Transportation from Santa Ana Airport?

[Andrea0710]

We are staying at the Grand Californian Villas in July, and I was wondering if there is a certain method of transportation to use from Santa Ana airport. We were just thinking of using an Uber for affordability. Is this the best option?

 

[Cal-Pie]

Are you really flying into Santa Barbara (2 1/2 hours away from DL)? Or, are you flying into Santa Ana (SNA)?

 

[Andrea0710]

Definitely Santa Ana lol

 

[Halloweenqueen]

Uber/Lyft is super easy and the most affordable choice at SNA. There are a couple of pick up/drop off spots in the parking garages. Just follow the signage.

 

[Aspencreek]

Yep, Uber is how we always go from SNA. Costs about $30-35 for the trip from/to SNA to the parks area. Might also get a Taxi but I'd ask before hopping in for the price quote.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Uber/Lyft is pretty easy and cheapest but can be a bit of a trek through the parking garage to the Rideshare pickup area depending or arrival terminal and have personally had some 15-20 min delays on getting a ride past few trips. Taxis are typically on standby right outside baggage claim and last few trips were $50 ish plus tip.

If I want fast I go taxi, if I want cheap and not in a rush I go Uber.

 

[goooof1]

Taxis are right outside the terminal.....no waiting. Ask about a flat rate, but the meter rate works out to $45/50 or so. Really the easiest option.

 

[DizMe]

I usually do ride share. I don't mind walking a little extra to save $10+ bucks.

For the return, check at the guest services desk at the hotel to see if they still offer the flat rate taxi fare to the airport.

 

[ktlm]

Check Uber/lyft times and prices and then check taxi. It varies as to wheter Uber or Taxi are cheaper. Also, if I have to wait 20 minutes for an Uber I would rather pay a little extra and get to DLR. We've never seen it more than $10 extra and usually it is about the same. Taxis are always there waiting. I always check Uber/Lyft when we are walking towards the taxis. Last time we went Uber/Lyft wanted between $40-50 and it was going to take them 20 minutes to get there. We got a taxi for $30 or $35.

To go back to the airport from a DLR resort- we usually just book Uber/Lyft. There are rarely taxis waiting at the resorts-- every now and then there will be.

 

[mamacatnv]

We used Karmel Shuttle and were very pleased. Our inbound flight was on Christmas Day and Outbound was New Years Eve. We were concerned about holiday gouging and/or availability of Uber/Lyft. Karmel was easy, kept track of our flights and despite delays on arrival, was quick to pick up when we did finally arrive. We came into the area from Long Beach and Santa Ana - I used Karmel for all of our pickup/return to airport for all parties.

 

[Tinkaboo]

Definitely Uber. Fast, efficient and clean. Never had a dirty Uber around the resort area and we used them almost every day in December. You can pick whatever level of service you want.

 

[Charm6]

Keep in mind if you have younger kids in car/booster seats, you might need to bring your own. From what I've been hearing, Lyft, Uber, taxi drivers cannot provide car seats, and most shuttle companies don't. Lansky can provide 5 point front/rear toddler car seat or booster seat, but you will have to install it yourself. They don't provide infant car seats.

 

[AlohaNow]

Maybe not for the OP, but I’m just tossing this out there for anyone who might read this in the future. When I went solo to D23 I had to be super budget conscious, so I worked out the public bus schedule to get back to SNA. If you are flying on a weekday, can spare about one hour, and have four $1 bills per person, you are all set! The 543 Bravo route picks up right on Harbor heading south, then there is one change to pick up the 76 route to John Wayne. Like I always do in advance of traveling I used Google maps to see the exact route, using the little yellow man to actually ‘walk’ down the street. This especially helped with knowing which way to cross the street for the route change. The Orange County bus is currently $2 cash per boarding, it was clean, and there were hardly any other passengers the whole way. Use Google maps and ocbus.com to plan your trip.

I couldn’t catch the bus to DLR because I arrived on a weekend and the 76 doesn’t run on weekends. But spending $4 to get back to SNA sure balanced out the cost of my cab ride to DLR! I’ve taken public transit to work most of my life, so I’m used to it - I know it’s not for everyone. But with how incredibly simple and easy and cheap it was, I’m actually really surprised I’ve never seen anyone mention taking the OC bus to/from SNA!

