Back from Alaska 7/20-28/10 Day Three

[Icemann]

This day didn't get off to a very good start,I went to the front desk to book The Trunda Tour instead of the Wolf tracking thing.I have been planning this trip for 16 months and everyone on this board that took this trip told me to book it as soon as we hit the front desk.Did I listen of coarse not,If you are planning to do some thing extra book it as soon as you get to Denali.Well back on the bus I go to pan for gold and visit a trappers camp.I must say that was really a nice trip and we found gold.But before went to the camp we were parked in front of the Lodge waiting for everyone to board when Denali River Rafting bus and trailer hauling three rafts passed are coach on the left scraping and rubbing the coach from back to front making a horrible noise.The rafts pushed the drivers mirror forward and almost broke it off thank god it was the rafts that hit it.After a little help from the coach driver and one of the adventurers the mirror was fixed,YEAH!If the mirror had got broken off if would have taken six hours to get a replacement mirror down their and another two hours to fix it.so we were lucky in that respect .Off to Murie Science Center for wolf tracking and lunch.That was okay,more for the kids but it was fun.The hike got pretty intense their for a while the path was narrow in some spots and the drop off was deep in spots.Back to Motel Six I mean The Grand Denali Lodge.I talked to one of the Lodge's maintenance guys and asked him if knew of any private tours thru the park.He told me the park run's different bus's thru the park for campers and hikers and you can go them if you like they drop the passengers off so they can get to their campsites or trails.The drivers don't talk on the drive but some do and they tell you what you are looking at.Bring your own food and drink.when you have had enough fun just get off the bus and wait on the other side of the road and another will pick you up abd take you back to the Wilderness Access Center (WAC) at the entrance to the park.Another couple from a different tour group took one of these bus's and said it was worth the money.We didn't take it as it was getting late and we were afraid we would get back to late should have blown off the wolf thing.next time.I went to the front desk and booked a sight seeing flight tour with it landing on a glacier,I thought that was pretty cool,wife didn't think so she stayed back at the lodge.We went to dinner at the resturant in the Lodge,the service was very slow and the food was not that great.I had surf and turf with a baked potatoe,the shrimp was way overcooked and the steak was rare and the potatoe was about the size of a golf ball?The wife had Crab Legs she said their were very good.I couldn't get the waitress's attention and asked the busser to get her,when she got their I told her what was wrong and I got this blank look asked for the manager she said ok?Finally I gave up ordered dessert which was very good by the way,have to get ready for flight seeing trip.I payed the bill went back to the room to get my coat camera and fresh battery for the camera.Went back to the lobby to wait for them to pick me up.I waited for them for almost 1/2 hour and I called to see what was up and if they forgot to pick me up she told me the flight was canceled because of the weather about that time the driver came in to pick me up and I told him that the flight was canceled.So know I go and get my refund for flight seeing and talk to the food manager about dinner,He told me I should have said something before I left told him I was in a hurry to get dinner done because I had something planned.I showed him the bill and he just shrugged his shoulders and said sorry for the problem at dinner.Okay Now I'm mad I need to go for a walk it starts to rain so I go back to the room shower tomorrow has to be better then today.I talked to some other people on are trip and they were displeased with dinner and the slow service also.

 

[sayhello]

Oh, dear! I'm sorry you didn't get anything worked out the way you wanted for this day. Did you ask the Adventure Guides for help? That's what I would have done. Not sure if they could have done anything (certainly not about the weather!) but I know they'd have tried!

And that's scary about the collision with the rafting company! I imagine there'd be no bus driving without a mirror! I can't think that'd be allowed. Glad it got fixed.

Boy, I'm sure glad we went into town for dinner that night. It sounds like the Grand Denali was not a good option! Sorry it was such a bad experience. I'm sure hoping your job got better after this!!!!!!!!!!!

Sayhello

 

[carpenta]

We were on the trip with Icemann and we decided to skip the afternoon with ABD.It seemed silly to come to Denali and not to venture into the park. We went ahead and booked a trip into Denali on one of those narrated bus groups. We were dropped off after the gold panning/river ride in front of another hotel. Even though we booked on our own over the phone,this too was messed up because when we checked in to board the bus we were told that there was no excursion being run at the time we reserved. Behind us a couple said that they were told the same thing. After waiting and fussing back and forth the tour company had us board an excursion that left 1hr. 45 min after the one that we had "booked". When we went to board the driver/ticket collector aid she had no notice of us being on this tour. Boy we weren't too happy and finally she let us board. Not a good way to start the excursion. We were on the bus with a large group from Holland America with the youngest member being the birthday girl @78 yrs. old. The excursion was great with the bus members seeing many bears, moose,sheep. eagles, fox, caribou, and texas grizzlies. It went 62 miles into the park and back. Because of the mix up on their part we didn't get back to the hotel to 12:45 A.M.At least the hotel sent the van down to pick us up when we called. It was a long day and we are glad in one aspect to have missed the terrible dinner service that you had Icemann. Sorry you had a bad turn in the dining room but the excursions that were run independent of Disney really seemed disorganized as our trip can attest. Not too much communication between parties that run these excursions so Icemann your excursion as well as ours seem to be the norm rather than the exception.