Southern California Gray Line

I read mixed reviews about this company but thought I would give them a try anyways. LAX to Disney’s Californian Resort was OK. ON time but driver did not answer any questions we had and just starred at us. I don’t know that he spoke English. On the way to the airport after our vacation I had called previously to make a reservation and was told no reservations needed for under 10 people. Our bus arrived late for the 9:50 am pick up. The driver got out and said «we are full». There were 4 families waiting for the bus. I asked when there would be another and he said I don’t know. I called the number and was assured that they were stationed a couple blocks away and another would be enroute in 10 min. at 11 am no other bus arrived (even for the 10:50 pick up) and all 4 families were forced to take cabs in an effort to not miss our flights. every time a call was placed the woman said «10 min». I called on the way to the airport in the taxi and the woman was very rude saying that we should have arrived earlier for an earlier bus because these things happen and we should have made a reservation. she also told me my story sounded «fishy». I had to talk to 3 people to get a partial refund. OHHHH and our cab fare was over $ 100. This company is horrible with no customer service.

Left Knotts Berry Farm early to make sure that we got to our shuttle in time to get back to our hotel. Sat and waited for over half an hour and no one showed. Finally called at 6:30 when we were told it would be here at 6 and were told that the shuttle left at 6:10 without us. No call, nothing (we had made reservations and they had our number to call). Found out they didn’t send the same vehicle, they sent an unmarked white mini van. We had no idea that was the shuttle (they picked us up in a huge tour bus). I am so glad that this is the only and last time we’re using this shuttle service. Who doesn’t call?! When you checked your list and noticed passengers are missing, you should call to check and see where they are, not just leave them stranded. I gave 3 stars at least because they sent a shuttle for us within 15 minutes and the driver who picked us up was very polite and talked to us.

Awful experience. Even though only my 7 year old son and I were the only guests picked up at our hotel, the driver took off before we had put our carry ons in the overhead. We were still standing in the aisle and the driver just takes off sending both of us flying all over the bus. I yelled for him to stop but he didn’t care. I should have realized what we were in for when I looked at the sign on the front of the bus that had the words «for excellent service» crossed out and just said «Gratuities Accepted.» Never again will I use this company. You have lost my business. Even the process to file a complain was ridiculous. It took almost 25 minutes and the woman asked me not to call and report the problem to the hotel. She said «it has nothing to do with Disney.» Well then why does Disney allow the bus to say Disneyland Express?

Excellent! ! Booked Universal Studios trip with Grayline. prompt pick up next day. .ease of getting tickets at depot, great bus driver. dropped us off at main gate to Universal. Door to door service at your hotel. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the whole process. I recommend Gray Line as opposed to car rental, especially when I am not used to driving on the freeways in S. California. .Thank you, Grayline! !

Absolutely horrible. Not friendly. Took forever. They wouldn’t wait five minutes for us to get to the bus stop. Had to wait another hour for another bus. Lady over the phone was rude and didn’t give a shit about about us. Once we got on it took forever to get to the hotel we had to stop about 20 different places. Will never do this again, we will just getting a taxi or limo. The bus smelled and the whole experience just horrible.

Worst transportation service I’ve ever dealt with. Terrible from the start. Our flight got into LAX at 9:30pm so I booked our shuttle for 10pm. Everything went through and was good. I called in to make sure that everything was good to go. When I called in they told me that they closed at 8pm and said they were a no refund company. I told them that it was stupid they didn’t have anything on their website that said «we close at 8pm» and that their software allows you to schedule a time when they’re closed. They said they would refund me half of my 98 dollars and they only refunded me 20 bucks. That irritated me but I shrugged it off because I was still able to use them to get back to LAX. This is where it gets ridiculous. When we were coming back, they told us to be at the bus stop by 1:30 because the bus was scheduled to leave at 1:36. We got there at 1:30 and waited, and waited. Called them after waiting 15 minutes to ask where our bus was and they said it already passed. Then the lady had the nerve to say «Just walk to Disneyland Hotel, it will be there in ten minutes» (Disneyland Hotel is over a mile away from the bus stop) I asked to speak with the manager and the manager told the lady that she didn’t want to talk to me. Are you effing kidding me? Made the lady send it to her manager anyways and the manager put it straight to voicemail. I called back and got a girl named Alex, thankfully she was the only good thing I have to say about this company. She called up the bus and had him stop and pick us up. The bus driver was ornery because he had to come back and was giving us some attitude. The only thing I liked about this was the bus. That’s it. I would highly recommend using Super Shuttle. Their cars aren’t the cleanest but at least they’re all friendly and are at bus stops when they say they’re gonna be there.

