restaurant after the changing of the Guard, but lunch isn't included. That strikes me as very odd. Either include the lunch or just let people go off on their own from Buckingham Palace.

That has to be a mistake (not stating that lunch is included). There's no reason to take you to a restaurant if it isn't included! There are too many options for them to waste time on that!

Sayhello

 

[Jess_S]

Jess_S Is there anything on the itinerary that looked really exclusive (like you could not do it yourself?). All of the North American options sounded like pretty good itineraries (the London one was not working for me, either!) but they were all too pricey in my opinion. Seeing if I missed something in the itineraries.

The things that are potentially exclusive or at least hard to do on your own seem to be:

• cannoli making in the North End (though how excited I am about this depends on where the lesson is)
• Thompson Island -- this is open to the public on the weekends for hiking, but it looks like ABD gets access to things that are normally only part of the outward bound program they do there; clam bake also seems exclusive
• private evening visit to Tea Party Museum -- the Tea Party Museum does periodic evening tavern nights, but is otherwise not open in the evening

On the other hand, things like the bike ride on the esplanade and tour of Harvard are unique -- but can be done on your own for free or nearly free.

So the Boston itinerary looks unique and fun to me, but I am sure the price markup is wicked high.

 

[Ava]

That has to be a mistake (not stating that lunch is included). There's no reason to take you to a restaurant if it isn't included! There are too many options for them to waste time on that!

Sayhello

It seems like it should be a mistake, but it says at the top of the page that only breakfast & dinner are included on that day and that matches up with the total of included meals on the trip-at-a-glance page. I'd be interested if anyone inquires with ABD about that what they say.

 

[BluesTraveler]

Holy cow, these are expensive & I'm also surprised at the sprinklings of on your own time. Great locations though.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

OMG the afternoons on your own for a 1.5 day "adventure" are ridiculous. Talk about riding on the Disney name! If this is the trend of ABD, I'm going to be really disappointed

 

[IzzyBella]

We did DCL Alaska in 2016 with 2 pre-nights in Vancouver and we did literally everything on the itinerary on our own except Granville Island, which we weren’t interested in.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Agree these look to be ridiculously pricey. The Vancouver one sounds like fun, and I'd consider it for a long weekend getaway for my family, but not for $10,000 for my family of four for two days of activities. Seriously, ABD?

I thought the same thing. The Vancouver or Boston Escapes looked fun but not at $10,000 for the family for a weekend.

Most ABD's that I've done have been between $600-$900 per person per day. The only ones higher are Japan and S Africa with Joe Rohde. And those all include transfers (some even flights) between cities and are generally more complex trips. These Escapes that are running $900-$1000 per night (except Boston at $740) seem pretty high. And the morning on your own in Boston and afternoon on your own in London doesn't help support that price.

 

[Donalyn]

I've said it before, I generally don't see the value in these short escapes. $10K for a family of four, for two-ish, maybe three days of activities!!!!

Now, the Boston one may have some things that may be harder to do on your own, but when I look at the itinerary, it looks a lot like my summer 2016 trip to Boston and Newport, RI, and I think that I spend $5K total, with flights. And our hotel in Boston was actually pretty nice. For instance:

Day one:
Orientation breakfast at the Public Library - didn't do this.
Guided tour on the Freedom Trail with costumed guides - Did this and likely our public tour had fewer people than the ABD will.
Lunch on own at Faneuil Hall - Did this
Afternoon on your own to explore - did this
Norther end Pizza Appetizer tour - okay didn't do this, but did have a lovely meal at the North End
Private visit to the Old North Church, Chocolate shop and longfellow story - The Old North Church was almost empty when we visited.
Dinner at Tresca - again, had a lovely meal at the North End
Cannoli-making - this sounds fun

Day two:
Breakfast on your own - really?
Bike ride along the Charles - this sounds fun
Food truck for lunch - okay,
Rowing class - this sounds fun
Harvard tour - tried to do this, but multiple bus loads of international students made it impossible for us to take the normal Harvard tour. Instead, we walked around by ourselves, visited the museums and the bookstore.
Dinner in Harvard square - on your own.

Day three:
Breakfast on your own again
Morning on your own in Boston
Thompson Island activities - could be interesting, but there is so many other things to do in Boston
Clambake - could be fun, if I wasn't allergic to shellfish
After-hours tour of the Boston Tea Party ships - okay (We were going to visit the museum during normal hours, but since it was like 95 degrees and super humid, the family decided to take a nap instead, to rest up for the Red Sox game that night)
Farewell dinner

Day four:
Breakfast on your own again and transfer to the airport.

 

[carpenta]

Sounds as if ABD is trying to suck every sheckel out of your pocket and return a half baked tour. Instead of mini tours it should be called “ABD On Your Own Tours”.....

 

[Calfan]

Sounds as if ABD is trying to suck every shackle out of your pocket and return a half baked tour. Instead of mini tours it should be called “ABD On Your Own Tours”......

Hilarious, but sadly, way too true! I can’t even wrap my brain around how much on your own time (and on your own meals) there are in these short escapes. I get some on your own time on a regular ABD (although I don’t like to see too much of it even for those), but on a trip where there are only 2 full days of activities? That just blows my mind. Will be really curious to see how well these sell. Way too rich for my blood for what you get.