Bus service AKL

[Doberge]

And depending on.... something?... time of day? season? crowd levels? staffing?... there are conflicting reports about whether to expect a dedicated shuttle between the buildings versus just using the parks busses to get between them.

Maybe I misread the question. Between AKL buildings I always expect a dedicated shuttle bus.

The external busses to parks and Springs are not recommended travel between AKL buildings. The internal shuttle and external bus have pickup locations. When external buses are shared one might be able to get from Kidani to Jambo (and not Jambo to Kidani) but it's nothing worth the time to figure out because (1) it's a different bus stop location and (2) the dedicated internal shuttle is constantly running between Kidani and Jambo to not require even a consideration.

 

[jpeden]

And depending on.... something?... time of day? season? crowd levels? staffing?... there are conflicting reports about whether to expect a dedicated shuttle between the buildings versus just using the parks busses to get between them.

When we were there in 2015 or 2016 (can't remember exactly but I think it was 2016, we did not have the dedicated shuttle - we just had to hop any bus except Disney Springs to get from Kidani to Jambo if we wanted to go to the Mara. They told us there was a dedicated shuttle but we never actually saw it running, so we took the bus or walked.

Note that this would have been in September of 2015/2016 so it was a pretty low-crowd time which is most likely why they were sharing buses.

 

[NelleBelle]

Well, we did book Jambo so I guess bus service with the ECV will be what it is I kind of had to do what was the more economical option for this trip given I splurged on that AP and DH would flip if I booked at GF (where I wanted to switch to). But it’ll be fine. We love AKL and the pool. Haven’t stayed since they “rethemed” the hotel-side rooms (they look much better, IMO). We’re there for 8 nights and doing MNSSHP so it’ll be a fairly laid back trip. Definitely looking forward to it and hoping for decreased crowds in early Sept!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Well, we did book Jambo so I guess bus service with the ECV will be what it is I kind of had to do what was the more economical option for this trip given I splurged on that AP and DH would flip if I booked at GF (where I wanted to switch to). But it’ll be fine. We love AKL and the pool. Haven’t stayed since they “rethemed” the hotel-side rooms (they look much better, IMO). We’re there for 8 nights and doing MNSSHP so it’ll be a fairly laid back trip. Definitely looking forward to it and hoping for decreased crowds in early Sept!

Honestly, if you're going to spend any time at Epcot, a direct bus to all four parks is probably worth the trade to not have to go monorail-to-TTC-to-monorail to get to Epcot. I've always felt that the "win" of having the monorail to MK isn't worth the hassle of the monorail to Epcot unless you're staying in a Poly room that's close enough to walk to the TTC.

 

[cjkeating]

Hello. Just back from AKL so will share my experiences.

Stayed at Jambo and each morning it had its own dedicated bus to the parks, I went in for early entry each morning and the buses never left with seats unavailable. When returning to the park the buses were shared and always stopped at Kidani first and Jambo second. Longest wait was about 10 minutes leaving MK around 2300, everyone boarded the bus. Otherwise all waits were less than 10 minutes and again I never saw anyone left behind. This included leaving DHS after Fantasmic.

I saw the internal shuttle running but personally always walk in between, one evening I walked Kidani to Jambo (as their were 2 EVCs to offload) and at a good pace I got to Jambo in 7 minutes, the path was well sign posted and lit. There is a sign at the Jambo bus stop saying take the Disney Springs bus if you want to get Kidani, I assume this is for people who don't know about the internal shuttle and get to the bus stop wondering how to get to Kidani.

The Bus Times section on the app (for departures from Jambo) was far more reliable than when I stayed at Kidani February 2022, I think this is because the system is more accurate than it used to be as opposed to any difference between Jambo and Kidnai. I would say arrive 5 minutes before the posted time as if the bus is ready it tended to leave slightly early from my experience.

I know many people dismiss AKL for being too far out of the way but the bus system for the resort is reliable and with the exception of MK the journeys are short. AK is a matter of minutes and I don't think Epcot or DHS are more than 10 minutes. I think some of the road improvements that were made around the time of Galaxy's Edge opening have helped these routes compared to the past. Even the MK journey felt pretty smooth and whilst i wasn't paying too much attention assume it takes advantage of some of the new flyovers. Personally I think AKL is better than the resorts with the multi-stop bus loops or having to wait for a boat or transferring to the Epcot line.

If anyone has any questions just reply and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Hello. Just back from AKL so will share my experiences.