Our 5 days in Anaheim included 1 day wandering and 3 days in Disneyland… but what to do with that extra 5^th day… UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD of course!
Last Fall my friend and I decided to cross some things off our bucket list. Killing two birds with one stone, we added USH to our Great Disneyland Adventure. With no car, a tour bus would be our best bet, even though we hated the idea of limiting our time because tour scheduels. You really have to spend your time wisely (i.e. «you go to the bathroom before we leave the hotel. got it?)
So here is why Southern California Gray Line gets all 5 stars…
1) With SCGL, we actually saved a few bucks. We bought directly fron SCGL our USH Front of The Line Pass + tour bus fare + no service fee (USH online ticket prices changes depending on the week you want to go and you can add tour bus tickets for $ 20pp. But do shop around. SCGL prices changes too.)
2) They pick you up at your hotel and drop you off at the tour bus depot to get your tickets, then you’re off to your destination. Afterwards, you get dropped off directly at your hotel.
3) Great customer service, I had to call for confirmation and other questions like «where do I stand for pick up… oh right in front of my hotel and not across the street?»
4) On Time
5) Vin Diesel wax at the bus depot… seriously, i walked right passed him thinking he was a real person.
6) Dennis, the driver/​tour guide.(I hope that was his name) Thoroughly knowledgeable, totally entertaining. For about $ 20 we thought this was just going to be a silent ride to USH. Oh no Dennis talked the whole ride, giving us LA history via freeway. He taught us about the building we passed and some of the celebrities in relations to the buildings. He even gave us great tips on how to maximize our time at USH. I was literally taking notes (such a geek). THANK U Dennis, because we rode all the rides, some twice and saw just about everything we wanted to see with time to spare.
7) On the ride home we watched How To Train Your Dragon 2… yes! I can cross that off my to-​watch-​list!
Do tip your driver!

We took the LA and Hollywood tour with Juan being our driver/​guide. He took us to all the significant places and gave us plenty of time to experience them. He was very knowledgeable and had lots of stories and anecdotes about what we were seeing. He was also helpful about warning us of any people/​places we needed to avoid. We spent 10 hours on this tour and had a wonderful time.

VERY BAD experience with this company!
I had a tour booked for their service from Anaheim to Universal Studios + the evening Hollywood tour. The bus was scheduled to pick up from our hotel at 8:25. My family and another family we didn’t know were waiting at the designated place (at the valet area) at 8:15. At 8:45 the bus hadn’t arrived so we called Gray Line and were told that the bus had been at the designated spot at the designated time but the bus driver didn’t see us so he left without us. We insisted that we had all been at the valet area since 8:15 but the woman that answered the phone argued with me. We had several valets at the hotel that agreed that my family and the other family WERE at the right place and that the Gray Line bus was not there that morning.
After arguing with both me and the other family, Gray Line only offered to reschedule our tour. However, when you are on vacation, and have plans each day, you cannot just reschedule! There was no apology from the company, no other attempts to get us to our destination. They suggested we rent a car to get to Universal Studios and TRY to get Gray Line to reimburse us later. The woman on the phone said she didn’t have the authority to offer that reimbursement.
I was told that to request a refund, I had to call Gray Line Worldwide, that the Anaheim location couldn’t offer a refund. When I called the 800 number to Gray Line Worldwide, I couldn’t get a human on the phone. I was on hold for 15 minutes once and about 5 minutes on another attempt. Thus, my only choice was to dispute this through my credit card. Not fun when you’re on vacation.
Had I bought my Gray Line tickets through the Walt Disney Travel Company (like the other family that was in our predicament), I would have immediately been refunded and given an extra day at Disneyland for free (again, like the other family that was in our predicament). Unfortunately, I bought my tickets directly through Gray Line.
I will NEVER do business with this company again. Worst customer service I have ever experienced.