Bus Service at AKL

[carrieshields]

My kids would love to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I am very worried about the bus service. I have read several posts that state bus service at AKL is slow, inconsistent, etc. Any opinions/experiences would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[DrDoofenshmirtz]

My kids would love to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I am very worried about the bus service. I have read several posts that state bus service at AKL is slow, inconsistent, etc. Any opinions/experiences would be appreciated!

Thanks!

I stayed at the AKL, back in '01, before the expansion. Back then, the bus service was the same as everywhere else on property. Most of the times, it was pretty good. Occasionally, you'd end up with a long wait. It is completely luck of the draw.

However, I understand, it has taken a turn for the worse with the opening of Kidani Village. How bad, I'm not sure.

If (potentially) poor bus service is a deal breaker for you, I suggest staying at another resort, and just plan on a visit to AKL. There are plenty of public viewing places to see the animals, and you don't need to stay there to eat at Boma or Sanaa.

 

[DMKEDM]

We've stayed at AKL 3 times in the last 2 years and had the best bus service there we've had at any resort (we've also stayed at SSR, BCV, BWV, OKW and BLT)...as the PP said, bus service is the luck of the draw at any resort...but I think the buses at AKL are among Disney's best...

 

[carrie1626]

I used the busses for my entire trip in 2010 and the busses were great!!!!!

I'm just back and used them only 3 times this year ( rented a car) still good service.

As the PP stated- if this will be a deal breaker for you don't chance it.
BUT... every single resort has had a bad review of their bus service.

 

[Chelley00]

I think it also depends when you stay. We were there 10 days in November before Thanksgiving week and we never waited for any bus, never had to stand etc until the Saturday before Thanksgiving and then it was chaos

 

[Dizny]

We are DVC'ers @ AK-Kidani Village and buses were too bad. Of course we have the luck when we just missed our bus, 5 others park buses will show.
But seriously, we have not had any issues, and we shared the buses with Jambo House.

 

[Big Kid]

We stayed at AKL Jambo House in January of this year and are heading back in January 2012. I thought the bus service was fantastic. It was frequent, with buses often pulling up when we reached the bus stop, and I don't remember ever waiting for more than 10 minutes. I don't mind standing on the buses so if we did catch a crowded one at some point during that week, it didn't stick out in my memory. To be fair, we didn't close too many parks.

The buses serving AKL (except Downtown Disney buses) stop at Kidani Village first and then Jambo House, which adds less than five minutes to a trip.

What I really like about AKL bus service compared to most other resorts is that it's dedicated to AKL and makes no stops at other resorts.

We talked about renting a car for our upcoming trip and decided to spend the money on something else. If we had a car, we would drive it to other resorts for dinner and perhaps to Epcot and Hollywood Studios if we planned to close them.

Have a great trip!

 

[cbg1027]

Bus service at any resort is purely chance. One resort is not better than another in terms of frequency.

Something like the multiple stops at POR and the YC/BC/BWI route can make a difference, but in terms of how many buses come and at what frequency.....it's pure luck of the draw.

So I would never factor 'how good the buses are' in making a decision about where to stay.

That said, I've stayed at AKL twice and my longest wait for a bus was 25 minutes once. The rest of the time it was usually 5-10.

But I've had the same waits at other resorts. My last trip at CSR, I never waited more than 5 minutes.

It's just timing you can't plan for.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

We were there less than 2 weeks ago...staying in Jambo

We thought the bus service was fantastic!!!

But you have to understand, we generally stay at Boardwalk, where the buses go to Swan, Dolphin, Boardwalk, and often the Yacht and Beachclub.

We thought that having a bus line dedicated for one resort was paradise!

 

[OhThePain]

We were at AKL-Jambo for the last week+ of this past October and we had no issues with the buses. We never waited longer than 15 minutes and rarely waited longer then 10 mins, this includes waiting at the resort and at the parks/DTD. The buses were never crowded with people from Kidani before it reached Jambo. The longest bus ride is to MK which took about 18 minutes, EC, DHS and DTD took about 10-13 minutes and AK took about 7 minutes.

Truth of the matter is that all resorts have a theme park that takes longer to get to, just like all resorts can have issues with bus efficiency. We don't think the bus service was any better or worse than any other resort we have been to or visited. I wouldn't let the negative opinions out there get in your way. If you are really that worried, have you considered a split stay?

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

Our last stay at AKL was just over a year ago. We noticed no problems with the bus service and actually found it to be faster, with shorter waits, than other resorts we had been to. I really think as others have said that every resort may occasionally have issues with bus service. I also think the whole thing about AKL bus service has been seriously overblown as an issue. If your kids would love a stay at AKL I would give it a try. Our kids loved it and it is now their favorite resort.

 

[wish*i*was*in*the*vi]

We stayed for 8 nights in January of 2010 and while we love the resort we probably wont stay there for awhile because of the bus service. We felt like we spent the majority of our trip waiting for a bus. it wasn't so bad waiting for a bus while at the park to get back to the resort but waiting at the resort was ridiculous. There were times we waited 30 minutes or more for a bus. Not enjoyable. And you'll get a very good look at Kidani village because you will always take a trip to Kidani with each pick up and drop off.