Commute to/from Los Angeles hotel to Disneyland

[flowergirl45]

Good morning one and all. I learned over the weekend that in April 2013 my fiance' will be attending a conference in Los Angeles. The hotel hasn't yet been determined; although the conference planners will finalize that decision soon. How feasible is it for me to stay at the hotel with him, and commute to Disneyland during the day while he's at the conference? I have no problem using public transportation and in fact would prefer it. I know the actual distance between LA and DL isn't that great, but I've heard such horror stories about traffic. Thanks for your input!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Good morning one and all. I learned over the weekend that in April 2013 my fiance' will be attending a conference in Los Angeles. The hotel hasn't yet been determined; although the conference planners will finalize that decision soon. How feasible is it for me to stay at the hotel with him, and commute to Disneyland during the day while he's at the conference? I have no problem using public transportation and in fact would prefer it. I know the actual distance between LA and DL isn't that great, but I've heard such horror stories about traffic. Thanks for your input!

Without knowing more about the general area you will be staying, it is impossible to answer your question. For example, if you are in Downtown LA, reasonably fast public transportation is available on Amtrak or Metrolink, but its expensive. There is also a bus, which takes longer but is much less expensive. If its at the airport, you could hop the Disneyland Resort Express bus, but this would also be expensive. It's likely that a rental car will be your cheapest choice depending on the cost of hotel parking.

Maybe you could extend the visit for a few days and stay in Anaheim ? -- Suzanne

 

[gmi3804]

SuperShuttle will work too.

 

[flowergirl45]

Thank you for the replies; much appreciated. Apparently the conference itself is at the LA conference center, so I played around with that website awhile. There was a handy interactive feature which allowed me to put in a "from" location and then gave directions to the conference center for both me driving a car and me using public transport. The public transport option was a bus - takes almost 2 hours each way. Of course the actual time may vary depending on the actual hotel location but still....Whew! Four hours on a bus each day doesn't sound very realistic. I like the thought of possibly extending the stay for a few days nearer to Anaheim.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is the conference center way too far from Union Station? Just looking on google it doesn't look like they are horribly far from each other. I might consider getting to Union Station, catching the Surfliner and having a nice ride to Anaheim. It lets off at Angels stadium so you're looking at either a bus ride or a taxi ride (a couple years ago it was $13 to get over to DLH from there).

Looks like $14 each way with the train, so it does add cost, but to me it would be fun.

 

[sheetz]

Just clarifying, you mean the LA Convention Center in Downtown LA? Union Station is easy to reach from any of the hotels Downtown and you can take a train down to Anaheim.

Another option is to spend one day at Universal, which is WAY easier to get to from Downtown LA than Disneyland is. Universal is only about a 20 minute subway ride from Downtown.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Just clarifying, you mean the LA Convention Center in Downtown LA? Union Station is easy to reach from any of the hotels Downtown and you can take a train down to Anaheim.

Another option is to spend one day at Universal, which is WAY easier to get to from Downtown LA than Disneyland is. Universal is only about a 20 minute subway ride from Downtown.

The OP could take the Red Line Metro rail from DT LA to Untion Station ($1.50 each way), Amtrak to Anaheim Station ($14 each way) and ART Route 15 bus ($4 all day). Total cost would be $35.

However, the ART bus only runs hourly, so you might waste a lot of time waiting for it to arrive. If you need to add a cab ride at either end, I would assume that with tip it would be about $20 for each trip. With 4 cab trips, the cost would be $108.

If you are travelling on weekdays, I think the Metrolink rail is another option which is cheaper than Amtrak (but runs mainly during commute times). However, I think it only goes to the Fullerton station, where you will need to catch a Metro bus or take a cab. ART is not an option.

Your best bet may be to take a "tour." There is such a tour on Viator.com with pick ups at DT hotels. Its about $150 but includes a PH ticket and transportation. It leaves at 7:30 AM and returns at 9:30 pm. -- Suzanne

 

[perlster]

Spending nearly 2 hours on a bus doesn't sound fun to me either, but the transfers involved in other methods mean that you'll be spending significant time waiting.

The simplest way to get from the Convention Center to DLR is by taking Metro 460 [only], and the round trip cost would be $5.80

It would probably take less time if you were able to take OCTA 721 to get on the Metro 460 at the Fullerton Park & Ride.