tink1970
DCL Platinum
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2012
Brief thoughts on the ABD...
The ABD begins in London and we stayed at The Landmark Hotel. I had several options for our pre-night in London but chose to book and stay at The Landmark so we could receive transportation from ABD from LHR and not have to change hotels. While I understand why ABD uses The Landmark (pool, large-very large really for London-rooms, and across the street from an Underground station), we really were not impressed with their service. Check in was painfully slow and although a room was guaranteed by 3, I had to go up to the desk at 3:30 and request a room assignment-finally being told if we wanted a room I'd have to downgrade from the type I'd prepaid more for. Desperately wanting a shower and to sleep, I agreed. Check out several days later was almost as chaotic-20 minutes to "express" check out. There were several other service issues but I'm trying to stay semi-brief. Needless to say I won't stay with them again in London.
The Paris hotel was the Paris Hilton Opera-it had a very convenient location and the service, in direct contrast to The Landmark, was very good whereas the room was very small (much more consistent with European rooms). My favorite parts of the Paris days included the Chocolate Museum visit, as well as short walking tour of Montmartre and a wine tasting at a local cafe. Both the chocolatier and sommelier were very passionate about their jobs and made excellent presentations. I didn't shop much, but I can't say that for everyone on the Adventure
.
DL-Paris was the special add on-we had our guides for the days there as well. The Disneyland Hotel reminded me of both Beach Club and Grand Floridian. Picky folks would note some broken tiles and peeling wallpaper in the bathroom, but I was delighted with beautiful roses- an arrangement in the room and a single (same color) in the bathroom, as well as a bathtub (so missed in Paris) with bath salts. I would definitely return to DL Hotel.
Our private tour with an Imagineer was amazing-despite the cold, the wind, the rain, our group was fascinated by his wonderful presentation for three and 1/2 hours. It was the highlight of the trip and definitely a unique experience. The time with him made the trip, without a doubt!
We also received VIP Fastpasses and were able to use them at the few attractions that accepted FPs. DL Paris is a beautiful park and I would return to it before WDW at this point. The farewell dinner was at Walt's-an intricately designed and decorated restaurant that features different rooms representing the different lands of DL-P.
I surprised myself by enjoying Montmartre more than I expected, and the tour with the Disney Imagineer exceeded my expectations. As always, the ABD was tiring and frankly I'm not sure the format is for me anymore. That said, I'm glad I went. John and Kevin were good hosts and it was nice to meet them and other DIS-ers IRL.
The ABD begins in London and we stayed at The Landmark Hotel. I had several options for our pre-night in London but chose to book and stay at The Landmark so we could receive transportation from ABD from LHR and not have to change hotels. While I understand why ABD uses The Landmark (pool, large-very large really for London-rooms, and across the street from an Underground station), we really were not impressed with their service. Check in was painfully slow and although a room was guaranteed by 3, I had to go up to the desk at 3:30 and request a room assignment-finally being told if we wanted a room I'd have to downgrade from the type I'd prepaid more for. Desperately wanting a shower and to sleep, I agreed. Check out several days later was almost as chaotic-20 minutes to "express" check out. There were several other service issues but I'm trying to stay semi-brief. Needless to say I won't stay with them again in London.
The Paris hotel was the Paris Hilton Opera-it had a very convenient location and the service, in direct contrast to The Landmark, was very good whereas the room was very small (much more consistent with European rooms). My favorite parts of the Paris days included the Chocolate Museum visit, as well as short walking tour of Montmartre and a wine tasting at a local cafe. Both the chocolatier and sommelier were very passionate about their jobs and made excellent presentations. I didn't shop much, but I can't say that for everyone on the Adventure
.DL-Paris was the special add on-we had our guides for the days there as well. The Disneyland Hotel reminded me of both Beach Club and Grand Floridian. Picky folks would note some broken tiles and peeling wallpaper in the bathroom, but I was delighted with beautiful roses- an arrangement in the room and a single (same color) in the bathroom, as well as a bathtub (so missed in Paris) with bath salts. I would definitely return to DL Hotel.
Our private tour with an Imagineer was amazing-despite the cold, the wind, the rain, our group was fascinated by his wonderful presentation for three and 1/2 hours. It was the highlight of the trip and definitely a unique experience. The time with him made the trip, without a doubt!
We also received VIP Fastpasses and were able to use them at the few attractions that accepted FPs. DL Paris is a beautiful park and I would return to it before WDW at this point. The farewell dinner was at Walt's-an intricately designed and decorated restaurant that features different rooms representing the different lands of DL-P.
I surprised myself by enjoying Montmartre more than I expected, and the tour with the Disney Imagineer exceeded my expectations. As always, the ABD was tiring and frankly I'm not sure the format is for me anymore. That said, I'm glad I went. John and Kevin were good hosts and it was nice to meet them and other DIS-ers IRL.
) received an offer to upgrade SW Plus to SW Priority.
