Airport Proximity to DLR and Ground Transportation Information Superthread (READ FIRST POST FOR OVERVIEW!)

FYI, there is a shorter route from Long Beach Airport to the Disneyland Resort, basically head due east from the airport, it places you on Wardlow, which turns into Ball Road at the Orange County Border. Very simple and easy and no freeways, and at 13.75 miles, closer than John Wayne.

Here is a marked map to the Disneyland Hotel as an end point

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6977828
 
I have a question about transportation. And, yes, as the originator of this thread, I definitely appreciate the irony! I keep telling myself I'll do an update!

My question: Has anyone taken a limo recently from SNA (John Wayne Airport in Orange County) to Disneyland? I have a mother-daughter trip planned next June that my daughter knows about, but I want to incorporate a few surprises. I'm wondering if anyone has a limo company they have used in the last 6-12 months they would recommend, and if so, would you mind sharing the cost?

I have been using Go Sedan as my preferred Town Car service from the local airports. (I live near Disneyland).

https://www.gosedan.com/

Quotes are available at the link.
 
3 of us, all adult prices, are flying into LGB

I am thinking the taxi will be best for us.

Any flat rates people have found and were they to or from the Airport?


LGB offers a flat rate of $45 from the airport to the Disneyland area.

Since LGB is in LA County, they have different rules than Orange County (Disneyland).
 
LGB offers a flat rate of $45 from the airport to the Disneyland area.

Since LGB is in LA County, they have different rules than Orange County (Disneyland).
Thanks.

This year I got great rates into LAX. Any pricing rates updated for taxi versus SuperShuttle. And how much of a Headache is SuperShuttle in LAX?
 


Both Super Shuttle and Prime Time Shuttle have a deal with LAX and have special pick up zones that normally have a dispatcher from the company. The pick up zones are on the curb nearest the terminals, just follow the Orange signs, and once at a pick up zone, you will see two signs, one for each company.

http://www.lawa.org/welcome_lax.aspx?id=1298
 
As for rates for options from LAX, Taxis are around $100, and can go up in heavy traffic.

Both Uber and Lyft are authorized to pick up at LAX, though LA does add a surcharge. I would say on average about $65, depending on Surge Pricing at the time you request the vehicle.

As stated, I personally use Go Sedan when I fly out of LAX

And you can get the current pricing for both SuperShuttle and Prime Time Shuttle at their websites.
 
Please forgive the dumb question, but I'd like to confirm something. I looked through the thread and did not see a confirmation on this specifically.

We booked through the DL website, staying at DLH, and added Ground Transportation from SNA (John Wayne/Orange County). Will that be on the Disneyland Resort Express?

I know we might get some instructions closer to our dates, but I'm curious (and overly excited to know everything) now. :)

Thanks. I'm also happy to be pointed at other threads or sites to read instead.

The Walt Disney Travel Company (also their partners such as AAA, COSTCO and Get Away Today) use the Disneyland Express as the transfer company from SNA and LAX.
 


I am more than a little surprised that Karmel Shuttle are not listed on the first page of this thread. They have much cleaner vehicles - certainly compared to SuperShuttle. They also prioritize holidaymakers / tourists over locals, so all of the max 3 stops they make are at hotels. I remember SuperShuttle took us one time to an RV park as a stop on the way to our hotel, which unfortunately looked a bit like one of those parks you see in a horror movie, so things did not feel too comfortable even though nothing actually happened at the time.
 
Well, Karmel is not a preferred provider at LAX, so you do have to book in advance, and then call/text the company when ready to pick up, and only at that time can Karmel enter LAX and pick you up, so a bit longer to use.

And talking about booking in advance, it is key for those with children under 8 who need a car seat. Unless you brought your own, you have limited options. You could opt for the Disneyland Express which is exempt due to the fact they use full size buses. But any other transportation needs them,and most don't carry them usually, so Taxi/Uber/Lyft/Shuttle Vans, Town Cars and Limos all require them by law. So some transportation services do offer car/booster seat for an extra fee, and sometimes for free. But you do have to book in advance and let them know the specifics (how many seats and which type). So that specific vehicle will have the seats when they pick you up.

the other option would be a rental car and renting the needed car seat from them.
 
If the OP is getting edited, let me suggest a few things.

One, showing the easy LGB directions to the resort, not the Mapquest longer route.

Adding Karmel and maybe a couple of other options that offer car seats on request.

Talk about Califrnia law in regards tocar/booster seats.

Mentioning about how to deal with renting a car at the airport.

For example, both LGB and SNA have the main rental car office and pick up right across the street from the terminal.

