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Trip to Disneyland
- Thread starter allstar01
- Start date
zurgandfriend
Well-Known Member
We may do DL next year and WDW in 2012 or the other way around we are not sure yet. There are packages that you can look into that include DL/DCA, San Diego, (Zoo) Hollywood, (Universal & various other tours) Long Beach (Queen Mary) etc. AAA or Kingdon Konsultants can help you with this.
There are 3 airports you can fly into, LAX, John Wayne in Orange County, and I believe Long Beach, not sure about the last one.
I hope this helps and please enjoy your trip whatever you do.
There are 3 airports you can fly into, LAX, John Wayne in Orange County, and I believe Long Beach, not sure about the last one.
I hope this helps and please enjoy your trip whatever you do.
wolf359
Well-Known Member
With all of Southern California well within touring distance you won't be lacking for things to do, the trick is narrowing it down to a manageable itinerary.
I strongly recommend visiting the Wild Animal Park. It's a little more off the beaten path compared to the much more famous Zoo, but it's significantly larger and very cool. It also makes for an interesting comparison to Disney's Animal Kingdom, since many aspects of the Wild Animal Park "inspired" what Disney did with their theme park.
I strongly recommend visiting the Wild Animal Park. It's a little more off the beaten path compared to the much more famous Zoo, but it's significantly larger and very cool. It also makes for an interesting comparison to Disney's Animal Kingdom, since many aspects of the Wild Animal Park "inspired" what Disney did with their theme park.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
There are actually five SoCal airports to consider for a Disneyland vacation, six if you count San Diego to begin or end the vacation there.
LAX - Huge and served by nearly every airline in the Free World, but the terminals are old and ugly and dirty and crowded and it's a generally crummy way to arrive or depart SoCal. The one redeeming quality of LAX is the Theme Building in the middle of the airport with the Encounter restaurant designed by WDI. Still, avoid LAX like the plague.
Long Beach Airport - Small and retro and very easy to use. A big hub for JetBlue, with nonstops to JFK and the East, or lots of Alaska Airlines flights up and down the West Coast. Also served by Delta, USAirways and Frontier. About a 20 minute drive from Disneyland.
John Wayne Airport - Compact, but modern and stylish in a beige sort of way. Very pleasant to use. Served by Alaska, Air Canada, Southwest, American, Delta, Continental, United, and USAirways. About 15 minutes from Disneyland via easy freeway access, and with a lot more tourist amenities in the terminal than Long Beach (many rental cars, Disneyland shuttles, tourism center, plus the big bronze statue of The Duke himself near baggage claim!) The closest, fastest and easiest airport for Disneyland vacationers.
Ontario International Airport - Similar in size and style to John Wayne, but not as popular. Clean and modern, and served by all the same airlines as John Wayne, except Air Canada. About 30 minutes from Disneyland without traffic. Fun Fact: A few years ago they almost renamed the airport Walt Disney International Airport in an attempt to woo tourists and grab some of the John Wayne Disneyland business. It was abandoned after locals complained that Walt never had any historical ties to the city.
Burbank Bob Hope Airport - Between John Wayne and Long Beach in size and scope. Retro and tidy, with service via JetBlue, Alaska, Southwest, Delta, United, USAirways, and American. About an hour from Disneyland due to the fact it's north of LA and you can count on traffic to get down to OC.
San Diego Charles Lindbergh International - Typical big city airport served by many airlines, but not as massive as LAX. Clean and modern, with lots of amenities. Very close to downtown San Diego and beaches, and about 90 minutes from Disneyland.
Heck, while we're at it you could also consider Palm Springs International Airport, also 90 minutes from Disneyland in the opposite direction from San Diego. Lots of flights get added to Palm Springs via many airlines "in season" from October through May. Palm Springs offers many fabulous, and famous, vacation diversions.
Play with the drop down menu of SoCal airport options on Expedia when looking for flights to and from Disneyland. It's amazing how many options there are, and it helps you avoid using LAX. :lol:
sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
To the OP, we've looked at going out to DL a lot, too. We're itching for a "Disney" experience totally unlike WDW. I have a cousin who lives in San Clemente. He & his wife have always maintained that any airport other than LAX should be sought at all costs. Depending on traffic, LAX to DL can be an hour to many hours ride. They say the traffic is very unpredictable even on weekends and what you'd think are "off" times. Just wanted to throw that out there for ya. :wave:
Ontario is a decent FOURTH choice to fly into, although a little further than the others. I would NOT recommend flying into San Diego or Palm Springs (seriously??) if the point of your trip is to visit Disneyland. That would be like advising someone to fly into Tampa for their WDW trip. :hammer:
OP, just go with Zurgandfriend's recommendations. I don't know what the point was in mentioning all these other airports. :veryconfu
Rufus T Firefly
Well-Known Member
Avoid LAX at all costs. :hurl:
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Well.... The OP has not yet determined an itinerary for his SoCal visit. It sounds like the OP is totally unfamiliar with SoCal and is looking for vacation ideas. As anyone who has ever been on Soarin' can tell you, California is brimming with natural and man-made wonders that draw millions of tourists per year who happily never even set foot in Disneyland.
Zurg is very nice and has great input, but since he/she is apparently a Bostonian, he/she isn't a real expert on all of the SoCal airports. (I used to live out Route 2 near Concord for a few years, so hello to Zurg!)
Many folks begin or end their SoCal vacation in San Diego, making that a viable option for airports.
But most importantly, as anyone who has ever used LAX can tell you (including several folks here in this short thread), the over-arching goal of a visit to Southern California is to avoid using LAX at any and all cost. Letting a newbie use LAX is like telling someone to go visit Calcutta during the rainy season. :lol:
Hopefully these other airport options open up some alternatives to the OP. With sites like Expedia, it's very easy to check the half dozen other SoCal airports for fares and schedules in order to avoid LAX. I'm just glad to be of service. :animwink:
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I agree, but you weren't suggesting other things to see in Southern CA, only a list of airports to fly into. I would think that if your intent was to provide helpful information, then you'd want to clarify that some of those airports are nowhere near DL and would only be practical if the OP was planning to do things in those areas. :veryconfu
All the more reason not to mislead him by suggesting airports that are nowhere near his planned destination.
LAX is not my favorite airport to fly into either, but I think the advice to "avoid LAX at any and all cost" is a bit melodramatic. I mean technically, you could advise the OP to fly into Sacramento and he would certainly be "avoiding LAX". But that wouldn't be very practical advice to give someone who is making a trip to DL. Likewise, nor is suggesting the he fly into San Diego or Palm Springs. :hammer:Unless he definitely plans to do things in those cities, that's just crazy advice. Sorry.