Excursions in Alaska...any tips??

[disneyjex]

Has anyone done excursions in Alaska through Disney, if so which ones??

 

[son3disfan]

Have you considered booking them outside of Disney, on your own?
You can save yourself a lot of money.
Some are even vendors that Disney uses....

What are you interested in?

I know that doesn't answer your question, but I thought I would just add that in.
We booked all three ports on our own.
I would be happy to share what we booked.
Also, lots of info on the Alaska thread about excursions here....

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2723087

 

[EeyoreIsMyName]

Skagway-White Pass Railroad & Klondike Gold Dredge
Juneau-Mendenhall Glacier
Ketchikan-Lumberjack Show

Highly recommend all of them.

 

[Aby]

We *really* enjoyed the Mountain Point Snorkeling Adventure in Ketchikan - sounds like a strange thing to do in Alaska but we had a lot of fun! Also, the Steam Train in Skagway was awesome, especially if you want amazing photos.

I myself prefer to book with Disney for all my excursions. I know that you can save money doing it on your own, but I like to keep all of my reservations in one place (hotel, transfers, excursions, etc) to make it easier to track and to have one place to pay. I realize I spend some extra money this way, but to me it is worth the convenience of having it all together. Plus, I have bad luck in general, and if I booked one on my own, it would be the one time that vendor was late back to the ship and I would be left behind

Aby

 

[mmmears]

We *really* enjoyed the Mountain Point Snorkeling Adventure in Ketchikan - sounds like a strange thing to do in Alaska but we had a lot of fun! Also, the Steam Train in Skagway was awesome, especially if you want amazing photos.

My DD and DH did both of these (booked through DCL) and loved them. They claim that if we go back to Alaska they are definitely going back in the water!

We booked our Mendenhall Glacier trip (kayak, glacier hike) through Above and Beyond Alaska, not through DCL. Had several personal recommendations for their trips, read stellar reviews on TA, and we did not want to take a helicopter.

There are soooooo many amazing things you can do in Alaska!

 

[MHTorringjan]

Has anyone done excursions in Alaska through Disney, if so which ones??

My wife and I went on the Alaska cruise last summer (7 night out of Seattle) and had a fantastic time. I can offer a couple of tips from our experiences, but hopefully others will chime in because it is a very personalized experience.

First, I would suggest being willing to go on one really expensive excursion. Some of the more interesting excursions have higher pricetags. My wife and I did this on our trip and had a great time with that expensive excursion. Here is a list of the excursions that we did on our trip.

Skagway: Glacier Point Wilderness Safari - we took a short walk with a guide to a boat that was docked about a ten minute walk from the pier. We went on the boat to Glacier Point and then changed from the boat to a bus. The twenty-minute bus ride was followed by gearing up in water-proof boots and life-jackets, then hiking fifteen minutes to the landing for the canoes. We canoed out to the foot of the glacier and walked around for about a half-hour, then returned to the landing point of the boat, and ate a boxed lunch with sandwich, chips, and cookies. The scenery was beautiful (due to fantastic weather), the guide was entertaining and informative, and the excursion overall was a great time. This one I recommend, although it can be weather dependent (like many of the excursions in Alaska)

Juneau: This was the expensive one, Helicopter Glacier Trek - We took a van ride to the copter center where they outfitted us with ice-hiking gear, including a snack and a handy belt pouch for carrying your camera, and gave us a safety lecture. We loaded into the helicopter and took a 20-minutes (give or take, we kind of lost track of time) helicopter ride to the Mendenhall glacier, where they took us on a guided tour on the glacier. At the end, they took us back to the copter center (much shorter copter ride this time) and back to the port. This was an awesome time, but is also weather dependent (high winds will cause the copter ride to be cancelled and clouds can obscure the view from the helicopter). I personally highly recommend this one, but be ready with a backup just in case.

Ketchikan: Misty Fjords and Wilderness Explorer - This was probably the weakest of the three excursions. We took a boat ride to see some natural beauty in the Misty Fjords. While the scenery is beautiful and the guides were pretty well-informed, it was a four-hour-long boat ride, which felt a little bit longer of sitting around and watching scenery go past us than we really wanted. Don't get me wrong, the nature was really cool, as we saw an active eagle nest, harbor seals, and the spout of two whales, but I think that there may have been a more optimal choice. We chose this one originally because we thought we'd want a less active activity after the two active excursions at the other ports, and we did get that, but it ended up not being what we were excited about. (I had repeatedly tried to convince my wife to go for the snorkeling, but was unsuccessful; if we go again and they're still offering it, I will try to convince her of that again because it sounds really cool!)

Anyway, that's just what we thought. We also stopped in Victoria, but I don't think that any other Disney cruises will be stopping there (since they go out of Vancouver now). Hope these observations are helpful!

 

[squirrelgirl]

My DD and DH did both of these (booked through DCL) and loved them. They claim that if we go back to Alaska they are definitely going back in the water!

We booked our Mendenhall Glacier trip (kayak, glacier hike) through Above and Beyond Alaska, not through DCL. Had several personal recommendations for their trips, read stellar reviews on TA, and we did not want to take a helicopter.

There are soooooo many amazing things you can do in Alaska!

mmmears,

Can you let me know a bit more about the Glacier trip with Above and Beyond? I have been looking into that one, but would love to hear about your experience! I have a teen and a tween. When I read about the excursion, it seemed to be oreinted to adults and did not see much feedback from families. I am also wondering how physically demanding it is, and please don't hesitate to be honest. Thanks

 

[NicoleKristal]

Has anyone done the extended glacier trek in Juneau? Pros & cons? What is the best way to dress?