Thoughts on LA train / foregoing car?

[Disney102015]

We are staying at the Garland for 4 nights then Grand Cal/Disneyland Hotel for 5 nights. We are debating renting a car vs. relying on car service / public transport. Leaning toward car service / public transport because we’d rather not lug 3 car seats with us, and because we land around 2am EST and I’m worried about navigating from the airport at that hour after a long flight. But I’m open to other opinions! Here’s our rough schedule:

Day 1: land LAX 11pm, car service (w/ rented car seats) to Garland

Day 2: take Garland shuttle to Metro station, get off by Walk of Fame, take hop on/hop off bus around the city for the day (walk of fame, Chinese theater, La Brea tar pits)

Day 3: take Garland shuttle to Metro station, get off by Walk of Fame, take hop on/hop off bus to Santa Monica for the day. Possibly take guided tour with Hollywood sign stop in the late afternoon.

Day 4: take Garland shuttle to Universal and spend day there

Day 5: take Garland shuttle to Metro station, get off by CA science center/natural history museum and spend day there. Go back to Garland late afternoon and take car service to Grand Californian

Days 6-10: Grand Cal/Disneyland Hotel/Disneyland. I don’t think we’ll need a car at all during this time (do they transfer luggage from one hotel to the other like they do at WDW?)

Day 11: car service back to LAX
Does this sound doable? Is the train a reasonable/safe way to get around? The price difference between rental car vs. car service is not huge so I am more concerned with convenience than cost. Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[sjmac42]

A car is always easier in LA. The trains and buses are quite safe around the tourist area but it can take a couple of hours to cross the city with multiple transfers.
Staying at The Garland is convenient to Universal Studios but not much else. I know people seem to love it for theme park centric holidays but for visiting LA it’s like staying in Port Canaveral to visit WDW, time wise anyway, especially without a car.
So how about a compromise. Do the Hollywood and HoHo bus stuff all together over 2-3 days then rent a car with car seats for a couple of days for other sights the HoHo won’t get you to (plenty of those) and use it to get to Anaheim.
Im pretty sure they will transfer luggage between the GCH and DLH for you but maybe someone with more recent experience can confirm.

 

[Disney102015]

Thanks for the input!! Compromise is a good idea.

 

[bcla]

I'd just point out that Metro (not to be confused with the Metrolink commuter rail service) is a full service public transportation system that includes rail and buses. I believe buses are the bulk of their ridership. It might be the second or third largest local public transportation agency in the country and is surprisingly good at getting passengers from one place to another.

That being said, I've used it several times since July, either with my child or on solo trips. My last use was between Christmas and New Years Day.

It sound like your primary route would be the Metro B (Red) subway. I've taken it quite a bit including all the way to Universal Studios. Well actually I got lost and took it all the way to North Hollywood. I'll just say there are "interesting" people on it. Especially the homeless and/or mentally ill. Also - the equipment (90s era Breda subway cars) works well but it looks old, could use a repaint, and some of the Metro employees I've talked to said they can't wait until it gets replaced (there's some delay in the replacement order). They don't (currently) have features like upcoming stations on video screens that newer equipment has, and it just feels worn down, although I never saw any train break down. But if you need to get from point A to point B it will get you there reliably.

Metro's new buses are great though. They have high speed internet (I tested it as over 30 mbit/sec) and many of the new buses have USB power. They're probably hooked into 5G for that, which also connects buses to the TAP fare card system servers. And you'll need a TAP card.

A TAP fare card will cost $2, but is well worth it. My last trip to the area I got a 7-day pass for $12.50 and made extensive use of it. They will be moving to a different fare structure (daily/weekly fare caps) this summer though. But I had no issue and even found that I wasn't charged extra for some of their "express" routes that their website said carried a surcharge. Like the 460 bus from Downtown LA to Disneyland. Even when I was around Anaheim and Buena Park, I used it because it filled in some gaps that ART didn't cover.

