We have just booked to stay 2 weeks next August 2019 at Animal Kingdom Lodge but have been told it’s a long ride to all the Disney Parks from Jambo House can anyone who as stayed there give us some feed back on this please because we are hoping to eat at Disney Springs 5 or 6 nights out of the 14 stay
The buses in general are very slow, compared to uber/lyft/driving yourself.
One example. We were going to take the bus to MK from AKL to avoid the ferry/monorail. We walked up to the stop. It was packed. We did an about-face and headed to our car (luckily I had my keys since our room was very very far from the lobby). We were out of there and easily through the tapstiles before that bus ever made it to the park. It’s just that slow.
I know lots of people think since AKL is further away from som parks it takes longer but when I have timed Bus rides I have found that is not always true. For example, my times AKL to HS is usually 22 minutes. Poly to HS was timed at 28 minutes. The Poly Bus stopped at GF after Poly and therefor took longer.
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Agree with @PrincipalTinker that it doesn’t necessarily take longer from AKL specifically, it just takes longer in general to take the bus versus the other modes of paid transporation.
That’s why Disney recommends alloting 60-90 minutes for transit times from anywhere to anywhere within the bubble.
HS from AKL is probably about 6 minutes if you drive yourself or use Lyft.
It may take 6 minutes but you still have to park, get on the tram, and then get to the gate?
We have stayed at AKL several times and have never had issues with the buses.
You are SUPER close to AK - literally 5 minutes ride.
The other parks are max of 20 minutes. If you stay at another resort your ride time will be similar, bested only by those with monorail access. Most other resorts share and/or have internal buses to navigate. In the end I think the average ride time for all bus trips is on the order of 15-20 minutes by the time sharing or distance is taken into consideration. I believe that this was probably heavily researched by Disney as they rarely do anything without being fully informed. I think they have figured that the guest tolerance for ride time is 20 minutes and have developed their bus routes accordingly. Which is why, being further out, AKL doesn’t share with other resorts. Pop and AoA are similar in that way and are a similar distance.
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Well, yes. but it’s still so much faster than a bus. My experience above is literal. And that was January (lower crowds).
EP and HS, we rarely use the tram. We just hike it. Those lots are not nearly as massive as MK or AK.
I took the buses for about a decade before we ever had a car onsite. I don’t see ever not having a car again. I know “you get what you pay for”, meaning the buses are complimentary. But you’re at their mercy as far as speed goes.
I do the speed limit when I drive (in FL!). When I pass a bus, it’s like they are in reverse!
Even with the parking fees?
I will admit I thoroughly enjoyed having a car in January, but I’m NOT paying an upcharge to do so.
We bought DVC this year! Just good timing.
And our July trip was booked before the parking fee deadline (staying at AS Music).
If we do mid year trips and don’t stay DVC, I would probably consider staying off site. The thing is, I keep coming back to the 60 day fast pass window. That to me is the tipping point of worth it/not worth it for the parking fee. For $13 per day (value resort parking) I get the 60 day window.
I realized that the time spent waiting on Disney transportation over the years would add up to many, many hours of vacation time. Time is the one luxury I cannot get back.
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What’s the best way to get from AK to Jiko? And by “best” I mean “quickest”? And then back again?
Uber/Lyft
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See as someone who is fortunate to go regularly at this point, that’s not worth it to me. I also know refresh/modify/lather/rinse/repeat and I’m confident I can get just about any FPP during my stay. I’ve got a very short visit in June coming up and I can’t do FPP til about a week from now. Haven’t even thought about it.
For our annual long trip, it matters more There are 4 of us and it’s not as easy to ‘weave and bob’ our way through our trip.
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True, total agree. We too are going 2-3 times per year now. On those shorter trips, not so critical. We only have 2 ADRs for July and the fast passes were only crazy because of TSL. Really didn’t want to miss out on that stuff.
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I feel like we must be an exception or got really lucky. We went 2 weeks after Easter. Mostly CL6ish for the week. We had no issues. Took Minnie vans twice, when we were time sensitive to get from BW to MK. Disney transportation every other time. Worst case was waiting 15min for a bus and then a 15min bus ride. But we flew from west coast, so our own car would never be an option. Can’t really see a car rental plus parking. Can easily splurge for a ride when needed and still come out ahead. Unless I get burnt next time and forced to reevaluate.
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Resort Loop podcast recently discussed the parking fees. They talked about cost of rental + cost of fees = far more than taking Uber/Lyft for every transfer. You can take a Minnie Van (at $25 trip!) 16 times for about the same as renting a car for a week.
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I was just looking at the transportation chart in an old version of the UG. If you stay at a value would you pay the fee and take the bus? The chart shows at Pop the bus is quicker for everything but AK and for the All stars it is AK and EP?
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I travel for business every week and unless I am going to a small town (where Lyft/Uber is not as prevalent), I don’t rent a car anymore. It is faster to just Lyft and I get work done in the car if I am not done driving.
Also, I personne think driving around DW resort is just crazy and would rather not have to do it. At the end of a park day, when everyone is exhausted and driving like nuts, I’d rather not be behind the wheel.
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Well, I didn’t mind the driving when I had the car. I did use Lyft when I knew I was going to be imbibing.
Oh, I am sure it’s not that bad. I just have bad experiences from driving after a day at Disneyland…
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If you have DVC do they hit you with parking also?