Airport Question

[jaylensmom]

Which airport do you fly into when you go to DL? I was considering flying into Orange County since it's closer but there is a cost difference of $60 for each ticket. There will be 5 of us going (4 adults, 1 child). I was thinking that I could get a rental car for less than $300 for the days we are there. Any suggestions?

 

[dan1964]

John Wayne (Orange County - SNA) is always my first choice ...

followed by Long Beach (LGB). It's smaller .. and probably about the same distance as SNA.

I avoid LAX like a plague!!!

Can't speak for any of the others' in the area.

 

[Mister Toad]

John Wayne (Orange County - SNA) is always my first choice ...

followed by Long Beach (LGB). It's smaller .. and probably about the same distance as SNA.

I avoid LAX like a plague!!!

Can't speak for any of the others' in the area.

I always find myself flying into LAX cause its always at least 100/ticket cheaper. I can't justify the difference usually. However I do hate LAX almost as much as some other airports out there. I would second the pp and put my vote in for SNA if you want to spend the money. It'll make for a much less stressful time.

 

[caimakale]

Which airport do you fly into when you go to DL? I was considering flying into Orange County since it's closer but there is a cost difference of $60 for each ticket. There will be 5 of us going (4 adults, 1 child). I was thinking that I could get a rental car for less than $300 for the days we are there. Any suggestions?

We normally fly into Orange County but on our upcoming trip, opted to fly into Long Beach because it's cheaper and it's a direct flight. I love Orange County because it's a nice, smaller airport which is ideal for families. I don't mind larger airports when I travel on business, but I don't like the thought of dealing with LAX with my family.

Will you have a need for a car the entire time you're visiting or will you strictly be spending all of your time at the parks? If you won't be doing anything else but visiting the parks, you can catch a shuttle to the hotel. For a family of 5 (like us), you may want to look into a limo ride. We did this on our last trip and it was $75 each way. It may be considered excessive but the cost wasn't much more than a shuttle/taxi for us and my kids LOVED it. Then if you need a car for a day trip, you can go to Alamo in DTD and rent a car for a day. During our last trip, we did this and it cost us $30 for the day with a free double upgrade coupon. You would be out ~$180 if you did this which is cheaper than the $300 you would otherwise spend and your kids get to ride in the limo!

 

[DahliaRW]

I would factor in the cost of transportation both ways. Sometimes that will make up the difference (sometimes not). That being said, we flew into LGB last time and rented a van (priceline) for the same cost as a taxi/shuttle. Loved how tiny the airport was and we flew jetblue which was fabulous!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

LGB & JetBlue.

 

[DahliaRW]

Oh, and also calculate in baggage fees. If you're flying southwest or jetblue that saves you 20-28 per bag over other airlines!

 

[cheesuscripes]

I wish I had known about Jet Blue and Long Beach before, it would have saved us $60 a person! I'll remember next time, LOL.

We're flying on Southwest to Orange County because we're bringing the kids and the grandparents. My daughter is mildly autistic and LAX might have sent her over the edge for her first flight as she gets overstimulated pretty easily, especially if it's a new experience. We're renting a minivan, but only because my husband and I are driving up to Los Angeles one night to see Phantom of the Opera.

 

[pedestrianme]

Fly into SNA if you want a Disneyland vacation without a car. My taxi rides from SNA usually cost circa $45 plus tip, each way. Five of you can fit in a minivan-taxicab, which are ubiquitous at the airport.

If you fly into LAX, I wouldn't expect much time in the actual parks (riding rides, etc.) on the same day of arrival or departure. Time spent getting to/from Anaheim from/to LAX is impossible to plan with certainty.

I disagree that LGB is just as close as SNA. A taxi ride to LGB has cost me more in the past than to SNA.

Also, if the five of you are just going to theme parks for the entire stay, why rent a car? It's much less hassle to put the money toward taxis that you would otherwise spend on a rental, and it still won't add up the $300 (plus gas, plus insurance, plus parking) you're willing to spend on a rental.

 

[jaylensmom]

Thanks for the replies...I looked into Long Beach but Jet Blue is only flying out certain times on our departure date...I wanted to stay later in the evening...

I think I may go with LAX...I'll just take an evening flight to avoid some of the traffic from LA to Anaheim...I have family near LAX so I can go visit them...I'm still debating...I'll have to price a rental car to see just how much it will cost me...

 

[DahliaRW]

The thing I'm finding lately, too, is that one ways are the same price (per direction) as the roundtrip (so the one way is 1/2 the cost of a round trip ticket). So it's possible to fly in on one airline and one airport and out on another. We're considering this in February, in on SW because it's cheapest and has free baggage, home on Alaska because we can get an 8pm flight out which will give us more times in the park on the last day. So price all options.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Fly into SNA if you want a Disneyland vacation without a car. My taxi rides from SNA usually cost circa $45 plus tip, each way. Five of you can fit in a minivan-taxicab, which are ubiquitous at the airport.

