Airport Proximity to DLR and Ground Transportation Information Superthread (READ FIRST POST FOR OVERVIEW!)

[CherylGonz]

Lansky provides car seats and they are highly recommended by others on these boards. We used them last time for our trip with no issues.

 

[BadPinkTink]

My sister got this for my 4 year old niece the last time she flew from England to Ireland. Its a backpack that transforms into a car booster seat. She got a rental car at Dublin airport and had no issues fitting it in the car. I dont know if something similar is available in USA

https://www.halfords.ie/kids-zone/car-seats/child-car-seats/trunki-boostapak-booster-seat#

 

[geergirl]

I'm guessing your daughter is flying on your lap as opposed to having her own seat? In that case, unless you have the original box for the car seat there isn't really a safe way to check it anyway. The ideal situation from a safety perspective is to install the seat on the plane and have her in it. Checking a car seat leaves the seat with an unknown history and at risk of damage that would not necessarily be visible. If you're not taking her seat the best option is DRE.

I'm awfully glad we had our seats with us once when we were denied boarding at SNA (kid puked in the airport within 2 hours of the flight) and had to get our own transportation to LAX. We'd have been kind of screwed without our own seats. Based on our own experiences we don't travel without seats. It is certainly easier now that the kids are in boosters. Maybe check out something like the Cosco Scenera Next that is super cheap (still safe and often recommended by car seat techs as a travel/budget seat) and lightweight for travel? Check it in the box you get it in. As a bonus it will work for years for any future travel.

 

[redleader74]

Lansky provides car seats and they are highly recommended by others on these boards. We used them last time for our trip with no issues.

Thanks for this referral. I had thought about those services (you know, where driver is waiting for you at arrivals with a sign) but didn't know what they're called or which companies they were. I don't necessarily need the greeting, etc., but I checked their site as well as their TA reviews and seems like this might be just right for us in terms of reliability, safety, and service. Pricey yes, but I guess you get what you pay for? I'll definitely include this as an option! Also, big thanks to amyg1975 for the MSSS warning....I was seriously considering them, yikes! BadPinkTink, that looks like a marvelous piece of equipment....our baby will only be 10 months by the trip happens so not quite big enough to use this, but I'm going to keep this on my radar when she is big enough.

 

[redleader74]

I'm guessing your daughter is flying on your lap as opposed to having her own seat? In that case, unless you have the original box for the car seat there isn't really a safe way to check it anyway. The ideal situation from a safety perspective is to install the seat on the plane and have her in it. Checking a car seat leaves the seat with an unknown history and at risk of damage that would not necessarily be visible. If you're not taking her seat the best option is DRE.

Thanks for bringing this up....yes, if we were bringing our car seat (which is highly likely at this point) then we'd definitely use it on the plane. I already booked three plane tix so we were not going to have her as a "lap baby" even though we originally were not planning on bringing the car seat. our reason for booking her own ticket was 1.) for the extra space on the plane and 2.) to more or less guarantee no one would sit in our row (since we're flying SWA where seats are not assigned).

So if we bring our car seat we'd have both the car seat and the toddler seat attachment for our stroller. We plan on using the stroller all the way to the gate, obviously with the car seat since we'd be using that on the plane, but shoudl we check the toddler seat or should we bring that along to the gate and when it's time to board and we gate check our stroller, we put the tollder seat attachment so both can be gate checked as one piece?

 

[BadPinkTink]

BadPinkTink, that looks like a marvelous piece of equipment....our baby will only be 10 months by the trip happens so not quite big enough to use this, but I'm going to keep this on my radar when she is big enough.

Hopefully you can get something similar. My niece loved it, she had her snacks, toys and books in it for the plane and then it was so handy for the rental car.

 

[geergirl]

@redleader74 if you already have a seat booked for her I would just take the car seat. If you've never done it before, practice doing a baseless installation before you leave and then leave the base at home. Take a look at the manual for instructions for installing on the plane too.

