Disneyland Resort Express

[ChloroformSdxn]

I've never had an issue with them, but we've now been waiting over an hour, and should have been able to get on the 7 pm shuttle. Never showed up. I called Coach, and they said one would be here at 815. No explanation for why the 7 o'clock one didn't show up. I've done this before, I confirmed our location (out front of Terminal B, under the green flyaway sign.)


So frustrating when travelling w 2 kids, and my older one is having a meltdown since he thinks now Disneyland is cancelled (not sure where he got that, but he's so distressed that the bus never showed.) we can't even just Uber it, because we have no car seats.

Not worth the money you save if they don't bother sending their shuttles on he posted schedule.

 

[Shanti]

I've never had an issue with them, but we've now been waiting over an hour, and should have been able to get on the 7 pm shuttle. Never showed up. I called Coach, and they said one would be here at 815. No explanation for why the 7 o'clock one didn't show up. I've done this before, I confirmed our location (out front of Terminal B, under the green flyaway sign.)


So frustrating when travelling w 2 kids, and my older one is having a meltdown since he thinks now Disneyland is cancelled (not sure where he got that, but he's so distressed that the bus never showed.) we can't even just Uber it, because we have no car seats.

Not worth the money you save if they don't bother sending their shuttles on he posted schedule.

Bummer! Thanks for sharing. I hope you get picked up soon!

 

[Cholula]

I'm so sorry. I used to use them all the time and the last time I had a similar experience to yours a few weeks ago. I was out on the island in plenty of time for the 1145 am bus. A bus showed up, but the driver informed us that he was actually dropping people off and the 1145 bus would be there any minute. We waited and waited and no bus came. Another group called and couldn't get an answer as to where the 1145 bus was or why it didn't show up.

Then around 1215 the same bus driver came back around and said we could get back on. He did a pass of all the terminals, then said he was actually the 1245 bus so we would have to make another pass through. I used to use DRE all the time, but if they are just going to play fast and loose with their pick up times then there are plenty of other options.

 

[Shanti]

I'm so sorry. I used to use them all the time and the last time I had a similar experience to yours a few weeks ago. I was out on the island in plenty of time for the 1145 am bus. A bus showed up, but the driver informed us that he was actually dropping people off and the 1145 bus would be there any minute. We waited and waited and no bus came. Another group called and couldn't get an answer as to where the 1145 bus was or why it didn't show up.

Then around 1215 the same bus driver came back around and said we could get back on. He did a pass of all the terminals, then said he was actually the 1245 bus so we would have to make another pass through. I used to use DRE all the time, but if they are just going to play fast and loose with their pick up times then there are plenty of other options.

This makes me feel better about having chosen to use a town car instead for our trip next month.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Oh ick! That's ridiculous. I hope the rest of your trip goes much better! (If you decide you want an alternative to the bus on the way back do ask here on the boards. I have no shuttle w/ car seat experience so am no help but a number of people here have used some different shuttle services with car seats.) Wishing you and your family a touch of extra pixie dust!

 

[millie0312]

Ugh so sorry that happened! The last 3 Year’s we’ve taken it with no issues but we are there pretty early in the day so maybe less busy times they don’t bother to do all the pick ups makes me nervous taking it this year as I have 2 younger kids and waiting over an hour in the middle of the rod where they can’t freely move for so long will not start our trip out well (or showing up late to our flight home because they didn’t pick up going to the airport....) hopefully this is a fluke and they correct it ASAP!

 

[lalasmama]

We had a similar experience several years ago, but in the morning. I arrived at the pickup island at like 10 am for a 10:15 am bus. PERFECT! Then no bus at 10:15. 10:30. 10:45. 11:00. I called, and was told they are just "a few minutes away," and that I must have missed the 10:15 bus. When all was said and done, I waited over 90 minutes *after* the scheduled time.

We've also had them charge us different amounts--the family in front of us was charged one price (not having paid ahead of time) and we were charged like $6 more. I threw a fit, pulled up their website, was told that price was an "online special" (prices were clearly marked as an online prepay special and regular price; they were trying to charge us $6 per person *over* the regular not-prepaid fare printed on their online pamphlet), telling us the non-prepaid price online was wrong, and that it had been raised months ago. After me being VERY vocal about it, we got the posted non-prepaid fare as listed on their pamphlet... As did the rest of the bus. After how loud I was about it, everyone was aware of the published price. The operator I spoke with over the phone later agreed that the online pamphlet was the correct pricing.

All that being said, it seems like they were under new management recently. A person claiming to be an employee was posting on here about how they are really trying to up their game, and to please give them another chance to earn our business back. Moot point for us now (we don't fly in/out of LAX or SNA anymore), but they seemed sincere. Appears they may not have worked all the kinks out yet.

 

[RADOPT]

This makes me feel better about having chosen to use a town car instead for our trip next month.

which service do you use?

thanks!

