I am trying to plan a trip for Disneyland in April, and I would love to hear people’s experiences with which airport to fly into and out of. I am coming from the Hartford, CT area, and while I would love to fly out of Bradley (which is very close to me), I am open to all regional spots, including Providence, Boston, White Plains, and NYC. I want to fly direct and as cheap as possible. We are definitely renting a car, so that it not a factor, but we will be heading north after DLR, so don’t want to back track too much (in other words, no SFO, lol). What are your thoughts, East Coasters? Or West Coasters who come back east a lot!
I am a west coaster so can’t help with the east coast airports, but have flown into pretty much all the local Southern Cal airports (except Long Beach). LAX will most likely be your cheapest and direct option, but it is the worst of all the airports to fly into/out of. HUGE airport, chaos to get rental cars, then drive to DLR which can be 40 min or many hours if you hit rush hour. SNA (John Wayne) is the closest to DLR and is a smaller airport. Have had great experiences here. Ontario and Burbank are further out, but also nice, small airports. We also have flown into San Diego and driven the 2 hours to Anaheim as well, and flown out of Ontario to avoid back-tracking. Where are you planning to head after DLR (how far north)?
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We flew into John Wayne from NYC and loved being so close to DLR when we landed. Quick cab ride once we landed. Only way I’d go.
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@Wahoohokie We are actually going to head up to Portland, OR. after DLR. When I posted this, I was thinking that we would drive, but now have decided to fly, so I may not end up with a car while at DLR.
@Sam2071 Which airline did you take from NYC? Was it a direct flight?
@Iheartepcot, I would fly too, that’s a long way! If you are only planning DLR you won’t need a car. We always get one, just because I have to go to Chick-fil-a there (we don’t have it in WA state), and I like to make a Target run for water and snacks. But without that, I wouldn’t get one. Hate driving in So Cal, I am used to it but it still scares me. There are only 2 speeds: stopped and as fast as you can 
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United. LGA to IAH to SNA. Cheap/fast cab from SNA to the DL Hotel. PS Car is not needed at DLR.
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I fly out of Islip Airport on Long Island, Southwest often has direct flights to MCO
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Talking about Disneyland. 
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Yeah, I probably would not bother with a car since I think flying to PDX makes the most sense. I’ve been to So Cal a few times with a car and survived, but I am happy to save the money and hassle.
We will likely skip the car. When I first posted, I thought we would drive on from DLR, but quickly decided to fly. I am still in very early planning stages so everything is changing quickly right now.
Got it. First time to DLR?
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Yes, and I feel like a complete newb, as my son would say. I’m like Jon Snow, I know nothing.
If non-stop is what you really want, you will likely be limited to whatever airline will do that from point of origin to destination. Was transplanted to Grafton, MA for a time. I flew from Providence to San Diego on United with one stop in Chicago (I prefer a short break) DH would fly Jet Blue from Boston non-stop (his preference…we never traveled west together during that time) I loved Providence. It was not huge, easy to get to, lots of flight options. For a trip to DLR, I would choose to fly into Santa Ana or Long Beach. Good luck and welcome to the west coast!
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Hey, you’ll have a blast! DLR is awesome!!!
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Is it that bad? We have a 10:15 p.m. flight (on a Thursday) and leaving right from Paradise Pier. We will have to drop off the rental car. How soon should we leave for the airport?
Boss is paying for flight so I don’t think it would be cool if we missed it.
@Disneyconsigliere, which airport?
LA unfortunately
I think you will be fine with a later flight. We flew out of there last summer around 4pm and it was fine, it’s like MCO- give yourself plenty of time. All of the rental car places are away from airport unlike MCO, but have shuttles. I would be at car rental return minimum 2-2.5 hours before flight. Plan 1 hr drive at that time of day. I’d leave PPH by 6:45. Gives you plenty of time to get there and return car, can eat dinner at LAX if needed. Always better to be early than late and miss your flight. The longest part for us was the drive, but we were coming from Carlsbad. Then dropping rental car and waiting for shuttle to get to airport. Security is better there than at MCO where it always seems to take a long time. Not sure exactly when rush hour is over. Maybe ask on chat how long to plan to get to LAX at that time of day, there are lots of locals there.
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That’s a great idea! Thank you so much, I will ask on chat as it gets closer. You guys are awesome! I will make sure the troops know this.