GPS GIO Posted July 11, 2006 #1 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Is the Green Denali Shuttle Bus a good way to see the Park? Is it better to pay for a private operators tour? If we choose to reserve the Wonder Lake 86 Mile One Way Trip is it really 11 hours Round trip? Thats just driving and no touring right? We are travelling with a 6 yr old and a an 11 yr old I can't see 11 hours being fun; however, we are going a heck of a long way and would like see some highlights. Is this worth the trouble or we better off trying something else? Is there a better way to travel into Denali or Denali Park Road on a budget and still something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fti Posted July 11, 2006 #2 Share Posted July 11, 2006 I have never traveld with children but there was a very young child aged 2-3 on one of my busses in a car seat very well behaved. Also some kids the age of your kids on other busses I have been on. If the kids get bored they usually have games or books with them they can use. Also be sure to pick up junior ranger info at the Visitor Center before heading into the park - gives the kids things to do and look for on the trip. My suggestion is to definitely book the trip to Wonder Lake. You can always get off earlier and take a different bus back (though with four of you it might be slightly difficult if you get off before mile 63). Busses go out with 4 empty seats. If you get off at Mile 63 that is where Fish Creek shuttles turn around so a good chance you can get on a bus with 4 empty seats. Yes, it does take 11 hours round trip to Wonder Lake but that includes rest stops every 90 minutes or so and stops for animal watching. So the bus is not moving that entire 11 hours. They give you about 30-45 minutes at Wonder Lake. You can always get off at Wonder Lake, do some hiking/walking and get on a later bus back. If the mountain is out, I would definitely try to get to Wonder Lake. Beautiful views and it is the closest point on the park road to the mountain (26 miles but seems much closer). I would definitely take the green shuttle busses compared with the tour busses - much cheaper and you see as much or more (the tour busses don't go as far into the park). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chenega Posted July 12, 2006 #3 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Good story from yesterday. We were on the shuttle to Fish Creek. About a mile from where the Tundra Wildlife Tour turns around, we encountered a mama grizzly bear and her spring cub within 20 yards of the bus. Watched them play for over 15 minutes. Although the tour bus was stopped just above, they turned around as scheduled and never saw the bears! Word was that they had to stay on time. Tour buses throughout the day were packed! We took the 7:30am shuttle, saw lots of wildlife, and had plenty of room on the bus for a fraction of the cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyIL Posted July 12, 2006 #4 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Good story from yesterday. We were on the shuttle to Fish Creek. About a mile from where the Tundra Wildlife Tour turns around, we encountered a mama grizzly bear and her spring cub within 20 yards of the bus. Watched them play for over 15 minutes. Although the tour bus was stopped just above, they turned around as scheduled and never saw the bears! Word was that they had to stay on time. Tour buses throughout the day were packed! We took the 7:30am shuttle, saw lots of wildlife, and had plenty of room on the bus for a fraction of the cost. So - no sleeping on the trip back this time? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chenega Posted July 12, 2006 #5 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Oh no- way too much going on! :) . Beautiful weather all the way. Saw the Mountain, 6 grizzly including moms and their cubs, caribou all over the place, wolves and their pups, ptarmigan, moose, and lots of spectacular scenery. Not like some trips where the only wildlife visible was a ground squirrel. Oh, busses have new highback seats too - much more comfortable than old schoolbusses. Didn't even take the earliest bus either since my 14 yr old nephew is reluctant to get up for a 5:30am tour. 7:30 was fine with him (and us too). Park headquarter area and hotel region was very very crowded. We stayed south at the Denali River Cabins. Nice and "Alaskan" too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyIL Posted July 12, 2006 #6 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Oh no- way too much going on! :) . Beautiful weather all the way. Saw the Mountain, 6 grizzly including moms and their cubs, caribou all over the place, wolves and their pups, ptarmigan, moose, and lots of spectacular scenery. Not like some trips where the only wildlife visible was a ground squirrel. Oh, busses have new highback seats too - much more comfortable than old schoolbusses. Didn't even take the earliest bus either since my 14 yr old nephew is reluctant to get up for a 5:30am tour. 7:30 was fine with him (and us too). Park headquarter area and hotel region was very very crowded. We stayed south at the Denali River Cabins. Nice and "Alaskan" too. That's the 2nd recommendation I've seen for the Denali River Cabins. At $149/night in high season, they are comparable in price to the Denali Lakeview Inn, unless one uses the Toursaver coupon for the former. Which do you prefer, Chenega...Denali River Cabins or Lakeview Inn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budget Queen Posted July 12, 2006 #7 Share Posted July 12, 2006 I really do not recommend Wonder Lake for small children, just not of interest to them and the confined bus not the best option. For clairfication there are no TOUR buses to Wonder Lake and the shuttle is the only way to get there. Stops are about every 90 mins. I would suggest, spend your time on the Kenai Peninsula, plenty of kid friendly activies to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chenega Posted July 12, 2006 #8 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Without the Toursaver, Denali Lakeview wins hands down. However, given the coupon, we got our room for $75.00 a night which is virtually unheard of at Denali and makes it a great bargain. Let them know you are using one when you