Finally going! Need help planning

[sjedelen67]

We are finally going to go out west to Disneyland. We are a family of 4. Two adults and two kids. Kids age 15 and 12. We would be flying from Louisville, KY. What would be the best airport to fly into? What about transfers? Do I need to rent a car? We will have reservations at Grand California because I am attending an Anesthesia Conference. We will prob stay a full week. What else do we need to do out there? We will be traveling in July of next year. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Steve

 

[MinnieMom13]

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the Tips for Newbies thread.

Orange County (a.k.a. John Wayne) and Long Beach Airports are closer and easier to navigate than LAX. Since we live on the west coast there are loads of flight choices to these two airports; from KY you may be stuck with LAX.

We never rent a car, but we're Disney-only and don't go to the other sites in SoCal. If you plan on seeing more than Disney, you may want to have a car for that part of your trip. Staying at the GC means you can walk to both parks easily!

We used to take a SuperShuttle (you can find a discount code online--just Google it) to the hotel, but now we go with taxis for not that much more. If you end up at LAX, a taxi might be prohibitive so you might want to look into a shuttle. Disney Resort Express is another option, but I consider it to be one of the slowest choices to get to your hotel.

Have a great vacation!

 

[Phoenixrising]

I second SNA (John Wayne/Orange County) airport. If you can find a good seat sale flying into SNA I'd highly recommend it. After flying into SNA once, I'll only fly into SNA, as it's easier to navigate, and is a clean well run airport. It's around $45 to get a taxi from the SNA airport to DL area hotels each way, compared to over $90 from flying into LAX.
Honestly everythings so close, such as the parks and downtown Disney, when I get there I walk everywhere I want to go. The parks are lot closer together than most people realize. The only time I need transportation is if I want to go to Knott's Berry Farm for the day, other than transportation to and from the hotel from the airport.
Have a great trip!

 

[Jennafoo]

Just got back and must say I was pleased with my decision to fly into SNA. Clean, well-kept, easy-to-navigate airport. And without traffic (I arrived at 8:30pm on a Tuesday and left at 8am on Sunday), it was only about a 15 minute drive. Taxi fare was around $40.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I often tell people that the very fastest way from SNA to the park is via cab. Mostly because they do 80+ mph

 

[Watchtower]

I always check the airfare difference between SNA (John Wayne/Santa Anna Airport) and LGB (Long Beach Airport). For the past two trips, Long Beach has been the cheaper option (we come from Seattle). Two years ago, they were doing a lot of renovations at LGB and it was pretty disorganized (their TSA checkpoint was in a portable), but when we went earlier this year, they'd finished their construction and it was a small, beautiful airport! You can be off the plane, grab your bags, and be walking out to the taxi's within 15 minutes. They do a $45 flat rate on all taxis from that airport to the Disney Resort and surrounding properties. The taxi trip is usually around 40 minutes, which is the same from SNA as well. If you fly into SNA, your cheapest option might be the Disneyland Express shuttle, but they've up'd their prices lately. It might be cheaper to just take a taxi from that airport, as well.

We never rent a car 'cause we never leave the property for the 5 days that we're there. If you're there for longer and plan to see other points of interest in the area, there's a rental car place in Downtown Disney. I think it's an Alamo Rent-a-car. It's right next to the AMC theater in Downtown Disney, around the side of the same building.