 

[Shanti]

which service do you use?

thanks!

It's our first DLR trip, so I can't give a recommendation yet. We will be using Anaheim Town Car, though.

 

[BecAus]

Sorry to hear about your experience - we've never had that happen with them but have been reading lots of reports like this lately. Agree, not worth considering using them if this keeps up!

We used them at the end of Sept / early Oct and our experience was great - no problems whatsoever. We were the first scheduled bus of the day out of LAX however. Right on time getting to B terminal ~ 7.50am. Our return to LAX from Anaheim was also very good. We took the last bus of the day, 5.40pm at the crosswalk and it was on time and all went smoothly. I hadn't confirmed the return pickup by phone either.
I took a chance on them because it was only my son and I and I didn't need a car seat so I knew if something went wrong I could just Uber or Taxi. If one needs car seats then it seems like this might not be the best option at this stage - the last thing you want to be is stuck on that small island for a long period of time with young children - yuk!

Very sorry the same did not happen for you - not good enough : ( I hope the rest of your trip is magical after this poor start!

 

[smartlabelprint]

OMG. Poor you, poor kids.

There is a service that will bring car seats for you. I think it’s lansky. I’d call them to get a quote for your return trip.

We always travel with our car seats for the flight. Thanks for your experience. We will not stop!!

 

[Glynis4]

Eek, this is making me very nervous for our upcoming trip with 2 young kids. Not bringing car seats. We have Lansky booked for the return trip, but really wanted to save some money by taking DRE to the hotel.

 

[AndiSlamberg]

We don't have any kids and this thread is making me very nervous also!! Booked it because as Canadian's without a phone uber/lyft are out and just figured it would be easier. Guess we'll just wait and see.

 

[geergirl]

We don't have any kids and this thread is making me very nervous also!! Booked it because as Canadian's without a phone uber/lyft are out and just figured it would be easier. Guess we'll just wait and see.

Fellow Canadian, I highly recommend picking up a Roam Mobility SIM card for your trip and spending ~$35 to unlock your phone if you don't have an unlocked one. We have used Roam for every trip and it's a huge help to be able to use uber and the disneyland app. You can buy the cards on their website if you have time to wait for delivery or I think London Drugs sells them.

Eek, this is making me very nervous for our upcoming trip with 2 young kids. Not bringing car seats. We have Lansky booked for the return trip, but really wanted to save some money by taking DRE to the hotel.

This is just my opinion but if your car seats aren't super heavy I'd consider bringing them to use on the plane. My nearly 6 year olds still don't fit the seat belts properly and are so much more comfortable (and safer) in their car seats. It gives us some flexibility too if we have a change in plans.

On a previous trip one of my daughters vomited on the airport floor as we were preparing to board. We were of course denied boarding and the airline rebooked us. Because we were flying out of SNA there was only one flight per day and there weren't enough seats available the next day. They booked us out of LAX instead but we had to get ourselves from SNA to LAX. We were so thankful we had the car seats because it would have been a nightmare finding safe transportation on short notice otherwise.

 

[Glynis4]

This is just my opinion but if your car seats aren't super heavy I'd consider bringing them to use on the plane. My nearly 6 year olds still don't fit the seat belts properly and are so much more comfortable (and safer) in their car seats. It gives us some flexibility too if we have a change in plans.

This will be the first time we’ve flown without car seats - for various reasons (tight plane change schedule, bringing a double stroller, etc), it would be a nightmare trying to handle 2 car seats (1 of which is quite heavy) as well. It’s a pain when we have 2 additional adults with us, and it will be just me and DH this time! I totally agree that they are safer in car seats in a plane - we are flying to Hawaii in February and will definitely be bringing them for that trip Fingers crossed the DLR works out - we get in at 4:30 so at least it’s not at the end of the night - we should be able to catch one of them!

 

[bumbershoot]

All that being said, it seems like they were under new management recently.

Yes. They used to be Grayline and now they are something else.

 

[geergirl]

This will be the first time we’ve flown without car seats - for various reasons (tight plane change schedule, bringing a double stroller, etc), it would be a nightmare trying to handle 2 car seats (1 of which is quite heavy) as well. It’s a pain when we have 2 additional adults with us, and it will be just me and DH this time! I totally agree that they are safer in car seats in a plane - we are flying to Hawaii in February and will definitely be bringing them for that trip Fingers crossed the DLR works out - we get in at 4:30 so at least it’s not at the end of the night - we should be able to catch one of them!

I hope it all works out! I know what you mean about the pain of hauling all the kid stuff. I once did a flight with tight connection when my twins were 3 without DH. They needed their seats at the destination so I had to take them. Dionos. Soooo heavy! That trip is the reason when we bought seats for our childcare provider we purposely bought lightweight ones that are super easy to travel with.