I would never book with them due to the bizarre website
Same here.
Man I can't win trying to find something with car seats vs waiting an hr for the bus
You're coming into LAX, right? At a time when the bus comes every hour?
So if you really can't get away from that, check out sites like flightaware or flightstats to see where your flight normally comes in. Then check the airport website to see if there's a Starbucks in that terminal, or a food place, etc, and make sure they are open. If you KNOW that it will be, say, 10 then 11pm when the next buses come, and you landed at 9:55pm, you know you can't make the 10pm. So *take your time*. Take your time getting off the plane; sit back and let the others stand in the aisle for 20 minutes, and just relax in your seat. Once they are off, calmly get your own stuff together. Don't rush at all. If there's something interesting open, even if it's just the Hudson News stand, in your gate area, stop there. Stop and go to the restroom at the gate area; SO much better than on the plane or waiting until after you get to the hotel! Don't rush to the carousel. Look around. It's not pretty there, but at least you will remember what it looks like if you take your time.
When you get to the luggage carousel, again, take your time. Get a luggage cart. Get your stuff.
When we've landed at LAX with a wait until the bus, once we do all the above, we tend to walk up to Terminal 1 so that we are first on the bus. It kills time, stretches our legs, and gets us our choice of seats. Now...only do this if you are sure of the timing! Check out the map of LAX from the outside to see where you will probably be coming out and see how many terminals you pass until the 1st. Once you look at the map, this will make more sense to you.
This does involve walking outside as far as I have noticed, which means exhaust smells, loud cars, and cigarette smoke, so if those will be issues, don't take that walk.
If you're just going to wait at your terminal for the bus, bring some simple games to pass the time with the kids. Don't just sit there staring at each other (this is also my advice, from experience, for doing child swap...don't just sit there waiting, go do something!). Be prepared for the wait.
If you take your time, relax, and are prepared for the wait, it'll be OK. Time changes going west are painful in the evenings, I understand! But preparation (and talking about it with the kids a lot beforehand) will help a lot.
Since you simply do not wish to bring the carseats, the Express is the only option I would take (especially given the way some shuttle drivers drive, I would NEVER trust a carseat provided by any of them). So use it, be prepared, and have a nice relaxing start to your trip.
It will just be 3 (me, DH, DS7) of us traveling and I haven't decided what service will use to get from SNA to DLR and back. Town cars are nice but 3 people, 3 suitcases , carry ons, and a stroller could be tight.
We have a 6:00am flight with a connection and arrive at SNA about 11:30 am. I will be up at 3 so I get the long travel time. This may be situation where I pay for the convenience of a direct ride and avoid the headache and delay of a shared shuttle.
You might want to check the schedule of the
Disneyland Resort Express, because that might be during the time the bus comes every half hour. And SNA is a lot more pleasant to hang out in than LAX is. at 11:30 Am everything will be open, so you could get a snack or coffee (or wine), before heading down to get luggage and walk over to the shuttle pickup area.
