Flying from Minneapolis to SC--Please Help

[buck0086]

Lots of experience with WDW, but a newbie DLR guy! Please help!

Our family (DW, Me, DSons 8 & 6) are visiting Southern California March 29-April 7. Our plan is to spend March 29-April 2 in San Diego visiting Sea World, the Zoo, and Legoland. Then we will be staying at GCV April 2-April 7. I'm wondering what suggestions people would have for flying? We will rent a car so I'm ok doing some driving, but I can't figure out if we should fly into San Diego, LA, Orange County, or somewhere else. Thanks for the help!

Buck

 

[damiel]

DO NOT fly into LAX! Orange County AKA: John Wayne (SNA) is a nice small airport, we like to fly into it. It is a 20 min. drive to Disney. Have you thought about flying into San Diego and flying out of Orange County?
We have found that flights into San Diego are usually a few dollars less than Orange County BUT car rental rates are more expensive in San Diego.

 

[buck0086]

DO NOT fly into LAX! Orange County AKA: John Wayne (SNA) is a nice small airport, we like to fly into it. It is a 20 min. drive to Disney. Have you thought about flying into San Diego and flying out of Orange County?
We have found that flights into San Diego are usually a few dollars less than Orange County BUT car rental rates are more expensive in San Diego.

What about flying into Palm Springs and driving to San Diego? I found a $430 airfare for non-stop with good times during Easter Week. I'm thinking that is pretty good.

Buck

 

[sonnyjane]

What about flying into Palm Springs and driving to San Diego? I found a $430 airfare for non-stop with good times during Easter Week. I'm thinking that is pretty good.

Buck

That's quite a bit of unnecessary driving!! Have you priced out just flying to San Diego? Or flying into the other airports the PP has mentioned? It would have to be a very, very, VERY dramatic difference for me to fly in to and out of Palm Springs for a SD/Anaheim trip. You're talking 2 hours out of the way from both San Diego and Anaheim.

 

[buck0086]

That's quite a bit of unnecessary driving!! Have you priced out just flying to San Diego? Or flying into the other airports the PP has mentioned? It would have to be a very, very, VERY dramatic difference for me to fly in to and out of Palm Springs for a SD/Anaheim trip. You're talking 2 hours out of the way from both San Diego and Anaheim.

At the moment, I'm looking at $660 to/from SD with a stop. When I do the math, it seems that I can go non-stop, save the time of a stop and use that time to drive a little further. Based on my calculations, the difference in price would cover our rental car for the entire week.

I've NEVER been to Palm Springs and have only been in SC once so I don't really know what I'm talking about. If my perspective is off, I would continue to appreciate more guidance. Thanks.

Buck

 

[sonnyjane]

At the moment, I'm looking at $660 to/from SD with a stop. When I do the math, it seems that I can go non-stop, save the time of a stop and use that time to drive a little further. Based on my calculations, the difference in price would cover our rental car for the entire week.

I've NEVER been to Palm Springs and have only been in SC once so I don't really know what I'm talking about. If my perspective is off, I would continue to appreciate more guidance. Thanks.

Buck

And what about the flights to the L.A. area airports? Any that are direct? LAX is certainly not the convenient "boutique" airport that some of the other ones near Disneyland are, but because it's so big, flights are usual cheaper to and from that airport, and it's not the end of the world to fly there.

I'm the type of person who values time over money. To give you an example, I live 4.5 hours from Las Vegas. My husband likes to drive there because it saves us about $200, but I prefer to fly because we can get there in 40 minutes vs. 4.5 hours. Now, when you start doing that math for a family of 4, I understand that the savings goes up by driving.

I would price out LAX and the other airports "up north" by Disneyland. If it's still a dramatic difference then I suppose Palm Springs isn't the end of the world, but it is certainly the "road less traveled"

ETA: I just searched your dates on Expedia and a non-stop from Minneapolis to San Diego starts at $503 per person.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I live in Western Wisconsin and always fly out of Minneapolis. I have been to DL twice. The first time I flew in and out of John Wayne and it was a nice small airport and we grabbed a taxi to the hotel near Disneyland. It was about a 15-20 min taxi ride, and both times were in pretty heavy traffic.
The next time I went we flew in and out of LAX, and we flew in late at night on a Friday and out fairly early on a Saturday so traffic was very light and didn't take long to get to our hotel at all, about 30-40 minutes. Honestly I would go for whatever is cheaper.

 

[alex881]

I've flown back and forth from MSP to Orange County and John Wayne is really convenient. There's never any line and it's close to DL. I haven't used any other airports but if OC is about the same price, I'd do that.

 

[ter-moo]

Have you checked SW for your flights? I would fly into San Diego (since that's where you are starting) and out of Orange County. Since SW will allow different legs into different places, this would be a great way to do it. Some rental companies (like Alamo, for instance) don't charge extra for dropping off your car at a different place than where you got it.

Another alternative is the Long Beach airport (JetBlue flies there is that's available to you). If you have to choose ONE airport, I'd go for Orange County for both flights. It's not a bad drive to San Diego from there (about an hour and a half tops) and it would give you the most time in Disneyland at the end of your trip.

Palm Springs is a long ways away and will cut into your travel time a bit (plus dealing with traffic).

Good luck!

 

[KCmike]

Flying into and out of LAX is the way to go. We never have any issues. It is always cheaper to fly into the bigger airport for us and we find the rates for the cars are more reasonable as well. Yes it is a little further drive but you make up for it in $$$. I would fly into LAX, get your car, and then drive down to San Diego and start your vacation down there. After several days then drive to Anaheim and finish the vacation there. We've done this several times. We usually like staying at the Hotel Del Coronado (very expensive but gorgeous and right on the beach, think Grand Floridian before it was ever a dream down in Florida). Feel free to ask any other questions. Our kids love SoCal much more than WDW/Florida vacation.

 

[buck0086]

Thanks for all the help. I finally was able to get back and look at your suggestions as well as research some fares. Here is the current situation for March 29-April 7:

LAX
*Southwest RT = $606
*Delta Nonstop RT = $536

ORANGE COUNTY*Southwest RT = $644
*United RT = $499
*Delta Nonstop RT = $556

SAN DIEGO*Southwest RT = $610
*US Airways RT = $457

Any thoughts or suggestions based on this? Thanks.

Buck

 

[damiel]

So I would check car rental rates for both San Diego and John Wayne. It looks like your best deal is into SD and if the car rates are not too much more than Johnn Wayne I would jump on it. The $$$ you save on airline tickets could easily pay for a character meal or two!
Also, check out the Southern California City Pass, it has a nice discount on Disney and Sea World tickets.