LAX to Little Tokyo to Disneyland

[mjallemand]

My fiancee and I are currently planning a Disneyland trip for our Honeymoon, which will be Sunday, January 8, 2017 through January 13, 2017.

We're flying into LAX, arriving shortly after 1PM. We're not going to try to fit in a park day on our arrival day so it's merely a day to get to our hotel (Anaheim Desert Inn) and relax, with dinner at Downtown Disney.

However, the fiancee would like to go to the Little Tokyo district of Los Angeles during our free time between the flight arrival and when we check into our hotel. This puts a bit of a wrench into my plans because I was simply going to book a SuperShuttle to pick us up from the airport to bring us to the hotel and then back on the 13th. Since we're within walking distance of Disneyland I figured there was no need for a rental car, as it would just sit parked for four days straight.

Is making time for Little Tokyo even feasible? My big concern is luggage. We would have to find out something to do with our luggage for the 2 to 4 hours we would be in Little Tokyo, unless we wanted to drag it around, which isn't really feasible.

Any idea on how we could pull this off? If it wasn't for luggage we could simply uber/lyft from the airport to Little Tokyo and then from Little Tokyo to the hotel afterward.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Have you priced rental cars?...sometimes it does not make sense but I have gotten rental cars outta LAX for the whole trip cheaper than even a round trip Uber would have cost.

There is also this company that provides luggage storage:

http://www.laxluggagestorage.com

 

[sheetz]

If you don't want a car for the entire trip a one day, a one-way rental is probably not that expensive.

 

[mjallemand]

Have you priced rental cars?...sometimes it does not make sense but I have gotten rental cars outta LAX for the whole trip cheaper than even a round trip Uber would have cost.

There is also this company that provides luggage storage:

http://www.laxluggagestorage.com

The cheapest rental car looks like it's gonna be about $230, plus the parking fee that the hotel charges, so easily $250+.

The shuttle service is going to be $60 roundtrip. If we decided to uber from the hotel to Little Tokyo the fare estimator I saw was estimating it at $30 to $40 one-way, so let's say $80 roundtrip. $140 is cheaper than renting a car we'd only use on the first and last days of the stay.

If you don't want a car for the entire trip a one day, a one-way rental is probably not that expensive.

Looks to be a little under $40, though we then would have to try to schedule out our return time back from Little Tokyo and then set up the SuperShuttle from there. Man, anxiety.

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

Another possibility might be Zipcar. It's a hourly car rental service. I've seen them around in SF. I'm not sure if they have them in LAX, but if so you could rent one for a few hours then drop it off somewhere and then Uber to DL.

Www.zipcar.com

 

[sheetz]

Looks to be a little under $40, though we then would have to try to schedule out our return time back from Little Tokyo and then set up the SuperShuttle from there. Man, anxiety.

I'm saying you can rent one-way from LAX and drop it off in Anaheim after stopping off in Little Tokyo. No need for a Super Shuttle.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Was bored and just looked at Kayak. Rental cars for their trip dates are going for $150.00 round trip...that is the way I would go.

Supper Shuttle is $110.00 round trip.

 

[maltdizzy]

I would rent a car and take the time to see parts of L.A., but another possibility...

1. LAX Flyaway bus to Union Station 2*$9 ($18)
2. Amtrak tickets between Union Station and Anaheim 2*$30 ($60) (you can Uber or bus to the hotel from there)
   
3. Amtrak luggage storage service ~$3 a bag
4. Union Station to Little Tokyo is less than a mile (15-20 minute walk) through an area that might look intimidating to non-Angelenos (really, the whole city just looks that way), but is really all old industrial buildings that have been converted to high-priced condos, and is plenty busy during the day

 

[sheetz]

^I had heard you can't store luggage at Union Station unless you're a ticketed passenger, but don't know for sure. Although, you could probably store your bags for a few hours at the Doubletree Hotel in Little Tokyo if you pretend you're a guest (Tip well!).

 

[maltdizzy]

^I had heard you can't store luggage at Union Station unless you're a ticketed passenger, but don't know for sure.

That's why I listed Amtrak tickets to Anaheim.

