Family Travel

Why Veralana Travels

Thanks for stopping by my travel blog!  I decided to separate my travel posts from my regular photography blog so that I can share more detail about our Adventures by Disney (ABD) trips.  We have now finished our 4th ABD trip and plan to take many more.

Why Adventures by Disney?

I probably sound a little like an ad for Disney here and I will say that I have not received any benefits or perks or free stuff in exchange for writing about our trips.  We have found that ABD trips are a good mix of new and familiar; are very well organized; and offer unique opportunities that we might not have if we traveled on our own.  My family (myself, my husband, and two daughters, 11 and 13) all enjoy the trips, which really are adventures, not just tours.  Our trips have included horseback riding, archery, white-water rafting, zip-lining, hiking, and biking.  We have done crafts, learned to make mixed drinks, learned to make ice cream without electricity, baked in a local bakery, and sampled local cuisine like haggis and cuy.  We have had wonderful adventure guides along the way, and my children have stayed in contact with many of the new friends from all over the US and Canada who they met as fellow guests on the tours.

Why blog about it?

In planning for our Adventures by Disney trips, I have found online accounts of past tours to be very helpful in planning what to wear, what to bring, and what to expect on our trips.  I have also found useful information about additional optional activities that we might want to fit in while were are there. The DIS Boards have great information and links to many trip reports, and in the past I have shared some trip reports there as well.  I wanted to contribute to that community of sharing information with hopes to help future travelers plan their trips, or even help folks decide to give ABD a try for the first time.

Where have we traveled?

So far we have done the Adventures by Disney Scotland, Ecuador & Galapagos, Peru, and Costa Rica trips.  We have Wyoming and Australia planned for later this year.

How do we book our trips?

I have found lots of useful information about how to make ABD travel more affordable on the DIS Boards.  Here’s some tips I have learned along the way:

*The Chase Disney credit card rewards can be used for ABD trips, and if I charge the cost of the tour to the card it counts as a Disney expense (even the airfare) so I get 2% rewards on it with my premier card, which I can apply to my next trip.

*I booked my first few trips through Costco and got a Costco cash rebate card after the trip (the amount of the card varies by how much you pay, and it’s hard to know in advance how much the will give you).  For my more recent trips I have started working with DeeAna Archer from Archer Luxury Travel, who has been able to find me even better offers than Costco or some of the other Disney travel agents I have seen advertised.

*The Disney Vacation Account is another way to get a little more cashback from your trip purchase.  You can use your Disney credit card to add money to the account, and then you can pay for the trip with the DVA.  By using the DVA you get a $20 Disney Gift Card for every $1000 you spend, as long as the account is open for more than 120 days before you make the payment.  The DVA is also a great way to consolidate Disney Gift Cards that you may have purchased to use for the trip.  I have found discounted gift cards through Sams Club.

 

 

 

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Categories: Family Travel

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