Transportation from airports - what's faster??

[Maddie2]

We land at LAX around 4:15 on Monday, January 17, which is Martin Luther King Day. With schools out and many people having the day off, I am thinking that traffic may be different than a regular LA day.

We will want a rental car for part of the week, but not a priority the first few days. We could either rent upon arrival for the entire week or pick up a rental a few days into the vacation.

We will be very anxious to get to the park that evening as a couple of our favorite rides go down for refurbishment the next day for the remainder of our stay (Splash and IASW). The hope is that we will just toss our stuff in our room (across the street) and head to the park. DL is open until 11:00pm that night. DCA not a priority that first night.

So, what's faster ... finding the rental counter, getting the car and driving to the hotel/park OR finding one of the shuttles and taking that - with likely other stops for other vacationers along the way? Money-wise, I think it would be comparable -- renting a car for the entire vacation is somewhat equal to renting a car for 4 days + shuttle one way. With this I am assuming that we can pick up a rental car near the parks on say, Thursday or Friday and return it to LAX on the following Monday. Right??

I would also appreciate any recommendations for a shuttle from the airport.

I am hoping that the resident experts on here will have an idea which way is faster. TIA!!

 

[SplashMo]

We used a dedicated shuttle. The red van and it picked us up exactly on the time printed on the reservation. (Which was a 10 min wait) and gave us a ride straight to the hotel.)

However we were going from John wayne.

 

[bumbershoot]

We rented from Avis at LAX, and it was time-consuming. Our trip was in an early December, and yours is in Jan...it will be dark by the time you're really on the road, and I can tell you from experience that's not the MOST fun way to experience Los Angeles freeways!

In addition, a one-way rental like you're proposing at the end of your trip will almost surely add far more money to the expense than you expect.

I'd go with a shuttle, probably SuperShuttle, *maybe* Disneyland Resort Express (it's through Grayline). Call the Grayline people to see what times they pick up around the time you're landing. When we've used that bus, we tend to land at the time that they only pick up every hour, and we always land just too late to catch that hour's shuttle. Which means nearly an hour of standing around an airport without pretty indoor facilities outside of the secure area. If you're landing at a time when they could get you quickly (assuming luggage is fast and there are no delays) consider the coach bus. If not, consider Super Shuttle. When getting a SS quote, be sure to use the name of your hotel, NOT the zip code, as zip code yields higher rates.

Then for your rental car needs, check out the Alamo at DownTown Disney, or in the very local area. Return it when you're done wiht it, and take another shuttle to the airport.

That's my opinion at least.

 

[lwilkison]

We land at LAX around 4:15 on Monday, January 17, which is Martin Luther King Day. With schools out and many people having the day off, I am thinking that traffic may be different than a regular LA day.

We will want a rental car for part of the week, but not a priority the first few days. We could either rent upon arrival for the entire week or pick up a rental a few days into the vacation.

We will be very anxious to get to the park that evening as a couple of our favorite rides go down for refurbishment the next day for the remainder of our stay (Splash and IASW). The hope is that we will just toss our stuff in our room (across the street) and head to the park. DL is open until 11:00pm that night. DCA not a priority that first night.

So, what's faster ... finding the rental counter, getting the car and driving to the hotel/park OR finding one of the shuttles and taking that - with likely other stops for other vacationers along the way? Money-wise, I think it would be comparable -- renting a car for the entire vacation is somewhat equal to renting a car for 4 days + shuttle one way. With this I am assuming that we can pick up a rental car near the parks on say, Thursday or Friday and return it to LAX on the following Monday. Right??

I would also appreciate any recommendations for a shuttle from the airport.

I am hoping that the resident experts on here will have an idea which way is faster. TIA!!

We have used Supershuttle before and they were great. We literally grabbed our luggage, walked out the doors, onto the meridian to one of their "reps" who immediately dispatched the shuttle and within say 5 - 10 minutes a family of 8 was on their way. No other stops.

This time we are using Karmel shuttle. Our travel agent says that they are better then Supershuttle

Good luck to you! Have a great trip!