Greetings, Milly, and welcome to planDisney!
It's really exciting that you'll be traveling across the country soon to visit the Disneyland Resort! Southern California can get pretty warm towards the end of July, but it's a dry heat and the evenings will be very comfortable, especially if you stay out late enjoying the nighttime spectaculars!
I'm glad to hear that you have some parts of your trip already planned. Guests commonly fly into Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to visit the Disneyland Resort. According to the map, it is approximately 35 miles from the airport to the Resort and I would estimate that travel time is about 50-60 minutes from point to point. Of course, that will increase with rush hour traffic, so plan accordingly. If you need help getting there, Disney has posted some helpful
instructions and tips on getting to the Resort.
For your accommodations, I would recommend looking through the list of
Good Neighbor Hotels. The Moderate Category hotels will be more budget friendly and my favorite of those listed are the
Best Western Plus Stovall's Inn (excellent breakfast),
Candy Cane Inn (recently remodeled, beautiful grounds), and the
Howard Johnson Anaheim Hotel and Water Playground (wonderful water playground for kids). If you don't see any available reservations on the Disney website, try calling the hotels directly.
Will this be your first time visiting Southern California? In addition to the Disneyland Resort, there are so many wonderful
attractions for adventuresome tourists! While visiting the Happiest Place on Earth, I would definitely recommend downloading the
Disneyland Mobile App prior to your visit. It will help you and your son navigate the Parks and it's so much more convenient to
Mobile Order your food rather than waiting in a queue. Be sure to check out the recently debuted
"Rogers: The Musical" over at the Hyperion Theater in Disney California Adventure. My all time favorite attractions are
Pirates of the Caribbean,
Indiana Jones Adventure, and
Radiator Springs Racers. Cars Land is especially beautiful at night with all the neon lighting decorations!
I hope this response was helpful for you, Milly, and I wish you and your son a fantastic and magical trip to the Disneyland Resort! Don't forget to confirm your
reservations and if there is anything else that we can do for you, please do not hesitate to write to us again!
Wishing You a Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow!
-Al