question about transportation from AKL

[AlphaBeth1017]

I've heard the bus system has been not so good lately...Just wondering if we should rent a car...we're staying at AKL and I know it's close to AK, but how long (really) are the bus trips to the other parks? will be traveling with kids 7 and 4 and GRAndma...A few yrs ago we stayed at OLd key west and it seemed the buses stopped everywhere before we got to and from!!!!!!! How many stops from AK to the parks??? Thanks a million

 

[MsLefty]

From my recent experience I found that AKL busses are dedicated only to the AKL. They don't make any other stops except back and forth from the resort to their single destination. For example, if you take a bus from AKL marked Epcot, there are no stops in between. The same goes for grabbing a bus FROM Epcot marked AKL. It only stops at AKL. We found the AKL bus service pleasingly efficient.

 

[Pig Pen]

I just returned from AKL and will attempt to answer your questions. Overall I think the bus service was fine, but we had a couple little glitches.

Occasionally the bus would stop at Blizzard Beach on the way to other locations, but not every time. Once we stopped at AK on our way to Epcot...don't know why - no one boarded or got off.

Otherwise, it seemed that buses came and went, but the intervals seemed longer than other resorts. Maybe it's just because AKL is further away....I would definitely NOT drive my car though. Any wait is preferable to driving in traffic if you want my opinion.

Some of the bus drivers seemed to take forever when loading people with wheelchairs. Other drivers took hardly any time at all. We couldn't figure it out...

We headed out early one morning to catch early entry at AK. It was about 8:15 am and the crowd at the bus stop was the largest I had seen. We learned that people had been waiting for an hour and no bus had arrived. Finally 2 buses arrived simultaneously. We only waited about 5 minutes, but others were pretty grumpy.

But overall, I would say the bus service from AKL is good. But I was there during the slowest season.

 

[ac_roo]

We too found the transportation slower than we would have thought. I think it is that AKL is sooo far out of the way of all other resorts.

 

[Harambe]

We were there Jan 14-21 and had no problems with the bus. It took about 20 minutes for MK, 15 for MGM, and about 5 minutes for AK. Returning from Epcot took about 15 minutes. Twice we rode the bus back alone! Only once did we wait long for a bus and that was from MGM at around 1pm on our last day.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by AlphaBeth1017
I've heard the bus system has been not so good lately...Just wondering if we should rent a car...we're staying at AKL and I know it's close to AK, but how long (really) are the bus trips to the other parks? will be traveling with kids 7 and 4 and GRAndma...A few yrs ago we stayed at OLd key west and it seemed the buses stopped everywhere before we got to and from!!!!!!! How many stops from AK to the parks??? Thanks a million

We have stayed at the AKL a total of four trips the most recent being from Jan 23rd through the 29th of this year. We have never waited more then 15mins for a bus. There is one bus stop at the AKL is it is much smaller then OKW and you go directly from the AKL to the park. I believe that the bus from the AKL to MGM also stops at BB when it is open. We have always found the resort bus service at the AKL to be great.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

We stayed at AKL over Spring Break last year, and also found the buses to be efficient, pleasant. No long waits, no extra stops (oh, except for one evening, the bus driver announced that CSR was having some kind of bus trouble, and we would be stopping there. no one seemed to mind this, tho.)

 

[ssclbc]

We just returned from the AKL and the bus system is good but wait times do vary. The buses come about every 15-20 minutes but there is no posted schedule. They do not stop anywhere other than the destination posted on the bus. Travel time from the AKL to the parks is 15-20 minutes to the Magic Kingdom, 15 minutes to Epcot, 10-15 minutes to MGM and 5 minutes to Animal Kingdom. So if you happen to walk up just as a bus arrives, you can get to the parks very quickly. However if you just miss a bus, it can add an extra 20 minutes to your travel time. One trip to the Magic Kingdom took only 15 minutes but another took 45! Travel to other resorts is a bit more problematic but can be done. If you want to do anything outside of the world, renting a car is really the best option. If you are staying at a resort you get a parking pass which allows you to park anywhere in the World for free.

 

[Tiffany]

Originally posted by ssclbc
We just returned from the AKL and the bus system is good but wait times do vary. The buses come about every 15-20 minutes but there is no posted schedule. They do not stop anywhere other than the destination posted on the bus. Travel time from the AKL to the parks is 15-20 minutes to the Magic Kingdom, 15 minutes to Epcot, 10-15 minutes to MGM and 5 minutes to Animal Kingdom. So if you happen to walk up just as a bus arrives, you can get to the parks very quickly. However if you just miss a bus, it can add an extra 20 minutes to your travel time. One trip to the Magic Kingdom took only 15 minutes but another took 45! Travel to other resorts is a bit more problematic but can be done. If you want to do anything outside of the world, renting a car is really the best option. If you are staying at a resort you get a parking pass which allows you to park anywhere in the World for free.

Just for clarification purposes in case a newbie is reading what this poster notes above applies to all Disney resorts and not just the AKL. Meaning buses run every 15 to 20 mins from the Disney Resorts (pick one) to the Disney Parks. Each resort has a particular park that it is the closest to but none of the resorts have stated posted bus schedules. Also, none of the resorts are convienent to all of the Disney Parks but IMHO none are too far away either.

Also the parking pass covers self parking at the resorts and Disney parks but it does not cover valet parking at Disney Resorts, the Swan/Dolphin or PI.