My background is I've traveled in Europe and Asia quite a bit before having children. I feel very comfortable and enjoy planning and traveling. After having children we took a few
DCL Baltic and Med Cruises (which I still love to do and is uniquely helpful for traveling with very young children <6). I wanted to travel more extensively with my oldest son, but at 7yo (now 10yo) wanted him to be able to travel with other young children for fun. And that has worked out amazingly well. It's his favorite way to travel and I know a lot of it is because he makes great friends during these trips. So, I can certainly attest to traveling with children regardless how comfortable you are with planning. Traveling with other likeminded families is a major plus, and from what I've seen it seems to hold true for teens as it does for "junior adventures".
There is another aspect that I didn't understand before taking an
ABD, and that's the guides. It is just not something that can be understood until you've traveled with ABD. I've done a lot of private tours all over the world. The majority of the time the private guides are wonderful, but they're not on the same level as ABD guides. I don't know how ABD picks them, but I guess somehow Disney is able to choose amongst it's thousands of cast members for the best of the best. These guys are the Top Guns of VIP guides. They set a certain tone when traveling. They keep everything light hearted, fun, enjoyable, and stress free. They inform and educate. They want everyone to have the best trip ever. And all the guests respond to that tone as well and everyone has an amazing carefree time. I don't know if that's the best way to describe the guides. I think you have to experience it firsthand. But they make a big difference, and they add a lot of "value" to a trip.
I still travel a fair amount outside of ABD (and DCL). Sometimes we take adult trips with friends with a more hardcore foodie/wine style. Sadly that is not ABD. If I could wave a magic wand and change one thing about ABD, I'd strive for better restaurants. Some are amazing IMO, and some are just ok. Sometimes we travel more extensively with our children that are too young for ABD. We're going to Central Europe in a week with the kids. On the upside, I'm able to choose different hotels than are on the Prague/Vienna ABD that I want and we can focus and linger when and where we want, but (if all my kids were old enough) I'd trade that sense of freedom and independence for the magical, carefree fun of the ABD. There are disadvantages traveling with ABD, but the advantages far outweigh them. So, I travel a lot of different ways. ABD is consistently my favorite way. It's not for everyone, but I would encourage anyone on the fence to try it. I have yet to meet anyone on a trip that didn't have a a spectacular time and want to do another.