Princess Tundra Wilderness Tour & Senior Nat'l park pass

[dickinson]

I read on here somewhere within the past month or two about someone who got a partial refund because they had the Senior National Park Pass.  We are now here at the Princess Denali Lodge and went on the tour today.  Before leaving we checked at the front desk and  were told we had to take the hotel shuttle to the park "bus Depot" stop.  After our tour we had time to do it.  Well worth it because we received a refund of $30!  We just showed our park pass along with our paper that showed we were signed up for the tour.  They said we could have gone before or after the tour.

 

I wanted to post this because it is not something I have read on here except that one time so there may be many people who are not aware.

[Pterodactyl1234]

Can you tell me how often the hotel shuttle from Denali Princess Lodge runs over to the Denali N.P. area? We will be there in a few weeks on our land tour and plan to visit the Visitor Center the day we arrive, which will be in the afternoon. We also plan to use the hotel shuttle to get to the bus depot area the next day to take one of the park shuttles. 

Thank you! 

[dickinson]

They run every half hour.  First bus departs Princess at 6 am.  It stops at Denali Bus Depot (where you buy your tickets and I assume get the bus into the park) in 10 minutes.  Next is Horseshoe Lake Trail (5 min later), Visitor Center (another 5 min later), then back to Princess (10 min later).  Rinse and repeat all day long.  Last bus leave Princess at 7 pm.  Visitor Center hours are 8 am - 6 pm.  I wish I had known about this as we would have gone there the day we arrived.  I didn't have time to do enough research for various reasons.

[Pterodactyl1234]

Thank you so much for this info! We will have time to go to the Visitor Center the day we arrive and then we have to be at the Bus Depot in the morning for an 8am departure so we will be good with an early morning hotel shuttle departure. 

[TSUmom]

On 7/10/2019 at 11:24 PM, dickinson said:

I read on here somewhere within the past month or two about someone who got a partial refund because they had the Senior National Park Pass.  We are now here at the Princess Denali Lodge and went on the tour today.  Before leaving we checked at the front desk and  were told we had to take the hotel shuttle to the park "bus Depot" stop.  After our tour we had time to do it.  Well worth it because we received a refund of $30!  We just showed our park pass along with our paper that showed we were signed up for the tour.  They said we could have gone before or after the tour.

 

I wanted to post this because it is not something I have read on here except that one time so there may be many people who are not aware. 

Great information and thank you for sharing!!

[jr8934]

Thank you for the information. We will be there the end of July. Thought there was no way to get a rebate. Hope we have time to go there.

[Id rather be diving]

I have my husband’s pass on my packing list already!  Thanks for the info on where to go.

[EMS8]

On 7/10/2019 at 11:24 PM, dickinson said:

I read on here somewhere within the past month or two about someone who got a partial refund because they had the Senior National Park Pass.  We are now here at the Princess Denali Lodge and went on the tour today.  Before leaving we checked at the front desk and  were told we had to take the hotel shuttle to the park "bus Depot" stop.  After our tour we had time to do it.  Well worth it because we received a refund of $30!  We just showed our park pass along with our paper that showed we were signed up for the tour.  They said we could have gone before or after the tour.

 

I wanted to post this because it is not something I have read on here except that one time so there may be many people who are not aware.

 

Did you receive the partial refund at the bus depot or at Princess Denali Lodge?

[Marvie227]

We were there last week and took the wilderness tour. The Denali Princess told us to go to the visitors center with our passes to get a refund. However, when we got the the visitors center  we were told that Princess had to issue the refund. We didn't pursue it any further. The tour was wonderful and we weren't going to let a little refund debacle ruin it.

[dickinson]

23 hours ago, EMS8 said:

 

Did you receive the partial refund at the bus depot or at Princess Denali Lodge?

You have to go to the bus depot not the Lodge nor the Visitor center.

[dickinson]

22 hours ago, Marvie227 said:

We were there last week and took the wilderness tour. The Denali Princess told us to go to the visitors center with our passes to get a refund. However, when we got the the visitors center  we were told that Princess had to issue the refund. We didn't pursue it any further. The tour was wonderful and we weren't going to let a little refund debacle ruin it.

 

Princess doe does not refund it.  You go to the bus depot where you buy your tickets if you were not on a princess excursion.  You bring your paper which Princess gives you showing the lodge, room number, and your excursion.  That along with the your park pass.  For the two of us we got $30 back.  You can do this before or after your excursion.  Check out the times they are open to see what works best for you. 

[EMS8]

I also found on the NPS website, if you book a transit bus tour, you can show your national park pass at the bus depot when you check in, and not have to pay the $15 park fee.  The park fee is not automatically charged when you book a transit bus like it is with a tour bus like the TWT or NHT.

[przyk]

4 hours ago, dickinson said:

 

Princess doe does not refund it.  You go to the bus depot where you buy your tickets if you were not on a princess excursion.  You bring your paper which Princess gives you showing the lodge, room number, and your excursion.  That along with the your park pass.  For the two of us we got $30 back.  You can do this before or after your excursion.  Check out the times they are open to see what works best for you. 

 

I will be on a HAL Tundra Wilderness Excursion next month, same principal as Princess I would guess for getting a refund.  Our itinerary says PM Wilderness Tour, but no time is listed. My question is I understand HAL will assign a tour time and shuttle us from the McKinley Chalet Resort to the Denali bus station.  Will we be limited in what time we can get the shuttle from the hotel to the park or can we go early so we can stop at the bus station to get our refund and maybe look around the Visitor Center a little?