Buses/cabs to/from Animal Kingdom Lodge - more newbie questions!

[Yippee]

13 days til our first trip!!
We plan to take the first bus from AKL to the park of the day every morning. Each park opens at 9 on the day we're going and I understand the bus starts an hour before. Ergo first bus leaves at 8 am (right??). So here are my questions:

1. AKL has 1293 rooms and let's say 4 people in each room, that's a capacity of around 5000 people. Let's say it's 2/3 full. 3000 people staying here, and of these, a mere 10% plan to catch the first bus like we are. That's still 300 people. So exactly how big are these buses? What time do you recommend being in line for the bus stop to be guaranteed spots on this first bus?

2. When you get to the bus stop, either at AKL or at the parks, can you tell when the next bus is going to leave? or is it like, if there's a bus, it will leave once full, and if there is not a bus, there's no way to know?

3. We would consider a taxi to parks and Downtown Disney in the evenings after our pm breaks if we see the bus isn't leaving right away. Are there always taxis hanging around the AKL and do they leave from the same area as the buses?

[josh]

It will be closer to 85% full. Even if ten percent somehow were headed out at 8am, there would still be four different places they'll be headed. The first bus should be before 8am. Usually the first bus will arrive/leave closer to 7am. Obviously I'm not ordinarily at a resort that early, but there's virtually no way any of the first buses would be fill to capacity. I would doubt that you'll ever run into a bus that is completely full to Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's possible right after the Parade/Fireworks at Magic Kingdom or soon after Fantasmic, but still pretty unlikely. There really isn't any way to tell when the next bus is going to arrive. The bus stops at Animal Kingdom Lodge are relatively close to the main entrance, but not to the point where you could flag one down from the bus stop.

You might want to consider renting a car if you're looking at multiple taxi rides and a concern over transit times and when the bus is going to arrive.

[blyday]

We were at AKV Kidani last May and we never waited for more then 10 minutes for a bus.....even when we saw the bus for our park pulling out just as we were arriving. Also....the buses actually start running earlier to get people to those early morning breakfasts. We would plan on leaving the room by 7:50 AM each morning and were always in line at a turnstile by 8:20 AM at the latest. We left the room at 7:45 AM for HS.

They do not wait for buses to fill up. Once the bus arrives, they wait maybe 2 minutes but probably closer to a minute and then move on. They will pick up at Kidani Village first and then over at Jambo House (the main AKL building). Never once were we on a full bus going out in the mornings, returning for breaks or returning back to the parks after breaks. All resorts have full buses at closing so that is just a given.

DTD is a different story. That bus was really full and they usually run closer to 20-30 minutes. So....you might want to consider the taxi then. And yes, they have taxis waiting in the parking lot. Just ask at Valet and they will call one up for you.

Also......I have never seen anything close to 300 people trying to get on the buses around 8 AM in the morning.....never!! Maybe 100. And remember, the majority of those people will be heading to one of the non-recommended parks. There have been many times in our various trips that we have been the only family on the bus or sharing with just one or two other families. Oddly enough....even people who have been told that they need to be at the parks at opening do not normally head for the bus stop until 8:30 AM or so because they don't realize that they need to add in extra time to wait for a bus, driving, unload, getting through security, etc.....so......they arrive closer to actual park opening rather then being up close and personal with a turnstile!!!

[Yippee]

Thanks for that! We would consider taking a cab at most once a day, so I don't think the rental car would save us money.
I had forgotten that obviously there are 4 different parks people would be heading to on any given day. And I also didn't consider those early morning breakfasts. So I guess we don't need that very first bus after all!

[goodferry]

I wouldn't necessarily rule out a rental car. When we went in February the van we rented for 10 days came out in the end to be less than $10 per day with all fees and taxes, it was like $96, over a week long trip you could easily spend that on taxis

[CJUERS]

I wouldn't necessarily rule out a rental car. When we went in February the van we rented for 10 days came out in the end to be less than $10 per day with all fees and taxes, it was like $96, over a week long trip you could easily spend that on taxis

Just curious...do you have to pay for parking at the parks? If so and you stay at at Disney resort do you still have to pay to park?

[goodferry]

You have to pay for parking at the parks unless you are staying at a Disney Resort or have an Annual Pass. At the resorts you only have to pay for parking if you use Valet services