Thanks for the information! How far do we need to go to see caribou or elk...or are they deep in the interior?

Now about the bears - actually we do want to see bears (safely, of course). At this point, we're looking at an air/land tour with a private outfitter there that runs about $500pp for 5-6 hours, including 2-3 hours of time with the bears feasting on salmon. I understand the timing is perfect for late May, as most of the bears will be females teaching their cubs how to get the salmon, which should make for some great photo ops.

I've been looking for a place to do either a self-guided or ranger-led tour to see the bears within a day's drive of Anchorage (or even driving to another city, staying over to see the bears, then driving back) - but my web search has turned up empty so far, as all the bear viewing river sites are only reachable by air or don't have bears present until July. Do you have any advise on drivable alternatives with bears viewable during late May?

Here is the first draft of the itinerary so far - it probably needs alot of work

Day 1 Saturday - Fly to Anchorage, arrive late afternoon, dinner in town, overnight Anchorage
Day 2 Sunday - Explore Anchorage and surrounding area (need a better plan for this day). Overnight Anchorage
Day 3 Monday - Early morning drive to Denali Park, explore the Park, overnight at Denali Bluffs Hotel with Mountain view room
Day 4 Tuesday - Continue exploring Denali Park, late afternoon departure to return to Anchorage, overnight Anchorage
Day 5 Wednesday - Drive to Seward, Kenai Fjords Mariah Tour (includes sightseeing while driving), overnight Alyeska Resort
Day 6 Thursday - Prince William Sound Tour (includes sightseeing while driving), overnight Alyeska Resort
Day 7 Friday - Bear Viewing trip to Katmai via floatplane, return to Anchorage, overnight
Day 8 Saturday - local sightseeing around Anchorage, shopping, late evening flight home

Is there anything you recommend swapping out - for example, would it be worthwhile to skip the Prince William Sound tour and do a drive to another park or nature preserve? We would like to see glaciers, but if the Kenai Fjords tour combines everything we want (fjords, glaciers, mountain views, animals) into one day trip, then perhaps we can assign Day 6 for something else, unless PWS is well worth seeing.

I think we're going to go the Scopalmine route for the sea-sickness - there is too much to see from the boat to cancel. It's not like this opportunity comes up every day.

Thanks again for the advise!