How Bad Is It Really From LAX....

[erikthewise]

... to Disneyland?
Is it two hours stuck in traffic? Does it cost an arm and a leg? What is the best mode of transportation?
I know Orange County is MUCH better, but if the tickets are $150 more and I'm paying for four people, I might be willing to put up with some inconvenience.

 

[blackerbys17]

I've never been, but for my upcoming trip in less than 3 weeks I've been told to take the Disney Express from LAX to my hotel, the GC. Apparently, unlike the Super Shuttle, they do not stop at people's homes, work, etc., just straight from LAX to the Anaheim Resort AND they have a restroom and TVs on the bus. I think R?T is $24 and one-way is $19 per person.

 

[funnygarcia]

Super Shuttle is a good option too.. but if you are flying in late at night then make sure to ask for "exclusive" and pay the extra fee to not share the van. We had a grand tour of SoCal when arriving at LAX after midnight, two hours in a van after a three hour flight results in cranky family the next day!

Busy mid day for Super Shuttle shouldn't be a problem.. you will likely have enough people going to the hotels to fill the van vs. locals going home.



I know when I figured out prices for 5 people on Super Shuttle.. it wasn't much more $$ to have exclusice service.

 

[brenda1966]

I always fly in and out of LAX due to the cheaper airfare too and I haven't found it to be much of a problem. Yes, the traffic is heavy, but we've always made it to and from DL in under 2 hours.

i've heard good things about Disneyland Express too. This time we're going to try Super Shuttle because I only need transportation one way and they are cheaper one way than DE is. If you look around online you can usually find a coupon for DE.

 

[Adi12982]

I cannot vouch for our arrival day - we went to Santa Monica first - however - we left the Grand Californian around 5:50/6:00pm on Friday afternoon (during what back home is rush hour) and got there (to the car rental return, which was actually one exit past the airport) in 40 minutes.

 

[granmaz]

Soooo, should you give yourself 2 hours for a taxi journey from DL to LAX? Our flight looks like it will be 10.40am, so a busy journey I think!

 

[Parkhopper]

Well whatever you do DON'T rent a car if you have no idea where you are going. Our first trip to Disneyland was 5 years ago. We had a late flight and it arrived at LAX after 11:00pm. We took directions from Mapquest to our hotel, but the directions were HORRIBLE and we wound up in Compton around 1:00am. I have never been so scared in my entire life!!

We laugh about it now, but it is something that I never want to experience again!

Suzi

 

[Danauk]

Oh no please don't say that!! We are renting a car for our visit (haven't been to DL before.) We are bringing our Tom Tom sat nav with us which has the USA maps on so hopefully it should lead us right there!!

 

[blackerbys17]

Danauk, I'm curious, why are you renting a car? Are you going to Disneyland exclusively for a few consecutive days? Where are you staying? I ask because I may have other suggestions that could save time, money, and hassle.

 

[brenda1966]

I agree, I wouldn't rent a car if you are only going to DL (avoiding the parking lot at DL is a good idea).

However, I have driven from LAX to Anaheim and parked at our hotel. I've even driven to the grocery store and back. I think relying on Mapquest is a person's first mistake. Any directions they give should always be verified with the hotel or destination! Mapquest will send you on a wild goose chase or fail to mention little quirks in directions. I don't find driving in LA to be any more difficult than most cities.

 

[Danauk]

We are spending 3 weeks in the USA doing Disney (at the GCH) with a day at Knotts, then on to Six Flags, then on to Hollywood for a few days to tour all the studios, then on the Las Vegas for a week. So we really need a car!! We always rent cars when we visit the USA as we do a lot of driving around!! We haven't managed to get lost yet in all our visits so we are usually OK.

 

[Disnee]

It's not too bad - if you've got a Tom Tom you should be OK. I've never driven to DL, but have driven in LA and always thought getting out of the airport was the worst bit. I have a Garmin, and can get an add-on that allows you to get live traffic updates and automatic reroutes around high-volume areas - is that an option on your Tom Tom?

On the bus, it takes about 45 min-1 hour to the GCH. It's a pleasant ride, though, and the bus has AC which is nice. I definitely agree with choosing the Resort Express over Super Shuttle - the DL resort hotels are the first stops (it typically goes to the DLH first, where they collect your voucher for the bus and let off any DLH guests, then on to the GCH from there).

 

[blackerbys17]

We are spending 3 weeks in the USA doing Disney (at the GCH) with a day at Knotts, then on to Six Flags, then on to Hollywood for a few days to tour all the studios, then on the Las Vegas for a week. So we really need a car!! We always rent cars when we visit the USA as we do a lot of driving around!! We haven't managed to get lost yet in all our visits so we are usually OK.

Well, if you are doing Disney first, I would take the Disney Express from LAX over to the DLR. The day you check-out of the GCH, I would rent a car at the Downtown Disney Alamo. Then you'll have a car for the rest of your trip that you can return at the aiport before you fly back home.

That is what we are doing and it is saving us a lot of money! Apparently, the rates at the DTD Alamo are FANTASTIC! Especially when you ask for the BJS wholesale club rate. Without it, picking up at DTD on 7/24 and returning at Burbank Airport on 7/30 for a full size car was about $320+. With the BJ discount our rate is now $132! If we would have rented the car from LAX on 7/21 (the day we get to Disneyland) and returned it at Burbank on 7/30, the rate would have been about $386. The BJ discount was very minimal from the LAX airport.