make the reservation. You are restricted to a non-river front room but everything is close anyway. Noisy the first night since weekend crowd and tour group packed the place but turned quieter once they left. Rooms are equipped with two double beds and a stall shower. Park tours through Aramark (i.e. Tundra Wildlife Tour) leave from here as does the Kantishna Tour to the end of the park road (I still recommend the shuttle over these crowded tours). As with other Denali hotels, food prices were out of line for what you got at the Roadhouse Restaurant within the complex. We found our best deal at the Morino Grill near the new Denali Visitor Center. Nice variety of choices, particularly since we had our 14 year old nephew with us from L.A. Denali Lakeview remains our favorite though simply for the peace and quiet. All rooms face the lake and have either porch or balcony. Even better is the jacuzzi which comes in SO handy after a day on the shuttle bus. Lakeview also provides you with the ingredients to make your own breakfast in the morning including a fruit plate, yogurt, cereal, coffee, etc. Nice touch. Owners of the Lakeview are very friendly and full of information on the local area as well. Staff at the Denali River Cabins were primarily seasonal employees. In sum, we prefer the tranquility of the Lakeview (or any other of the b and b places in Healy) but the Toursaver does provide a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyIL Posted July 12, 2006 #9 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Without the Toursaver, Denali Lakeview wins hands down. However, given the coupon, we got our room for $75.00 a night which is virtually unheard of at Denali and makes it a great bargain. Let them know you are using one when you make the reservation. You are restricted to a non-river front room but everything is close anyway. Noisy the first night since weekend crowd and tour group packed the place but turned quieter once they left. Rooms are equipped with two double beds and a stall shower. As with other Denali hotels, food prices were out of line for what you got at the Roadhouse Restaurant within the complex. We found our best deal at the Morino Grill near the new Denali Visitor Center. Nice variety of choices, particularly since we had our 14 year old nephew with us from L.A. Denali Lakeview remains our favorite though simply for the peace and quiet. All rooms face the lake and have either porch or balcony. Even better is the jacuzzi which comes in SO handy after a day on the shuttle bus. Lakeview also provides you with the ingredients to make your own breakfast in the morning including a fruit plate, yogurt, cereal, coffee, etc. Nice touch. Owners of the Lakeview are very friendly and full of information on the local area as well. Staff at the Denali River Cabins were primarily seasonal employees. Thanks for the info, Chenega. If we decide to stay 2 nights in the Denali area, I could see staying at the Denali Cabins with the Toursaver coupon - although who knows what coupons will be in the 2007 book. However, I don't see any particular reason to stick around the area once we're back from the shuttle, so would most likely stay one night in the area and drive to Fairbanks for the next 2 nights. (Yes, I am still leaning towards doing the BIG loop around the Richardson/Glenn Highways back to Anchorage.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chenega Posted July 12, 2006 #10 Share Posted July 12, 2006 That is a wonderful drive to make and very scenic (especially the Glenn Highway area near the Matanuska River and Glacier) Yes, there's not much to do once you return from the shuttle trip. The 7:30am shuttle got us back at 3:30pm. Most people seemed to occupy themselves going to the souvenir shops in Glitter Gulch (the local name for the overgrown hotel area just outside the park). My nephew was happier skipping stones into the river at the hotel :). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyIL Posted July 12, 2006 #11 Share Posted July 12, 2006 That is a wonderful drive to make and very scenic (especially the Glenn Highway area near the Matanuska River and Glacier) Yes, there's not much to do once you return from the shuttle trip. The 7:30am shuttle got us back at 3:30pm. Most people seemed to occupy themselves going to the souvenir shops in Glitter Gulch (the local name for the overgrown hotel area just outside the park). My nephew was happier skipping stones into the river at the hotel :). Because of time factors, it's a matter of either 2 nights in Denali area vs. 2 nights in Copper Center. I prefer the latter, as it would allow us to do a daytrip to Kennicott/McCarthy or drive to Valdez on the second day (probably Valdez). Unless the 2007 ferry schedule changes, we couldn't take the ferry from Valdez to Whittier on our last day because it doesn't run on Tuesdays. And even if it did, I really want to drive the Glenn Highway between Glennallen and Anchorage, with maybe a stop at Matanuska for a glacier hike - depending on time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskamasta Posted July 12, 2006 #12 Share Posted July 12, 2006 There's a lot of "tour bus" haters out there - and the shuttle buses are a great way to go if you're planning on getting off the bus and doing some hiking in the park. We took the Kantishna Wilderness tour bus which goes all the way into the park (PAST Wonder Lake) and had a great time. It was 13 hours round trip and not a single person on the bus was complaining that it was too long. I can tell you - the further in you go the better chance you have of seeing wildlife. Those that only went on the shorter 4 or 7 hour tours totally missed out. We saw so much wildlife in the park it was crazy! If you're planning on getting out and hiking around on your own - which sounds great - the shuttle buses are a better choice. If you're planning on going to Wonder Lake or further - make sure you bring lots of bug repellant and/or netting! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chenega Posted July 12, 2006 #13 Share Posted July 12, 2006 The Kantishna Bus trip has a great reputation for those who want to go as far as the road will take you. It is long but you see plenty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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