Back from AKL - bus service stinks!!

[AnninIowa]

We were at AKL Jambo House from January 5-12 - I wanted to post earlier about out stay, but I developed the stomach flu once home, so just now getting back to normal!

Anyway, this was our 3rd stay at AKL and we still love the resort as much as our first visit. We booked a pool view room but were given a free upgraded to a wonderful Savannah view room, 3rd floor right off of the lobby. So convenient to the gift shop and bus service!

Christmas decorations were still up when we arrived - they disappeared overnight around our 5 night staying there. Animals were outside of our balcony all the time - especially lots of giraffes and one particular eland who I nicknamed "Henry"!

The only downside - and it was a big one - was the bus service. We've stayed here twice before, and never had a problem....but now that Kadani is open, bus service was awful. 90% of the time, the bus went to Kadani first - so every single morning (and we didn't leave the resort until after 9 am every day) we faced a full bus, standing room only. Only on the very last day did I figure out to wait for the second bus to come; but we were there during the really cold weather, so waiting in the freezing cold wasn't fun.

On the way back to the resort, the bus again would usually go to Kadani first. This made an already long bus trip (especially to and from Downtown Disney) even longer.

As much as I love AKL, I would probably pick a monorail or Epcot resort for our next trip. We spent so much time on the buses that it really put a damper on the fun. Sad, too, because I love AKL so much! However, if you are dependant on the buses to get you around, you may want to think twice.

 

[hstrickland]

I actually booked a ressie at AKL, but then changed to the Poly for fear of this situation. We have eaten at the AKL and loved the theme and I was really looking forward to a Savannah view room, but then I really started thinking about the distance from the MK. We have 3 children and will be spending MUCH time at the MK. The Poly only made sense for us, especially since 2 of my children still take afternoon naps. Maybe one day when the kids are older we will venture over to the AKL.

 

[kapoof]

akl has been on our list of resorts to try..the more i read about the buses recently has really made me rethink about staying there. i know it is a very pretty resort however. why does the bus go to the akv first??? glad you had a good stay overall. i have to encourage the epcot resorts for your next trip, while the buses can be crowded also, you get to walk to 2 parks!!

 

[mmmears]

I'm sorry to hear this. We had no problems with the buses before Kidani, and none this past summer with 1/2 of Kidani opened. We're planning to go back again, but if it ends up being as bad as you had it, we'll probably stay elsewhere after that. AKL is such an amazing resort -- it's really a shame if they ruin it just by messing with the buses.

 

[mousefan1972]

Thanks for posting this. We stayed at AKL once, in April '09 right before Kidani opened. We loved the resort and would love to stay there again. However we don't rent a car when we visit Disney, and the bus situation was causing us to reconsider. Thanks for confirming that we made the right choice to not book there again. (without a car, anyway)

 

[luvayorkie]

We had the same issue at AKL in December. The bus service seemed to be hit or miss. We had good luck on some days, but on others there were long lines and not enough buses to accomodate everyone going to certain parks. We were really looking forward to trying AKL and it's a great place to visit, but we probably wouldn't stay there again.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

thanks for posting. My son loved our stay at AKL but the buses...the week we were there was horrible and when we did get a bus it was standing room only. My son requested for our next stay not the place where he had to stand on the bus all the time.

 

[PrincessAurora]

Is it feasible to walk over to AKV to take their bus if they pick up there first so you can get a seat?

 

[rlovew]

It is about a 5-10 minute walk depending on your speed from 1 bus stop to the other so that would be a choice if you don't have any trouble walking.

 

[AnninIowa]

I was traveling with my dad, who is still recovering from a broken hip....so the standing situation wasn't fun. AKL is such a wonderful resort and we love the price for a deluxe....but unless they improve the bus situation, those staying at Jambo House need to be prepared to stand or wait. Can't imagine trying to deal with the situation if I had small children with me!

