Japan 2019

I was ok with the numbers. Not as ideal as a group of 15-20, but it didn’t affect anything from what I can recall. Most of the bathroom stops and photo stops blended into other activities. My only complaint with numbers would be the back of the bus got crowded on the longer bus rides. I think people tended to spread out more for some reason going to Odawara. I recommend getting to the bus 10-15min early on the long bus rides.

Sigh. Okay. Thanks for the head's up. I didn't realize there were long bus rides. Itinerary fail on my part. DD19 still gets carsick :( She's never quite forgiven me for Ireland, LOL

We only had 31 on my departure, so there were no group size issues. The stops had adequate facilities, and that definitely helped. Everyone was also pretty much on time, also.

Also, I've heard that ABD has just changed their policy, and will not be telling people who their Guides are anymore. I'm assuming someone was told, and the Guides got changed, and they complained. So we all get to pay for that. :(

That said, you will either have James or Tomomi, as (at least as of my trip) they are going to be split up for everything but the last departure. I believe one of the other Guides shadowed on the first departure, and the other one shadowed on Cousin Orville's departure.

Sayhello
This is why we can't have nice things! So frustrating. Very jealous of your 31 though. I hope it's James since we had him on the Baltic cruise with Dusty.
 
Sigh. Okay. Thanks for the head's up. I didn't realize there were long bus rides. Itinerary fail on my part. DD19 still gets carsick :( She's never quite forgiven me for Ireland, LOL
Really the only bad times as far as car sickness is concerned was the drive down the mountain from Takayama to Odawara, and the next morning driving to and from the Hakone open-air museum. They were both a bit twisty-turny, but I'd been warned, so I put on the patch and I was fine. There are a couple of other longish drives, but they were fine as far as the car sickness went.

This is why we can't have nice things! So frustrating. Very jealous of your 31 though. I hope it's James since we had him on the Baltic cruise with Dusty.
That's exactly what I said to someone else!!

31 was great! I was so happy about that.

James was amazing, but honestly, so was Tomomi! You'll do great with either one (although it is fun to do a repeat with a Guide! :) )

Sayhello
 
The 2 long bus rides are to Takayama and to Odawara. They were long, but it was worth it to visit Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Nara, and the Sumo Musuem. All would be a challenge to do on your own. They were all fantastic.
 


Really the only bad times as far as car sickness is concerned was the drive down the mountain from Takayama to Odawara, and the next morning driving to and from the Hakone open-air museum. They were both a bit twisty-turny, but I'd been warned, so I put on the patch and I was fine. There are a couple of other longish drives, but they were fine as far as the car sickness went.

That's exactly what I said to someone else!!

31 was great! I was so happy about that.

James was amazing, but honestly, so was Tomomi! You'll do great with either one (although it is fun to do a repeat with a Guide! :) )

Sayhello

The 2 long bus rides are to Takayama and to Odawara. They were long, but it was worth it to visit Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Nara, and the Sumo Musuem. All would be a challenge to do on your own. They were all fantastic.

Awesome thanks to you both. I'll make sure she's prepped for those.

I found out the breakdown today from my TA. Total of 39 with 8 who are 17 or under. I'm sure there are 18+s who aren't being counted as "kids" in there, too. I have two of them :)
 
Just finished our Japan ABD. I’m not planning on doing a full trip report. There’s already a couple of good ones going. However, I will echo what others have said. The Japan ABD is fantastic. For me it’s a near perfect ABD and ranks up there with South Africa (up until now my all time favorite by a safe margin). ABD really hit a home run with Japan. The itinerary is great Kyoto, Hiroshima, Takayama, Shirokawago, Nara, Kamakura, Tokyo and more. It’s a good balance of history and modern, city and countryside. All the hotels were great especially the Peninsula in Tokyo. The food was some of the best we’ve had on any ABD. Food on ABD’s is sometimes hit or miss. Really everything we had was great. Not sure if that’s a product of being in Japan or a concerted effort by ABD to find great, authentic restaurants over more generic options and buffets. Case in point, even the welcome dinner was in a great restaurant - much better than a nondescript hotel banquet room. So, great job ABD!

The Shinkansen was very cool. There’s such a small window to board (~ a minute and it’s exactly on time) I’m impressed ABD was brave enough to do it.

There were many sites and special activities that would be very difficult to do on your own. We just had a spectacular time.

James and Tomomi were our guides with Ken shadowing. They were all amazing.

Between Japan and now Egypt, I’m very excited about the direction ABD had been going. These are challenging trips to do on your own particularly with children. I hope ABD continues creating these more exotic and complex trips. If they do, we’ll continue booking them.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. We stayed 2 nights prior and 5 nights post at TDL (booked on our own). Our kids were 6,9 and 14. They all had a great time and are asking when the next ABD is. My wife and I did the onsen in Takayama twice. I know there’s been a number of questions and concerns about that. We both enjoyed it. Any questions at all let me know. You can also find some of my photos on my Instagram - same name, Cousin Orville.
How was your meal at Magellan's? I am not on the Japan ABD but we are heading to TDR after our early August China ABD, and was successful in booking a package at the Miracosta thanks to guidance from you and others on these boards. However, I was not so lucky at 30 days when I tried book a Saturday dinner reservation for 3 for my DD's 17th birthday at either Magellan's or Ristorante di Canaletto. Fortunately I was able to book lunch for Sunday at Magellan's although I had planned on being at Tokyo Disneyland on that day. I booked Saturday dinner at Oceano (buffet - the set menu was not available either) just to make sure we had somewhere to eat. I understand that it may be possible to book same-day reservations at the restaurant starting at 10:00 am. Is dinner at Magellan's worth making sure I am there at 10:00 am with the slim chance that there will be same day reservations available? Would love your opinion on this. Thank you!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top