AKL transportation

[disneybliss2]

Please share your experience you've had with transportation while staying here. Did you have to wait a long time for a bus to arrive? Where there tons of people on the bus to/from parks? Did it take a long time to get to the parks (especially MK which is the farthest from it)? In our past experience we've found a HUGE difference between Pop and POFQ's transportation (read below if interested). Since there was such a drastic difference between the bussing at those two, it made me wonder if I would find a big difference in AKL since it's pretty isolated from everything else, except AK, or if Disney makes up for this factor since it's a deluxe by sending out additional busses. We're considering staying at AKL, but one thing that is important is transportation--not multiple modes, just quick, efficient busses.

Our trips in the past have been in the summer busy time. We have stayed at Pop where we found the bus transportation to be AWEFUL (horrendously long lines--even when we showed up for a bus one hour before park opening, often the bus would fill and we would have to wait for another bus--stressful, we often had to stand to get on the bus even after having to wait so long even though we allowed plenty of time). On our last trip we stayed at POFQ. It was the polar opposite experience--very short lines (the most we had one morning was 10 people waiting with us; every other morning it was around 5 other people), very efficient timing (we usually only waited 5 min. for a bus; the most was only one time at around 10 min.), we always had a seat and never had to stand, quick to get to the parks.
Since we feel POFQ is a goldmine compared to Pop, we don't want to stress with transportation by changing resorts to one that will give us headaches, especially if we're paying deluxe prices. Hoping to hear that others had great experiences at AKL. Thanks!

 

[minnie mum]

I can only give you our experience of the buses while at AKL, and we were last there in early Dec. (not last year). I don't ever recall waiting all that long for a bus, certainly not longer than 20 min. The number of people waiting for the buses really varied depending on the time of day. This is true for any WDW resort. Heaviest crowds just before and after park openings. But on the rare occasions when a bus filled to capacity and left guests waiting, another bus was there in only a few minutes. It really wasn't a big deal.

Of course time to each park depends on which park, but if I recall correctly it was only around 20 min to MK. I didn't find this too much longer than the drive time from some of the values or mods.

If you never had to wait more than 10 min at POFQ and never had to stand then you were incredibly lucky since this is not the norm at ANY resort.

 

[disneybliss2]

If you never had to wait more than 10 min at POFQ and never had to stand then you were incredibly lucky since this is not the norm at ANY resort.

We were very surprised by how wonderful the bus system was at POFQ, partly because it was in such stark contrast to our only other experience (Pop) and partly because it was a busy time (summer). No complaints from us; it was amazing! We thought maybe it was due to the smaller size of the resort, but still thought it was insanely uncrowded at bus stops and we always had the perfect timing. Maybe we just got lucky; we might find our next experience there not quite as golden.

Thanks for sharing your experience at AKL. I would love to hear from others. I'm hoping that it's somewhat remote location doesn't mean ills for transportation.

 

[rznhal]

We were there a couple of weeks ago....the transportation was adequate....I definitely would not put it on my list of awesome things about AKL (and there were many). It took us 45 minutes to get to/from downtown disney, and it seemed pretty far from everything compared to our summer trip, where we stayed at CSR. It also took a really long time to get to AKL using magical express......we stopped at three other resorts (pop, beach club and i believe caribbean beach?). We were on the ME bus for over an hour.

I'm definitely not a complainer (esp about free services!!!!), but I thought I would share this since you specifically said transportation was important to you.

Good luck!!!!

 

[chuckml]

We have stayed at AKL, Pop, and POFQ as well. Our best bus service has probably been at Pop, followed very closely by POFQ. Keep in mind that Pop was during September, so definitely not peak time.

Our worst on site bus service was at AKL, with the bus to MK being the absolute worst. That being said, I think every resort has good days and bad days with the busses. You had terrible service at Pop, we had great service there twice.

AKL is a beautiful resort, and even with the less than stellar bus service we had there, I would not hesitate to stay there again. I think the busses are often just luck of the draw. Have fun!

 

[vettegirl]

We had excellent bus service in November at the AKL! If you are having doubts rent a car, that is the best option at any WDW hotel in my opinion.

 

[madalex]

We were at AKL (Jambo House) last week. We did not use the buses that much, but had no issues when we did so. The longest wait for a bus was 10 minutes. The bus stops were never so crowded that not everyone waiting could get on their particular park bus when it arrived.