 

[krybandt]

Check Uber/lyft times and prices and then check taxi. It varies as to wheter Uber or Taxi are cheaper. Also, if I have to wait 20 minutes for an Uber I would rather pay a little extra and get to DLR. We've never seen it more than $10 extra and usually it is about the same. Taxis are always there waiting. I always check Uber/Lyft when we are walking towards the taxis. Last time we went Uber/Lyft wanted between $40-50 and it was going to take them 20 minutes to get there. We got a taxi for $30 or $35.

To go back to the airport from a DLR resort- we usually just book Uber/Lyft. There are rarely taxis waiting at the resorts-- every now and then there will be.

How do you find out taxi fares in advance? Do they do a flat rate in advance like Uber/Lyft?

 

[pks_domer]

Any suggestions for a family of 4, with a 3yo and 5yo? We're not planning to bring car seats so Uber/Lyft/taxi seems not a viable option. Disneyland's web page lists Karmel, so I've looked into that. Any other recommendations?

 

[NorCalFanatic]

If you just need a booster and not a car seat you can buy travel boosters on Amazon. They’re inflatable. Easy to pack in a carry on and quickly blow up.

 

[pks_domer]

Ah, great point, thank you. We can totally do that for the older. I need to look into that for the 3yo (not sure what the laws are in CA vs what they are here in terms of kid size vs car seat requirements).

EDIT: Looks like CA law doesn't explicitly address "graduation" from a car seat to a booster, and it's just when the child has outgrown the height/weight of their seat. So looks like we'll still need a seat for the 3yo.

 

[gelatoni fan]

Maybe not for the OP, but I’m just tossing this out there for anyone who might read this in the future. When I went solo to D23 I had to be super budget conscious, so I worked out the public bus schedule to get back to SNA. If you are flying on a weekday, can spare about one hour, and have four $1 bills per person, you are all set! The 543 Bravo route picks up right on Harbor heading south, then there is one change to pick up the 76 route to John Wayne. Like I always do in advance of traveling I used Google maps to see the exact route, using the little yellow man to actually ‘walk’ down the street. This especially helped with knowing which way to cross the street for the route change. The Orange County bus is currently $2 cash per boarding, it was clean, and there were hardly any other passengers the whole way. Use Google maps and ocbus.com to plan your trip.

I couldn’t catch the bus to DLR because I arrived on a weekend and the 76 doesn’t run on weekends. But spending $4 to get back to SNA sure balanced out the cost of my cab ride to DLR! I’ve taken public transit to work most of my life, so I’m used to it - I know it’s not for everyone. But with how incredibly simple and easy and cheap it was, I’m actually really surprised I’ve never seen anyone mention taking the OC bus to/from SNA!

The bus takes too long in my opinion. Most of the time, you're turning a 20 to 30 minute journey into a nearly two hour trip with a bus transfer. Sometimes, you have to wait almost an hour for the next bus just to save less than $30 if you're traveling alone.

If the bus was actually direct with no transfers, I may consider it.

As an aside, I like to take the bus from Haneda to Tokyo Disneyland, which can save over 60 USD for one person compared to a taxi at today's exchange rates, goes directly to most hotels in that area and is way more comfortable than the OC bus.

 

[valiamo]

We took an uber on our Xmas trip, it was quick and easy and cost us $45. While I normally dislike using Uber, it was the best option for us.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Ah, great point, thank you. We can totally do that for the older. I need to look into that for the 3yo (not sure what the laws are in CA vs what they are here in terms of kid size vs car seat requirements).

EDIT: Looks like CA law doesn't explicitly address "graduation" from a car seat to a booster, and it's just when the child has outgrown the height/weight of their seat. So looks like we'll still need a seat for the 3yo.

When our son was around that age, we got a lightweight car seat and actually installed it on the airplane. Such a life saver! He was used to sitting in a harnessed seat in the car so sitting on the plane in one was no big deal for him. I highly recommend this. We would just tether it to a wheeled carry-on to transport around the airport. Then we used it in our rental car.

This was taken when he was 5, but it's the same seat he used at age 3. We never felt comfortable using a seat from a car service since we didn't know if it was expired or had been properly taken care of. And we never wanted to check a car seat since they throw them around so much at baggage.



Here's some good info about flying with little kids - https://csftl.org/leaving-on-a-jet-plane-the-csftl-guide-to-safe-air-travel-with-children/

As for getting to and from the hotel, something like Uber will likely always be the cheapest. But last time when we didn't rent a car, we used Lansky car service. It costs more, obviously, but it was super easy and convenient and had plenty of space for all of our luggage. (Our son is 9 now and we only needed to bring a little backless booster for the car this time.)