Trying to Plan A DLR Trip - Question

Hi all!! My wife and I are heading to DLR in October ( :D ) and we're wondering if you have any suggestions on the following topic:

Should we stay in Anaheim all 3 nights we're there and then drive to the airport/LAX the morning we're leaving? Our flight leaves at 11:30 AM, so that means that with all the things to do that morning, ie checking in, driving to LAX (40 minutes away in GOOD traffic), returning our car, etc., we might leave Anaheim around 7:30ish if not earlier. Would it be better to stay the night before our flight home in a hotel near LAX? If you were in a situation like ours before, what did you do?

Any suggestions are appreciated!!! :) Thanks fellow Intercotees!!!! :mickey:

I stayed in a hotel near LAX once but only because our flight out was at 7am! :eek:

For an 11:30 flight, I would just stay in Anaheim the night before.

You would need to conservatively be at the airport by 10am. The rental car drop off locations at LAX are about a mile away by shuttle, so I would allocate maybe 15 min for the process of dropping off the car and getting to the terminal. So, leaving your hotel no later than 8am would be ideal. That gives you a good hour and 45 min to get to the car rental place. That should be plenty, even in traffic. My rule of thumb for LA traffic is allow TWICE as much time as you think it should take, then add 15 minutes.

FWIW, most hotels in the immediate LAX area are COMPLETE dumps. Trust me. That one night we stayed at the Four Corners by Sheraton LAX and it was one of the most horrific, disgusting, run down hotels I've ever step foot in. It was an abomination, and that was supposedly one of the NICER ones. My sister lives about 5 minutes away from the airport, and she told me ALL the hotels near the airport have a reputation for being gross.

Stick with your Anaheim hotel.

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Originally Posted by BrerGnat

I stayed in a hotel near LAX once but only because our flight out was at 7am! :eek:

For an 11:30 flight, I would just stay in Anaheim the night before.

You would need to conservatively be at the airport by 10am. The rental car drop off locations at LAX are about a mile away by shuttle, so I would allocate maybe 15 min for the process of dropping off the car and getting to the terminal. So, leaving your hotel no later than 8am would be ideal. That gives you a good hour and 45 min to get to the car rental place. That should be plenty, even in traffic. My rule of thumb for LA traffic is allow TWICE as much time as you think it should take, then add 15 minutes.

FWIW, most hotels in the immediate LAX area are COMPLETE dumps. Trust me. That one night we stayed at the Four Corners by Sheraton LAX and it was one of the most horrific, disgusting, run down hotels I've ever step foot in. It was an abomination, and that was supposedly one of the NICER ones. My sister lives about 5 minutes away from the airport, and she told me ALL the hotels near the airport have a reputation for being gross.

Stick with your Anaheim hotel.

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Thanks for the suggestions, Natalie!! :mickey: I would like to stay in Anaheim, but my wife is worried about the whole ordeal of getting to LAX through the LA traffic. I'm going to have to convince her that it can be done. :) I haven't stayed at any hotels near LAX, so that's good to know. Time to put on my "convincing" face!!!

Thanks again!!!!!!! :D

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Originally Posted by BrerGnat

I stayed in a hotel near LAX once but only because our flight out was at 7am! :eek:

For an 11:30 flight, I would just stay in Anaheim the night before.

You would need to conservatively be at the airport by 10am. The rental car drop off locations at LAX are about a mile away by shuttle, so I would allocate maybe 15 min for the process of dropping off the car and getting to the terminal. So, leaving your hotel no later than 8am would be ideal. That gives you a good hour and 45 min to get to the car rental place. That should be plenty, even in traffic. My rule of thumb for LA traffic is allow TWICE as much time as you think it should take, then add 15 minutes.

FWIW, most hotels in the immediate LAX area are COMPLETE dumps. Trust me. That one night we stayed at the Four Corners by Sheraton LAX and it was one of the most horrific, disgusting, run down hotels I've ever step foot in. It was an abomination, and that was supposedly one of the NICER ones. My sister lives about 5 minutes away from the airport, and she told me ALL the hotels near the airport have a reputation for being gross.

Stick with your Anaheim hotel.

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I agree. I had a similar flight time during a weekday at LAX and stayed in Anaheim the night before. I think we left Anaheim about 3 hours before the flight and that left us plenty of time.

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Originally Posted by bruin1344

I agree. I had a similar flight time during a weekday at LAX and stayed in Anaheim the night before. I think we left Anaheim about 3 hours before the flight and that left us plenty of time.

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Great! Thanks Bruin!! :thumbsup: I just don't know how bad the traffic would be at that time and driving that way. I lived in SoCal for 2 years but I always drove from the north in order to get to DLR. Thanks!! :)

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Originally Posted by Davyjones

Should we stay in Anaheim all 3 nights we're there and then drive to the airport/LAX the morning we're leaving?

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Are you only planning on visiting the Disneyland Resort and the immediate area? If that is the case, I would STRONGLY recommend skipping the car rental in favor of a much cheaper option - the Disneyland Resort Express. It is a bus owned and operated by Southern California Gray Line (partnered with Disney). It is fast (skips LA traffic in most cases), friendly, comfortable and best of all... affordable (skipping driving around LA all-together isn't a bad perk either ;))!!

They offer both drop-off (from LAX to your Anaheim Resort Hotel) and pick-up (from your Anaheim Resort Hotel to LAX). A one-way trip ticket for an adult through All Anaheim Tours (quite possibly your best shot at a discounted price) is $16.99 USD. A round-trip would cost approx. $33.98 USD per person. Keep in mind, you will have to walk to the parks while in Anaheim (hopefully in the immediate Disneyland area) or take the ART (Anaheim Resort Transit) at a relatively small additional fee to get around the Anaheim Resort area. You can buy passes for the ART busses at many of Disney's Good Neighbor Hotels!

If interested, you should give them a call at: 1-866-930-9986 (I will also list their website below). They take care of planning the pick-up times for you when you give them a bit of your general travel information. All you'd need to do is simply let them know that you need a round-trip for 2 adults, tell them your travel dates, what flight you are on and what times they arrive/depart, where in Anaheim you are staying and viola! You're good to go! :bus:

http://www.allanaheimtours.com/body....ge=TourDetails

We are renting a car for only 2 days out of our 2 week vacation in August (only due to us visiting Universal Studios Hollywood and touring the Walt Disney Studios/El Capitan Theater) and then returning it in Anaheim, in favor of taking the Disneyland Resort Express back to LAX.

Hi DC!! Nice to hear from you again! We have a rental car cause we are starting our vacation up in San Fran and finish down in Anaheim, with some stops in between. While we're in Anaheim, we're probably going to visit some family and friends around the area, so we'll need the car.

Thanks for letting me know about this service! I didn't know about it till now. I've always found it surprising that Disney doesn't have a Magical Express option for DLR. This will be good to know for future trips though!!! Thanks!!! :D

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Originally Posted by Davyjones

Thanks for letting me know about this service! I didn't know about it till now. I've always found it surprising that Disney doesn't have a Magical Express option for DLR. This will be good to know for future trips though!!! Thanks!!! :D

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No problem. And yes, this is very much like Disney's Magical Express service out of MCO, with the exception that it services not only Disney Resort Hotels but also ANY of the Anaheim Resort Hotels! I've always found this a delightful service. Enjoy your trip! :thumbsup: