Disneyland Training is brought to you by Kim who blogs at Savings for Disney. Kim is a Disneyland and a Disney World veteran. Be sure to visit her blog where she talks about how she is saving for her trips to Disney.
Disneyland is actually very easy to get to. There are four airports actually within a 30 mile radius. The challenge most of the time is traffic. But luckily most of the transportation into Disneyland isn’t by the minute anyway so it really depends on what you feel your time is worth. Here are the major airports, their distance, and what airlines fly into them (best to worst for each airport).
John Wayne (SNA), Orange County, is the easiest airport to get to Disneyland from. It is a smaller airport that is 14 miles away. Since you travel mostly carpool lanes with this airport getting to Disneyland is relatively fast through there. The airlines that fly into this airport are Southwest Airlines, American, United, Northwest, Continental, and Delta. Transportation from this airport is awesome. You have several different options. A taxi costs approximately $33.00 each way. The Super shuttle is $10.00 per person and makes only a few stops since they are vans. The Airport Bus which is like Mears is $18.00 for adults and $13.00 for Children and may take a while to get to your hotel due to stops.
Long Beach (LGB) is a great airport to fly into. They don’t offer a lot of options as far as flights but once again getting to Disneyland if fairly easy because of carpool lanes and toll roads. Long Beach airport is a very old school airport where you walk down stairs to get to the terminal. Almost like the Beatles in the 60’s. Because of this only smaller planes are able to fly into there. But if you want an adventure for your kids this is it. The two major airlines that fly into here are Jet Blue and American. As for transportation you are on your own here. I would suggest renting a car from here which will run on average $30.00 a day.
Los Angeles (LAX) is the next easiest airport. You do have to deal with traffic for the most part with this airport but sometimes can get the best flights and best deals which make the traffic seam minor. Airlines flying into here are well…. All major ones including Virgin America. DO NOT get a Taxi from here. You cross a county line which almost doubles and in some instances triples the taxi cost. Your best bet is Supper Shuttle at $16.00 per person and $30.00 per person round trip. The Airport Bus is $15.00 for adults and $16.00 for children.
And last is Ontario (ONT). This is a smaller airport but still handles a lot of major carriers. Not only do you get the standard ones but you also get Jet Blue here as well as Frontier. Transportation, however, you are on your own again with. Renting a car here is easy and for the most part you bypass your major highway congestion with this airport. A rental car will run you about $30.00 a day.
For air travel I almost always use Southwest Airlines, Jet Blue, or Virgin America. They offer the best prices and the best time tables. With four airports to choose from you can price it out and get some pretty great rates but even from Northern California it costs us almost $150.00 round trip. This is why we often drive.
For us (422 miles) it takes about 7 hours. There are several highways that get you to the Disneyland area. From the north and south we have I-5 and 101. From the east we have 10. The average price of gas on our journey is $3.00 a gallon and the average price for a sit down meal is about $15.00 a person. If you choose to drive most of your patients will be used up once you get into the Los Angeles Basin. For the most part everything is pretty smooth. We often rent a car, set the cruise control on 75 and enjoy the ride. We often leave after 8am or in the middle of the night to avoid the commute in Los Angeles. If you do find yourself in Los Angeles Commute between 7 and 10 am or 3 and 7 pm you are just going to have to deal. Just the commute alone will double your time unless you know backroads. Personally GPS’s are no help here. Good old fashion maps or a friend that lives in the area are the only help you have.
Off of Interstate 5 you will turn off on either Disneyland Drive, Harbor Boulevard, or Katella. From there your journey takes you to the hotels.
Starts shopping for airfare, hotels are coming next week. You don’t want to miss this, my opinion is very different then most peoples. And as always please feel free to contact me at savingsfordisney @gmail.com. I will always help you plan.
Disneyland is the Happiest Place On Earth. Be sure to learn how to make the most of your trip by reading the Disneyland Training series. You can also browse all the articles I have posted in an easy to use outline. And if you are ready to book your trip, be sure to read about the perks of using an authorized Disney vacation planner (plus it’s FREE!).
Heidi says
Yes, I agree it is best to stay away from LAX. It is way to busy there and takes twice the time to get anywhere!
John Wayne airport all the way!
also, Southwest has end of the year deals sometimes that are REALLY resonable. We flew in January of this year, from Utah, for about $75 round-trip per person! It is a great time of year to visit too :)
Denise-Scrapmouse says
Thanks for the info on Disneyland. I’m looking forward to the rest of your articles. And I agree 100% about John Wayne/Orange County airport. It’s the easiest to navigate, (especially compared to LAX, what a madhouse). I also love love love Southwest Airlines! They are the best airline. I highly recommend them, if you can do it. They have lower prices, are on time, the staff is nice, and it does not take forever to get your luggage. The luggage issue is one reason, why I will not fly Continental or US Airways (formerly America West) if I can help it.