Will I arrive in time?

[Meemoo]

Hi there, we're traveling from Australia but via Hawaii. We have a domestic flight from HNL-LAX, is suppose to arrive at 4.20pm. I am just looking at the DL Express timetable. They have a bus at 6pm, then no more until 8pm. I'm not sure how long it takes to clear the airport after a domestic US flight? Would I be better off booking another service? I am hoping to get into DL that evening for the fireworks if we are lucky I gather the traffic would be grid-lock at that time too?

 

[superlarz]

IF you already cleared customs in Hawaii and your flight is on time to LAX you should have enough time to catch the bus at 6. It should take about 30 minutes to get off the plane and get to the baggage claim. If things are moving slow, you should still be able to do it in less than an hour. If you have to go through customs in LAX then you probably wouldnt be able to get to the bus by 6

 

[SierraRose]

As someone who has flown LAX many times, getting off the plane for a domestic flight usually doesn't take that long, I'd say you'll probably be out of there by 5:30 at the very latest so making the 6pm bus should be no problem.

HOWEVER, the Magical Express at WDW and the Disneyland Express are completely different, so it would not be complimentary. Currently a one way trip to Disneyland from the airport will run you $30 per person. Although children do ride free.

What I recommend is looking into the SuperShuttle vans, they only charge $17 per person one way and you can find all kinds of discount codes and coupons online to make it cheaper. Though as I mentioned earlier children do ride free on the DL express so say you have 2 adults and 2 children it would roughly be the same price if you were to take the supershuttle.

 

[Meemoo]

Customs will be cleared in Hawaii as we are stopping over for a night there. I was thinking if we couldn't make the 6pm bus I'd book a shuttle. I thought it would be exciting for the kids first DL trip to get on the Disney bus. They find riding in a big bus a novelty still too

 

[Girimama33]

I think the 6pm bus would be fine then...just hope there is no delay getting into LAX.
And yes...you will likely encounter some traffic.

 

[figment_jii]

I took SuperShuttle from LAX to DLR in December. My flight landed around 10:00 pm and it took about 90 minutes to get to DLR. There was no traffic of note on the route, so the actual drive time was about 45 minutes. The rest of the time was spent in the airport picking up passengers and getting through the airport traffic.

 

[Meemoo]

Thanks everyone, feeling more confident about it now. Looking forward to catching the Mickey bus If the flight is delayed, oh well not much I can do, will just have to wait.

 

[TechGuy]

An employee at the HoJos mentioned a Taxi is $45 for a full load (4 people). Since the SuperShuttle is $34 it's not much more expensive and you will go direct, no stops. Super Shuttle and the bus will stop everywhere.

 

[mrkyyyle]

An employee at the HoJos mentioned a Taxi is $45 for a full load (4 people). Since the SuperShuttle is $34 it's not much more expensive and you will go direct, no stops. Super Shuttle and the bus will stop everywhere.

You sure they weren't talking about John Wayne Airport (SNA)? No way do you get a cab from LAX to DLR for $45, more like $100 minimum + tip.

 

[TechGuy]

OK... I stand corrected.

My two cents... Super Shuttle seemed like a better value than the bus, for me. I have used both but the bus stopped too many times for me. An early tip to the SS driver may get you first stop, unless they have firm routing based on the central office. I normally drive to DLR but have flown a couple times.

 

[TechGuy]

A quick look at the UBER site said the UberX was $39-51 for LAX to DLR the TaxiFareFinder said a taxi is about $110 with tip.

 

[lalasmama]

Thanks everyone, feeling more confident about it now. Looking forward to catching the Mickey bus If the flight is delayed, oh well not much I can do, will just have to wait.

Don't get too attached to the idea of a bus with a Disney-fied exterior (or interior). Every time I have ever taken the DLRE from LAX, it's always been a white, non-descript tour bus. Exciting for a child, yes as it's a big bus, but doesn't scream "Disney" at all! I know other people have reported that they have had a Disney-looking bus from LAX, but *we* haven't. (Now, from SNA, it's always been a decorated bus.)

Edited to add: It's never taken me less than 3 hours to get from the plane, through LAX, through baggage claim, onto DLRE, and to my hotel. We've hit traffic every.single.time., and it's almost always about a 60-75 minute drive from pick-up at LAX to hotel using DLRE.

 

[missheatherfitz]

We took the Disney Express bus from LAX a couple of weeks ago. Not impressed. It was 20 minutes late, dirty interior. It took over 2 hours from the time we landed to get to the resort and we hit no traffic. Going back to LAX at the end of trip was the same. Won't use again.