Denali bus tours - How is it for tall people?

[Vagabond Knight]

My husband and I are heading to Alaska for a cruisetour in a couple of weeks which, of course, includes a bus tour in Denali.  We've read how the buses are closer to school bus style than Greyhound style due to the roads in the park, and we're wondering how uncomfortable the bus tour is going to be for us.  Hubby is 6'5" and I'm 5'11" with longer legs than his.  I took a tour bus on Catalina Island last year with my 6' tall daughter and neither of us could sit straight in the seats because our legs wouldn't fit (and, of course, the bus was full enough that we couldn't each grab a seat for ourselves).

 

So, any thoughts from anyone with a 35" or longer inseam who's taken the Denali bus tours?  Will we fit our legs into the seats and, if not, are the buses usually full or might we be able to each grab a seat by ourselves such that we can sit sort of sideways?

[Crew News]

3 hours ago, Vagabond Knight said:

My husband and I are heading to Alaska for a cruisetour in a couple of weeks which, of course, includes a bus tour in Denali.  We've read how the buses are closer to school bus style than Greyhound style due to the roads in the park, and we're wondering how uncomfortable the bus tour is going to be for us.  Hubby is 6'5" and I'm 5'11" with longer legs than his.  I took a tour bus on Catalina Island last year with my 6' tall daughter and neither of us could sit straight in the seats because our legs wouldn't fit (and, of course, the bus was full enough that we couldn't each grab a seat for ourselves).

 

So, any thoughts from anyone with a 35" or longer inseam who's taken the Denali bus tours?  Will we fit our legs into the seats and, if not, are the buses usually full or might we be able to each grab a seat by ourselves such that we can sit sort of sideways?

Definitely head for the back of the bus bench seat.

 

It is my experience that the buses usually have a few open seats (often over the wheel wells which would put your family's knees at chin level.  When wildlife is spotted, the passengers move to the applicable side of the bus and just lean above those who are seated there.

 

When wildlife is spotted, the bus has a telephoto camera and monitors which will allow all to see up close images.  Only on rare occasions will wildlife be nearby which makes binoculars and a camera with a strong telephoto lens a good idea to bring.

[Paula_MacFan]

We were there 2 weeks ago and did the Denali Tundra Wilderness tour. We were lucky enough to get one of the newer style buses which had larger, sideways-sliding windows. Our guide even remarked that we got lucky that day 😀 We probably saw 30 other buses throughout our 6 hour tour and only saw 1 other like ours. The rest we saw were what I'd consider old-style, smaller school buses with small windows that slid from top to bottom.

 

My point being it's the luck of the draw which bus you'll get. I've also heard reports this year of people being bumped from booked tours due to over-booking and high demand. So I wouldn't expect any empty seats on your bus unfortunately, unless there was a last minute cancelation.

 

We took our binoculars and were glad we did. Our driver made several stops and we were able to get out and observe moose, bear, and sheep at a distance. Several people asked to borrow our binoculars which we shared. Our guide also did a great job of using the spotting scope and putting images up on the screens for everyone to see. 

 

There were people on our tour with high powered lense cameras who took some amazing photos, and they offered to share with others on our tour.

 

We saw grizzly, moose, fox, caribou, sheep, and birds. The whole day was a highlight of our 15 day trip. 

 

[Stevepcb64]

We just got back and unfortunately most of them are school bus type buses. I'm 6' and close to 300lbs. It was not very comfortable but also wasn't packed on ours so you had that option to spread out. Another trick i did figure out was in general the buses block off the front seats for handicapped passengers (charter type buses). I would ask the driver if I could sit there unless someone more handicapped than me needed the seat and I would gladly move. All of them said yes. That way I could at least stretch my legs out in the front area from the isle seat. Bonus was you could also take pictures out the big front windows.

[SueMo]

We took one of the green Denali transit buses (cheaper, said to be non-narrated, but our driver did narrate and spotted and pointed out the animals along the way).  We sat in the very front seat, which was not blocked off, so that we could better hear the driver.  My husband is also 6’5” and found the seat to be no more uncomfortable than any other buses we have experienced.  He always sits on the inside and tilts his knees towards the aisle.