LAX, ONT and BUR all require the use of a shuttle to get to where you pick up your car. Either separate offices near LAX, or a combined location on the edge of the airport (ONT and LGB).

Also maybe talk about the local (Disneyland area) rental car companies and their location. (Most are on Katella Avenue).

As for AMTRAK and Metrolinks trains.

Adding the fact that the Fullerton Station is almost as close as the Anaheim station (now known as ARTIC with a new large station). Also, the public transit options to get to them, OCTA bus route 543/43 goes up and down Harbor and has a stop at the Fullerton Station. Also explain that AMTRAK use the code "LAX" to mean Union Station in Downtown LA and is miles away from the airport with the same code. (There is a special Flyaway bus service that does go between the two locations though (fee required and no cash is accepted) (Also the policy of the Disneyland Express Bus, prepaid vouchers or credit/debit cards only). Explaining the difference between AMTRAK and Metrolink (the commuter system that shares much of the same track and stations as AMTRAK).

So there are some suggestions.
 
I need some advise in getting to/from LAX to Disneys Grand Californian. Not sure the best way to do this yet .........
Our travel times are on Saturdays in January 2017 . We arrive on a Saturday around noon into LAX , and will depart LAX the following Saturday around 1pm .
Dont really think we need a car, but are thinking about driving out to the coast to check it out . Also, we are staying on our points at GCV , so there will be no parking fee at the resort for us. Have a rental car reserved for the week for $235.

Not sure if we want to rent a car , or hire a car service (like Lanskys) to get to and from LAX ? Want to rent a car so we have "wheels" if we want to venture outside Disney , but LA traffic ......... ! Car service is about $210 round trip, plus some tip .
How is the drive from LAX to Disneyland on a Saturday about 1 pm or so ?
How about if we have a flight on Saturday that departs LAX at 1pm . When would we need to leave the Disney Resort ? (I am thinking like 9-10 am ?) .

What are the approximate drive times like, LAX - Disneyland both ways on a Saturday late morning / early afternoon , both best and worst case ?

Any help would be appreciated !!! Not sure if we want to rent a car from LAX for the convenience , or just hire a car service for less stress ???

Thanks !
 
I would just rent a car for the entire period.

I would bring my own GPS device, rent one from the company or use a app that provides live Traffic updates (I use a TomTom.)

As for getting from LAX to the Disneyland Resort, the most common route, and is the one used by professional transportation services is 105 east to the 605 south to the 91 east to the 5 south. The majority of the trip has carpool lanes (just 2 or more people in the vehicle are needed to qualify). To get to the GCH, use the special Disneyland Drive carpool exit, and make sure you do not use the flyover that goes straight to the Theme Park parking structure, stay to the right after getting off the ramp onto Disneyland Drive. Take Disneyland Drive down, and the GCH will be on the left, and has a traffic light to allow the turn. The average drive time is about 1 hour, maybe a bit less.

As for the return trip, lets work backwards, with a 1 PM flight, and I will presume domestic, the big issue is LAX and its usually long delays for the TSA security check, so we are looking at around 11 Am to be at the airport.

All rental car companies at LAX are off-site, so I would first drop off the family and luggage at the LAX terminal you are using, and then return the car solo, and take the shuttle back (Ti also works in reverse when getting the car). So add 30 minutes for the rental car return, and we are at 10:30 AM.

As mentioned, the average drive is about 1 hour, so I would add some time due to possible traffic delays, so about a 9 AM start sounds good.

Have a great trip.

The one issue would be Saturday January 13th, as that is a Marathon weekend, with a 10K run on Saturday. This will cause closures on Disneyland Drive due to the race, and that is the morning hours, so the return to LAX would be impacted, and I would add some extra time just to get out of the Hotel Parking Lot to the 5 freeway. I would also look at going south on Disneyland Drive to Katella, and make a left (east) to Haster, where you make a right, and then a quick left onto Gene Autry Way. This will place you to a special carpool entrance for northbound I-5.

Hope that helps.

