For those who have done Alaska in May - excursion questions? Especially bears

[Disneygirlxo91]

Ports:
Skagway
Juneau
Ketchikan

Party:
2 adults no kids (not super fit)

Dates:
Mid May 2026

Hi everyone!

We’re most likely booked on the Disney Wonder in May for Alaska and are trying to plan excursions now. I know a lot of Port Adventures fill up so some might not be available but trying to get an idea of what we wanna do.

I’m curious if anyone has been able to see bears at a salmon hatchery in May on an Alaska cruise? I know May might be a bit early for the salmon runs and the bears that come with them, but wondering if anyone has had luck with that or can share which excursion they did.


Also open to suggestions for other excursions you’ve loved in May. We’re interested in something that might include seeing bears and possibly whales, but we’d prefer to skip the helicopter-to-a-glacier type tours this time. Just looking for recommendations from people who have done Alaska with Disney in May — favorites, what surprised you, what you’d pick again.

 

[DCLMP]

We saw bears on our whale watching tour and on the glacier explorer. I think it's a matter of luck. The bears start coming down the mountain in May so you may see some along the water like we did. I think it's a bit early for Salmon runs.

 

[PsylockeSmythe]

Ports:
Skagway
Juneau
Ketchikan

Party:
2 adults no kids (not super fit)

Dates:
Mid May 2026

Hi everyone!

We’re most likely booked on the Disney Wonder in May for Alaska and are trying to plan excursions now. I know a lot of Port Adventures fill up so some might not be available but trying to get an idea of what we wanna do.

I’m curious if anyone has been able to see bears at a salmon hatchery in May on an Alaska cruise? I know May might be a bit early for the salmon runs and the bears that come with them, but wondering if anyone has had luck with that or can share which excursion they did.


Also open to suggestions for other excursions you’ve loved in May. We’re interested in something that might include seeing bears and possibly whales, but we’d prefer to skip the helicopter-to-a-glacier type tours this time. Just looking for recommendations from people who have done Alaska with Disney in May — favorites, what surprised you, what you’d pick again.

We did Alaska in May of 2022. We did the something along the line of: Alaska Salmon Bake and Mendenhall Glacier Tour, but it also had a stop at the Salmon Hatchery first. We did get to see a bunch of sea lions playing around the hatchery pens and the salmon ladder was not running (I think we were too early in the season). We did see two bears on this excursion, one on bus ride to the Glacier walking along the road and checking out trashcans and one while we were at the Glacier. The park rangers made sure that everyone stayed far enough away from the bear

Psy