Disneyland recommendations
 

I am going to take my daughter to Disneyland for a couple of days in July. I was looking for comments on the Hilton or Hyatt Anaheim properties. Also, is there a shuttle from LAX, and if so, how much. Would I be better off renting a car?

FWIW, both are fine and roughly equal, IMHO. I prefer the Hyatt Alicante although it may be a bit farther, since the Hilton is so huge and often accomodates a massive convention crowd. Yet, the Hilton Towers are nice.

Regarding a car, well it IS CA and so I usualay do! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif But the hotels typically run shuttles, so it's not necessary just as long as your on their schedule. If you are looking at costs, the parking is NOT free! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

BTW- OMNI- Say hello to Shaq for me please! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

To my knowledge there are NO hotel shuttles from LAX, but there is Supper Shuttle service. Orange county would be closer if you can go there instead.

As for the hotels, it may not matter too much, as you should be spending most of your time in the park instead of the hotel. However, if your daughter is young and you need to go to the hotel room during the day, you may want to consider one of the Disney properties on the Monorail line. And it will probably be hot and crowded.

This has nothing to do with your specific question, but thought I'd mention that Disneyland now has free Fastpass, which allows you to get a one-hour window "reservation" time on some of the most popular rides/attractions. Apparently, it can save a lot of time. A friend just used it and said they only had to wait 10 minutes for a ride with a 75-minute line.

I also generally stay at the Hyatt Alicante. They offer a free shuttle to the park. I still always rent a car. Depending on how long you're going bus/cab from the airport is probably just as costly as car rental.

I stayed at the Hilton Suites Anaheim/Orange last week. Great deal. Nice property with free shuttle to D-Land (no I did not use it). Typical free cooked-to-order breakfast and 3 cocktails nightly suite thingee with snacks. The snacks consisted only of pretzels. I had a great large corner room with 2 Q beds, refrig, m-wave, shower and separate tub. Better than most Embassy Suites IMHO and plushier too. They said the property was 11 years old but nicely decorated and kept up. I seemed to be the only one w/o 1-3 cute young kids in tow. Definitely not a convention place.

You can take a SuperShuttle from LAX to the Disneyland area, as there are no hotels in OC that would run a shuttle there. I always see them while I am waiting for my downtown one to show up.

Try their web page http://www.supershuttle.com for information.

Even though SNA is closer, I don't think that any hotels run shuttles there either since it is still a 15-20 minute drive with minimal traffic.

If you do drive from LAX take the 105 east, to the 605 south, to the 91 east, to 5 south which currently is under a little bit of construction in the Disneyland Resort area.
Just avoid the 405 at all cost.

I stayed at the Anaheim Marriott last year, I know you are looking for a Hilton or Hyatt but it may be a good alternative if the rates are right. It's about a 1000 room property with a nice pool area for the kids. I was also able to walk to Disneyland from the Hotel in about 10 minutes.

Jay

In terms of the Supershuttle vs. car, I noticed when I was on the shuttle that the rate on the side window showed that it was $15 a person from LAX to the Disneyland area.

Maria (my daughter) and Dani (her boyfriend) stayed at that Anaheim Marriott this february (part of their one-in-a-life-time rtw-trip) - and they were VERY pleased and paid, through a swiss travel-agency: KUONI) SFr 130 ($85) / room / night (without breakfast).

Does anyone have details on the new Disney Fastpass program? I will be tehre this weekend, and would love to use it!

Errrr.....this took only a nice 10 sec to find on the web. Enjoy: http://search.disney.go.com/query.ht...e&qt=fast+pass

I've stayed at the Anaheim Sheraton, Anaheim Marriott, and the Hilton Orange Suites, and I have to agree with MisterNice. The Hilton, IMHO, is roomier(all suite), friendlier, than the aforementioned. They also had a shuttle running to Disneyland.
I think you would be better served if you used SNA as your airport, and rented a car. All these locations are only 15-20 minutes from the airport(when there's no traffic tieups.
One other plus,if you like baseball,is the Hilton is across the road from Edison Field(Angels).

If you intend to only visit Disneyland then don't rent a car. But, if there's any possiblity that you will want to visit any other attractions please do. The ease of getting around will make up for the cost. Growing up in Orange County my personal preference is for Knotts Berry Farm, but that pure nostalgia on my part http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thank you everyone for your help.

I found the best rate at the Hyatt ($79/nt), and it also helps with the Gold Passport promo. It would be more convenient to fly to Orange County, but I am flying BOS-LAX for $109 (thank you Mizzouflyer). For convenience, I will rent a car. I hope the traffic isn't too bad. It probably can't be much worse than the Big Dig traffic.

FlierLie, wow, where was this $109 fare discussed? How did I miss reading such a thread?