When are you going? That makes a bit of a difference in what you can do at Denali (before June 1 you are quite limited in how far you can get into the park for example, and after Sep 1 you are at the mercy of a possible snowfall closing some or all of the road into the park).

Car rental rates can be super expensive unless booked months and months in advance (my rate for mid June pick up off-airport booked last July is $95/week plus taxes). Same car booked now is over $400/week!

Note that McKinley Princess Lodge (for the "McKinley" tours) is an hour from the nearest town (Talkeetna) and almost 3 hours from Denali National Park. You do NOT want to stay here! You can easily replicate the Princess tour booking on your own. I would be surprised if you didn't save money booking it on your own.

I understand about the tour vs. car rental but if it were me I would do this:

day 1 plus preceding night: Anchorage
Lots to do in Anchorage - see one of the threads in this forum where I posted a huge list and others added to it.

day 2 train to Denali NP, arrive in afternoon, leave luggage at baggage check near visitor center, see visitor center exhibits and film, maybe a ranger-led or independent hike near the entrance (most are relatively easy), then transfer to Denali Princess or other hotel. I suggest this because it saves you the transfer time from the rail to the hotel back to the park and back to the hotel. Figure a good 1/2 hour each way by the time you wait for a shuttle transfer, it waits for others, etc, etc. You can actually walk from where most of the hotels are to the park in 30-50 minutes (it is about a mile).

day 3 - shuttle bus into the park. I prefer Wonder Lake if after June 8 though there is a huge mosquito problem near Wonder Lake through mid August so you might want to consider Eielson. Or book to Wonder Lake (+-$10 additional vs. Eielson) and just get off the bus at Eielson and turn around if Mt. McKinley is not visible (main reason for most to go to Wonder Lake is to view Mt. McKinley from the closest vantage point on the road inside the park)

Note that with the shuttle bus you must take all your own food and drink into the park with you (one chance to refill water bottles at Eielson visitor center). A Subway is open 24 hours just outside the park, you can possibly also bring some stuff with you from Anchorage. No grocery store near Denali but there is a convenience store. Even with the Tundra Tour I suggest taking food and drink - their "snack box" is rather sparse for a day in the park.

Day 4 transfer from hotel to visitor center, maybe 10am dogsled demo or hike or free bus to Savage River and back or film at the Wilderness Access Center, train to Anchorage shortly after noon.

night 5: grab hotel near ANC

If you meant to have a third night at Denali, you can go rafting or take another shuttle bus into the park. Or take the train to Talkeetna and spend a night here. A highlight of the time in Talkeetna is a flightseeing tour of Denali. Costs +-$300/person. Several operators. In June I am using Talkeetna Air Taxi due to the coupon but most others also come highly recommended.

Most package tours (like the one you mentioned) include a tour in Denali - either the worthless Natural History Tour (only goes 1-2 miles further than the free Savage River bus mentioned above) or the Tundra Wilderness Tour. The Tundra tour costs +-$100 (builit into the package price) and goes to mile 53 of the 91 mile long road. The shuttle bus to Wonder Lake goes to mile 85, the shuttle bus to Eielson goes to mile 66. The shuttle bus to Wonder Lake costs +-$40. Longer is better, i.e. more chances for wildlife sightings and more great scenery. Prime bear habitat between mile 53 and 66.

Also with the shuttle bus, you can hop off one bus and hop on another. I do that a lot for two reasons - first if I want to hike somewhere for a while and second if I spot wildlife, especially a bear, but the shuttle bus I am on doesn't stop as long as I want to stop. I take that bus until it will let me off (1/4 or 1/2 mile down the road) then flag down a bus in the opposite direction to get more viewing time.

There are some lodging options south of Denali that also have a shuttle to the park. One of the cabins is one place and the hostel is another. But apart from those you are pretty much limited to staying in "Glitter Gulch" which is just outside the park entrance (where most cruise tour passengers stay).

If you decide to do it on your own, check out www.toursaver.com and www.alaska-discounts.com (Northern Lights) for coupon books that might include a 2-for-1 lodging offer near Denali. You can review the coupons online then call the lodging to see if they have room using a coupon for your dates. If so, you can make a reservation and then purchase the book. The Northern Lights book is cheaper but whether it saves you more money depends on which lodging option you choose and which has availability. I am saving over $800 this summer using the toursaver book even though it costs $50 more than the Northern Lights book.

You can find info on the Alaska Railroad at www.akrr.com.

I leave in less than 12 hours for 3 days at Denali and 3 days in Homer. I am excited.

John