Same price from and to LGB!

 

[Yukonjack]

We normally fly into Orange County but on our upcoming trip, opted to fly into Long Beach because it's cheaper and it's a direct flight. I love Orange County because it's a nice, smaller airport which is ideal for families. I don't mind larger airports when I travel on business, but I don't like the thought of dealing with LAX with my family.

Will you have a need for a car the entire time you're visiting or will you strictly be spending all of your time at the parks? If you won't be doing anything else but visiting the parks, you can catch a shuttle to the hotel. For a family of 5 (like us), you may want to look into a limo ride. We did this on our last trip and it was $75 each way. It may be considered excessive but the cost wasn't much more than a shuttle/taxi for us and my kids LOVED it. Then if you need a car for a day trip, you can go to Alamo in DTD and rent a car for a day. During our last trip, we did this and it cost us $30 for the day with a free double upgrade coupon. You would be out ~$180 if you did this which is cheaper than the $300 you would otherwise spend and your kids get to ride in the limo!

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit (though I did go through this issue when making our February DL flight plans - chose LAX due to cheapness!), but what limo company did you use? This might be a nice treat for my wife and I when we go without the kids.

Thanks!

Greg

 

[bumbershoot]

Which airport do you fly into when you go to DL? I was considering flying into Orange County since it's closer but there is a cost difference of $60 for each ticket. There will be 5 of us going (4 adults, 1 child). I was thinking that I could get a rental car for less than $300 for the days we are there. Any suggestions?

$60 pp difference to fly into LAX? I'll fly into LAX.

I just can't see why everyone hates it so much. We've flown Virgin America and Alaska in and out of there, and it seems very simple. Nice TSA agents, too, I've experienced. Once you're at your gate you're in a big circular room (at least for the airlines I fly), you can hear the announcements, it's fine. And getting off the plane and to the baggage claim is simple too, from our experience.

The ONLY problem for us is that we always land during the time that Grayline's Disneyland Resort Express bus only picks up once an hour, and we always manage to get off the plane 5 minutes before the hour, so we have to wait for the NEXT hour. That gets old. But that's b/c we take a flight at 6am or so to get in at 9am or so, so we know we can be AT a park by noon! And that's not a bad deal.

So there are rental cars (definitely check for your exact dates at each airport, go to the point where you know EXACTLY what you'll be paying, because there are different fees and taxes depending on what airport you're using...don't assume it'll be the same), there's Grayline (big coach bus), there's SuperShuttle, there are other shuttles, and I've heard good things about, I believe, Harold's Limo company.

 

[Homemom]

We don't have a problem with LAX either. We always fly there, cheaper and direct for us. Last week we used www.tonythelimoking.com for a limo and he was waiting for us when we got our bags. It was great. We landed at 11:00am and we walked into our room at the Grand Californian at 12:15.

 

[caimakale]

Sorry to hijack this thread a bit (though I did go through this issue when making our February DL flight plans - chose LAX due to cheapness!), but what limo company did you use? This might be a nice treat for my wife and I when we go without the kids.

Thanks!

Greg

I used limo.com, entered my info, and I got estimates from 5 or 6 limo companies. There was no pressure, no pushy follow-up from any of them...just their estimate. I went with American Limo because they were the cheapest and I had read some good reviews about them.

HTH

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I'm using the Excucar service from Super Shuttle in 3 days. I've got a Honda Odyssey booked, and at $134USD return with my AAA discount, it's worth it for me as a solo traveller. I don't get stuck on a bus for 2 hrs hotel hopping and know that both myself and my luggage will arrive intact, not including what damage the airline decides to do with it.

 

[maelstrom]

Every other time that we've gone to Disneyland, we've kind of done a bigger tour of the west, so we've flown into Phoenix (PHX) and San Francisco (SFO). For our trip earlier this month, however, we were only going to Disneyland and did not want to rent a car, so we flew into LAX. Holy cow, I will never ever ever fly into LAX again. It was panic attack city for me, and I've flown into other large airports before (Phoenix, San Francisco, Chicago-O'Hare, Newark, Orlando, Atlanta) with no problems. We took the Disneyland Express bus from LAX to the Grand Californian, which was convenient, but the bus also goes to SNA. So, in the future, we'll be flying into SNA if we're not renting a car, and I'd seriously consider Long Beach or Burbank if we needed a car.

 

[Yukonjack]

I would fly into SNA for convenience if it wasnt so much more expensive to do so. I don't mind LAX that much. Last year I flew into LAX with my then 2.5 yr old DD, 5 yr old DD, and 14 yr old DS. It was challenging, but it wasnt over the top. My wife was working and had to meet us at the GCH later that night, so I had the joy of traveling with my kids all alone