As for checking the stroller, I would gate check it all as one piece. By keeping the pieces together you have one less item to potentially get lost, especially if the stroller folds in one piece with the toddler seat attached.

 

[redleader74]

Thanks for all the great advice folks! It's funny, up until two days ago I was scratching my head on all this, with it being our first trip/flight with a baby and then I thought...you know, there's a forum for just about every topic/interest/activity/hobby/etc. on the net, surely there's one for Disneyland.

 

[tnolan]

I don't know what time your flight is landing, but keep in mind if you want to use the Disneyland Express the last bus leaves SNA at 7 pm. That fact diverted me to booking a Super Shuttle, because my flight lands at 6:51 pm.

 

[julesann]

We have always flown into Orange County and then take a taxi or Uber/Lyft to DLR. We tend to come either later at night or mid morning so we miss rush hour traffic. Currently, Southwest rates are through the roof and I can save quite a bit to fly into Long Beach. I am wondering how much longer, and how much more expensive, is the transportation cost to get from the airport to DLR

 

[avalon451]

I believe it’s actually closer than SNA, or nearly. 13 vs 15 miles. Uber or Lyft should do you just fine.

 

[Geemo]

We have always flown into Orange County and then take a taxi or Uber/Lyft to DLR. We tend to come either later at night or mid morning so we miss rush hour traffic. Currently, Southwest rates are through the roof and I can save quite a bit to fly into Long Beach. I am wondering how much longer, and how much more expensive, is the transportation cost to get from the airport to DLR

Here's a link to LGB ground transportation
It's about 20 miles from LGB to DLR

 

[amyg1975]

We use Uber from Long Beach. We pay between $31-35, depending on the time, and take about 30 minutes (?).

 

[julesann]

Wow! Thank you all so much. Great info and link!! That's about the same as Orange County! Time for a change!!

 

[amyg1975]

Wow! Thank you all so much. Great info and link!! That's about the same as Orange County! Time for a change!!

You will love Long Beach Airport! So small and easy to access.

 

[redleader74]

Yeah, I thought about that too, regarding private car vs. shuttle bus. With all the additional stops a shuttle bus (whether DRE, Mickey's Space Shuttle (gasp!), etc.) it could be a long trip and with it being our 10 month old's first trip/plane ride I don't want to make the trip from the airport to the hotel any longer than it needs to be.

 

[Nrrdgrrl]

Hi everyone, my family is about to go to disneyland for the first time. We are flying in on october 16th and taking a Karmel shuttle from LAX to our hotel. I understand they require car seats (I’m very happy about that!) we will have our travel car seats with us anyways from being used on board the airplane. So my question is if anyone knows if the shuttle vans have UAS or top tethers for car seats? My older daughters car seat requires a top tether when forward facing (cosco finale) thanks in advance!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Hi everyone, my family is about to go to disneyland for the first time. We are flying in on october 16th and taking a Karmel shuttle from LAX to our hotel. I understand they require car seats (I’m very happy about that!) we will have our travel car seats with us anyways from being used on board the airplane. So my question is if anyone knows if the shuttle vans have UAS or top tethers for car seats? My older daughters car seat requires a top tether when forward facing (cosco finale) thanks in advance!

This is a good question! Have you contacted Karmel to ask about this specifically? Companies can update their fleets, so if this has happened recently, older information may not help you. For safety purposes, I would call the company directly to get the most updated info.
When you find out, please update here!

 

[mmluvr]

Hey all-

I apologize if this is discussed elsewhere.

Any recommendations for a reliable company offering shuttle service from LAX to the Disneyland Resort Area? I have priced town cars and they are out of my budget so I need something like Supershuttle. I used them when I went to the D23 Expo in 2013 and the service was fine. I have since checked them out and the price is reasonable but they have sketchy reviews.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[mamapenguin]

I have used super shuttle from LGB and SNA numerous times, but never from LAX. My most recent experience was in MCO in May, for California it would be from LGB a year ago July. I will use them on my next two trips.