When to drive to Legoland during a week stay??

[kimgg]

I keep debating and need advice. We are going to be staying in the Disneyland resort area (Hotel Menage), starting on a Tuesday 7/26 to 8/2. We have 4 day DL tickets, and also are going to rent a car and drive to Legoland one of those days.

We purchased our hotel through SW travel and so it is already paid for (so we have to stay there all 7 nights).

Two options:

Rent a car at Alamo at the airport when we arrive (LAX) 9 am Tuesday and drive straight to Legoland, and then back to Anaheim after and check in to our hotel that night and return car to DTD Alamo the next morning. This option is $120 for one day car rental - expensive b/c we are renting from the aiport. We then would use one way transportation through Grayline back to airport on way home.

Use the Grayline round trip, and rent the car another day (probably too tiring and time consuming to take the Grayline to hotel, check in, walk or take ART to DTD, rent the car, and THEN drive to Legoland). This option would only cost around $50 for a day rental. The difference is about the same with the added trip on Grayline (I think). If we do this, what day would be most recommended?

I would kind of like to do Legoland the first day since we arrive pretty early and can get it "out of the way" (my boys are the ones who really want to go there, I'm more looking forward to DL). However it makes me a little nervous to drive from the airport to Legoland, but I don't know why. I've been to LA only once but rode w/ someone else and it was years ago. I also have never been south of LA, only northern CA. I also would rather check in to our hotel early rather than late to get a decent room choice, but then again I don't rally know what room I'm wanting anyway). I am kind of thinking if we do this, we'll rent the car on Sunday and drive down that morning, since Sunday traffic just might be the best bet (and avoid DL on a weekend when it is busiest). I need to get this figured out so I can make plans for everything else!

***am mostly looking for advice on best days to do Legoland VS Disneyland, and best bets as far as traffic (either from LAX or Anaheim in the mornings).***

Sorry if this is too detailed, and hope I make sense. Thanks to anyone nice enough to read and offer any more experienced advice. I hope this is OK on DL as opposed to theme parks board, as this one has a lot more readers to hopefully get more advice.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Several years ago, we did a trip to DL with Legoland in the middle. We left Anaheim early on a Wednesday and drove to San Diego and then back that evening. It was easy since we had our own car. I liked having the Legoland day in the middle of our DL days for a few reasons. First, we were anxious to get to DL and spend some time before anything else. On the Legoland day, it was nice to sit in the car and rest my feet (DH drove) rather than walking around the park the entire day. I also recall that the kids slept a little on the way. Legoland was a slower-paced park for us and we didn't stay as long as we stay at DL, so it was like having a one day break. I also liked that we had more time to look forward to at DL after leaving Legoland.

If you can swing renting a car for a day in the middle of your trip, that's what I would recommend doing. I can't advise on the traffic or the best day to go, so perhaps someone else can help with that part.

 

[DisSarahK]

I don't have advice on which day to pick for your visit, but I wouldn't do the rental from the airport--that will be crazy expensive! Definitely rent from Alamo in DTD instead.

 

[twopeasonepod]

We do Legoland during one of our 10 days. For your circumstances, I would take the Disneyland Resort Express for $99, then rent a car from Alamo DTD for a weekday and drive down to Legoland.

* If you are a Costco member, reserve your car through costco.com/travel. The rates are way better. You can also keep making a new reservation and cancel the old one if the rate gets cheaper. I have rented a car for about $16/day before using this method (but not for one day).

* Just rent a mid-size/intermediate car. You don't need bells and whistles just to drive an hour and a half.

* You can only go to the parks for five of your days (4 day hopper + Legoland). So I would leave one of the weekend days out and just hang at the pool or DTD. I hear you on the Sunday traffic being better than during the weekday, but the cost/benefit ratio of having to deal with weekend crowds doesn't make up for it IMO. The traffic going south is way different than heading up toward LA.

*Driving on the 5 is very easy and smooth going south. No real gnarly interchanges or traffic situations.

* Find two Lego Magazines. There is a coupon for one free child admission with the purchase of an adult admission. You can use two. The best deal around.

* Try to check out boards or blogs about Legoland, because when we were there in May, we *just happened* to be there on......HOME SCHOOL DAY! I'm sure I don't have to explain how busy it was haha.

Have fun!

 

[skiingfast]

If it was me I would do the rental and LL the first day. Because A. DL is much more fun for everyone and if you do it after DL you might wish you had stayed in DL. B because you have to get to DLR somehow so may as well have a car.

But remember it will take about an hour and 15 minutes to get down to LL. And if you arrive at LAX at 9am you won't be on the road for about an hour too. It takes time to collect luggage and get to a rental car or shuttle bus.

Also don't limit yourself to Alamo. While they are in DTD there is also a Dollar and Hertz nearby too.

For Hotel Manage remember two things. It's not super close so you will need to get to the gates somehow. So you might hold onto the car and pay $15 a day to park at DLR or use ART. The other things is noise. Get a room that faces Harbor Dr. or second choice Ball Rd. Not one that faces the loud pool area and I-5.

 

[Misskitty3]

Our last trip we did Lego land in the middle of our Disney trip. Like Luv Bunnies said, it was a nice break for us!

We also rented a car for our entire stay thru Priceline.. It was much cheaper than paying for a rental car for just one day plus ground transportation to & from the airport.

We drove on a weekday from Anaheim to Carlsbad and the traffic was fine...

 

[kimgg]

Thanks for all the advice! I am pretty sure we will go on a day other than our first day - mainly b/c I want to check in to the hotel early and leave our luggage there rather than go to Legoland first off and check in afterwards in the evening - I want a good room location and will use your advice about staying away from the freeway side.

I'm pretty sure we will use round trip bus transport since I think after getting up super early that morning it will be nice to just relax on the bus and let them get us there (I think my kids really enjoy riding the bus and since it's DL Express they'll have the disney high going, lol). I'm looking at renting a car for 1 or maybe 3 days during our stay, depending on what kind of rate I can get. I know I can at least get a 2 category upgrade through joining Alamo rewards.

I also already have bogo free coupons from Legoland from my kids' minifigure packages, which is nice.

There's just so much I'd like to do - I really wish we were staying 10 days instead of 7!

Any other advice, especially on avoiding traffic, let me know. Somehow I want to do some sightseeing (would like to show my sons the Hollywood sign) but do not want to waste any more time than necessary sitting in traffic. I get enough of that on my commute to and from work here in Houston .

 

[skiingfast]

Any other advice, especially on avoiding traffic, let me know. Somehow I want to do some sightseeing (would like to show my sons the Hollywood sign) but do not want to waste any more time than necessary sitting in traffic. I get enough of that on my commute to and from work here in Houston .

Traffic will be thick, in some areas you can use a HOV lane. When you are leaving LAX things should be moving quickly again. To go towards Hollywood, you might want to go after checking into the hotel, then return in the middle afternoon.

Going to Legoland is a bit of a trick. Because of the park's hours it tends to make you drive at the worst times. But going on I-5 you have the HOV lanes that will help you get out of LA. Then it will be thick traffic and probably bad for the mile before you exit the freeway.

For the return trip you should be fine if you stay to LL close. If you leave earlier you might want to delay by having dinner in Carlsbad. Down near the freeway is some fastfood, an Islands, claim jumper, Marie Callendar and some more.