Need help planning a trip to Disneyland

[ChaoZ]

My uncle wants me to set up a trip for his family to Disneyland. I've never done this before so I need some help. They're going to depart from San Francisco and don't want to take any planes. As far as I can tell, there aren't any direct shuttles to the theme park. So is the best option to just take Amtrak and have them take a taxi to the hotel? And any recommendations for hotels there?

 

[andylawcc]

amtrak takes forever (12 hours from SFO to LA's union station).
just fly Southwest from OAK, San Jose, or even SFO to LA. Virgin America is also cheap too ($59 bucks one way if flown in mid June).

your Hotel should provide shuttle service. If not, there are those blue shuttle vans for hire for $50 bucks. And there are plenty of hotels in disneyland area. just pick anyone, most of them are walking distance to the theme park.

 

[shopbruin]

They can drive to Disneyland, and stay either at the Disneyland hotel, drive to the park from an outside hotel, or take the shuttle the hotel provides to the park.

Hyatt Regency Orange County - it's about a mile from the park, but they have a shuttle. There are hotels up and down the main street that Disneyland is on.

 

[ChaoZ]

Cheapest flight I found was $135 a person. It's worth it I guess...

 

[Eeezee]

They said they don't want to fly, so that's out. I'm assuming someone in the group has a fear of flying. Flights are pretty cheap, but driving a whole family will be much cheaper (even though everyone will be less happy about it, it's a LONG drive from SF)

Amtrak would work fine, as would any bus service. They do take a long time, but if they won't fly then that's the only remaining option.

If you want to do this on the cheap, the hotels down the street from Disneyland are usually MUCH cheaper, and most of them provide free shuttles to Disneyland. If money is no object, just book one of the Disneyland resorts; then the kids can get into the park an hour before it opens.

That said, I'm going to Six Flags on Sunday, the superior amusement park (40 min to Disneyland, 1.5 hr to Six Flags, I'll choose Six Flags almost every time - better rides, cheaper tickets)

 

[Ktulu]

Originally posted by: freesia39
They can drive to Disneyland, and stay either at the Disneyland hotel, drive to the park from an outside hotel, or take the shuttle the hotel provides to the park.

Hyatt Regency Orange County - it's about a mile from the park, but they have a shuttle. There are hotels up and down the main street that Disneyland is on.

Actually if you stay at the Disneyland hotel you can just walk across Downtown Disney to the main gate.