As for travel times, AKL is far from all the parks (except AK, of course). Over many visits, I have timed the travel time to/from AKL to the various parks and it generally has been as follows:

MK 18 - 20 minuntes
Epcot 13 - 15 minutes
DHS 11 - 13 minutes
AK 4- 6 minutes

 

[Anthony1971]

PO resorts (either one) are closer to the more popular parks so the bus ride will be a little faster.
with that said I do not think you will see either resort being faster or slower overall.
However expect a longer walk to the bus stop at AKL as they only have one bus stop at Jambo and one at Kidani.
I have stayed at all three and will make it simple if you spend time at a resort stay at AKL if you go to the parks everyday stay at PO resorts as you will not find a notable difference in transportation (it can go either way AK may be a little slower)

 

[pArKsFaN]

AKL is a beautiful resort, and even with the less than stellar bus service we had there, I would not hesitate to stay there again. I think the busses are often just luck of the draw. Have fun!

I completely agree with the above statement! We only had one really BAD time and it was coming back to AKL from Downtown Disney. No lie, at least 13 nearly empty CSR buses came by while we were waiting for ours. We joked we should have stayed there. Of the few AKL buses that came by, all were completely packed like sardines from the first bus stop...it was truly laughable the way they'd squeeze 1 or 2 people on. We waited 2 hours and finally took a cab! No way will we rely on buses from DD in the evenings again.

Except for that situation the buses were fine and I'd say bussing to the parks was excellent, we rarely waited more than 5-10 minutes. We saw a cast member with a clipboard a couple different mornings....he seemed to be timing the buses and keeping track of how things were going so we kind of assumed they were working on improvements to their bus schedule.

 

[disneybliss2]

Thanks for everyone's input. It's been helpful to hear everyone's experiences.

 

[Tigger2252]

We have stayed twice at AKL, both times at very busy times (Thanksgiving & Christmas). We had no issues with the buses at all, with the exception of the one to Downtown Disney. Getting there wasn't a problem, but it is a long ride. Getting a bus back to the resort from there seemed like a much longer wait. We have also stayed multiple times at POFQ and once at POP (also during the busy seasons of Thanksgiving and Easter). The bus service at those stays was fine as well. There were a few times that the buses were very crowded, particularly at POP, but if you chose to wait for another one it wasn't too long before it came. Maybe I just roll with it because we have to travel at busy times and I expect crowds.

The one thing I noticed the last couple of stays at POFQ was the boat service to DD was AWFUL! We actually ended up walking away and going to wait for the bus because all the boats were full and would just unload and continue to POR. It became enough of an issue for us that we stopped even trying to catch the boat.

 

[disneybliss2]

It sounds like the most people have really only experienced problems getting to/from Downtown Disney from AKL. I anticipated longer bus rides (except to AK), but was uncertain how reliable (how quick they arrive) the busses were and how long the line is to fill it. I feel better after hearing people's responses. Unfortunately, we spend a lot of time at MK and Epcot which is the farthest away from AKL.

 

[goofy4tink]

In all truthfulness, the best bus service I have had to date has been at POP. I know there are those who feel the Pop has awful bus service. But, it may be an issue of timing. I seldom head to the buses when the parks open in the next 45 mins. I prefer to take a bus an hour prior to park opening or about 15 mins after the park opens.
Having said all that....I have stayed at AKL, and Kidani, many times. The bus service is no worse, no better than at other resorts. It's all about timing. If you head to the bus stop about 35 mins prior to park opening, you are going to have a ton of company!!!! That's when everyone gets to the buses.

And all resorts have issues with the DTD buses..they are all slow and unreliable.

As far as wait times for the buses.....the buses will head to Kidani first, then go to Jambo House. I 'believe' the DTD or DHS buses may go to Jambo House first, I can never remember, even when I'm there!! The bus rides are a bit longer. It's something you have to weigh when booking a resort. This is one reason that AKL is a bit cheaper to book than other resorts...it's got no direct access to a park. But, in all my stays, I have only had a few bad bus experiences. And, I never could figure out why....they both happened on the same stay actually. Hugely long line at park closing at MK, and a very longish wait, with a ton of people by the time the bus going to DHS got to Kidani. But those were the only less than stellar bus experiences at AKL.

 

[Chelley00]

We only had one really BAD time and it was coming back to AKL from Downtown Disney. No lie, at least 13 nearly empty CSR buses came by while we were waiting for ours. We joked we should have stayed there. Of the few AKL buses that came by, all were completely packed like sardines from the first bus stop.

