How much better is John Wayne Airport?

[StarGirl11]

When flying back out of SNA, however, be aware it's a noise-reduced takeoff. The takeoff is steep, and once over the ocean they throttle back considerably. First timers tend to go all white-knuckled when they feel the slightly "weightless" result, and us experienced John-Wayners tend to find this amusing.

Yep.

First time flying out of SNA: Holy crap this is a steep take off.

Last time flying out of SNA this past weekend: -water bottle rolls back during takeoff- ...Oh yeah I forgot this has a steep takeoff.

I’ve gotten so acclimatized to it I don’t even think about it any more apparently.

 

[MillauFr]

Ugh, we fly out of Seattle. Every once in a while we will fly out of Portland if we get a way better deal and want to have an easier time. A big issue I have with SeaTac is the traffic to get there. And the lines, the long, long lines.

Not having precheck at SeaTac is asking for trouble

 

[yetiowine]

I always prefer a smaller airport over a bigger one. The driving time and Lansky made SNA a no-brainer for a past visit over LAX. Especially for comparable price!

 

[DLgal]

SNA is the maxpass of airports in terms of a Disneyland vacation. I could fly into LAX and drive for 1-3 hours after white knuckling baggage claim and wrangling my Uber, or walk off my plane into baggage claim, order my Uber and be at my hotel in half an hour. We love SNA!

Bravo.

 

[ludari]

Actually I prefer LAX but since I've work across the street for nearly 30 years I'm familiar with getting in/out of that airport fairly easy. Also if you are renting a car from LAX and have two or more people with you can use the carpool lane nearly all the way to DLR. If you could I would suggest that you fly into Long Beach which is the closet airport to DLR.

 

[kyrkea333]

Ugh, we fly out of Seattle. Every once in a while we will fly out of Portland if we get a way better deal and want to have an easier time. A big issue I have with SeaTac is the traffic to get there. And the lines, the long, long lines.

We are flying out of SeaTac on Sunday at 7:50 am. I haven't flown out of Seattle in years. How much in advance would you advise we get to the airport?

 

[wowsmom]

Long Beach which is the closet airport to DLR.

SNA is about 14-15 miles from DLR
LGB is about 18 miles from DLR
LAX is about 33-34 miles from DLR

 

[Babybears]

We are flying out of SeaTac on Sunday at 7:50 am. I haven't flown out of Seattle in years. How much in advance would you advise we get to the airport?

We always allow 2 hours. Also, we generally fly Alaska and the security check for the Alaska's "N" gates can get very long and backed up, especially in the morning. So we will check that line and if it's crazy, will just go down to the "C" gates security lines, which is a lot larger with more lines to chose from, and then just take the tram out to "N" gates.

 

[kyrkea333]

We always allow 2 hours. Also, we generally fly Alaska and the security check for the Alaska's "N" gates can get very long and backed up, especially in the morning. So we will check that line and if it's crazy, will just go down to the "C" gates security lines, which is a lot larger with more lines to chose from, and then just take the tram out to "N" gates.

Thanks so much. We're flying Alaska and I was hoping to get away with taking the 6am hotel shuttle, but I guess we'll take the 5am. Ah well, I can nap at the gate...

 

[kikismom]

Thanks so much. We're flying Alaska and I was hoping to get away with taking the 6am hotel shuttle, but I guess we'll take the 5am. Ah well, I can nap at the gate...

Yep. 2 hours. I like to get situated and grab a coffee before boarding. Anything less than 2 hours makes me feel rushed.

 

[CherylGonz]

We flew out of SNA last Thur night. 7:30 flight. We were dropped off at AK terminal and there was no one else in the area except a few workers. It was so Erie. At the security line there was 2 people in front of us. No line at the Starbucks either. Lol

 

[Elle23]

No line at the Starbucks either. Lol

Now that’s a miracle!!!

 

[kyrkea333]

Yep. 2 hours. I like to get situated and grab a coffee before boarding. Anything less than 2 hours makes me feel rushed.

You’re right. We might as well start the day relaxed and not worrying about getting to the gate on time. Coffee at that hour will probably be a requirement! Thanks!

 

[sgrap]

We are flying out of SeaTac on Sunday at 7:50 am. I haven't flown out of Seattle in years. How much in advance would you advise we get to the airport?

I always do 2 hours ahead of time, but we have never had a problem with TSA lines.

 

[sgrap]

We always try to get flights into either SNA or Long Beach. Last November we did Burbank because of a combination of free tickets and I could only find 6 tickets on the same flight into Burbank. UG. It was a HIKE to the rental car place and it took us a solid 2 hours in traffic each way, even on weekend evenings. I don't plan on doing that again. I've only been to LAX once after a 24 hour delay trying to get out of SNA (issue with the plane), and they finally bused us all to LAX for a flight out of there. LAX was a nightmare. Personally, it would have to be ridiculously less expensive to get me to fly into LAX to go to Disneyland.