Good flight time for SoCal/DL departure day?

[DisneyWishes14]

I'm starting to look at flights for my summer SoCal/DL ABD. I am fortunate that I can fly out of either John Wayne or LAX into the NYC area and seem to have a lot of flight options available. I don't want to rush through the departure day breakfast, which, from what I gather from trip reports seems to start at 7:00 am. Does anyone recall when the shuttles start leaving for the airports that morning? Thanks!

 

[Ross Kratter]

As far as I know, you can fly out anytime and they'll arrange a transfer for you. I am taking a redeye flight home so that I can make full use of the Disneyland tickets.

 

[OKW Lover]

ABD arranges airport transportation based on the needs of the individual participants. Its not a group thing so go ahead an book what works best for you.

 

[sayhello]

ABD arranges airport transportation based on the needs of the individual participants. Its not a group thing so go ahead an book what works best for you.

Just wanted to note here that this varies by ABD. I found out the hard way that *some* itineraries *do* have group transfers, and you need to adhere to the times specified by ABD. (The Southern California ABD is not one of those). The info was buried in the FAQ for my trip (Rhone river cruise).

Sayhello

 

[DisneyWishes14]

That's great news - thank you all so much!

As far as I know, you can fly out anytime and they'll arrange a transfer for you. I am taking a redeye flight home so that I can make full use of the Disneyland tickets.

That's a GREAT idea!!! Thank you!

 

[Ross Kratter]

That's great news - thank you all so much!



That's a GREAT idea!!! Thank you!

Of course. Are you on the July trip with the DIS?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Of course. Are you on the July trip with the DIS?

Not that I'm aware of. When does that one start?

 

[Ross Kratter]

Not that I'm aware of. When does that one start?

July 5.

 

[sweetpeama]

How late can you fly out and still get home is the question if there is not a specific time.
Being that your flying into a major market for airlines and are going to be able to catch a direct flight your going to have more options than someone like me.
Unless I want to drive 10-18 hours from a community where I would land with a layover anyways I have to plan a flight that would give me enough time at a layover and keep in mind that my airport closes between the hours of once we can get everyone out from the flight that is scheduled to land just prior to midnight but in actuality has a history of landing just after 11:30 and 4 am when we open the doors for those catching the 5:45, 6:10 and 7:15 AM flights plus those coming in on the 8-9 hour essential air service flights (these are very small planes that seat 12 including the pilot and have no flight attendant but do have a grounds attendant who will escort you to walk out to your plane where you will stow your carry on item under the plan and board with your personal item of less than 32 total inches (they allow 1 checked bag of up to 66 inches total and not weighing over 50 pounds, a gate checked bag of not more than 45 inches and 30 pounds plus the personal item that can't be more than 20 pounds on flights that are connecting with one of their partner airlines which here is only one choice otherwise you have to check both the two larger size pieces and are just allowed the personal item).
My perfered airline using my perfered hub has landing time choices of 12:28, 5:40, 9:28, and 11:57 PM and trust me unless we would be in a we need to be back so my DH can go to work at 4 PM we are getting the flight that lands at either 9:28 or 11:57 depending if we would need someone to pick us up at the airport or if we could have someone we trust drive our vehicle to the airport and leave it in the short term parking earlier in the day and then just get a ride back with someone else which means I have to talk nice with my brother because he is the one who would not give us the why don't you come in on the 5:40 flight it would be so much easier lecture. Hmm It has been 10 years since we have had a Disney Vacation and 6 years since we have had any vacation at all that was not drive less than 60 miles for 3.5 days 4 nights for a family reunion that other than gas we paid less than $100 for the entire trip thanks to over 20 years of the family doing a fundraiser each year so that even those who don't have a lot can afford to make the trip every 3 years. Trust me if we have the money to make a trip we are getting as much time that we can to soak up some Disney Magic.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

July 5.

No, I won't be on that one!! I am doing one later in the summer!

 

[jimmymc]

I would personally stay an extra night so you can use the park ticket, then leave at lunchtime the following day. If that's not an option, go for a late morning flight, sometime around 11 or noon.

 

[Raya]

I would personally stay an extra night so you can use the park ticket, then leave at lunchtime the following day. If that's not an option, go for a late morning flight, sometime around 11 or noon.

Does anyone know if this is an option? This trip is on my list, but I can't find a way to stay later than 4pm at the parks -- which feels like I'm wasting a lot of time.

 

[TarotFox]

Yeah, you just book a post night through ABD or on your own and leave the next day. You can do that on any trip.

 

[Rapunzellover]

CA native here: just be careful when booking how much time you give for the airport. There's John Wayne Airport and LAX. John Wayne is smaller, so you won't need to arrive as early, but keep in mind that it's still 20-30 Minutes from DL and if you leave at rush hour, you can easily spend hours in LA traffic. LAX is approximately an hour away in good traffic, so it's further and requires more time, and it's much bigger and more crowded. You're gonna want to plan getting there 3 hours in advance ( plus travel time, your looking at leaving about 4 hours in advance of your flight. Rush hour will also likely be worse heading there.

Just fyi.

 

[dina444444]

I'm starting to look at flights for my summer SoCal/DL ABD. I am fortunate that I can fly out of either John Wayne or LAX into the NYC area and seem to have a lot of flight options available. I don't want to rush through the departure day breakfast, which, from what I gather from trip reports seems to start at 7:00 am. Does anyone recall when the shuttles start leaving for the airports that morning? Thanks!

ABD will only strange for your transfers if you are flying in/out of LAX. Also, if you add on pre/post nights, pre nights at the Lowes in Hollywood or post night at one of their 3 resorts are the only options to keep the ABD transportation. This is included in the cost of the ABD. They will also provide transit from the Grand to the Lowes on arrival day and free valet for those that live locally.

 

[sayhello]

ABD will only strange for your transfers if you are flying in/out of LAX. Also, if you add on pre/post nights, pre nights at the Lowes in Hollywood or post night at one of their 3 resorts are the only options to keep the ABD transportation. This is included in the cost of the ABD. They will also provide transit from the Grand to the Lowes on arrival day and free valet for those that live locally.

They will actually take you to John Wayne (SNA) also at the end of the ABD.

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Arrive: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Return: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) OR John Wayne Airport (SNA)

Sayhello

 

[dina444444]

They will actually take you to John Wayne (SNA) also at the end of the ABD.

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Arrive: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Return: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) OR John Wayne Airport (SNA)

Sayhello

That must be a recent-ish change since I don’t remember that being offered when I went in late 2018.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

That must be a recent-ish change since I don’t remember that being offered when I went in late 2018.

It's been around a while. We flew out of John Wayne on our trip in summer 2014-ish and the transfer was included.

 

[AquaDame]

That must be a recent-ish change since I don’t remember that being offered when I went in late 2018.

We also flew out of SNA for ours in May of 2018... Disney provided our transfers.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

We flew out of LAX. You can make your flight reservation anytime you like on the last day. We had a private transfer in a very large luxury SUV. Disney will tell you what time they are picking you up based on your airport and flight time (generally 3 hours in advance, I believe). The hotel will hold your bags for you. We checked out and went to the parks in the morning and early afternoon on our departure day. You'll have a ticket that covers that day. We came back to the hotel, claimed our bags, and met our driver.