When we stayed at AKL, we rode in a bus back from DTD by ourself at 10pm on a Saturday night I truely think it's the luck of the draw. We had better bus service at AKL than we did at the Poly. Sure, we had the monorail to MK and EP, but it took forever to get a bus anywhere else. I was wishing we were staying at AKL halfway through our Poly trip.


I always laugh at threads like these because people make AKL sound like it's 100's of miles away from things and remote in the middle of Africa. Sure, the trip to MK take a little bit, maybe 20 minutes, but for us, we try and make it a fun trip. We plan out our day, review our park maps, talk about what rides we want to do first etc. It heightens the excitement for the kids.

 

[momof2cutegirls]

Staying at AKV Kidani this fall so really find this thread helpful! What is the best way to use WDW transportation to get to other resorts? For example, we will want to get to Beach Club to eat at Cape May. Do we transfer at a park? We will also be heading to Poly & CR for dinners. We will have a car so thinking we may want to use it for something like this.

 

[disneybliss2]

Over many visits, I have timed the travel time to/from AKL to the various parks and it generally has been as follows:

MK 18 - 20 minuntes
Epcot 13 - 15 minutes
DHS 11 - 13 minutes
AK 4- 6 minutes

Thanks for sharing your times--helpful to know!

 

[disneybliss2]

In all truthfulness, the best bus service I have had to date has been at POP. I know there are those who feel the Pop has awful bus service. But, it may be an issue of timing. I seldom head to the buses when the parks open in the next 45 mins. I prefer to take a bus an hour prior to park opening or about 15 mins after the park opens.
The bus service is no worse, no better than at other resorts. It's all about timing.

We were at the bus stop 55 to 50 min. before park opening at both resorts (POP & POFQ). Since the experience we had with transportation was vastly different between the two but variables were the same (arrived same time to bus stop, each trip was in June), we naively assumed it was because POFQ was a moderate while POP was a value so they sent more buses over. We also took into account there are more rooms at POP, therefore there were more people to fill a bus. Whatever the case, we liked the ease of transportation better at POFQ. The more I'm reading about the various resorts (this past week), the more I'm learning they each have their own pros/cons to transportation, and even the same resort can have hits/misses. Staying in a deluxe doesn't guarantee perfect traveling (the recent beach club thread about travel issues to MK & sharing a bus with all Epcot resorts enlightened me).
I greatly appreciate everyone's input. In all, it sounds like if we arrive to the bus stop to allocate plenty of time before park opening, we should be fine. I am greatly relieved by several people who mentioned that even without stellar bus service, because of it's more remote location, they still wouldn't hesitate to stay at AKL. I had to laugh at the one poster who mentioned that we all talked like AKL was 100's of miles away from things and in the remote of Africa. I cracked up!

 

[CampbellScot]

I think transportation at AKL is hit or miss depending upon the time of year. When my family stayed there it felt like we were waiting a LOT for buses. My husband was getting extremely frustrated b/c so much time was spent waiting and waiting. On the plus side we got to make friends with a pretty cardinal that would flutter down and visit while we waited!

I think it was more frustrating b/c we were accustomed to having more than one mode of transportation to choose from. After that vacation my husband declared that AKL was a been there done that resort and he wouldn't do it again. He's a bit on the Type A side. I didn't think it was that horrible, but the waits for buses seemed more pronounced than waits at other resorts.

I do believe it was that stay at AKL that prompted the DVC purchase at beach club!! Never trapped again!!

 

[hannaconda]

Staying at AKV Kidani this fall so really find this thread helpful! What is the best way to use WDW transportation to get to other resorts? For example, we will want to get to Beach Club to eat at Cape May. Do we transfer at a park? We will also be heading to Poly & CR for dinners. We will have a car so thinking we may want to use it for something like this.

You can do this one of three ways.
1) Catch a bus to one of the parks and then catch a bus back to the resort you want to visit or

2) Catch a buss to DTD and then catch a bus back to the resort you want to visit or

3) Since you have a car you can drive to the resort you want to visit
Hopes this helps

 

[disneyfanbecky]

Stayed last October (so not a busy time, but it was busy on weekends since it was during food & wine) and we never had a long wait! I don't remember once thinking that the bus was taking too long to get there. We took taxi's when dining at other hotels, that was great! There was always a taxi waiting, and it never cost as much as I had expected it too. I think budgeting for taxis was a smart move, but I also think that the busses were great.

You will have a great stay! I had planned on only staying once at AKL, and then keep trying new places - but I honestly can't imagine staying anywhere else now!