Just got back from my own 5-day trip. Thanks to price breakdowns the car rent came to only $113 a-i, with almost half of that as taxes and junk. Ended up with 3 nights in Anchorage and two in Fairbanks, as I checked Homer and Valdez as possible alternatives but the weather forecasts weren't as encouraging.

I wasn't planning to, but when I got to Denali NP on the way to Fairbanks I turned in and took the road for as long as it was open, which was Teklanika (about 30 miles in). It's the furthest I've been able to drive into the park and the tundra views were great. Not as great for wildlife, though. The car was covered in mud and I had to find a car wash to wash that off.

Lows were in the upper 30s, so it was literally the last week or two ice-free. The lodgings and the car both were around 33-40% of the high-season prices.