Paul, a poster, said that Denali is "rather boring" in an older post....How could that be?
 

I was just reading through some old posts and read a post by "Paul" who said that Denali was "rather boring".
Any comments on this?
Its along drive up there and our first trip to Alaska...arrive on June 5 to tour around and then cruise south from the 13-20.
Maybe more of our time would be better spent around Seward/Kenai area (which we are planning on visiting anyway)

We went to both places. Denali was a perfect day which is very rare. We saw the beautiful mountain all day and it was wonderful. Denali is really a park to see wild life. The park bus stops when anyone see animals. My friend a hunter had eyes like a hawk and saw every kind of amimal. We took along all the food and water we would need for the day trip.
We did not see anything in Alaska that was boring. It is beautiful and so big and empty of people and houses, just miles of scenery.

It may be boring for some- wildlife requires binoculars, McKinley is rare visable etc. If you are expecting sightings that are in brochures- sorry- forget it. :) Denali is for scenery and wildlife opportunities. You also need to educate yourself on the the park. There are tour buses and shuttle buses. The Park Road is 90 miles. You need to plan on how far you want into the park?? The tour buses are the most expensive and go the shortest. The shuttles run the whole distance but you have to bring in all your own food and drink. My min. distance in is Fish Creek- mile 63- should be yours too. McKinley is not likely to be viewable, consider a flight out of Talkeetna. As a reference "Kenai" is the whole area UNLESS you are referring to the small town of Kenai?? Little there. I would consider 2 days in Seward- better if cruising from there???? Hopefully? This makes the best use of your time to just train there the day before the cruise- then you have plenty of time for the great activities there. It's more backtracking if cruising out of Whittier. Consider at least 2 nights in Homer if you want more of the peninsula.

I think the Paul you are talking about no longer posts anything here. He was a travel agent and rather outspoken.... and if it's the same gentlemen, I believe he stated that he would not be posting here any longer.
I've seen many posts from BudgetQueen on Alaska, I'm sure her advice is accurate and she aways seems willing to help. Enjoy your cruise and tour :)

Thanks for your messages.
I'm going to post a new message with our itinerary and some additonal questions.
Thanks@!

Hold, I think you may be talking about Paul Therault...he used to post on Cruises Only after Fodors until they shut their message board down a year ago...I've often wondered what board he may be on now...he had some interesting posts for sure !

Yes...that was his name

We found Denali very disappointing. We were on a Holland America cruise/tour which was fantastic, but the Denali part was not. Of course, no one can predict the weather, our weather that day was bad, rain, cold, some wind. We were on basically school buses, very unsteady riding, cold. I don't believe we saw any wildlife except for the little brown specks in the binoculars that the driver thought were bears...that, of course, is totally unpredictable too. Not sure what the answer is, it's a long rocky ride, but to go all that way and not see it MIGHT be a mistake, you might just get lucky, so I would go, but with lower expectations than we had.

The problem with the above is the TOUR bus into Denali Park- Shuttles are superior for the cheap cost and ability to schedule the bus yourself. I greatly prefer the first bus out myself. The tour bus- I assume they were on the Tundra Wilderness?? only goes a little more than half way in. Binoculars are NECESSARY- again don't know if the above had any?

Denali is wonderful! We went in May. just before the bears go to even higher altitudes. Saw lots of bear, eagles, the white sheep, etc.