Stayed at Jambo and each morning it had its own dedicated bus to the parks, I went in for early entry each morning and the buses never left with seats unavailable. When returning to the park the buses were shared and always stopped at Kidani first and Jambo second. Longest wait was about 10 minutes leaving MK around 2300, everyone boarded the bus. Otherwise all waits were less than 10 minutes and again I never saw anyone left behind. This included leaving DHS after Fantasmic.

I saw the internal shuttle running but personally always walk in between, one evening I walked Kidani to Jambo (as their were 2 EVCs to offload) and at a good pace I got to Jambo in 7 minutes, the path was well sign posted and lit. There is a sign at the Jambo bus stop saying take the Disney Springs bus if you want to get Kidani, I assume this is for people who don't know about the internal shuttle and get to the bus stop wondering how to get to Kidani.

The Bus Times section on the app (for departures from Jambo) was far more reliable than when I stayed at Kidani February 2022, I think this is because the system is more accurate than it used to be as opposed to any difference between Jambo and Kidnai. I would say arrive 5 minutes before the posted time as if the bus is ready it tended to leave slightly early from my experience.

I know many people dismiss AKL for being too far out of the way but the bus system for the resort is reliable and with the exception of MK the journeys are short. AK is a matter of minutes and I don't think Epcot or DHS are more than 10 minutes. I think some of the road improvements that were made around the time of Galaxy's Edge opening have helped these routes compared to the past. Even the MK journey felt pretty smooth and whilst i wasn't paying too much attention assume it takes advantage of some of the new flyovers. Personally I think AKL is better than the resorts with the multi-stop bus loops or having to wait for a boat or transferring to the Epcot line.

If anyone has any questions just reply and I'll do my best to answer them.

Great post, thank you for sharing. I've always felt that the "Animal Kingdom Lodge is too far from everything" argument was the biggest myth in Disney trip planning. Great to hear that the buses were frequent and reliable, as this definitely wasn't the case during and after COVID when bus driver staffing shortages were a major problem.

 

[NelleBelle]

Hello. Just back from AKL so will share my experiences.

Stayed at Jambo and each morning it had its own dedicated bus to the parks, I went in for early entry each morning and the buses never left with seats unavailable. When returning to the park the buses were shared and always stopped at Kidani first and Jambo second. Longest wait was about 10 minutes leaving MK around 2300, everyone boarded the bus. Otherwise all waits were less than 10 minutes and again I never saw anyone left behind. This included leaving DHS after Fantasmic.

I saw the internal shuttle running but personally always walk in between, one evening I walked Kidani to Jambo (as their were 2 EVCs to offload) and at a good pace I got to Jambo in 7 minutes, the path was well sign posted and lit. There is a sign at the Jambo bus stop saying take the Disney Springs bus if you want to get Kidani, I assume this is for people who don't know about the internal shuttle and get to the bus stop wondering how to get to Kidani.

The Bus Times section on the app (for departures from Jambo) was far more reliable than when I stayed at Kidani February 2022, I think this is because the system is more accurate than it used to be as opposed to any difference between Jambo and Kidnai. I would say arrive 5 minutes before the posted time as if the bus is ready it tended to leave slightly early from my experience.

I know many people dismiss AKL for being too far out of the way but the bus system for the resort is reliable and with the exception of MK the journeys are short. AK is a matter of minutes and I don't think Epcot or DHS are more than 10 minutes. I think some of the road improvements that were made around the time of Galaxy's Edge opening have helped these routes compared to the past. Even the MK journey felt pretty smooth and whilst i wasn't paying too much attention assume it takes advantage of some of the new flyovers. Personally I think AKL is better than the resorts with the multi-stop bus loops or having to wait for a boat or transferring to the Epcot line.

If anyone has any questions just reply and I'll do my best to answer them.

Thank you so much for your post! This is perfect info that I was looking for and makes me feel excited we did settle on booking here for our trip this fall. It’s a whole different thing when your have to take traveling with a scooter into your plans but it’s worth it! Hoping it’ll just be my mom in the scooter and not me as well since I tore my meniscus falling when I was in Italy last month and it is still quite painful and hard to walk. Had to use a scooter when family was in town when we played “tourist” with them. Definitely easier to walk and don’t wish the use of scooters on anyone!

 

[england1]

We have stayed there on our last 4 trips and will be going back hopefully soon.
The buses are easy the pool is good the food good.
Maybe I should start a new post asking why are the Magic Kingdom Resorts so far away from Animal Kingdom

 

[Frankenstein79]

I loved the bus service from Animal Kingdom. I thought it was better than the Magic Kingdom area ones because they share a buses. Animal just shares with Kidani, which is perfectly fine.