need some geography help...

[EmmasGrammy]

Can any of you CA folk give me some help with the location and distances between Disneyland and the port that the Magic will be sailing out of. We want to book a hotel near Disneyland so we can visit the parks for a few days before the CA>FL cruise and were wondering if we would also need to get a room closer to the port for the evening before we were set to sail. Is the commute from DL to the port "do"able if we just stayed near DL up until we had to board the ship? I am a bit geographically challanged. Sorry !!

Thanks for any help you can provide!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

The Port of Los Angeles at San Pedro is around 30 miles from Disneyland, but it's almost all freeway (I-5 north to CA-91 west to I-110 south). With Los Angeles area traffic, that could mean as little as a half hour of driving -- or much longer. But, on Saturday morning, it shouldn't be too bad.

If I were going to the Disneyland Resort for a few days prior to a cruise out of San Pedro, I would not bother to move to a different hotal for Friday night. Friday will be much more pleasant if you can just have fun, without worrying about checking out, dealing with your suitcases, having to find the next hotel that evening, and checking in there. You'll have plenty of time Saturday morning for the 30 mile drive.

By the way if your first Southern California destination is Disneyland, you should try to fly into Orange County John Wayne Airport (SNA) -- not Los Angeles International (LAX). SNA is much closer to Disneyland, and it's a pleasant, mid-sized airport. LAX is a huge airport. Long Beach Airport is another option that's better than LAX. There seems to be no logic to airfares. Any of the three airports can have the best or worst pricing, depending upon your timing and where you're coming from.

 

[Otisp]

According to mapquest, it's 32.15 between DL and the World Cruise Center (500 N Front St San Pedro, CA 90731). For those of you who want to try this at home, plug that address into the handy dandy map on "Getting here and getting around" section of the DL site.

Mapquest also says that's about a 36 minute drive (Well - maybe at 2 in the morning). Actually, midday Saturday shouldn't be much more than that. If I were already staying near the park, I agree with Horace that it would not be worth the hassle to move into another hotel the night before the cruise.

 

[Mom2Belle&PeterPan]

Hi EmmasGrammy,

We live 20 minutes minus traffic from DL by the Queen Mary in Long Beach. I'd recommend staying at your DL hotel the night before, but do give yourself enough time to get to the port (approx. 1 hour no accidents, 2 hrs. if you run into an accident). Usually, Sat. mornings on the 405 to the 710 or 110 freeways from DL are AOK, but the 405 does back up significantly before you hit LAX by Century Blvd. Luckily, you will not be driving that far to the port. You can also take the 91 (Riverside freeway) to these. Just in case of traffic due to an accident, my dh will be glad to give you an alternate route (s) to take via Long Beach that you can get off of from the 405 (San Diego) freeway and head to the port.

So, keep us in mind as a resource. Can't wait for the CA to FL cruise!!!

Take care!

Barbara

 

[tvguy]

Luck and time of day are big factors in LA traffic. As a Northern Californian, I always allow double the time I think it should take in LA.
I made it once from LAX to Disneyland in 30 minutes at 1 in the afternoon on a Friday thanks to some unconventional routing given to me by a Highway Patrolman friend of mine. He used to be assigned to Garden Grove, which is the city about 2 blocks south of Disneyland (the Convention Center is at the border).
I've had several LA natives tell me there's no way I did that, but I did.
We chose our airport based on air fares, and it rotates between LAX, John Wayne, and Burbank which is cheaper.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by tvguy
We chose our airport based on air fares, and it rotates between LAX, John Wayne, and Burbank which is cheaper.

Also consider Long Beach Airport. Take a look at the jetBlue route map, which shows that low-cost carrier jetBlue is starting to develop Long Beach into their focus airport on the West Coast. Long Beach Airport is convenient for the Port of Los Angeles and Disneyland.

Burbank Airport is not a convenient location for the Port of Los Angeles or Disneyland, but if the fare difference is great enough, it might be worth spending more time driving through L.A. traffic.

 

[EmmasGrammy]

Thank You ALL so much. I'm not sure if we will be renting a car or using some other type of transportation to get from DL to the port. I have heard traffic in LA is a nightmare especially if you aren't familiar with the area.

Maybe Disney will come up with some type of package for us cruisers that includes a stop at Disneyland and transfers to the port. That would be so nice. Dh says maybe we will hire a helicopter to do the transfer and avoid the traffic snarls altogether! That would be fun!!!

 

[Luv2Dream]

We have transfers booked thru DCL from the airport to the resort (DL), the resort to the port, and then the port back to the airport (MCO). We did purchase our airfare through Disney though so maybe that is why we have the transfers. However, I was hoping maybe to get frequent flier flights and just purchase transfers. I'm hoping this will be an option.