Which airport to fly into? car rental?

[GWhitten98]

We are contemplating a trip to DL instead of DW this summer. I have a few travel questions before I even get to the park stuff. We have point on southwest so that is the airline we will be using.

Is there a preference as to which airport is better to fly into?
Could we do a DL only without renting a car?
If we do not rent a car, are there shuttles from any of the airports to the good neighbor hotels? If not what is a cab going to cost?
If we rent a car, how bad is driving?

Our second option for the trip would be to fly into San Diego and drive up to DL. How is that drive? If we do this we might try to hit Lego land for the day and then stay one night in San Diego, Is this a waste of worth wild?

 

[MikeRx]

Is there a preference as to which airport is better to fly into?
SNA Santa Ana - Jon Wayne is the best in most cases
Could we do a DL only without renting a car?
Yes we have a car service pick us up at the airport and drop us off when the trip is over, no need for a car as DLR is easy to walk and a real treat compared to the buses or car rides in WDW.
If we do not rent a car, are there shuttles from any of the airports to the good neighbor hotels? If not what is a cab going to cost?
I don't know the cab rate but a car from Execucar was $132.16 round trip. Other shuttle services can be far cheaper, but I like the door to door service of Execucar (Super Shuttle subsidiary)
If we rent a car, how bad is driving?
Driving from SNA to DLR is not bad as long as you pick your times carefully. Traffic in Orange County can be rough, it should take about 30-40 minutes on a perfect day.

 

[MikeRx]

I see in your notes that you were at the Beach Club for F&W in 2015, so were we! It was a great time and perfect weather for us.

 

[drnp]

Fly into SNA if at all possible. Uber and Lyft are allowed to pick up at SNA. Last week Uber was $19 from SNA to Hilton near convention center (which across from Toy Story parking lot). This was around 1130pm on a weekday. From Hilton to SNA Uber was about $23 at around 1pm on a Saturday. If you've never tried either Uber or Lyft, you can get first time rider promo codes which would make each trip almost free.
If you are doing DL only and staying at a good neighbor hotel, i don't think you really need to rent a car.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

If flying southwest then the best airport is SNA. It is the closest and the easiest because it is fairly small. This means less time wasted at the airport going through security and getting your bags. You also will get to disneyland faster since you will avoid the dreaded LA traffic. If you are just doing disneyland then renting a car is not advisable. It is easiest to just get a taxi or uber. It will cost about $45 each way for a cab and less for uber. I find cabs much better than a shuttle because you won't need to follow their timetable or stop at different hotels along the way to drop off other guests.
You could always take the amtrack train from san diego to anaheim. I havn't done it myself but i heard it is very scenic as it goes along the coast and the station in anaheim is close to the parks.

 

[GWhitten98]

Thank you for the responses... The train idea sounds very interesting. Wonder how often that runs and how long it takes... Gonna look into that.

So would 3 park days at DL be enough? We were thinking about a long weekend like Thursday to Tuesday if we do San Diego or just Friday to Monday for DL only?

Yea F&W was amazing.... DH and I had an awesome time.... Disney without kids was pretty great!

 

[GWhitten98]

Wow I just checked Amtrak for all 5 of us would be less than $175 and it's about 2 HR and 15 min from sandiego to Anaheim..... That sounds so fun. We could do a day or two in San Diego and then fly home from Disney.... This is sounding more appealing all the time!

 

[luulu1999]

I would def fly into SNA..would you have kids that would need seats that might factor into your decision on how to get to and from the airport..we have a 7.5 yr old so I decided to use disneyland express it will be $70 roundtrip for all 4 of us and I figure my kids would think its fun to ride on the bus, I know it stops at other hotels and stuff but we are arriving before noon so Im hoping it wont be to bad!..the train to San Diego sounds like fun!!

 

[HydroGuy]

This may help:

"Airport Proximity to DLR and Ground Transportation Information" by 3TinksAndAnEeyore www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2318297

 

[taffy]

As the other said fly to SNA if possible and we never get a Car Rental at DL.

 

[Mom of three]

Im surprised nobody mentioned Long Beach?? That's even closer than SNA and it's also smaller. Its by far our favorite and we always pick it if we can. SNA is a close second.

 

[VandVsmama]

This DIS Unplugged podcast has a ton of useful information about the local airports & options for transportation to/from.

 

[Angrose]

The train also stops in Carlsbad so you could still do Legoland if you want.

 

[GunnarCharles]

Would not disagree with anybody else's comments, but have never flown into SNA. My parents flew there recently and had a good experience. My trip to DL last year however we flew in to Bob Hope airport in Burbank. Not necessarily as close to Disney as SNA but that's where we found the best price for airline tickets as well as car rental. We rented from Midway and got good rates with very good service and a nice car.

 

[ZanderMan]

+1 On LGB Our favorite too! Not a big fan of SNA Or LAX.

 

[ParkHopper1]

My trip to DL last year however we flew in to Bob Hope airport in Burbank.

Burbank can be an option if the price is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper but if your commute lands during rush hour traffic the 50 minute drive can easily turn into a 2:15 hour drive as you are on the other side of LA from Disneyland.

 

[realrellim]

FWIW, we flew into LAX last time and are flying there again this time (on SW) because there were many more options for flights and the price was considerably cheaper. Last time we took the Disneyland Express bus and that's also our plan again. I didn't want to bring car seats on the flight or to mess with whatever would need to be done to have them for a shuttle. Plus the kids are free on the Disneyland Express (1 per paying adult) so it was way more cost-effective for us.

 

[sherilaine]

We only ever fly into LAX because we can't get non stop into SNA, that would be our preferred airport but it's not worth a stop over.

We always rent a car and we love the freedom especially considering we rented one on our last trip for about $20 more than what it would cost us to shuttle from and to the airport.

The only issue I see though is you'd have to lug along car seats for your kids, which could be a pain.

Driving though is not a big deal - if you are used to driving in any other large city in North America then you would be fine driving there - I see people comment that they are scared to drive in L.A. and I think the place gets a bad reputation because after 4 trips of doing it I don't see what all the fuss is about.

 

[AprilDecember]

I second/third LGB - you can seriously take Wardlow (the street that leads straight out of the airport) all the way to resort (it turns into Ball Rd at the OC line). When I lived in Lakewood (right next to the airport), I could easily take Wardlow to work at Disneyland in around 25 minutes.

Plus, the airport is beautiful (it has gorgeous new terminals PLUS its original Deco "head house") and the best option for JetBlue fans.