So... spending about $40 to take the Disney Express from LAX to the GCH is saving us about $214 AND we don't have to worry about driving after a long plane trip from LAX, we just get to relax and start our Disney vacation right away!

Check out the rates yourself. They may be so good you'll probably want to get a BJ membership which should run you about $35 or so. let me know how it works out!

 

[Danauk]

We will be renting a car from Hertz as we are gold club members, plus we get a 10% discount with out Amex platinum card. For a 2 1/2 week rental it will cost us $125 and we will not need to pay for the aditional insurance as it is already covered with the card. We need the car for a trip out to Knotts when we are at DL too so we would need a car 3 days into our trip. I don't want to waste park time going to rent a car!
I'm sure this advice will be good for someone else though.

 

[LindaM]

Oh no please don't say that!! We are renting a car for our visit (haven't been to DL before.) We are bringing our Tom Tom sat nav with us which has the USA maps on so hopefully it should lead us right there!!

We rented a car on our first visit, and I did ALL of the driving while DH did all of the navigating. At first I was really nervous (cause all the stories you read/hear), but it wasn't so bad after all. I'm terrible at reading maps, and dh is terrible with patience and patience is something you need in LA, so this worked out well for us.
The big thing is figure out your route before you leave your hotel, and have a backup route in case you miss your exit.
We loved having the car, as we did a lot of sight seeing that we wouldn't have been able to do without a car.

 

[Danauk]

We rented a car on our first visit, and I did ALL of the driving while DH did all of the navigating. At first I was really nervous (cause all the stories you read/hear), but it wasn't so bad after all. I'm terrible at reading maps, and dh is terrible with patience and patience is something you need in LA, so this worked out well for us.
The big thing is figure out your route before you leave your hotel, and have a backup route in case you miss your exit.
We loved having the car, as we did a lot of sight seeing that we wouldn't have been able to do without a car.

Thanks for the confidence boost!! DH and I plan to share the driving. We will be extra careful as to us we are driving on the 'wrong' side of the road!! I guess the good thing about having the Tom Tom is that if we miss our exit it calculates a new route straight away!! We will have maps and written plans as well though.
We have driven in the USA before though around Orlando, Las Vegas and San Diego so hopefully it won't be too bad. We are used to city driving in the UK too.

 

[blackerbys17]

We will be renting a car from Hertz as we are gold club members, plus we get a 10% discount with out Amex platinum card. For a 2 1/2 week rental it will cost us $125 and we will not need to pay for the aditional insurance as it is already covered with the card. We need the car for a trip out to Knotts when we are at DL too so we would need a car 3 days into our trip. I don't want to waste park time going to rent a car!
I'm sure this advice will be good for someone else though.

WOW, I am really surprised by your rate. We are Hertz gold members too and also have an Amex platinum card as well as being members of most other car rental agencies, AAA, BJs, you name it, we do a LOT of traveling, lol! In my case, we also need the car for the rest of our stay in Southern California but since we don't need a car AT ALL while we are at Disney we figured, why? The deciding factor for us was the HUGE discount available to BJ members at the Downtown Disney Alamo location, which for us, is a simple walk downstairs since we are staying at the Grand Californian.

It must be because your trip is in August 2008. We are going this month and since it is peak season, everything is more expensive than normal. Believe me, I checked rates with EVERYBODY and their uncle.

Anyways, good luck and have a safe trip!

 

[Danauk]

WOW, I am really surprised by your rate. We are Hertz gold members too and also have an Amex platinum card as well as being members of most other car rental agencies, AAA, BJs, you name it, we do a LOT of traveling, lol! In my case, we also need the car for the rest of our stay in Southern California but since we don't need a car AT ALL while we are at Disney we figured, why? The deciding factor for us was the HUGE discount available to BJ members at the Downtown Disney Alamo location, which for us, is a simple walk downstairs since we are staying at the Grand Californian.

It must be because your trip is in August 2008. We are going this month and since it is peak season, everything is more expensive than normal. Believe me, I checked rates with EVERYBODY and their uncle.

Anyways, good luck and have a safe trip!

I based my prices on travelling this year, just so I know how much I am saving up!! I got these rates last week, but I did get them from the Hertz UK site based on picking up at LAX and dropping back off at Las Vegas 2 1/2 weeks later. Perhaps it is because we have a great exchnge rate at the moment?
Have a great trip too, I can't wait until we finally get to the GCH!!

 

[blackerbys17]

Ahhhhh, the exchange rate, I bet that has a lot to do with it. Lucky you, when we last went to the UK for our honeymoon, the exchange rate did not work in our favor as I'm sure you can imagine. I think it was something like $140 US dollars = $90-$100 pounds, ouch!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i dont like all the diffrent exchange rates lol i think we should all have one worlds thing..butt some ppl think im dumb for that. I was raised in germany and do know abit about things. but i think it would just be easyer andevery one would fill equiel and stuff.. (sorry for taking your post..i just saw this and wanted to respond.)