One other thing to think about is using mapping tools like Apple Maps. I get a lot of real time information on bus and rail availability. So even when I was planning on taking a bus route scheduled about 40 minute apart, I could see how the long the bus would take to get there and not necessarily have to wait that long at a bus stop, but could get there before it arrived by checking the estimate time for the bus to make it to a stop.

 

[chezcurrie]

I love the trolley at the Garland to get to US.

Wanted to add that you can return your rental in Anaheim, just off property so as to not pay for hotel parking.

They were happy to transfer our luggage from the CGA to the DLH on our Dec 2021 trip.

 

[roctavia]

I love the trolley at the Garland to get to US.

Wanted to add that you can return your rental in Anaheim, just off property so as to not pay for hotel parking.

They were happy to transfer our luggage from the CGA to the DLH on our Dec 2021 trip.

Is it easy to get to US early enough with the Trolly from the Garland? It says it just runs once per hour, so I wasn't sure if that would helps us get to US early but not like an hour earlier than we need to be there. Like if the park opens at 8, we have to be there either at 7 or not until after 8?

We are traveling at the end of May so don't have park hours yet...

 

[chezcurrie]

Is it easy to get to US early enough with the Trolly from the Garland? It says it just runs once per hour, so I wasn't sure if that would helps us get to US early but not like an hour earlier than we need to be there. Like if the park opens at 8, we have to be there either at 7 or not until after 8?

We are traveling at the end of May so don't have park hours yet...

It was for us traveling in December. We were able to walk on to Harry Potter and ride it back to back in the morning. It is only a 10 min (or less) drive so if you are on the 8am for an 8am park opening those 10 minutes won’t make or break your day. It leaves *promptly* on the dot, so just don’t be late!

 

[Disney102015]

Thanks all, the responses have been really helpful! I was also wondering if it’s walkable from the Garland to the Metro station? Just in case we miss the trolley and don’t want to wait an hour. It looks like it’s just about a mile but I wasn’t sure if it’s pedestrian-friendly.

 

[sjmac42]

Not sure I’d want to walk it with the traffic but it’s a simple matter to get an Uber/Lyft. Don’t overthink it too much

 

[crazydad123]

I've taken Amtrak a number of times from Burbank Airport to Anaheim Station. A Lyft from there is about $11 mid-day to the Grand Californian. You can also get off at Fullerton, which is a smaller station, but almost the same distance. We have stayed at the Garland many times--my daughter was married in the garden there. If you don't need a car at the Garland, it will save you quite a bit.

 

[Disney102015]

We’ll have 3 kids and 0 car seats so no Lyfts/Ubers for us but thanks for the suggestions!

 

[sjmac42]

Fair enough, there are footpaths but they are busy roads with a freeway entrance and overpass to negotiate so your kids would need to be very road aware if you walked.
Really I’d just make sure you don’t miss the bus or move to a Hollywood hotel so you can use the Metro and have better access to other parts of LA with public transit.

 

[bcla]

Was looking at your last day to LAX, and there’s nothing close a train to LAX from Disneyland. From Anaheim, it would be Amtrak or Metrolink to LA Union Station, and the the FlyAway bus to LAX.

If you’re adventurous, you could take Metro from Anaheim to LAX. It would be the 460 bus to Norwalk, where it’s an easy transfer to the Metro green line light rail. The biggest problem would be luggage on the bus. There’s plenty of room on light rail. Then there are free airport shuttles to all terminals from the Aviation/LAX station. Those are airport shuttles with luggage racks.

The fare should be $1.75 per passenger (kids are same fare unless they’re under 5 and free) if you already have a TAP card. Transfers are allowed within two hours. Might have a surcharge though for route 460.

 

[Disney102015]

If you’re adventurous

I’m adventurous but maybe not THAT adventurous with 3 kids + strollers + luggage thanks though!

 

[Jason2015]

Not sure I would do Hollywood/Walk of Fame with three young kids. Some of the areas there are getting a bit seedy. We went to the Funko Pop store in February with our 13 and 17 yr olds and noticed how in just a block or two Hollywook Blvd and the other famous streets went from fairly nice to fairly run down with lots of "interesting" people around.