 

[Figment1990]

I'm really sorry to hear that you had such a poor experience with the bus service at akl. We were at kidani in december and although we were the first pick up on the way to the parks our buses were very rarely full (and this was dec 17 - 24) and most times jambo house or main lodge guests did not have to stand. I guess it's just luck of the draw but what you are describing is just the opposite of what we saw and experienced (sometimes we were at akl before getting on a bus there). Also the loading and unloading seemed very efficient and as the two stops are literally one minute on the bus apart (I timed it out of curiosity because I was very nervous too) it didn't seem to make the trip back to akl much longer either. And we came back midday often and got off at akl for lunch before walking back to kidani. I realize that it could have been different for others but I wanted to share our experience for what it's worth to others considering this wonderful resort. I'm a bus avoidr at Disney so I was very nervous but I will definately return! I actually thought that our buses at boardwalk (which I also loved) were much worse than akl/akv. Just my experiences...

 

[Native NYer]

This the the reason we're staying at the GF in August. With two small children, a monorail resort just made more sense. For my adults only birthday trip in July, we're staying at AKL. But it'll be easier for just my friend and I to stand. I would NEVER be able to stay at AKL with two kids and strollers and have to deal with bad bus service

 

[MerryFlora]

Thanks for the report Ann! We will be there in a couple weeks. I hope they are getting complaints about the buses so that they do something about it. My DD hates the buses, especially when she has to stand! What was your average wait time?

Congrats on your pixie dust, we have booked a Pool View also. I did not put in any requests so I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised!

 

[cindylou1125]

I stayed there before Kidani opened and the bus service was great, stayed there after Kidani opened and it was the worst bus service we've ever had at any resort level.

 

[baileykelly]

We were at AKL January 7-12. We didn't encounter any of the problems the OP did. We never really waited more than 10-15 minutes for any bus to take us to the parks or home from the parks. Every day but one we were at the bus stop at 8:00 am. OP was riding the morning buses at a peak time around 9am, of course the buses would be more full than if it was earlier or a little later in the morning. I only stood on one trip to the Animal Kingdom, which was only a 4-5 minute ride if that, so not a big deal at all. Once on the way back from the Magic Kingdom I stood, but we exited the park right after watching Spectromagic from the train station at 7:00, so of course that was a crazy time for all the resort buses. I noticed in the mornings about 50% of buses had a few people on them that were picked up at Kidani before Jambo House. The other half were empty when arriving at Jambo and then continued right to the parks. Stopping at Kidani on the way back from park was not a big deal for us either. Many Disney resorts share buses and some resorts have multiple stops within the resorts. Sometimes even on the Monorail you have to wait for it to come, transfer or make other stops before your destination, and you don't always get a seat on the monorail, just like the buses. We usually stay at Riverside so I guess we are just used to sharing buses with French Quarter and stopping at multiple stops in Riverside. Overall, we had a great time and would gladly stay at AKL again!

 

[Burnt Toast]

Please keep in mind that theme Park buses always stop at Kidani Village first and then Jambo House before departing for its destination. Downtown Disney buses always stop at Jambo House and then Kidani Village before departing for DTD.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

We were at Jambo house at AKL January 16-20th and we had no problem with wait times on buses. We did have some crowded buses first thing in the morning when everyone is trying to make rope drop. We had an attendant out in the mornings recording bus times and calling on his little walkie talkie thing. So perhaps the noted problems with bus service were being dealt with? We are going back in Feb and will keep a close mind on the time as well.

 

[sters]

This is why we drive.

 

[DebbieB]

Even though the bus service favors Kidani, there is no quick service at Kidani, Jambo has Mara. So there's give and take between the two. I'm sure part of the reason the bus stops at Kidani first is DVC wants to sell the points there.

 

[AnninIowa]

Thanks for the report Ann! We will be there in a couple weeks. I hope they are getting complaints about the buses so that they do something about it. My DD hates the buses, especially when she has to stand! What was your average wait time?

Congrats on your pixie dust, we have booked a Pool View also. I did not put in any requests so I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised!

The buses came relatively quickly; we were just there the week it was FREEZING, so standing outside at all was awful! For those staying there, my advice is that if a bus comes full and you don't want to stand, just wait as a second bus shouldn't be too far behind. I still hate sharing with Kadani, though, even if the bus isn't full. AKL is so far from the parks (except for AK) and DTD that anything added to the trip just makes it that much longer.