Easy, affordable transportation options?

[KatieCharlotte]

I'd like to take my kids to Disneyland next spring or summer. We would fly to LAX, stay at a Good Neighbor hotel for several days, take the Amtrak to Santa Barbara for a couple days, take the Amtrak back, and fly out the next day from LAX. Has anyone done this trip? I need transportation options that are easy but not outrageously expensive. My kids are no longer little, but my teen has Tourette's and can get stressed out in crowds and new situations.

What are the best options to get from LAX to the Disneyland area? What about Disneyland Good Neighbor hotels to Amtrak? And Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner to a hotel in a safe area in LA, preferably one with an airport shuttle?

My son and I would both rather walk a couple miles with our wheeled luggage than deal with complicated and stressful transportation. We've done Amtrak before, so that will feel familiar. We can wait an hour for a shuttle, as long as he has space to move around while we wait. My main concern is that the transportation can be trusted (we're not good at last minute changes in plans) and doesn't break the budget. I'm scared of taxi rates if traffic is bad.

 

[SMD]

I wouldn't go all the way back to Anaheim just to go back to LAX. You can take the FlyAway from Union Station to LAX. The only hotels that will have a free airport shuttle are in the immediate area of LAX. Somehow I doubt you will feel that that is safe. The only place to wait for shuttles at LAX is on the median at LAX. Renting a car would cover your entire trip. If you want to rely mostly on Amtrak or Metrolink, consider flying into BUR, where the train station is close. It will take you a lot longer, but the train portion is much more convenient. You could also try flying into SNA and out of BUR and avoid LAX altogether.

 

[Darkbeer1]

OK, why LAX, you know there are two closer airports, both Long Beach (LGB) and John Wayne/Orange County/Santa Ana (SNA) they are 14 miles from the parks. Taxis from either are around $50, LAX a taxi is around $100. Also both LGB and SNA are smaller and easier to deal with than the very large LAX. Have you ever tried Uber/Lyft as an option?

OK, as for Amtrak and the Disneyland area, you have two train stations fairly close in distance, I prefer the Fullerton Station, as that is an easy drive about 4 miles north from Disneyland, and IMHO, an easier station to deal with. You other choice is the new Anaheim ARTIC station east off of Katella, this overbuilt new station (they hope for High Speed train sometime in the future) is more of a pain to get to and deal with. A taxi would be about $20.

So I would get a hotel/motel on Harbor Blvd that is within walking distance of the park (Basically between Manchester and Katella).

As for a Hotel after Santa Barbara, my first choice would be to stay in Santa Barbara until the day you plan to leave, take the Amtrak to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, and then use the frequently run LAX Flyaway buses that is run by the airport. If your flight is too early for that option, and trying to reduce stress, I would look at a Hotel/Motel near LAX and use the Hotel's shuttle on your last day. Just be careful checking the Pacific Surfliner schedule, not every train goes to Santa Barbara. One thing to note, the Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Barbara and Union Station stops all offer checked baggage. And the LAX Flyaway buses use tour buses with luggage storage under the seating area.

Hope that helps.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

OK, why LAX, you know there are two closer airports, both Long Beach (LGB) and John Wayne/Orange County/Santa Ana (SNA) they are 14 miles from the parks. Taxis from either are around $50, LAX a taxi is around $100. Also both LGB and SNA are smaller and easier to deal with than the very large LAX. Have you ever tried Uber/Lyft as an option?

OK, as for Amtrak and the Disneyland area, you have two train stations fairly close in distance, I prefer the Fullerton Station, as that is an easy drive about 4 miles north from Disneyland, and IMHO, an easier station to deal with. You other choice is the new Anaheim ARTIC station east off of Katella, this overbuilt new station (they hope for High Speed train sometime in the future) is more of a pain to get to and deal with. A taxi would be about $20.

So I would get a hotel/motel on Harbor Blvd that is within walking distance of the park (Basically between Manchester and Katella).

As for a Hotel after Santa Barbara, my first choice would be to stay in Santa Barbara until the day you plan to leave, take the Amtrak to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, and then use the frequently run LAX Flyaway buses that is run by the airport. If your flight is too early for that option, and trying to reduce stress, I would look at a Hotel/Motel near LAX and use the Hotel's shuttle on your last day. Just be careful checking the Pacific Surfliner schedule, not every train goes to Santa Barbara. One thing to note, the Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Barbara and Union Station stops all offer checked baggage. And the LAX Flyaway buses use tour buses with luggage storage under the seating area.

Hope that helps.

