AKL without a car?

[AdventurerKat]

Would we be totally miserable with the bus service? Does it take "that" long to get from point A to point B? I am sure we would make our AK visit on one of the days. What is the next closest park?

 

[susy]

We stayed over labor day weekend and the buses were great. We had our car, but never used it. Takes about 5 min to AK, 10 to Epcot and MGM and about 15 to MK (give or take a few minutes). I did have an 8 am PS for cindy's one morning and we made it in PLENTY of time.

 

[cindy21494]

We just got back from AKL and did not have a car. IMO the bus service is not bad at all. The furthest park from AKL is Magic Kingdom, and I didn't feel that it was too long a ride. On the way back from MK, Wishes had just finished, and there was a huge line for AKL. We waited about five minutes, and three buses pulled up. I was relieved, we were at the end of the line and thought we had made a big mistake.

The next closest park to AKL is MGM.

The only problem we had was at DTD. We were waiting for a bus to pick us up, when the bus came, it passed our stop and kept going. There were about 15 - 20 people waiting at the stop! One person chased the bus and it stopped, we also followed and got on the bus, but all the others stayed at the stop. You could see them yelling at the driver as we were leaving!! A few minutes later, you could hear the driver talking to someone on the radio about how people at DTD were waiting for a bus to come. The driver didn't even seem to care.

Other than that, the buses were very good. We did not regret getting a car.

I hope this helps you.

 

[daannzzz]

Depending on what other resorts you compare it to the bus ride takes 3-7 minutes longer to get to its destinations. Obviously if you are use to staying at the Grand Floridian or the Polynesian the ride from the AKL to the MK will be longer but in comparing the ride from those two resorts to Epcot or the Studios the ride time is only 5 minutes or so longer...if that much.

 

[AdventurerKat]

O.K. Five minutes is nothing. We usually stay in a Downtown Disney Area resort and that takes a while to get to the MK. I was afraid we were going to be on some long odyssey just to get to a park! Five or ten minutes does not bother me.

Thanks for your responses everyone. I think it looks like AKL and OKW for us. We were going to do BWV or BW but I don't know, something about AKL just draws me to it and keeps bringing me back. Maybe its the "adventurer" in me.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Bus service at AKL is great! We were there in December and didn't have a car either so we used Disney's bus service. I believe the buses run about every 15-20 minutes. It seems the farthest destinations are MK and DTD which take about 20 minutes to get to. I would say that if there's some place you have to be at a certain time leave yourself 45 mins-1 hour just in case.

 

[CarrieAP]

We never rent a car and on all our trips, except for a glitch here or there, have been very pleased with the bus service. Actually my girls love to ride the buses and think of them as part of the Disney experience. Personally, it's vacation so I enjoy the freedom from all things mundane and stressful. Why drive when someone else is willing to do it for you? Take time to sit back and relax!

 

[maynard123]

We stayed 6 days at AKL last October with no car. It was wonderful...I think the bus is much easier than worrying about having a rental car.

Enjoy AKL...you are going to have a great time!

 

[EEyorelover22]

We didn't have a car last June and we were there for 8 days and the bus service was GREAT! We had early ps seatings too in the parks and we were always to the park before the EMH time for opening.

You'll love AKL.

 

[sherry8253]

The bus service to the parks & downtown Disney is GREAT! What is hard is going to any of the other resorts for dinner. You need to go to one of the parks or downtown Disney and then go to another resort from there. Or, take a taxi. I always think that is a pain. But other going to resorts for dinner, we used teh buses to go to the parks instead of driving during our trip to the AKL 2 years ago. It is a wonderful resort and you will have a fantastic time.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

We were at AKL last March - peak season! - and are going back in April - peak season!! No car, the buses at AKL are dedicated to that resort only, so even though the trip itself is a little longer, there are no stops at other resorts so it is a very pleasant trip. And tho it is a little tricky going to other resorts, this is also true for all WDW resorts. Travel from resort to resort is always difficult, wherever you stay.

AKL is a gorgeous resort with an atmosphere that is very hard to describe. We absolutely love this resort, hope you do too!!!

 

[AdventurerKat]

My only concern about AKL was the bus service and now that those fears are dissuaded, I am so happy we FINALLY decided on AKL.

I booked today, a pool view room. Hoping for a good AP rate...and maybe an upgrade. But I will be happy just to be at AKL and my husband is looking forward to his bday dinner at Jiko. (Guess I should change my countdown to birthday AND anniversary celebration since we had to adjust our dates but a few)

 

[ScottOKW2K]

I'll join in with all the others - we used the bus service at AKL almost exclusively on our last trip and really enjoyed. Most times at the resort we only had to wait five to ten minutes for a theme park bus to show up. The only time I remember having to wait much longer than that was when the bus had just pulled away as we walked up.

As far as transportation from the parks we only had one case where we had to wait any length of time for a bus. The first one pulled away full, but we were among the first on the very next one. Oh ..... did I mention that this was at park closing at Epcot on New Years Eve

!

We did use our vehicle a few times - a quick drive to a couple of resorts we wanted to visit, and a short trip offsite to the Crossroads for some bathrooms items that were not carried in the resort sales area. Other than that we were quite happy to let Disney do the driving.

 

[DISNEYBIGGDOGG]

It is great to hear all these good things about the bus service from the AKL. I was beginning to worry about the wait times for the buses. We always drive in but the parking at MK with having to wait for the trams and then the monorail can be tedious, so we prefer the busses. After hearing all these great things we will do the busses.

 

[G&J's Mom]

Does the bus transportation run the hours of operation for Pleasure Island or would a taxi be more feasible???

Thanks!

Denise

 

[AdventurerKat]

All the buses at all the WDW resorts run to and from PI all day long til about 2:00 a.m.

 

[G&J's Mom]

Great! Thanks so much!

Denise