Triple Denali Cruise help?

[minimom5]

We're booked on the Triple Denali Cruise and just wondering if anyone knows anything about the time schedules.  So it looks like we will be traveling from Anchorage to Denali on a train but unsure what time we would be arriving at Denali. The reason we're asking is that we're wondering if we need to arrange a tour on that day or if we'll be arriving too late to do an activity.  We would really appreciate any info so we can make plans if we need to.  Thanks !

[kwb101]

We did the Alaska-Yukon-cruise a couple of years ago, with three nights in Denali. IIRC, the train left Anchorage about 9am, and arrived in Denali about 4 or 4.30. By the time you get off the train, get on the bus, drive to McKinley Chalet Lodge and get settled, it'll be dinner time. The next day, you'll probably take the Tundra Wilderness tour, a day-long bus ride into the park (assuming it's part of your package; ours included it). Again, you probably won't return until late afternoon.

The third day is free, so you're on your own. The park's visitor center and sled dog area is over a mile away,  but not a bad walk. My wife went to both these places in an afternoon, and thoroughly enjoyed them,  especially the dogs (she's the alpha dog at home).

Good luck! 

[minimom5]

Thank you so much.  This really helps us plan our time there !  Very much appreciated!

[kwb101]

Always glad to share!  Will you continue to Fairbanks and then go home? Enjoy your trip. 

[minimom5]

Unfortunately, Fairbanks is not on our itinerary but we are hoping to maybe get over there on our free day in Denali somehow.  

[quilty964]

11 hours ago, kwb101 said:

We did the Alaska-Yukon-cruise a couple of years ago, with three nights in Denali. IIRC, the train left Anchorage about 9am, and arrived in Denali about 4 or 4.30. By the time you get off the train, get on the bus, drive to McKinley Chalet Lodge and get settled, it'll be dinner time. The next day, you'll probably take the Tundra Wilderness tour, a day-long bus ride into the park (assuming it's part of your package; ours included it). Again, you probably won't return until late afternoon.

The third day is free, so you're on your own. The park's visitor center and sled dog area is over a mile away,  but not a bad walk. My wife went to both these places in an afternoon, and thoroughly enjoyed them,  especially the dogs (she's the alpha dog at home).

Good luck! 

We're going in 3 weeks...YAY!...we were trying to figure out how to see sled dogs.  This looks like our opportunity! Can you walk from the hotel to the park visitor center?  When I look on the map, it says the visitor center is 3 miles sway.  

[dfilpus]

Assuming that you're staying at the McKinley Chalet Resort, which is the HAL owned hotel near Denali, there is shuttle service to the National Park Visitor Center, so you do not have to walk. There is free shuttle service within the park to nearby facilities, including the sled dog area. https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/courtesy-shuttle-buses.htm

[quilty964]

Thank you! 

[kwb101]

11 hours ago, minimom5 said:

Unfortunately, Fairbanks is not on our itinerary but we are hoping to maybe get over there on our free day in Denali somehow.  

Good luck! However, it's almost 3 hours away by road, and I'm not sure what you'll see. As part of our package, we visited a place that had a put you on a small train that went around their property where there were demonstrations of hydraulic and other types of mining; a preserved good dredge; and, a big setup whet you could pan for gold (but it had warm water in the sluice boxes, yay!). Fun, but, in our case, something of a waste of time, since we live close to the Gold Country and have pretty much seen it all before. (Apologies if i sound jaded).

[terrydtx]

14 hours ago, kwb101 said:

We did the Alaska-Yukon-cruise a couple of years ago, with three nights in Denali. IIRC, the train left Anchorage about 9am, and arrived in Denali about 4 or 4.30. By the time you get off the train, get on the bus, drive to McKinley Chalet Lodge and get settled, it'll be dinner time.

We are doing the Double Denali in July and the itinerary from HAL shows this almost exact schedule, we leave on the train at 8:45 and get to Denali at 4:30pm. We leave from Denali and take the bus to Fairbanks for one night there before we fly home from Fairbanks.

[Pair of Hikers]

We are heading out on the Alaska-Yukon cruisetour in two weeks and have that same schedule. We were originally planning a short hike the night we arrived but decided to tour the Husky Homestead - start time is 6:50. We booked it through HAL as their price was the same as booking it with the vendor. We also considered a rafting adventure. They offer a number of activities for the evening you arrive and the next day after the TWT. We were planning to hike but who can resist the cute puppies!

 

We are planning to hike after our Tundra Wilderness Tour. Hoping to be assigned to an early start time. Many of the activities appear to be in the evening as it stays light late!

[PRPLE]

Helpful as we continue planning for our triple in August 

[torybruno]

We just ate dinner and relaxed the first night.  They have a great restaurant there, kind of like a town square with fire pits, entertainment, but I don’t recommend the cheesy dinner show!  Make sure to see the free dog show at Denali, and go to the visitor center.  

[oaktreerb]

On 5/10/2019 at 2:45 PM, Pair of Hikers said:

We are heading out on the Alaska-Yukon cruisetour in two weeks and have that same schedule. We were originally planning a short hike the night we arrived but decided to tour the Husky Homestead - start time is 6:50. We booked it through HAL as their price was the same as booking it with the vendor. We also considered a rafting adventure. They offer a number of activities for the evening you arrive and the next day after the TWT. We were planning to hike but who can resist the cute puppies!

 

We are planning to hike after our Tundra Wilderness Tour. Hoping to be assigned to an early start time. Many of the activities appear to be in the evening as it stays light late!

Good choice.  After being on the train most of the day Husky Homestead will be a fun and informative activity for your first evening in Denali.  You will get to cuddle puppies as part of their early social Iditarod training!  If you later go to see the sled dog demo in the park...you will learn about the working dogs of the park.  

[kwb101]

A couple of food things;:

- The railroad cars you'll be in each have a dining section on the lower level. You pay for the meals. We had brunch, which was quite good, and, to quote the old saying "there's nothing finer than dinner in the diner".

-  Since we were the three nights, we tried both the steakhouse (upper level of the main lodge building) and Karsten's on the lower level. Food was good but not notable. Also, the steakhouse was very noisy. We also had breakfast there a couple of times,  and the food wasn't bad,  but service was glacial (ahem). However, they'd only been open for a week that season (2017), so were probably still working to smooth things out. 

- On Tundra Wilderness excursion day, we ate at Prospector's Pizza, directly across the street from the lodge. Pizza wasn't bad, and it appeared to be a hangout for the locals,  which we liked. We had a pizza with elk meatballs and reindeer sausage, not a bad combination.

Have a safe and happy trip. 

[PigsCanFly]

On page 4 of our Noordam "Guest Booking Confirmation" there is a detailed itinerary for our July 24th D2L triple denali.  Check your docs.

[Crew News]

13 hours ago, PRPLE said:

Helpful as we continue planning for our triple in August 

 

Here is a link to my triple Denali in 2017:  

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/place/alaska-2/denali

 

I will be repeating the same 11-Day Triple Denali in three weeks and be posting a live thread on the HAL Forum to answer questions and give advice.