Princess Mt Mckinley question

[nittany89]

I will be staying at the Princess Mt Mckinley for 2 nights in June. I understand this is on the south end of Denali. Does anyone know if there is a shuttle to take you to the other parts of Denali?

[NancyIL]

The McKinley Princess is on the south side of Denali State Park, and several hours from Denali National Park: http://princesslodges.com/mckinley_lodge_directions.htm

[ARRTrain]

The McKinley Princess Lodge is about 2 miles from the park. No shuttles for any park activities.

 

It is close to Talkeetna and do most of their activities there.

[Yukon]

The McKinley Princess Lodge is about 2 miles from the park. No shuttles for any park activities.

 

To clarify, that's 2 miles to the State park - it's just over 100 miles to the entrance to Denali National Park. But again, there are no shuttles except to Talkeetna. With their remote lodges, Princess has gotten very good at keeping folks in a "Princess bubble" that little $ escapes from.

 

Murray

[Brandy Meant]

I will be staying at the Princess Mt Mckinley for 2 nights in June. I understand this is on the south end of Denali. Does anyone know if there is a shuttle to take you to the other parts of Denali?

As Yukon said it is a long way from the entrance to the park. There is another Princess lodge (Denali Princess) located close to the entrance.

I take it you will have a car?

[ARRTrain]

To clarify, that's 2 miles to the State park - it's just over 100 miles to the entrance to Denali National Park. But again, there are no shuttles except to Talkeetna. With their remote lodges, Princess has gotten very good at keeping folks in a "Princess bubble" that little $ escapes from.

 

Murray

 

Ops. That was suppose to be 2 hours from the Park.

[halbfl2]

What I've learned from reading these boards is that you want to pick a Princess land tour that does the Tundra Wilderness tour in Denali, and not the Natural History Tour. Several of the Princess tours do this depending on how long you want your land tour to be. Those that do the Tundra Wilderness tour always spend 2 nights at the Denali Princess Lodge. Longer ones may also go to the McKinley lodge, and the shorter ones do not.

(Look at tours # 3,4,9,18,19,20 if you have a Princess book/brochure).

[SunFunCruiser]

Can anyone reccomend another place to stay that is close to Talkeetna? The Alaskan Lodge is very expensive and Princess is too far. We're not B & B type people.

Thanks.

[kennicott]

With their remote lodges, Princess has gotten very good at keeping folks in a "Princess bubble" that little $ escapes from.

Murray

 

Princess has established only five lodges in Alaska. Three are in relatively remote locations. Their lodges in Fairbanks and at Denali are not in wilderness locales. I recall when Princess first began construction of their first lodge at Denali. At that time travel to the state was bottlenecked since folk did not want to experience Alaska without a Denali stay. But accommodations were limited at Denali and no one seemed to want to put money into additional lodging there. So Princess undertook the gamble. Shortly after, some critique surfaced that this Princess endeavor competed with local investor aspirations. Soon after, Princess began building lodges in relatively remote locations. Very little criticism resulted in those instances since no other entrepreneur wanted to follow Princess in its undertakings. Yukon loves to criticize Princess for constructing closed society lodges where they hold visitors and their dollar captive. Yukon ignores the fact that their three remote lodges provide wilderness retreats with generous selections of amenities. What does Yukon expect Princess to do, bring a small city of competing gift shops along with them wherever and whenever they make a wilderness investment? It is my opinion that Yukon’s continual denigration of the Princess Lodge business stratagem is flat in error.

[Yukon]

Princess and HAL make sure that every possible nickel spent by people visiting their properties leaves Alaska. A person could spent a week in Princess/HAL lodges and not meet an Alaskan. HAL has begun doing the same thing in the Yukon - there's talk of them building a lodge near my community, and because of what they've done in Dawson (termed "parasitical tourism"), they aren't welcome (and I'm on Council, so yes, my opinion does count).

 

Murray

[kennicott]

Princess and HAL make sure that every possible nickel spent by people visiting their properties leaves Alaska. A person could spent a week in Princess/HAL lodges and not meet an Alaskan. HAL has begun doing the same thing in the Yukon - there's talk of them building a lodge near my community, and because of what they've done in Dawson (termed "parasitical tourism"), they aren't welcome (and I'm on Council, so yes, my opinion does count). Murray

 

I really don’t want to get into a last word argument with you here, Yukon. I’m certain you mean well. But I really believe you may be a little bit paranoid and delusional over Princess and HAL investment(s) in the north country. For crying out loud, I don’t really understand why I am even defending those enterprises, as I have no financial interest in them at all. But right is right and you are flat wrong.

 

In the late 1950s and early 1960s I flew commercially into Dawson, what they have today is a result of local's good efforts then in restoring a ghost community. Those people of the Yukon then loved Chuck West. Furthermore, I have spent days, and weeks, in both Princess and HAL facilities and have ran into long time Alaskans on every occasion, no exception. That includes workers there as well as visitors. When Princess first opened in Fairbanks I was among the first to stay in that lodge opening day, almost all of us were Alaskans. The Kenai Princess first opened with the idea that they would shut down in the winter. The response from Alaskans to use the place in the winter was so overwhelming that they kept it open for years, for Alaskans. My wife’s women’s church group here in Anchorage used that lodge for over ten years as their “getaway”. My brother in law is a bridge builder contractor up here, and he can tell you how Princess has used local union labor almost exclusively. Last year they gave him over a million dollar contract for improvements to their deck area at Denali. And he is an Alaskan, so are all his workers and their dollars stay in this state regardless of what you might espouse. I could go on and on here. The last time I was in the HAL Lodge at Beaver Creek I ran into an old bush pilot, who was working there. He from the Yukon and I a pilot from the immediate west side of the border, both having so much in common that we shot the bull for so long my wife got annoyed and later had to drive for us because I was overloaded with caffeine.

[Whitey83]

We stayed at a place with an amazing view in Talkeetna called "Traleika Mountain House" or something like that. their web site is http://www.traleika.com