HELP! Should we rent a car at LAX?

[Wendylet]

Would love some input by those of you who have driven LAX to Anaheim Disney resort hotel area. We, myself, daughter and her 2 kiddos (6 and 1) are heading to DLR area Dec 15-20, 2021. We are struggling to book reasonable transportation from LAX to our hotel with the car seat requirements needed. Looks like it will cost us around $350 USD not counting tip. I can book a car at LAX using airmiles so only paying taxes. I have done the math and counting fuel, parking at the hotel and taxes it will be close to the same. Wondering if this is a better way to go considering we would have more control over transport to and from airport and possible travel to Covid testing site before return. So those of you who have driven can you tell me what the drive is like? Is it scary LA traffic? We arrive at 4:30 pm on the Wednesday and we depart around 4:00 pm on the following Monday. I am not a sheepish driver but the nightmare stories I have heard about LA freeway and traffic would this be a no go for us? All thoughts are much appreciated!

 

[Castlequeen5]

We are going to DL in October and I am trying to decide the same. Car rentals have gone up, so I don’t know if I want to mess with it AND pay to park. But I have rented a car from Alamo several times from LAX to Disney. It was very simple and the drive wasn’t that bad. I was very nervous the first time. And on that trip, I drove all over LA and all the way down to San Diego.

 

[cafetao]

Bring your own car seat. They fly for free on the plane, and then you just buckle it in and out of the shuttle. That's what we do when we have gone to Anaheim.

 

[Wendylet]

Bring your own car seat. They fly for free on the plane, and then you just buckle it in and out of the shuttle. That's what we do when we have gone to Anaheim.
[/QUOTE
The six year old requires a forward facing car seat and the infant a rear facing car seat. With just us two ladies travelling and having to manage all the luggage, double stroller and pack n play we didn’t want to mess with two car seats as well. Plus the baby is on a lap so that one would have to be checked and my daughter is nervous about it getting damaged. We are really hoping for a car seat free trip!

 

[cafetao]

You have to have a car seat in a car you rent too, so you would have to rent one from the rental company or bring your own. I get that the luggage can be a lot, but my wife and I have done it several times. with two kids in car seats. It was annoying to carry, but really it only lasted for about twenty minutes through the airport. and it will save you a bunch of money.

 

[Wendylet]

You have to have a car seat in a car you rent too, so you would have to rent one from the rental company or bring your own. I get that the luggage can be a lot, but my wife and I have done it several times. with two kids in car seats. It was annoying to carry, but really it only lasted for about twenty minutes through the airport. and it will save you a bunch of money.

Just honestly wondering if it saved you much money? To rent the car it costs about $14 a day to provide the car seats. We did this once travelling to Hawaii and we had six adults there and it was really difficult. I just wish there was still some type of large bus transportation available at LAX that would preclude the need for car seats at all!

 

[cafetao]

I paid about $120 roundtrip for the shuttle back and forth to the airport for 4 of us. I did splurge a bit for a private vehicle. No cost to check the car seats. no paying for parking or rental costs. Well worth it for me, but you'll have to decide what's most important to you. My way isn't the only way.

 

[charmed59]

I found driving in London or Paris hard, and wouldn’t consider driving in Cairo or Bangkok at all, but LA, not too bad. That said, we rented a car from Thrifty at LAX in July and had to stand in line for 3 hours to get a car. Be careful looking for deals in LA car rentals. Do not pay in advance so you are free to change companies on the fly. If we hadn’t already paid for Thrifty we could have changed to Hertz and been in and out in 30 minutes…

 

[Wendylet]

I found driving in London or Paris hard, and wouldn’t consider driving in Cairo or Bangkok at all, but LA, not too bad. That said, we rented a car from Thrifty at LAX in July and had to stand in line for 3 hours to get a car. Be careful looking for deals in LA car rentals. Do not pay in advance so you are free to change companies on the fly. If we hadn’t already paid for Thrifty we could have changed to Hertz and been in and out in 30 minutes…

Oh that’s very interesting. Quite the world we are living in now! I feel like I’m leaning towards using the company we have booked at this point. Sure wouldn’t want to be waiting forever to get a vehicle. Also I assume the rental companies are off site so there must be transportation time there to consider as well!

 

[22Tink]

I found driving in London or Paris hard, and wouldn’t consider driving in Cairo or Bangkok at all, but LA, not too bad. That said, we rented a car from Thrifty at LAX in July and had to stand in line for 3 hours to get a car. Be careful looking for deals in LA car rentals. Do not pay in advance so you are free to change companies on the fly. If we hadn’t already paid for Thrifty we could have changed to Hertz and been in and out in 30 minutes…

This!! We were in line for 4 hours to rent from Thrifty at LAX 2 weeks ago. It was crazy and we definitely regretted prebooking with Thrifty. Never again!

 

[2vets]

Southern Californian here. LAX is south of what I consider the hairiest part of LA traffic. LAX to Anaheim should be absolutely fine. Avoid “rush hour” (more like hours) if possible on the 20th, or just prepare to be in the car longer than makes any sense for the distance. Have a blast!

 

[VandVsmama]

You should ask this question on the Disneyland board.

The drive could take an hour or 90 minutes or 2 hr if traffic is really bad. I'm going to "think out loud" about your situation. Bear with me...

