Getting to Southern California and
Disneyland
by Donna (dletz)
Donna has again put together a wealth of information on Disneyland and Southern California. The entire content of article can be found at our other site (same one as for chat). Her article includes maps to get you where you are going.
Arriving by Airplane
John Wayne Airport / Orange County Airport / Santa Ana Airport (SNA)
http://www.ocair.com/
John Wayne Airport is the closest airport to Disneyland. It is approximately 13.5 miles away. To get to the Disneyland Resort Area, follow the signs for the 55 North freeway/Main street parking. You will start towards reentering the airport, and end up on a bridge that goes over the 405 freeway. This will merge with the off ramp from the 405 to the 55 North. If you miss this and end up at MacArthur Boulevard, turn left and head toward the 405 Freeway. Go over the 405 freeway and the entrance to the 405 will be on your right hand side. Stay in the right land as this will merge onto the 55 North.
If you have more than one person in the car I would suggest taking the car pool lane. Its much easier, and less traffic. If you are taking the carpool lane, get in the left most lane. When there is an opening to enter the carpool lane get into the carpool lane. Watch for the signs. There will be a bridge to the 5 North Freeway from the carpool lane off to the left. Stay in the carpool lane and exit at Disney Way. At Anaheim Boulevard you must go straight (the first light). If you are going to Howard Johnson, turn right at Clementine (3rd light after exiting freeway), which will turn into Manchester. This street follows alongside the freeway and then turns. Just before the light at Harbor Boulevard the hotel will be on the right side.
If you are not staying at Howard Johnson, you can take Disney Way to Harbor. To get to Katella, turn Left at Harbor Blvd. To get to Ball Road or the Disneyland Hotels (all 3 of them) I suggest taking the directions to Howard Johnson and turning right at the light at Harbor Blvd. You will go up and over the 5 Freeway. To get to Disneyland Hotels turn Left on Ball Road, and then Left again at Disneyland Drive (2nd Light after turning onto Ball). Another option is to exit the carpool lane around the 22 freeway, and staying on the 5 freeway exit either Katella, or Harbor Blvd.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) -
http://www.lawa.org/lax/laxframe.html
This is the next closest airport, about 33 miles away. Exit LAX airport turning right onto Sepulveda Boulevard (south). Stay in the right-hand lane. Just after the tunnel there will be a right turn for the 105 Freeway. Take the 105 East (the ramp that veers to the left). Stay on the 105 almost until it ends. If you get in the carpool lane make sure you exit the carpool lane before the end of the freeway. Get on the 605 South. A few exits after entering the 605 will be the 91. Get on the 91 East to the 5 South. Exit either at Disneyland Drive (for Disneyland parking structure and Hotels) or Harbor Boulevard or Katella Boulevard. If staying at a hotel on Harbor exit at Harbor.
See the article on 3Cs for directions from Long Beach, Ontario and Burbank airports. There are also directions arriving by train, car and shuttle.
Getting Around the Anaheim Resort Area
Shuttles: Some hotels have their own shuttles. Other hotels use ART (Anaheim Resort Transit). For more information on ART check their website at
http://www.rideart.org/ They are Red trolley looking busses that stop at most area hotels, Disneyland and Angel Stadium.
Busses: The local public transportation is the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). Check out their website for more information and their schedules.
http://www.octa.net/
Character Warehouse Disney Outlet: Go North on Harbor Boulevard. You will go over the 91 freeway. The shopping center is on the right hand side between Orangefair Avenue and Orangethorpe Avenue. The store is on the North East corner of the building. The door is on the North end. You can either enter the parking lot from Harbor Boulevard, or you can turn right on Orangethorpe Avenue and then turn right into the parking lot. You will turn left and be in front of the door. Across the Orangethorpe from the Character Warehouse is a Costco.
Disneyland Parking Structure: The entrance to the Mickey and Friends Parking structure is from Disneyland Drive coming from Ball Road. If you are on Disneyland Drive going North, you will need to make a U turn at Ball road and stay to the left to enter the Mickey and Friends Parking structure. Sometimes there is an entrance from the street between the Parking structure and downtown Disney. There are signs telling you when this entrance is open.
When exiting the Mickey and Friends parking structure you will be put on Disneyland drive going North towards Ball Road. There is a bridge that is open towards the parking structure in the mornings, and away from the structure in the evenings. In the mornings this bridge can be used to get from the 5 freeway to the parking structure. In the evenings this bridge can be used to get to the 5 freeway. If you wish to take the bridge stay to the left when exiting the parking structure. If you miss it dont worry you can also get to the 5 by going straight on Disneyland Drive at Ball Road. If you wish to get to Ball Road (or turn around and go North on Disneyland Drive) stay to the right when exiting the parking structure. Disneyland Drive will have 4 lanes. The right-hand lane turns right only, the next lane goes straight and turns right, the next lane goes straight and turns left, and the leftmost lane turns left and makes a U turn. The downtown Disney parking lot is between the parking structure and the Disneyland Hotel. Going South on Disneyland Drive turn right at the first Light. Going North on Disneyland Drive turn Left at the light.
first she got her PSP, and now they brought our Pirates of the Carribean
