Transportation from Animal Kingdom Lodge?

[mmiller]

Hi...we are going to disneyworld in Jan 2006 and we are staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and it looks really far from everything. Are the buses that leave AKL and going to the theme parks only buses for AKL or do we stop at other resorts and parks to pick up people? I have a four year old and don't want to be on a bus all day. Also how long does it take to get to the resorts?
Did anyone use their Simba club for a young child one night to go out to dinner alone and did you feel it was safe and your child was happy? They say you need to book that way ahead of time because they only have 20 slots...thanks so much...melissa

 

[mgkkgdm]

Melissa:

We are DVC members and travel to Disney quite often, every trip since our DS was 4 he requests to go to "his" club (aka The SandCastle Club @ BC)

It is very safe and he always enjoys himself, and loves two of the coordinators (Tesse and Christine.) Before you leave they give you a pager in the event they need to get in touch with you and we always leave my cell #. The first time we left him there we did not stray far, just in case. Now we go to other resorts or even off property for dinner. The kids get to do crafts and play games, dinner is also included.

As far as the bus question, we rent a car while there and always drive to where we need to be. I'm on vacation and the last thing I want is to be waiting in line for Disney Transportaion.

 

[sls23]

AKL does not share buses with other resorts. We have stayed there many times and found that even though it seems relatively far from most of the parks it really did not take that long to get anywhere. We found they always had plenty of buses running so even if you missed a bus there was always another relatively close behind.

 

[graygables]

I've never had a problem w/ AKL buses and they are a lot quicker than Pop Century or even Grand Floridian.

My DDs have stayed at Simba's several times and have really enjoyed it. They also really like the Neverland Club, but Simba's is very convenient if you are at AKL. They give you a pager, but we've never needed it. One evening, we were running late (not past midnight-late, but later than we'd said), so we called to let them know. The woman was very kind and told us not to worry and to enjoy ourselves. When we got back, DDs were camped out watching a movie.

 

[mmiller]

Wow...thanks guys... you have made me feel much better about the transportation. I had fears of my four year old screaming, screaming, screaming "when are we going to get there" and us stuck on a bus picking up everyone in the entire wdw. This is our first trip since my DS and we are somewhat anxious how this four year old will do. He is really a very good child but not much for waiting in lines ...... so I picked the least crowded time Jan 21-28th and am hoping for the best...any suggestions where we should or should not take him?I am hoping for some swimming weather while we are there...DS loves the pool....any chance the weather is ever warm enough that time of year for a swim?????

thanks..
melissa

 

[wld]

We enjoyed AKL for the first time last January and found no difficulty with the transportation. probably the most efficient we have found at the world. I can't remember ever standing on the bus or waiting very long at all. Also there were several kids your son's age there that seemed to be having a great time. There were several activities. The pool is great with its zero entry. It might have been warm enough to swim once or twice when we were there , but we are from MI so it doesn't have to be that warm. A couple of days it was rather cool and while we didn't need winter coats or anything, I was glad I had brought a pair of lightweight gloves. Our children are 19 and 23 so we didn't try the club, but found cast members in general to be very friendly and accomadating

 

[noladave]

Sounds like I'm going to be the lone person to disagree on this. We went last February (during Mardi Gras), and I will NEVER go back to Animal Kingdom Lodge becuase of the long waits for the buses. It got to the point where we started driving to each of the resorts every day.

On the EMH night at MK, we had to wait over 45 minutes just to get a bus. For an adult, that's a long time, but to a small child, standing in line with hundreds of other people, that's an eternity.

The bus ride itself is quite long - long enough for the kids to fall asleep, and then have to carry them to the room.

If you are going to spend a lot of time at MK, then AKL is NOT the resort to do it. Just my 2 cents...