Rental car option:

• plane lands ~ 4:30, 10-15 min to taxi to the gate, get all of your carry on luggage off and the double stroller off (assuming you gate checked it), then take kids to bathroom.
• So it'll probably be 5-5:15 that you get to baggage claim.
• 15 min-ish at baggage claim, so now you're closer to 5:30 pm. This is now prime rush hour time in LA.
• Kids will probably be getting hungry and cranky. Feed them before you hit the highway.
• There's an In-n-Out Burger super close to the airport. It's at 9149 S Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Don't leave anything valuable in the open in the rental car (like your luggage or a diaper bag).
• You can save $$ on the car rental by bringing your own car seats. Or just bring the car seat for the 1 yr old and rent one for the 6 yr old.
• After everybody's bellies are full, THEN drive to Anaheim. You'll probably get there 7-7:30 pm.

Uber/limo/car service to Anaheim:

• You can save $$ on the car rental by bringing your own car seats. Or just bring the car seat for the 1 yr old and rent one for the 6 yr old. Or bring the 6 yr old's car seat and rent one for the 1 yr old. Saves you a little $$ and then you don't have to lug 2 car seats through airports.
• You'll probably get to Anaheim around the same time (7-7:30 pm). Feed the kids before you get in the Uber/Lyft/limo/car service for your ride to Anaheim.
• Return flight home - since that flight leaves at 4 pm, you won't have rush hour traffic to deal with. But keep in mind that LAX recommends you arrive 2 hr before your flight (if memory serves me correctly). Allow for up to 2 hr drive time. So plan on leaving Anaheim 4 hr before your plane takes off.

 

[Wendylet]

Southern Californian here. LAX is south of what I consider the hairiest part of LA traffic. LAX to Anaheim should be absolutely fine. Avoid “rush hour” (more like hours) if possible on the 20th, or just prepare to be in the car longer than makes any sense for the distance. Have a blast!

Thanks so much. I’m sure we will!

 

[Wendylet]

You should ask this question on the Disneyland board.

The drive could take an hour or 90 minutes or 2 hr if traffic is really bad. I'm going to "think out loud" about your situation. Bear with me...

Rental car option:

• plane lands ~ 4:30, 10-15 min to taxi to the gate, get all of your carry on luggage off and the double stroller off (assuming you gate checked it), then take kids to bathroom.
• So it'll probably be 5-5:15 that you get to baggage claim.
• 15 min-ish at baggage claim, so now you're closer to 5:30 pm. This is now prime rush hour time in LA.
• Kids will probably be getting hungry and cranky. Feed them before you hit the highway.
• There's an In-n-Out Burger super close to the airport. It's at 9149 S Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Don't leave anything valuable in the open in the rental car (like your luggage or a diaper bag).
• You can save $$ on the car rental by bringing your own car seats. Or just bring the car seat for the 1 yr old and rent one for the 6 yr old.
• After everybody's bellies are full, THEN drive to Anaheim. You'll probably get there 7-7:30 pm.

Uber/limo/car service to Anaheim:

• You can save $$ on the car rental by bringing your own car seats. Or just bring the car seat for the 1 yr old and rent one for the 6 yr old. Or bring the 6 yr old's car seat and rent one for the 1 yr old. Saves you a little $$ and then you don't have to lug 2 car seats through airports.
• You'll probably get to Anaheim around the same time (7-7:30 pm). Feed the kids before you get in the Uber/Lyft/limo/car service for your ride to Anaheim.
• Return flight home - since that flight leaves at 4 pm, you won't have rush hour traffic to deal with. But keep in mind that LAX recommends you arrive 2 hr before your flight (if memory serves me correctly). Allow for up to 2 hr drive time. So plan on leaving Anaheim 4 hr before your plane takes off.

Thanks so much for all the thought you out into your reply. Yes it does sound like we wouldn’t gain much in terms of time for sure. I would now be a little worried about the length of time in line for a car rental. Perhaps we should just stick with what we have booked!!

 

[Jacie]

Check out Lansky car services. They cost a bit of money but they'll provide a carseat and they'll even do a grocery stop for ya. It's our go to when we have to fly into LAX.

 

[soniam]

We have done it twice without any issues. However, we really like to drive and are not concerned about driving, even outside the US. However, I wouldn't rent a car seat ever again. This was not part of the LAX rental, but a different trip. It was barely operational, didn't look safe, and looked to be 20 years old (exaggerating). They didn't even have one in the car, even though it was on the reservation, so we had to go back and ask for it. They only had one left. Luckily, our son wasn't an infant. Just bring your own.

 

[bumbershoot]

LA traffic is fast when it's fast and it's slow when it's slow. And it can change quickly. Gotta pay attention. Have someone navigation and the other one listening to the navigator. Many people use the Waze app.

that one would have to be checked and my daughter is nervous about it getting damaged.

Gate check it. That way it doesn't go through the bowels of the airport.

If you're willing to rent a carseat from a car rental agency if you rent a car, there's no reason to be overly worried about gate checking a seat.

Also I assume the rental companies are off site so there must be transportation time there to consider as well!

Yes. You have to wait for the shuttles to get over to the rental agencies. It's all well marked, but it's a process.

Personally I'd gate check the seat and just take the shuttle service you priced out. While anything might have changed, I always liked Karmel Shuttle.

 

[Wendylet]

Thanks so much to everyone for your thoughts. Much appreciated and so very helpful.

 

[BayGirl22]

We never rented or checked car seats, not safe IMO. We rented a stroller at the destination so we didn’t have to struggle with gate checking and possibly damaging ours. There are several good stroller rental options at DL that will deliver to your hotel.

We used GogoKidz which are like a small wheeled carrier the car seat goes on to get them through the airport. Or bring a wheeled frame for the infant seat and carry the older child’s seat on a suitcase and the older one can walk through the airport. We did it many times with 2 adults and 2 kids.