AK Lodge buses

[danalin]

Just wanted opinions on the bus system at AKL to the parks and back, thinking of staying there. Appreciate any info.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The buses are fine. People complain about them, but they're not really any worse than an All-Star bus for time to park.

 

[AngiTN]

AKL buses are like buses at every other resort on property.
Good, not without some waiting.
Rare for it to be excessive
Sometimes you'll stand, sometimes you'll sit.
It's a common misconception that AKL is further out than the other resorts.
Take a look at an overhead map. It's not AK and AKL that's further out. It's MK. The rest are sort of grouped together (yes it's an old map but parks/resorts haven't moved)

 

[danalin]

Thank you! That is what I was thinking but recently saw negative comments so thought would get opinions.

 

[Lynne M]

The thing is, all resorts have good transportation days and bad transportation days. It's all one system, centrally dispatched, so one resort's buses aren't any better than another. Overall, I think they do a pretty amazing job of moving several thousand guests around the property every day, on several hundred buses. But, like any major public transportation system, they do have the occasional problem.

 

[JennyDrake]

The thing is, all resorts have good transportation days and bad transportation days. It's all one system, centrally dispatched, so one resort's buses aren't any better than another. .

While I concur, in 50+ trips to WDW over the last 11 years, AKL was consistently the worst bus service TO parks. FROM parks was about average.

Personal note: IMHO every resort has very iffy service to/from Disney Springs.

 

[jpeden]

We stayed five nights at AKL last year. Made every pre park opening reservation in plenty of time. Never had an issue. It has dedicated buses which helps a lot. I would go for it and not worry about it!

 

[Babsy]

We have stayed at AKL and found the buss service to be just fine. A few times we had to wait a bit, but that has been true at all resorts. Yes, the ride to the MK can take an extra few minutes, but the difference is hardly noticeable. There are only two stops and you are on your way. Some resorts have multiple stops before you get going to the park. Disney transportation takes time regardless of where you stay. Just relax and enjoy your trip. The AKL is an awesome resort!

 

[cocoachip]

We stayed at AKL in May. The screens at the bus stops tell when your park transportation is due to arrive. Definitely a plus!

 

[tinkerpea]

We stay 21 nights at akl every other year and have done since 2009 never had a problem with buses,
It's the same as any other resort.
And i found them far better then the Polynesian bus system

 

[Lovinallthingsdisney]

I do not feel the busses run any better or worse here than other resorts. I think each resort has a different good/bad scenario. Our only irritation seemed to be when we stayed at Jambo. The bus would pick up at Kidani first and sometimes it would be full or almost full when it arrived. But, there were also times that bus only stopped at Jambo....making that a non-issue. I would not let bus concerns deter you from experiencing this incredible resort!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

We found it better at Kidani than Jambo. But I have a wheelchair and we found that it seemed to always be full and already have a wheelchair onboard. In the end we solved the issue by taking the inner shuttle to Kidani and went from there!

 

[mickeynut1]

The thing is, all resorts have good transportation days and bad transportation days. It's all one system, centrally dispatched, so one resort's buses aren't any better than another. Overall, I think they do a pretty amazing job of moving several thousand guests around the property every day, on several hundred buses. But, like any major public transportation system, they do have the occasional problem.

We have stayed at AKL and found the buss service to be just fine. A few times we had to wait a bit, but that has been true at all resorts. Yes, the ride to the MK can take an extra few minutes, but the difference is hardly noticeable. There are only two stops and you are on your way. Some resorts have multiple stops before you get going to the park. Disney transportation takes time regardless of where you stay. Just relax and enjoy your trip. The AKL is an awesome resort!

I agree with both of the above! We've stayed at AKL and visit every trip to eat at Boma and we have never had a problem with the buses. As posted above, the extra time is hardly noticeable as it takes maybe 5 extra minutes to get around compared to other resorts.

 

[scrapquitler]

The bus situation was the only thing that I was not 100% happy with when we stayed at AKL (Jambo House)
We used the bus two times, and both times the bus came from Kidani either full or almost full, so we always had to stand. The other thing that I did not like was the lack of a definite line to stand in while waiting for the bus. We usually stay at a value and get in line and end up boarding the bus in the order that we arrive at the bus stop. Because there's no line at AKL, everyone just stands in line in a crowd. Even though we were among the first people at the bus stop, people crowded around and we ended up being almost the last to get on. It just seemed very disorganized to me.

 

[AngiTN]

The other thing that I did not like was the lack of a definite line to stand in while waiting for the bus. We usually stay at a value and get in line and end up boarding the bus in the order that we arrive at the bus stop. Because there's no line at AKL, everyone just stands in line in a crowd. Even though we were among the first people at the bus stop, people crowded around and we ended up being almost the last to get on. It just seemed very disorganized to me.

FYI - The lines are unique to the Value resorts. All other are like what you found at AKL

 

[scrapquitler]

FYI - The lines are unique to the Value resorts. All other are like what you found at AKL

Well, that's how they are at the parks, too.

 

[LJSquishy]

We stayed 9 nights and it was great except for a couple of times. One day it took a long time because an elderly man was having some sort of panic attack/anxiety episode and they wouldn't drive the bus until medical came and got him (nor would they just let him off) and it took a while for extra buses to arrive, maybe 30 minutes. The other time was waiting to go to one of the water parks at opening...there just wasn't a bus. We still made it to the water park right at opening.

We did frequently stand on the way back to the resort at night to allow young kids or older adults to sit but it was no big deal. We could have just waited for the next bus but chose not to. We never had to stand going to a park (we stayed at Jambo House).

 

[sndral]

The bus situation was the only thing that I was not 100% happy with when we stayed at AKL (Jambo House)
We used the bus two times, and both times the bus came from Kidani either full or almost full, so we always had to stand. The other thing that I did not like was the lack of a definite line to stand in while waiting for the bus. We usually stay at a value and get in line and end up boarding the bus in the order that we arrive at the bus stop. Because there's no line at AKL, everyone just stands in line in a crowd. Even though we were among the first people at the bus stop, people crowded around and we ended up being almost the last to get on. It just seemed very disorganized to me.

I haven't stayed at the values, but I've read of the bus lines in the sun. I'm used to the non line set up - at the GF they even have rows of benches for people to sit in the shade while you wait for your bus. IME people are polite and aware of who got there first but we are not rope drop people, so going to the parks at non peak times we haven't run in to packed buses or rude people crowding to the front.

Well, that's how they are at the parks, too.

This has not been my experience w/ AKL buses leaving the parks. There are lines just like every other resort stop and people get into the lines to wait.
The only chaos I've seen is at Disney Springs where the buses don't go to the assigned bus stop & seem to pull into any open slot and people waiting in the assigned bus stop line have to move to another to board their bus - but that's not unique to AKL.
Of the deluxes only AKL relies exclusively on bus transportation to get to the parks, so no boat, walking or monorail options. However, unlike the other deluxes the AKL buses only serve AKL and as noted there's only the Kidani then Jambo stop.
We fly and never have a car so I'm an experienced Disney transportation user - all resorts occasionally have bus issues, you'll run into a long wait for a bus at least once every trip - it's a running joke for us to count the buses picking up for places we aren't going as we wait for our bus. The solution is to allow plenty of time and to have a relaxed attitude and that's true for taking the bus to/from any resort IME.

 

[danalin]

Thanks everyone appreciate all the responses!

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Just to add one thing I did notice at AK on the positive side was how nice the bus drivers were! Not saying they aren't at other resorts but they seemed extra helpful ( when we eventually got on a bus )