Any McKinley Discovery Flightseeing Tour reviews?

[dinomac]

We are considering the McKinley Discovery Flightseeing tour of Denali (with Princess) and wondering if anyone has taken this tour and what your views of this tour are? Would you take it again? Was it everything you wanted it to be? Who is the flight operator/business? We were considering K2, but if this is a good flight/tour it would be nice to book with Princess and shuttle down to Talkeetna and do the flight right before we take the train to get on the ship (so we don't have to spend time in the shuttle going back to McKinley Princess Lodge). Please give us some hints/tips/reviews. THANKS!

[dinomac]

Nobody has been on a Princess McKinley flightseeing tour????

[Budget Queen]

I am confused about your posts, regarding the "Princess shuttle". You are going to be on a "bus" the same amount of time, no matter how you book. Why do you "think" you are going back to the lodge before your train trip?

 

The whole issue, if I have posted to you before, will be the tour description. There are several flights to choose from. This "generic" Princess tour you are considering, tells me nothing. What are the flightseeing details?? Is this just the regular summit "view" flight? Hopefully you have researched this and have made the choice for this flightseeing tour?

 

It isn't going to matter how you book, Princess does not operate this. So you will be going with who ever they contract with, which has been K2 in the past. I have flown on many McKinley tours, they, indeed are excellent. This issue may be savings comparing the costs of the booking differences, and if you choose to use one of the purchased coupon books for 2 for 1 bookings.

[Talkeetna Andi]

There are several great flightseeing tour operators in Talkeetna. Since you specifically asked about K2, in my opinion, they are excellent. There are also several different types of tours you can take. The prices vary depending on the details and length of the flight. I would recommend adding the Glacier Landing to whichever tour you decide on. It's an incredible experience and, in my opinion, worth every penny!

Enjoy your Alaska Adventure!

Talkeetna Andi :)

[dinomac]

I actually booked the Summit flight with K2 today... looking forward to the flightseeing.

[Dr. Pepper]

Dinomac, We Had a glacier landing flight booked with K2 in Sept. 09. It was too cloudy to land on the glacier but it was still a great flight. We will book with K2 the next time we go. We took the 7:00 AM shuttle from the lodge to Talkeetna, walked down to the river to get views of Denali, then walked back through town to the airport. After our flight Princess had a bus to take us to the train. You don't go back to the lodge. Have a great trip!:)

[dinomac]

Thanks all! We have a 10:30 flight. Planning to head down to Talkeetna early and having breakfast there and then flying, walking to the train station and then heading down to Whittier to cruise... can't wait!!!!

[Dr. Pepper]

If you are taking the McKinley Express to the ship, it is a special train that picks you up at a different place than the station in Talkeetna where you got off. Way to far to walk. At least thats the way it was in Sept. 2009.