Alaska

[KandAMom]

We just received an email from Disney informing us of an itinerary change. Now instead of the bus tour of Denali we will be going on a 2 hour whitewater scenic wilderness rafting trip. Has anyone else done this while on this trip? According to the email after lunch we can go experience more of Denali on our own. Any suggestions what to do - do we try to do a tour or just hike around?

 

[carpenta]

We took a guided tour that takes you deep into the park on an old school bus type vehicle. On board there are t.v. monitors that you see the various wild life which the driver stops and tracks with a high power camera that the driver operates. They also narrate the history of the park and animals found there. On our tour they supplied a box lunch for dinner that was a sandwich, drink and a dessert. The tours can be picked up from another hotel (which the cruise lines run their tours out of) and ABD dropped us off and when we returned (12:30 a.m.) the hotel sent a van to pick us up and back to the hotel. You can purchase a DVD of all the animals that were recorded on your tour. IMO our whole trip would not be worth it if we did not experience Denali on that tour. Do the tour it will be one of your best memories. Loved Alaska and the Alyeska hotel.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I was wondering the same thing about the Alaska trip since they have changed the itinerary. What can we do in Denali if we're not having the ABD tour? I guess it would help to know where we'll be at that point, after lunch, to even start looking at what's doable?

 

[carpenta]

Denali , the town, is not very big at all. When we went we declined the group scheduled event and asked to be dropped off to do the tour. Every thing in town revolves around the park.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Thanks for the information! This will be my first trip to Alaska.

 

[sayhello]

The Grand Denali Lodge is run by the same company that does the bus tours (Aramark). So they or your Adventure Guides should be able to help you with the logistics of doing a bus tour into Denali.

Sayhello

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Thank you!

 

[Bobo912]

We did a rafting trip during our free time at Denali and it was great. Our's was white water so not sure if you'll be doing the same one. Good rapids and the scenery is beautiful. There are all kinds of tours that can be booked at the hotel, so you'll still be able to take a bus tour if you want.

 

[KandAMom]

We are hoping to catch a bus tour after lunch. It said in our email that raft ride is 2 hours long then add in lunch - we are thinking we will be free for the afternoon around 2 ?
We have been looking at the NPS Denali site to compare the tour bus vs. shuttle bus.


AquamarineSteph when are you going? We are doing the July 13th trip.

 

[pjacobi]

Even within the park, Denali is hard to see because cloud cover is unpredictable. There are tours in private planes that can get you above the cloud cover to see the mountain for about $100. I was feeling dizzy when the plane hit 13,000 ft. for the view.

If you only have one day, you have to be very lucky to get a ground view of Denali.


-Paul

 

[carpenta]

On our trip we never seen Denali from the park. The only view we had was from the Alaska Air on the flight to Fairbanks.

 

[sayhello]

On my Alaska ABD, we were incredibly lucky, and as we were leaving the Park, we got a totally magnificent view of Denali from the side of the road! A once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Sayhello

 

[carpenta]

Absolutely Beautiful Sayhello.

 

[KandAMom]

Your picture is beautiful ! We are so excited to go. Thank you everyone for the info - I think we are going to try for a tour after lunch. Hopefully it will work out.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

We are hoping to catch a bus tour after lunch. It said in our email that raft ride is 2 hours long then add in lunch - we are thinking we will be free for the afternoon around 2 ?
We have been looking at the NPS Denali site to compare the tour bus vs. shuttle bus.


AquamarineSteph when are you going? We are doing the July 13th trip.

We're going in August. I looked at the hotel website, and they have a large listing of activities including something via jeep that I'm sure can be arranged. I couldn't find any details about how long those take or where they go vs. the bus trips, though.

 

[carpenta]

The bus trip we did into the park is long. There were two trips, one goes deeper into the park than the other. The times were 6 hours or 10 hours if I remember or something like that. It is a long day but the roads are primitive with many curves (with outstanding views) so the speed is much slower than paved surfaces. Then the bus stops to track wildlife and explain the areas and views. The school bus types vehicles are the only vehicles allowed into the park past the campground where the views open up.