Which airport is easiest when visiting Disney?

We flew 4 years ago and went thru John Wayne, but I have asked several friends here in the Seattle area about LAX vs. SNA and have gotten different answers. Can a local Californian or someone who has done this often please advise?

We intend to arrive around 1pm and will have our two young children with us. Not sure if we%26#39;ll rent a car or shuttle/cab but either way which airport is most convenient?

Which airport is easiest when visiting Disney?

SNA to Anaheim is 14 miles

LAX to Anaheim is 34 miles

ONT to Anaheim is 31 miles

I%26#39;d rent a car and fly into either SNA or ONT depending on which has the cheapest fare. Alaska or Southwest will probably be cheapest.

Which airport is easiest when visiting Disney?

SNA (John Wayne) is closer, smaller, and more convenient. Our Destination Expert Darkbeer usually recommends at taxi from there to Disneyland Resort, around $45 plus tip. You can take the Disneyland Express shuttle (through Grayline Tours) from SNA to your Anaheim Resort hotel, round trip for about the same price or a little more. You could also choose to do taxi one way and this shuttle one way. Keep in mind with the shuttle you may need to wait for other guests to be dropped off at their hotels first.

I don%26#39;t really know why someone would call LAX convenient to Anaheim. It%26#39;s pretty far away and in Los Angeles County. If you are going to use an airport in Los Angeles County you should use Long Beach Airport, which is closer. Not sure about a taxi from there, but I don%26#39;t think it would be a wise choice. The Disneyland Express does not pick up there. But if you are going to rent a car, it%26#39;s pretty easy to get to Disneyland Resort.

I live sort of close to Ontario. The traffic between Ontario and Anaheim can be bad at times. I wouldn%26#39;t recommend it. But, on the other hand, if landing at 1 p.m. it might not be too bad. Just further away than you really need.

If you can arrange the flights the way you would like I think that SNA is the most convenient of all area airports for you.

My favorite is Long Beach Airport.

The same distance from Disneyland as John Wayne. Much smaller than any other airport in the area. The one main drawback, not many flights are available. The main airline is Jet Blue, and Alaska has flights from Seattle, and a couple more choices.

But it is the best airport, and easy to get to Disneyland. Just exit the airport and head east. You will be on Wardrow, which changes names to Ball Road, and Disneyland will be on the right in about 14 miles. A taxi is about $45 plus tip one way.

My second choice is John Wayne, basically for being close to the parks.

The next two are a toss-up, Ontario is slower, and is fairly new and modern, but the traffic from Ontario to Disneyland is usually very busy and it is a slow trip.

LAX has the most flights, and for some, is the only real choice from their home town. The transportation choices from the airport are also much better than Ontario.

I have a friend who flies down here regularly from Seattle to get her Disneyland fix. She used to fly into John Wayne until one day she had no choice of flights other than Long Beach. Now she won%26#39;t fly into John Wayne unless their is no other potion, and loves going into Long Beach.

Wow, thanks for those quick replies everyone! I appreciate this forum so much.

I hadn%26#39;t even heard of Long Beach as an option. Will have to look in to that. We had no issues with SNA but after a long conversation with a neighbor (who thinks she know it all), I started to doubt our choice. Now I can enlighten her with the Long Beach info!

Many thanks.

I think it all depends on the airline and the flight and the cost. Most of our flights fly direct to LAX and there is usually a stop over and plane change if flying into SNA. Thus, flying into SNA cost more than flying into LAX for us. LAX has more arriving and departing flights than SNA. To get the most out of a vacation, it is easier to fly in early and fly out late (more time at Disneyland).

We have taken both the taxi and the Disneyland Resort Express (bus) and would recommend them both. The taxi (we took a taxi van, had a lot of luggage) is about $40 one way from SNA ($50 with tip). The resort bus is $42 roundtrip plus tip from SNA. It will be too expensive to take a taxi from LAX as they charge per mile and for time sitting in traffic. The resort bus is $52 roundtrip plus tip from LAX. The taxi will pick you up outside of baggage area and take you straight to your hotel. The resort bus, you wait under the green sign outside of luggage area for the bus. It will pick you guys up and then head to the next terminal, once full, it will head to Anaheim. You might be the first off, in the middle, or the last off, depending on your hotel.

We recommend flying into John Wanye Airport (SNA). When we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, we did not have a car, we stayed the entire time at the Disneyland Resort. We stayed 9 days at Hojo%26#39;s and had a car. It was nice to get out and hit a beach, do a little shopping, and check out In-N-Out Burger. If you plan just to visit Disneyland, take a taxi or the bus from SNA. If you want to visit other areas, get a car.

I fly quite a bit both domestic and international. The absolute worst airport in So Cal is LAX. It is always our last choice. I will pay extra to fly out of ONT or SNA just to avoid it. For Disneyland I would order the choices as LGB, SNA, ONT, then LAX.

I had a direct flight from Boston to Long Beach when we were visiting DL in July. It was a really small airport but it worked out beautifully. We picked up our luggage and were on our way in no time. It wasn%26#39;t that far to DL. We flew Jetblue.

Regarding car rental, keep in mind that you can rent a car easily while in Anaheim Resort if you would like to travel around a day or two (or more). That might cut down on you total for car rental. But you can compare by getting quotes before you go.

Okay so my travel agent says that we are flying into Orange County. Which one is this? Also, renting a vehicle...can that be done at either airport?

Orange County is what Southwest calls John Wayne/Santa Ana airport.

And yes, all the major Rental Car companies have offices at Long Beach, John Wayne, LAX, Ontario and Bob Hop (Burbank).