Short trip from Seattle

[ukstitch]

Hi,

I'll be honest upfront: I am totally clueless when it comes to the Disney parks outside of Disneyland Paris, so I'm hoping somebody can provide me with some advise.

It's looking like I will be visiting Redmond for a few days between the 1st and 3rd October for work. What I'd like to know is, if I was looking to extend my trip by a day or two in order to head south and visit Disneyland, which airport would I need to fly into (even better if somebody knows of some cheap flights they could recommend me) and which hotels would be worth me looking into (again, as cheap as possible would be helpful here). It's likely to be easier for me to fly a return between Seattle and the relevant California airport so work can book a normal return flight, which makes their accounting easier.

There is one complication as I don't drive, so would need to rely on taxis / public transport and of course my feet.

Edit: I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but I'm a UK citizen living within the UK, so any flights etc need to be bookable from outside of the US.

Thanks a lot!

 

[trodrigue]

You could fly from Seatac airport to LongBeach Airport for about $180 round trip. You could leave at 6:50 on Alaska Airlines flight on Fri. the 3rd, and then spend Saturday the 4th at DL, and return back on Sund the 5th, early AM. You could probably get a late flight back on Saturday night as well.

You could pick up those nights for about $100 a night at a walking distance hotel. Howard Johnson?

You might also check virgin air, and jet blue.

You could fly into Long Beach, Los Angeles, Orange County or Ontario.

Your basically looking at $80 bucks or so for roundtrip transportation to and from the airport by shuttle.

Good Luck!

 

[ukstitch]

You could fly from Seatac airport to LongBeach Airport for about $180 round trip. You could leave at 6:50 on Alaska Airlines flight on Fri. the 3rd, and then spend Saturday the 4th at DL, and return back on Sund the 5th, early AM. You could probably get a late flight back on Saturday night as well.

You could pick up those nights for about $100 a night at a walking distance hotel. Howard Johnson?

You might also check virgin air, and jet blue.

You could fly into Long Beach, Los Angeles, Orange County or Ontario.

Your basically looking at $80 bucks or so for roundtrip transportation to and from the airport by shuttle.

Good Luck!

Thanks, I'll take a look at those in a minute. I forgot to mention and will update my first post accordingly, that I'm a uk citizen living in the UK, so I don't know if that affects things.

 

[davewasbaloo]

John Wayne airport with the Disneyland bus is probably the easiest way of doing it.

 

[ADisneyPrincess]

Alaska Airlines and Jet Blue tend to have very good prices to the DL area. Jet Blue flies into Long Beach and has had some good prices lately. Flights to Long Beach tend to be cheaper, however, there are more flights into Orange County which makes it easier to schedule.

$80 round trip in a taxi is right. Taxi is the fastest option as the bus or shuttles will make stops along the way which can be annoyingly time consuming. Considering your short time frame I would opt for the taxi.

 

[ukstitch]

Looks like it might be Orange County then, because I'm not too sure what time I will finish in Seattle.

Now I just need to find a hotel and of course make sure I can actually afford the extension (and hope that work will even allow it) - unfortunately the Howard Johnson seems to be fully booked for the dates I would be there.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Long Beach and Santa Ana (aka John Wayne, aka Orange County) airports are closest, at roughly 10 and 12 miles from DL.

Santa Ana (SNA) is a larger airport and has more flight options. Also, if you're renting a car, the car rental agencies are on-site, so that goes very quickly. If I'm remembering right, the flights we've had were a tad cheaper in/out of here over Long Beach. As someone else stated, with more flight options it was easier for us to schedule times more agreeable to all family members, including small, tired, cranky children.

Long Beach (LGB) is very small, but also quick to embark and disembark the plane. You literally walk right off the plane (from a ramp) to the ground, walk a few steps to pick up your luggage, then walk a few steps to the taxi/shuttle area. Nice!

ETA: I just realized the dates you are thinking of going are during Gay Days weekend (Oct. 3 - 5), which means hotels will be pretty booked up. I'd suggest arranging a hotel room first, then arranging the rest.

I'd also suggest getting a hotel within walking distance if possible, to maximize your time in the parks. I haven't ever stayed in an offsite hotel, but the Howard Johnsons and the Candy Cane Inn always get high marks from DISers.