Which airport?

[michelle1]

I will be travelling alone with my DD, not renting a car and staying near the gates of DL (haven't chosen the hotel yet). Which airport would be the best choice for us to fly into considering I will be travelling without my DH and don't know the area? Also, what is the best way for the 2 of us to get to the hotel? Thanks for any help you can give me..this will be my first time travelling without DH!

 

[mattmommy]

We've only flown into LAX--DON'T.

This time we're flying into John Wayne airport and taking the Disneyland Express. Hopefully somebody else has the e-mail address. They is a $3 coupon you can print off. We're staying at the Candy Cane Inn.

 

[ter-moo]

You definitely want to fly into John Wayne (SNA). If you go on the airport's website, it lists the shuttles available. We've taken Prime Time and Super Shuttle before, as well as a taxi. It's about 15-20 minutes from the airport to your hotel.

Once, we didn't even reserve a shuttle--just walked out to the shuttle area and found some waiting (for other pick ups). Then I wheeled and dealed with them and got a good price. A taxi will run about $35; most of the shuttles are between $9-12/person.

 

[hlbtimes2]

As the others have said SNA/John Wayne is a great airport. Long Beach would also be fine. Its only about 3 miles further away then SNA. Its a nice small airport that is easy to get around in. From there you would want either a taxi or super shuttle.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Cw4d's airport rule. Fly into/out of the airport that is significantly cheaper than the others. This can vary by date and where you are flying from/to. If none are significantly cheaper, fly into/out of Orange County.

 

[cutedisneygirly]

We normally fly into John Wayne. Super close to DL (you may even be able to see the park as you head into the airport). However, this time we found that the lowest prices for Southwest would require us to fly to LAX (ugh). However, I will take a $49 one-way ticket and $74 back over the convenience of SNA. I will deal with LAX this time to save money!!!

However, if price was not a consideration, I would choose SNA any day. It is such a small, nice, easy-to-get-around airport!!!

 

[PigletGurl]

yeah i always fly through John Wayne too

 

[dxwwf3]

Is LAX really that bad? We booked there because it saved us about $200 per person. We're going to take Disneyland Express to the Disneyland Hotel and because our flight going home is at 6:00 AM, we couldn't use DL Express, so I booked SuperShuttle shared van. We should roll into LAX at about 4:00 AM on our return trip. What problems should we expect to encounter at LAX? We aren't frequent flyers by any stretch, but we did fly into Orlando this December and had no trouble at all with that airport.

 

[CalGal]

LAX can be a mad house. I've had to wait in a line well over an hour long just to check into Southwest. They were largely checking people in based upon how soon their flight left because so many people had been waiting so long that they were at risk of missing their flight. I've also had some flight delays at LAX. On average, I would say you would expect to need an additional 2-4 hours each trip going into LAX over SNA to allow for travel time to and from the airport, longer lines, and greater likelihood of delays. Nevertheless, at $200/person, I would absolutely go for LAX.

 

[dxwwf3]

Well luckily I know at least Delta has the auotmated check in machines that just scan and print your boarding passes and have other people who take your checked bags right there. We did that in Orlando when the line was HUGE and were in and out in 5 minutes. Now I don't expect that to happen again, but luckily things like that are now available that give more options.

 

[tlovesdis]

No one has mentioned Long Beach! I LOVE LOVE LOVE flying into LB airport. It is very small and super convienient! Check if Jet Blue flies from your city to LB.

If you do fly into LB, you can take a cab directly to the resort area for about $35.

 

[hlbtimes2]

No one has mentioned Long Beach! I LOVE LOVE LOVE flying into LB airport. It is very small and super convienient! Check if Jet Blue flies from your city to LB.

If you do fly into LB, you can take a cab directly to the resort area for about $35.

Hey! I'm a somebody and I mentioned it!

 

[Goofster57]

We fly into an out of LAX most of the time, mainly because it is cheaper than the other airports in the area and we can usually get a non-stop to our destination (to Orlando anyway). It is busier they have more flight, terminals, traffic and passengers, but I feel that it generally runs pretty smooth.

Now if money and connections where not an issue I would select John Wayne or Long Beach, both are much smaller airports, easier to get around the actual terminals.

 

[tlovesdis]

Hey! I'm a somebody and I mentioned it!

Sorry, I read through the posts kind of fast. My bad!!

 

[hlbtimes2]

I was just givin' you a hard time. Its all good.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Ontario is another nice airport. Its kind of far away, however I have sometimes gotten great deals flying into that one so the higher cab fare to get to the Disneyland area has been okay. I wish it was closer, its a nice, smaller airport, used mostly for cargo carriers I believe. Maybe the same distance as LAX but no comparison as far as the airport itself.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Is LAX really that bad? We booked there because it saved us about $200 per person. We're going to take Disneyland Express to the Disneyland Hotel and because our flight going home is at 6:00 AM, we couldn't use DL Express, so I booked SuperShuttle shared van. We should roll into LAX at about 4:00 AM on our return trip. What problems should we expect to encounter at LAX? We aren't frequent flyers by any stretch, but we did fly into Orlando this December and had no trouble at all with that airport.

It's bad. But it isn't $200 a person bad. Hence my rule. 4 am isn't prime flying time. So you'll be OK with your 6 o'clock out.