MT. McKINLEY PRINCESS WILDERNESS LODGE

[Cellagirl]

We need advice on how many nights to spend at this Princess Lodge. We are doing a north bound cruise first ending late May. This will help us to book our land tour. All opinions welcome. Thanks

[greatam]

We need advice on how many nights to spend at this Princess Lodge. We are doing a north bound cruise first ending late May. This will help us to book our land tour. All opinions welcome. Thanks

 

In the middle of no place without much to do. 100 miles to Denali. Unless there is a specific reason to stay at this lodge, IMHO why bother unless you just need a "down" day. If you are doing flightseeing out of Talkeetna, stay in Talkeetna (about 45 miles from McKinley Princess).

[PennyAgain]

This lodge is a VIEW lodge (on a clear day) of Denali, Mt. McKinley. Many people who go there are very disappointed as it is no where near the Denali National Park.

[Yukon]

We loved our stay there, BUT we had perfect weather. If you can't see Denali (Mt. McKinley to some of you :) ). Now that I've been to the lodge, it would be VERY low on my list of possible lodging for future trips.

[ellbon]

I never saw Denali.. cloudy then pouring. i spent hours walk around Talkneeka before a train ride. yet my best dinner was in that hotel over all the other dinners.

[Yukon]

....my best dinner was in that hotel over all the other dinners.

 

The food in the 20320 restaurant there was indeed exceptionally good.

[ellbon]

The food in the 20320 restaurant there was indeed exceptionally good.

 

 

forgot the name but it was good. it was my bday and they came out with a comp dessert. this year it will be on the ship.

[kennicott]

The McKinley Wilderness Princess is great. It is relatively remote and located on the south side of the Alaska Range, within the small Denali State Park. It is situated in that location primarily because of the excellent view of Mt. McKinley. It is on the edge of the Tokositna Wilderness and close to the general area where the famous painter, Sydney Laurence, (first half of the 20th century, he died in 1940) preferred to paint the mountain. If you visit the Anchorage Museum of History and Art in downtown Anchorage, don’t miss the huge painting of Laurence’s, which is a central exhibit of the museum. It is of the mountain and takes your breath away.

 

This lodge is much more laid back than other locations although there really is a lot to do if one wants to. You can take the shuttle down to Talkeetna as well as take advantage of a number of excursions. If you have your own wheels this would certainly facilitate doing about anything you desire from a transportation standpoint. But sadly, you may not see the mountain due to clouds, however, that is true wherever you are around the Alaska Range. Alaska style, Caveat Emptor.

 

The McKinley Princess was the only Princess lodge in Alaska we hadn’t stayed in until September 7, 2006 then we did in again in 2008. That is our anniversary, both times we went up there for a day and night. Just before dinner the great mountain came out in all it’s splendor, both times. There were a lot of guests. Must be a lot of others that agree, as the last expansion will took it up to almost 500 rooms. This was all completed for our 2008 stay. I thought the lodge was going to tip over with everyone taking pictures and such, on the north side when the clouds cleared. I prefer the McKinley Princess over the Denali Princess, so I recommenjd staying there for a couple of nights. If you have your own vehicle, then one can drive up to the Federal Denali Park if you so desire, for tours, river rafting or whatever. Or perhaps drive down to Talkeena for flight seeing and gift shopping.

[Budget Queen]

I suggest you determine, what you want to do and have included on your cruisetour?? If you are interested in wildlife, then having two nights at Denali Princess is highly recommended with the TWT. (not the NHT, which doesn't even get into the park.)

 

If you are looking at train arrival/departure, you are 50 miles from the station. Flightseeing is the top tour highlight, plan carefully, since you don't want to have to shuttle back and forth more than once. McKinley is rarely viewable and this is a totally remote area. I'm never there without a car, my opinion, only.

[ellbon]

I had no car. took a walk before drinks and dinner. woke to pouring down rain and went shopping until iwas on the train. only about 10 or 20 precent of all people see the mts. .so do not plan on it.

[knorrisb07]

I never saw Denali.. cloudy then pouring. i spent hours walk around Talkneeka before a train ride. yet my best dinner was in that hotel over all the other dinners.

 

we were little luckier. Cloud broke out briefly so we could get a glimpse of Denali

[Cybercsp]

We stayed one evening...which was plenty... and Denali was "out" the ENTIRE time we were there. Yes, we were very lucky. We had a lovely evening there, but the view is the draw. The lodge itself is quite nice, but there is little to do. Multple bar sightings dimished out tendency for independent walks far from the lodge proper.

That being said, the best views of Denali that we had were from inside Denali Park (on the TWT). That Princess Lodge was also enjoyable.

[Happyladi]

We had two nights and one day there on a Cruisetour in August 2007. My husband wanted a down day and we had a very relaxing day there. The weather was perfect; it was sunny and clear with highs in the 70's. The mountain was out all day.

 

We went on a guided walk and also got a map and went for a walk ourselves. We relaxed on the huge balcony and visted and played cards. We had some nice meals. It was very pleasant. But I would have been very disappointed if the weather had been poor so I think we got lucky.