Buses to the parks from Animal Kingdom Lodge?

[crvetter]

I much prefer being able to walk to at least one park, which all the other deluxe resorts offer as an option.

Wilderness Lodge does not.

Not just AKL or WL either, neither does Poly or GF.

 

[kaytieeldr]

This is good to hear! We are staying there July 3-6 and actually only going to MK for 2 days after a cruise. Originally were going to do a monorail resort, but then Disney came out with the summer discounts and we save $600 by staying at AKL instead. It is our first onsite and I was worried about the perceived distance and isolation...

You might want to consider seeing if that offer is available at Wilderness Lodge, and switching if it is.

Magic Kingdom is remote from everything except the Seven Seas Lagoon/Bay Lake resorts.

 

[dansdad]

Not just AKL or WL either, neither does Poly or GF.

Oh yeah, DUH! Thanks for the correction.

 

[epcotobsessed]

Thanks for the correction. The monorail makes the GF and Poly feel like they're right next to MK and even Epcot but yes, I was wrong in saying you could walk to a park from them.

 

[TWINKLETWINKLE]

I have stayed at AKL Jambo house and Kidani Village and have had great experiences with the buses both times.
This is my families favorite resort. We always use Disney transportation and wouldn't hesitate to stay here.

 

[Shellyred8]

I would agree with others that MK is the one that is "really far away". On the flip side, AK is REALLY close!!
In regards to the bus service, I've had good and no so good timing. But I've had that at all of the resorts that I've stayed at, so it's not just an AKL issue.

Have a great trip!

 

[sndral]

Thanks for the correction. The monorail makes the GF and Poly feel like they're right next to MK and even Epcot but yes, I was wrong in saying you could walk to a park from them.

Unless the monorail is down either unexpectedly or for planned reduced hours/maintenance, or at MK close when you have to join 1000s using the resort monorail to get to the TTC parking lot. In those cases the GF and Poly seem so close yet oh so unreachable . I always look forlornly at the path to nowhere and wish they’d finished it so I could stroll ‘home’ to my bed for the night.

 

[maranara]

When we went 2 years ago we were worried about the distance but it turned out to be great. I think that a lot has to do with your perspective - I live somewhere with soul crushing traffic so it takes at least 15-20 minutes to get anywhere (grocery store, swim practice, etc). So a 5-10 minute bus ride seemed super fast to me. Magic Kingdom was a little longer, but even that was fairly easy. The only park we had any trouble getting to was AK! (there was some sort of bus hiccup and we ended up waiting over 30 minutes for a bus from AKL)

 

[LeeAnn]

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx#.XNNRhPkrLGg

It will calculate the time from places.

 

[kaytieeldr]

http://www.ourlaughingplace.com/aspx/twiz.aspx#.XNNRhPkrLGg

It will calculate the time from places.

Take with a grain of salt. It's not always right. Sometimes it gives crazy routings, sometimes nonexistent ones.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We have hoppers and just thought about how everyone says AKL is so far away from everything.

I agree with the others that it's MK that's far from most everything else! We were at AKL as part of a split stay, so we only took buses from there to DHS, AK, and DS, but all those trips were fine.

We plan to go to a park in the morning then take a resort break and go back in the evening. Is this a bad idea with staying at AKL?

Not a bad idea at all. We had some of our best animal viewing when we did that! (I think they feed them around 4:00.)

 

[Mich123]

We stayed at AKL in January and had great bus experiences. I was completely impressed by how short the waits were for buses from the parks to AKL. When heading to the parks, the bus rides also seemed quick because there were so few stops--it was either straight to the park or a quick stop at Kidani and to the park. We loved the resort so much, we're going back next week. I'll check back in and let you know if the bus service is as good as it was in January.

 

[maryj11]

We stayed at AKL in January and had great bus experiences. I was completely impressed by how short the waits were for buses from the parks to AKL. When heading to the parks, the bus rides also seemed quick because there were so few stops--it was either straight to the park or a quick stop at Kidani and to the park. We loved the resort so much, we're going back next week. I'll check back in and let you know if the bus service is as good as it was in January.

Oh good thank you! Let us know how this trip goes.

 

[toodycat]

We love the AKL and the bus service is not bad at all. Last summer, we stayed at Kidani and, although we had a rental car, we took the bus to the parks and it was faster. I would budget 15-20 minutes, depending on the park. Honestly, the worst bus service we’ve had was to and from BC.

 

[magrudersmakes3]

We stayed at AKL last June and had prepared for long bus rides and waits. We were pleasantly surprised to find that buses were quick to show up, the longest wait we had was 10 minutes or less and that the ride to MK was the longest, but was pleasant. We would definitely stay there again.

 

[Minnesota!]

AKL has been amazing, as far as transportation goes. We have stayed there quite a few times and have never been disappointed. Also, the stops being so "out of the sun" makes it much more pleasant than a lot of the places we have stayed (which, while they might be covered, the sun still heats em up pretty good!)

 

[Leigh123]

We just stayed there last week (and have multiple times) bus service is fantastic.....I think last week we honest to god never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus from resort to parks and vice versa...it was great.

 

[WRLeGrand]

A couple of insights to share regarding this:

1. We missed out on our "desired" DVC property for our October 2018 and "settled" for Kidani Village. We had always heard people say that AKL was just felt too far away and isolated. We decided to go with it because it gave our young boys a chance to stay where they could see animals virtually any time. But we are a parks family, so there was still apprehension about the transportation. I will say this, there is really NOTHING to be worried about. Buses are frequent to all parks. The only ride that even seems remotely long is to MK, but it really is not all that bad at all. It is a good time to see some sights on the way over.

If you have any PPO breakfasts, I might recommend Uber or Lyft (if in your budget). We had a PPO Crystal Palace and did not want to risk the bus, but would have been ok.

2. We did visit friends at AKL in June 2017 and were returning to DHS for the evening. We waited nearly 45+ minutes for a bus, and the wait time kept getting pushed back incrementally by 5 minutes. Apparently a bus broke down while a shift change was happening, and it all just caused a jumbled mess. We walked the transportation/concierge window at the front of resort and they comped us a taxi over. Basically, what I am saying regarding this is that it could have happened, literally, at any resort. It was handled extremely well and we did not miss anything of significance.

3. On our stay there was always a transportation "guide" out counting the number of riders and advising bus times. Once the line for MK was extremely long and the young lady called via her walkie and another set of buses arrived within a few minutes. This was nice to have, because it felt she had her pulse on times and availability.

All of this is to meant to say: stay with confidence at AKL. It is a really nice resort and does not feel any further out that other resorts not within walking distance to a park. Those are simply an entirely different category, and price reflects that. We enjoyed AKL VERY, VERY much and transportation was never an issue for us!

 

[WRLeGrand]

Wilderness Lodge does not.

To be fair, the pricing for Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge reflects this...

 

[dansdad]

To be fair, the pricing for Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge reflects this...

And yet the pricing of Poly and GF do not.