I've flown into LAX before and was looking at LAX for this trip because we could fly there nonstop from the other side of the country. LGB or SNA would require changing planes, which means making a connection and twice as many take-offs for anxious kids. But if flying in to LGB or SNA would make other steps of the journey much easier, that would be an important consideration to weigh.

I'm afraid to take the train back to the LA area the same day, unless we have a late flight, which is unlikely because our flight will be five+ hours. We love taking Amtrak but have experienced delays, and I need wiggle room for any unforeseen issues. Maybe this is another reason not to fly in and out of LAX? This makes me wonder if flying in and out of Santa Barbara and putting Disney in the middle of the trip might be the lowest-stress option, even though we couldn't fly direct. I believe Santa Barbara has hotels with airport and Amtrak shuttles, and hotels within walking distance of the Amtrak station.

 

[SMD]

Amtrak on the west coast is not like it is on the east coast. Have you checked the schedule to see if it works for your plans? If you start in SB (I'd still look into flying into BUR), then take Amtrak to Anaheim, a good return option might be taking something like the DLR Express (Grayline) to LAX.

 

[Oswald23]

I decided to opt for the Disneyland Express in december. Is not very expensive.

But is you are with a couple of people personal transportation can be cheaper like GoLansky, Uber or a taxi.

 

[Tigerlily75]

Uber is great, and certainly in the LA area they were very plentiful, I never waited more than two minutes or so.

You can use their fare estimator here: https://www.uber.com/fare-estimate/

 

[Liam'sMimi]

We just got back from our first Disneyland trip. For what it's worth my Grandson falls under the Autism Spectrum so I understand how frustrating a disruption of schedule can be.
We flew into LAX then caught the Gray Line Disneyland Express. We had a 10 minute wait for the bus and it worked very well for us. We stayed in Anaheim at the Howard Johnson on Harbor Blvd.
Perfect choice for us, about a 10 minute walk to the Parks and I liked having Panera Bread, McDonalds and Pizza Press on our route to and from the Parks. 2 of our 3 days we came back to the room for a mid-day swim and a rest. On our departure day we used Uber to take us to the Amtrak Station in Anaheim. It was only 6.90 and the car arrived in less than 8 minutes. Our trip was fantastic and for us the Howard Johnson was great. Also, we loved taking Amtrak home. It gave us a chance to wind down after a very active vacation. Amtrak is easily accessible from either Anaheim or Fullerton and Uber is easy to use!

You can use their fare estimator here: https://www.uber.com/fare-estimate/[/QUOTE]

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I've flown into LAX before and was looking at LAX for this trip because we could fly there nonstop from the other side of the country. LGB or SNA would require changing planes, which means making a connection and twice as many take-offs for anxious kids. But if flying in to LGB or SNA would make other steps of the journey much easier, that would be an important consideration to weigh.

I'm afraid to take the train back to the LA area the same day, unless we have a late flight, which is unlikely because our flight will be five+ hours. We love taking Amtrak but have experienced delays, and I need wiggle room for any unforeseen issues. Maybe this is another reason not to fly in and out of LAX? This makes me wonder if flying in and out of Santa Barbara and putting Disney in the middle of the trip might be the lowest-stress option, even though we couldn't fly direct. I believe Santa Barbara has hotels with airport and Amtrak shuttles, and hotels within walking distance of the Amtrak station.

We just got back from our first Disneyland trip. For what it's worth my Grandson falls under the Autism Spectrum so I understand how frustrating a disruption of schedule can be.
We flew into LAX then caught the Gray Line Disneyland Express. We had a 10 minute wait for the bus and it worked very well for us. We stayed in Anaheim at the Howard Johnson on Harbor Blvd.
Perfect choice for us, about a 10 minute walk to the Parks and I liked having Panera Bread, McDonalds and Pizza Press on our route to and from the Parks. 2 of our 3 days we came back to the room for a mid-day swim and a rest. On our departure day we used Uber to take us to the Amtrak Station in Anaheim. It was only 6.90 and the car arrived in less than 8 minutes. Our trip was fantastic and for us the Howard Johnson was great. Also, we loved taking Amtrak home. It gave us a chance to wind down after a very active vacation. Amtrak is easily accessible from either Anaheim or Fullerton and Uber is easy to use!

You can use their fare estimator here: https://www.uber.com/fare-estimate/

[/QUOTE]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I've never tried Uber, but I know many people recommend it, and it's good to know that it worked well for the same route that we would take, and that your experience with the DL Express also went well. The Howard Johnson sounds like the perfect location. Familiar fast food would be a good option for meals during mid-day park breaks.

I appreciate having lots of options to weigh.