Unfortunately for the OP, it was only a few years ago they stripped out the lockers at Union Station (terrorism concerns).

 

[sheetz]

That's why I listed Amtrak tickets to Anaheim.

Gotcha!

 

[ParkHopper1]

...and a one day rental car is only $25.00 for your arrival day. You could rent the car for a few hours outta LAX, go see the sights, then return it and shuttle or Uber to DL.

$25 seems like a pretty good deal for luggage storage AND transportation for the day!

 

[Disney Dad ADL]

I'm saying you can rent one-way from LAX and drop it off in Anaheim after stopping off in Little Tokyo. No need for a Super Shuttle.

Yes, this seems like your best bet. Alamo has a location at Downtown Disney apparently. One way LAX to Downtown Disney through Alamo on 1/8 would run you about $70. Seems a lot simpler than the other options.

 

[mjallemand]

I'm saying you can rent one-way from LAX and drop it off in Anaheim after stopping off in Little Tokyo. No need for a Super Shuttle.

Where would I drop it off in Anaheim? And how would I get to the drop-off point to my hotel?

Edit: I see this was answered further down the page. Nevermind.

Was bored and just looked at Kayak. Rental cars for their trip dates are going for $150.00 round trip...that is the way I would go.

Supper Shuttle is $110.00 round trip.

I'm not sure where you're getting $110 from. When I use discount code E4RXN I'm getting an even $60 round-trip cost.

Cheapest car for 1/8 to 1/13 on Kayak that I see is $193.

I appreciate the Amtrak suggestions but that seems like more trouble than it's worth.

Yes, this seems like your best bet. Alamo has a location at Downtown Disney apparently. One way LAX to Downtown Disney through Alamo on 1/8 would run you about $70. Seems a lot simpler than the other options.

Now THAT is interesting. We could check-in at the hotel, drop off luggage off at the room and then go return the car so we didn't have to drag our luggage from Downtown Disney to the hotel. Then we could just use Super Shuttle for the return trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

during our free time between the flight arrival and when we check into our hotel.

FWIW you can almost certainly check in as soon as you get there. Most hotels allow some part of the checkin process before the official checkin time.

Of course, me being me, I need to point out that that area is going *away* from Anaheim AND you'll end up freakishly close (relatively) to Universal Hollywood.

 

[mjallemand]

FWIW you can almost certainly check in as soon as you get there. Most hotels allow some part of the checkin process before the official checkin time.

Of course, me being me, I need to point out that that area is going *away* from Anaheim AND you'll end up freakishly close (relatively) to Universal Hollywood.

True, but Little Tokyo is closer to LAX than it is to Disneyland, so if we were to check into the hotel first we'd have to drive 30 minutes to the hotel, and then about 30 minutes back to Little Tokyo.

 

[bumbershoot]

True, but Little Tokyo is closer to LAX than it is to Disneyland, so if we were to check into the hotel first we'd have to drive 30 minutes to the hotel, and then about 30 minutes back to Little Tokyo.

Oh I mean to just skip LT. It sounded like you felt you had to wait, and this was filling in the time and wasn't a huge draw.

I also mean "skip LT and go to USH for the rest of the day and then go to Anaheim".

 

[Albort]

I would rent a car and take the time to see parts of L.A., but another possibility...

1. LAX Flyaway bus to Union Station 2*$9 ($18)
2. Amtrak tickets between Union Station and Anaheim 2*$30 ($60) (you can Uber or bus to the hotel from there)
   
3. Amtrak luggage storage service ~$3 a bag
4. Union Station to Little Tokyo is less than a mile (15-20 minute walk) through an area that might look intimidating to non-Angelenos (really, the whole city just looks that way), but is really all old industrial buildings that have been converted to high-priced condos, and is plenty busy during the day

Metrolink will get you there cheaper if price is a factor... its $18 per person...

 

[maltdizzy]

Metrolink will get you there cheaper if price is a factor... its $18 per person...

But will Metrolink get one access to Amtrak luggage hold?

 

[Albort]

But will Metrolink get one access to Amtrak luggage hold?

i dont think that route has access to it... i just checked, its also $15...