Best airport for Legoland - San Diego or Orange County? And any shuttles?

[ImarriedGrumpy]

We're going to fly down from the Bay Area mid-week in June to take DS to Legoland, and I'm trying to figure out which airport would be best, and how to get from the airport to Carlsbad without renting a car. Our plan is to fly down on the first flight in the morning on a Tuesday, take a shuttle/lyft to the Legoland Hotel, stow our bag there and go to the park for the rest of the day. We'll spend the night, then check out (again leaving our bag at the hotel) and catch anything we missed or want to see again, then we'll take a shuttle/lyft back to the airport and fly home late on Wednesday.

I went on Google maps and plugged in our various arrival/departure times to get an estimate on traffic at the times we'll be on the road, and it looks like on our arrival day it will take about an hour no matter which airport we fly into, but on Wednesday with an evening flight home, we're going to hit rush hour unless we leave Legoland no later than 2pm.

Adding to this, I can't find a shuttle from SNA to Legoland, but I did find one that goes from San Diego. Anyone have any experience with this, and any insight to help us decide which airport to fly into?

Thanks!!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Carlsbad is much closer to San Diego than Orange County, and I believe it's a bigger airport (more flight options?). This site gives options from the airport with prices: https://www.rome2rio.com/s/San-Diego-Airport-SAN/Legoland-California

I haven't been to Legoland in a few years, and I remember it as a beautiful park.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Carlsbad is much closer to San Diego than Orange County, and I believe it's a bigger airport (more flight options?). This site gives options from the airport with prices: https://www.rome2rio.com/s/San-Diego-Airport-SAN/Legoland-California

I haven't been to Legoland in a few years, and I remember it as a beautiful park.

We haven't been able to find any flights into Carlsbad. As far as I can tell, there aren't any commercial airlines operating out of there at this point. I'd love to find something if it's reasonably priced, though!

 

[PHXscuba]

We haven't been able to find any flights into Carlsbad. As far as I can tell, there aren't any commercial airlines operating out of there at this point. I'd love to find something if it's reasonably priced, though!

I think Mary Jo was saying Carlsbad/Legoland is closer to San Diego airport than the Orange County/SNA airport. I'm sure from the various Bay-area airports there are several combinations of flights and times to both airports. The San Diego airport is probably the better option for distance and size.

As for transport, you'll have to see how a shuttle option compares to an Uber for either airport. What about renting a car?

And 11 is a perfect age to take your son to Legoland! Plenty big enough to enjoy everything, but still young enough to care for Legos.

PHXscuba

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I realized later that was what she meant! Clearly I needed more coffee that day... lol! I think I was thrown because I was on another website that said we could fly into Carlsbad, and I was still trying to find out if that was true, so I had that in my head.

After scouting out various shuttle/uber/lyft options from both airports, we discovered that there are no shuttles that run from Orange County and the Lyft/Uber costs were higher, so we went with San Diego and booked a shuttle. It looks like during rush hour it would be faster to get to Orange County, but only by 20-30 minutes, so we'll just plan on a couple hours to get back to the airport to give ourselves a cushion in case we hit an accident or other miserable traffic issues.

DH doesn't want to rent a car because he doesn't want to deal with the traffic and not knowing his way around the area very well. He's very directionally challenged, even with GPS apps and me giving directions, and I can't drive, so it's up to him to make the call. (Plus he's really cranky when he's driving in heavy traffic!)

Thanks everyone!

 

[mentos]

The airport in Carlsbad is general aviation, so you can fly your own plane there There were some smaller airlines that operated intra-California, but I believe they are no longer operational (California Pacific Airlines) or are membership-only/limited capacity (Surfair).

SAN is going to be your best bet, but as much as I love the view landing at that airport (sit on the left side of the plane when facing forward), I haaaaate the terminals (extremely crowded). Unfortunately, SNA is further away, usually more expensive, and you're blessed with a much longer drive (potentially with traffic).

I vote SAN with Lyft, you'll probably have more flexibility than with a shuttle (and you can have your Lyft driver stop at a grocery store so you can grab some snacks).