Should I take a shuttle or rental car from LAX?

[Vexorg]

I'm currently in the process of sorting out the details for a solo trip down to Disneyland on the weekend of June 9-11, and I'm trying to decide if it's worth getting a rental car for the trip to and from the airport (and possibly some additional wandering as well) or not. Normally when I take these weekend trips I'll fly into SNA and take a SuperShuttle over to the hotel, but this time around I ended up booking a flight through LAX instead. I'll be staying at the Holiday Inn Express Maingate, which is theoretically a walking distance hotel, but is still about .6 miles from the gate. My Premium AP also includes parking, so I wouldn't have to pay for it separately at the parks. On the other hand the shuttle would be a fair bit cheaper than parking ($16 plus tip each way,) but I'm not too worried about cost. As far as I'm aware the hotel I'm at doesn't charge for parking either.

Given all that, do you think that the rental car would be worth the extra cost?

 

[SeattleRedBear]

Personally, if it's only for a couple days, you're flying into lax, you've got a premium AP and no parking charges at the hotel, then heck yeah, I'd get a rental. I'd start with Priceline or Hotwire to get the cheapest I could. Considering the short duration of your visit, every minute counts and you've got some flexibility with the car you wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[DisneytheKid]

I'd probably vote for the shuttle. Is that $16 shuttle charge a per person charge or do you know if it goes down with the more people in your party? Thanks

 

[Vexorg]

The $16 is per person in each direction, so it would be $32 (plus tips) total to ride to and from the airport. The cheapest I'm seeing on the rental car looks to be around $70.

 

[bumbershoot]

Be sure to look for coupons and codes. Mousesavers.com has a nice list of those for many rental car companies. Be SURE to check through all the airline mileage codes on there, and if one is great but you don't have a FF account with the airline, just get one!

I like a car more than no car, because we like having the ability to go to Trader Joes and get safe snacks and other things for us, etc. Heck, we had soup at Panera, hit TJs and CVS, then hubby and son got MUCH needed haircuts (random kid's haircut place across the street from TJ, something like "rainbow hair", really good cuts!) on our first day last visit, which couldn't have happened without that rental car!

 

[WaltsMartini]

Not sure were the Holiday Inn is, but would you actually be spending more time driving to the parking lot, parking, and taking the tram in than you would if you walked?

I went down last year (solo as well) and didn't have a car. Used the shuttle, stayed at Best Western Stovall's, and walked - I thought it was nice to not have to brave the parking garages!