Just did the ANHC today (dress rehearsal today and tomorrow from noon to 3pm followed by grand opening on Mother's Day; admission free on all three days), and I'd concur with this. We spent about 1:45 there including 20 minutes at the cafe (GREAT reindeer burgers, caribou stew, and reindeer hot dogs!). I could have stayed about another 30 minutes watching the presentation on the Alaska Native Games, but beyond that, the presentations mostly repeat (except for some special presentations on certain days).

I'd stick with the 2:45 bus.

Am I imagining things or did the ANHC have a gift shop extension somewhere downtown? If they did, did it close? I couldn't find any reference to it. I could have sworn they did last year or a couple of years ago, though...

(A 2010 update for anyone reading this later: I disagree with my own post here! A friend/fellow FTer and I spent half a day at the ANHC in the middle of the summer, and--wow, what a difference! I'd only ever gone for the free dress rehearsal day they put on every Mother's Day, but that's not a fair assessment of what the ANHC is all about, since everyone is rusty from taking the winter off and they only have a few employees there. When they're in the middle of the tourist season, they have all hands on deck and tons of Native people doing dancing, storytelling, show-and-telling, and guiding you through the various housing habitats. Honestly, had we not had other commitments, we could have stayed for a full day just listening to the storytellers talking about their experiences growing up in rural Alaska and acclimating to urban life. It's an absolutely fascinating look at Native culture and worth every penny of the admission charge. Plan to stay at least three to four hours if not more!)