EDITED to add- As for the Carpool lanes and the trip to/from LAX. the junction of the 91 and 5 freeway has a special carpool exit/connector that takes you directly to the left side of the freeway where they are located. The 91/605 junction,you need to get out of the Carpool lane and use the main ramps. The 605 doesn't have a carpool lane, but it is only a few miles of the trip (short segment). And the 105 has carpool lanes, but you need to get on the main lanes to enter/exit them. But they are a great help and recommend using them as much as possible. Also, the law is a bit weird, in Orange County, you have mainly open access carpool lanes (known as Diamond lanes), where you can enter/exit them most of the time, the lane is marked with "Elephant Tracks" which are wide white dashes (Aka fatter/larger than normal) . In Los Angeles County, there are only limited areas that you can enter/exit the carpool lanes. In both counties, you cannot cross the solid double white lines (Some are still yellow, but Federal law is making the switch to white. There will be signage overhead and attached to the K rail (median) that will mention upcoming exits just before the break in the solid lines And the break uses the Elephant Tracks to let you know it is OK to enter/exit.
 
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If the OP is getting edited, let me suggest a few things

Darkbeer, those are great suggestions. I may not be able to add them all in one sitting, but I'll see what I can do. With both a March and a June trip coming up in the spring, I'll tend to be on the boards more regularly for the next few months. I'll definitely need to look into the Long Beach directions. While I've flown in and out of LAX, Burbank, and Ontario more times than I can count over my lifetime, and used John Wayne a handful of times, I don't know if I've ever flown in or out of Long Beach. If I did, it was long enough in the past that I don't remember it. I may have to arrange the travel for my June trip to fly into Long Beach, just to give it a try. I've always heard positive reviews about the airport.
 
I am more than a little surprised that Karmel Shuttle are not listed on the first page of this thread.

Hi Felice, When I first collated all the transportation information in the first post, I had never heard of Karmel Shuttle, but had been a frequent customer of Super Shuttle for years. When I have a little vacation time from work next month, I'll plan on doing some much needed updates and add a blurb about Karmel since I know many people on the Disboards have happily used them. In the subsequent years, I've pretty well switched from shuttles to car services (taxi, Uber, private car services) since the original post, but I think families with younger kids or larger groups will likely still find shuttles or the Disneyland Express useful.
 
Darkbeer, those are great suggestions. I may not be able to add them all in one sitting, but I'll see what I can do. With both a March and a June trip coming up in the spring, I'll tend to be on the boards more regularly for the next few months. I'll definitely need to look into the Long Beach directions. While I've flown in and out of LAX, Burbank, and Ontario more times than I can count over my lifetime, and used John Wayne a handful of times, I don't know if I've ever flown in or out of Long Beach. If I did, it was long enough in the past that I don't remember it. I may have to arrange the travel for my June trip to fly into Long Beach, just to give it a try. I've always heard positive reviews about the airport.


As for Long Beach, it is very nice because it is small and only allows 50 commercial flights a day. So there is the rub, limited flights and where they start.

The main airline is jetBlue, but then you have Alaska, and then a few flights from others, including a new option with Southwest.

http://www.lgb.org/travelers/default.asp

And it is the closest airport to Disneyland, but we are talking less than a mile, I like to say both LGB and SNA are 14 miles away, because they are both close, as compared to other options.

And feel free to ask me about more details, I am well versed in Public Transit option in Southern California, and will be happy to help fill in any thing you are interested in.

Also use the area airports on a regular basis (I live in Anaheim), in fact, I know some folks at LGB who see me and say hello when I am dealing with my "posse" (I do TV filming on occasion,and have to deal with the equipment, etc., so we stand out...)

So no rush, just a few suggestions and a offer to help in the future....
 
... but I think families with younger kids or larger groups will likely still find shuttles or the Disneyland Express useful.

In my head, I read this, and thought "Danger Will Robinson, Danger!'


And the issue is Car/Booster seats for those under 8. California law is very strict, so unless you brought your own, you have limited options.

Rent a car and also the car seats.

Use an exempt vehicle, in this case, basically the Disneyland Express is the only option from LAX/SNA. No car seats needed, same with planes, trains, public transit buses and rail and large tour buses (full size).

Or pre-arrange a vehicle (town car, shuttle van, etc.) that will provide car seats as part of the package. But basically Shuttle Vans/Taxis/Uber/Lyft won't have car seats (Takes up too much room, when the space is needed for luggage). When you book in advance, you can let the company know how many car/booster seats you need, and which types. This will allow the company to place them in the vehicle prior to picking you up.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-...Car.Seats.For.Children.Under.8.Years.Old.html
 
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We are doing Town car service to/from Airport SNA about $180 RT 7 people one car seat, one booster. Then renting a car to drive to Universal from Alamo in down town Disney, you can bring the cars back as late as you like and you have a true 24 hour rental. Plus they have car seats. $142
 
For those that come to visit Disneyland but also tour LA, do you fly out of different airports (e.g .if visiting Disneyland first, then fly in to SNA but out of LAX)? For us, the most expensive is flying to LAX for both (but only direct flight option - which is already a 5hr flight), and cheapest is flying in and out of SNA (not direct). If we mix airports, then it means driving from SNA to LAX when an airport is right in Los Angeles.
 
