Parking, shuttles, and rentals (oh my!)

[dulluth]

We are going to do a California trip this summer. We will be able to spend the last three days at DL, and will be staying at the Carousel Inn. Do they charge you for parking at the hotels? Also, are there good shuttle services in the area to get us to Orange County Airport ... in which case should we just drop our rental off ... is there a need for one in the DL area? We are weighing the need for the car vs. the cost. Thanks for any help.

 

[Buttercup26]

There are numerous shuttle services to the OC airport, although not as plentiful as to LAX. As long as you aren't flying really early or late you shouldn't have any trouble getting a shuttle at a reasonable price. If you are only doing DL those 3 days you won't need a car. I quit renting a car for our DLR trips, it's just easier (and less expensive) to shuttle to/from the hotel. But we only do DLR, we don't try to do anything else.

 

[Karalea]

To help you make your decision be sure to check out the summer specials at Avis & Budget. We weren't going to rent a car for our trip either since we will just be doing the DLR but they have some fabulous rates right now. We got a 4 door compact, Ford Focus, for just $94 for the week.

With a family of 4, that is not much more than you would pay for the shuttle round trip. We figure we will probably only use it to drive to and from the hotel and then a trip to the grocery store to stock the in room fridge. We may venture out for some off site meals as well.

The hotel we are staying at has free parking but a lot of them charge up to $10 a day so call and ask.

 

[got2travel]

The Carousel does not charge for parking.

I agree about checking shuttle rates vs car rates. I almost always get a better deal by renting a car than paying for each of us to ride the shuttle. Plus, you are on your own time table back to the airport. Many shuttle companies require you to return 3 hours before your flight. That is not necessary at Orange County. You are only 20 minutes away and the security lines don't take that long to get through.