If you were going to do Disney and Universal with no car....

[Piglet99645]

How would you do it?

Uber? Taxi? Change hotels? don't change hotels?

 

[prestoncaldwell]

How would you do it?

Uber? Taxi? Change hotels? don't change hotels?

Yes change hotels. the commute from Anaheim to Universal takes you through the worst traffic in the LA area.

 

[sheetz]

I think it depends on, among other things, number in your group, day of visit, budget, and whether or not you're visiting other LA area attractions.

 

[Darkbeer1]

I would stay in Anaheim, and opt for one of many options...

Using Gray Line Tours to take you to USH, this is the easiest and least complicated option.

http://www.graylineanaheim.com/toursAna.cfm

Use Public transit, basically the OCTA Route 543 to the Fullerton Train Station, then take the Metrolink/Amtrak to Union Station. Transfer to the Red Line Subway to Universal City, cross the street and catch the free tram to the top of the hill and the main entrance.

Look at using Uber/Lyft.

Many folks do this that are in town for say two weeks and don't want to rent a vehicle.

Gray Line also goes to many other popular tourist attractions.

To get to Buena Park and its many Tourist attractions, use the LA Metro Route 460 Bus.

http://www.visitbuenapark.com/

 

[bumbershoot]

Change hotels and have a car in order to change hotels.

 

[StageTek]

Do not change hotels. Stay in Anaheim and book a Universal trip through Starline, LuxBus or Grayline.

Since you wont have a car you will not face the worst traffic in the LA area.

 

[Mousequake]

Change hotels and have a car in order to change hotels.

This is what we did on a trip we just finished a few weeks ago.

Flew into BUR on a Wednesday and got a really inexpensive rental car, stayed the first two nights at a hotel near Universal, drove down to Disneyland Friday morning and returned the car. Ubered to LGB on our return flight. Worked out fantastically.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I did this last June 2016. I stayed in Downtown first, near to the Red Metro Line. I took the Red Metro to Universal Metro stop, then got the free shuttle up to City Walk / Universal Studios. Journey took about 40 minutes.

Then a few days later I took the city bus route 460 from Downtown LA to Disney. It stops just by the pedestrian entrance on Harbour Boulevard. I then took the ART bus from Disney Transportation Area to my hotel. Journey took about 2 hours.

For each journey, both on the Metro and on the city bus I used the pre paid TAP card

 

[Frozen2014]

This is what we did on a trip we just finished a few weeks ago.

Flew into BUR on a Wednesday and got a really inexpensive rental car, stayed the first two nights at a hotel near Universal, drove down to Disneyland Friday morning and returned the car. Ubered to LGB on our return flight. Worked out fantastically.

Not OP and his/her question, but can I ask where you rented a car and where you stayed? We are also looking at flying into BUR and doing just what you did.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

I would also opt for a car and stay onsite for Universal, even if I was only doing one day there, depending on what time of the year. It would be worth it for the extra hour in the morning if you stay at one of their preferred hotels.

 

[bumbershoot]

I will say that we didn't switch hotels when we actually did it, but we did get a rental.

Traffic was traffic but it wasn't ghastly. San Diego area is typically far far worse than what I experienced that morning. (And also a morning and night the next month)

Alamo on katella opened at 8 or so, there was a line, we got our car, got our bags, and headed out. When I saw how close the two main partner hotels were to universal I wanted to cry. Would sooooo have stayed there the night before if I'd known. Then at the end of our day we drove to the airport.

 

[Darkbeer1]

If you opt to stay in the Hollywood area, I like the Orchid Suites and the Magic Castle Hotels for families, Hotels are highly ranked at TA. and in a great location near the corner of Hollywood and Highland. So lots to see and do in the area, plus the LA Metro Red Line has a station right there.

https://www.latourist.com/index.php?page=hollywood-blvd-links

 

[felice]

A point of note here is that StarLine have taken over pretty much most of Gray Line's original tours. This includes Universal Studios. They also have a rather useful (for $48 or so) trip where you travel by bus to Hollywood Blvd and then pick up one of the 'Hop On Hop Off' tourist bus lines. The route offered is certainly interesting on the red route, but the blue routes and others should be available too.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Gray Line is still the most popular tour company in the area. (Starline is the bigger player out of Hollywood).

So I would use Gray Line staying in Anaheim.

http://www.graylineanaheim.com/

 

[Becca1007]

How would you do it?

Uber? Taxi? Change hotels? don't change hotels?

Fly into Burbank, uber to Universal onsite hotel for a night, day at the park (with Front of Line Pass), Uber to Disney late evening (7pm or later) and check into hotel there, fly out of SNA or LGB.

 

[felice]

I remember my wife and I tried booking with Gray Line for Universal Studios from our hotel, back in October when we visited the park. We were informed then that StarLine had taken over the trip, along with a number of others. Nevertheless, Gray Line themselves are still running the Disney coach service which collects people from LAX and brings them to the Anaheim area.

 

[Piglet99645]

Fly into Burbank, uber to Universal onsite hotel for a night, day at the park (with Front of Line Pass), Uber to Disney late evening (7pm or later) and check into hotel there, fly out of SNA or LGB.

Thank you all for the very helpful ideas. The above comes closest to what I was thinking, and will probably do, because I am not comfortable driving in LA, so a rental is out. I'm sure the population of southern california will appreciate that I am not on their roads.

Awesome thread.

 

[Aladora]

Fly into Burbank, uber to Universal onsite hotel for a night, day at the park (with Front of Line Pass), Uber to Disney late evening (7pm or later) and check into hotel there, fly out of SNA or LGB.

This is basically what we did. Flew into BUR, took a cab to Universal onsite hotel, spent the day at USH, booked a car and driver to take us to DL and then flew home out of SNA.

 

[Piglet99645]

What did you do with your bags while you were at Universal after checking out of the hotel?

 

[Mike482]

Did this last year. Took Uber from SNA to hotel in Anaheim as it is about half the price. There are several car rental places near the restaurants by Garden Walk across from Cheesecake Factory. We rented a car for a day (Hertz was cheapest believe it or not) as they opened early in the morning. We intentionally went to Universal on Sunday to avoid traffic. We got to Universal before it opened and entered at rope drop. We walked on every ride several times. We returned the car early the next morning before heading back to Disneyland. We used ART to get to and from Disneyland while in Anaheim. We also used Uber to get from DL to Knotts on another trip that year and it was great and much faster than ART.