Thanks SO much for the VERY detailed info. Its MUCH appreciated !!!

I guess we just need to figure out IF we want to do anything outside of the Disneyland area , thats not within walking distance. If so (even for 1 day) , renting a car would make the most sense . Otherwise hiring a round trip car service LAX-DL would be the least stressful, I am sure .

Thanks again !


I would just rent a car for the entire period.

I would bring my own GPS device, rent one from the company or use a app that provides live Traffic updates (I use a TomTom.)

As for getting from LAX to the Disneyland Resort, the most common route, and is the one used by professional transportation services is 105 east to the 605 south to the 91 east to the 5 south. The majority of the trip has carpool lanes (just 2 or more people in the vehicle are needed to qualify). To get to the GCH, use the special Disneyland Drive carpool exit, and make sure you do not use the flyover that goes straight to the Theme Park parking structure, stay to the right after getting off the ramp onto Disneyland Drive. Take Disneyland Drive down, and the GCH will be on the left, and has a traffic light to allow the turn. The average drive time is about 1 hour, maybe a bit less.

As for the return trip, lets work backwards, with a 1 PM flight, and I will presume domestic, the big issue is LAX and its usually long delays for the TSA security check, so we are looking at around 11 Am to be at the airport.

All rental car companies at LAX are off-site, so I would first drop off the family and luggage at the LAX terminal you are using, and then return the car solo, and take the shuttle back (Ti also works in reverse when getting the car). So add 30 minutes for the rental car return, and we are at 10:30 AM.

As mentioned, the average drive is about 1 hour, so I would add some time due to possible traffic delays, so about a 9 AM start sounds good.

Have a great trip.

The one issue would be Saturday January 13th, as that is a Marathon weekend, with a 10K run on Saturday. This will cause closures on Disneyland Drive due to the race, and that is the morning hours, so the return to LAX would be impacted, and I would add some extra time just to get out of the Hotel Parking Lot to the 5 freeway. I would also look at going south on Disneyland Drive to Katella, and make a left (east) to Haster, where you make a right, and then a quick left onto Gene Autry Way. This will place you to a special carpool entrance for northbound I-5.

Hope that helps.

EDITED to add- As for the Carpool lanes and the trip to/from LAX. the junction of the 91 and 5 freeway has a special carpool exit/connector that takes you directly to the left side of the freeway where they are located. The 91/605 junction,you need to get out of the Carpool lane and use the main ramps. The 605 doesn't have a carpool lane, but it is only a few miles of the trip (short segment). And the 105 has carpool lanes, but you need to get on the main lanes to enter/exit them. But they are a great help and recommend using them as much as possible. Also, the law is a bit weird, in Orange County, you have mainly open access carpool lanes (known as Diamond lanes), where you can enter/exit them most of the time, the lane is marked with "Elephant Tracks" which are wide white dashes (Aka fatter/larger than normal) . In Los Angeles County, there are only limited areas that you can enter/exit the carpool lanes. In both counties, you cannot cross the solid double white lines (Some are still yellow, but Federal law is making the switch to white. There will be signage overhead and attached to the K rail (median) that will mention upcoming exits just before the break in the solid lines And the break uses the Elephant Tracks to let you know it is OK to enter/exit.
 
As for Long Beach, it is very nice because it is small and only allows 50 commercial flights a day. So there is the rub, limited flights and where they start.

The main airline is jetBlue, but then you have Alaska, and then a few flights from others, including a new option with Southwest.

http://www.lgb.org/travelers/default.asp

And it is the closest airport to Disneyland, but we are talking less than a mile, I like to say both LGB and SNA are 14 miles away, because they are both close, as compared to other options.

And feel free to ask me about more details, I am well versed in Public Transit option in Southern California, and will be happy to help fill in any thing you are interested in.

Also use the area airports on a regular basis (I live in Anaheim), in fact, I know some folks at LGB who see me and say hello when I am dealing with my "posse" (I do TV filming on occasion,and have to deal with the equipment, etc., so we stand out...)

So no rush, just a few suggestions and a offer to help in the future....

Last time we had a voucher from GCH for the taxi back to LGB. It had $50 to LGB via freeway and $40 via city streets. When we asked the driver to take city streets he claimed it would take more than 2 hours!!! (on a sunday afternoon)!! I know that is just a way to get more $$ but do you know on average what the timing is like?
 

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