For those who drive to Disneyland- road trip traditions

[KelsBleep]

Cute photo Lana.

These are great! We always hit up Jack in the Box in St. George, Utah come to think of it.

Keep them coming. Love reading about our fun traditions.

We have a contest of who can take the best photo of each of the state signs as we enter. I always lose.

We drive from Utah (Provo) as well. We always stop at the Jack in the Box in St. George too! It's just my husband and I, so we don't have too many traditions, but here is what we do:

-I make a new playlist for every trip with Disney songs and songs about California.
-When we pass Yermo, we always yell the name at the top of our lungs and I text it to my best friend. We just think it's the funniest town name ever.
-We decide our first ride, our first restaurant, and what pin set we want to try and get this trip.
-We play "Would You Rather" Disneyland-style.
-We do mad-libs, but can only put Disney answers in..or sometimes really gross answers, because we are obviously children. haha.
-We drive straight through, but then stay the night at my parents house that is about 45 min. from Disneyland. That was when we drive in in the morning, we are fresh and alert and not super tired. Helps us get in the Disney spirit.
-Oh, and we always make a bet on the way there of how many Utahns we'll see at Disney. The winner gets a special souvenir of their choice.

 

[MermaidHair]

What an enjoyable thread. To me, long family car trips are like shopping together at Ikea, it's fun at first but as the hours roll by you begin to calculate the exact number of days until the kids go off to college. This is especially true on the way back home from Dland. We are all so cranky and sad. We usually take I-5 as a straight shot back, and stop off at Anderson's Pea Soup to try to drown our sorrows in a bowl of viscous green porridge. But....on the way down to Dland, oh how jolly we are.

This is us all the way. Cracked me up just thinking about it. All happy going down. Forced march going home!

 

[DLRfan31]

Not having time constraints (one of the good things about being retired we take our time driving to the Happiest Place on Earth. Coming from Seattle area, we stop the first night in southern Oregon and visit Jacksonville for at least one day. We usually get a good room rate in Medford.

The next day we drive to San Francisco. We loving starting our Disney trip with a visit to the Disney Family Museum. Because we live so far, what better time to explore the city by the bay. We love Golden Gate Park, have lunch at the Cliff House, and walk around Fisherman's Wharf. Our stay here is two nights.

The next day we head on down to the parks. We try and stay at least 10 days. Then we head home and stop just one night in northern cal.

But if I had my way, there would be no road trips to Disneyland. I would live close and visit often!

 

[awdsmama]

Not having time constraints (one of the good things about being retired we take our time driving to the Happiest Place on Earth. Coming from Seattle area, we stop the first night in southern Oregon and visit Jacksonville for at least one day. We usually get a good room rate in Medford.

Do you ever stop at Heaven on Earth in Azalea? Best HUGE cinnamon rolls and peanut brittle ever.

 

[ddwlms]

.... have lunch at the Cliff House......

I have a picture of my parents there on one of their early anniversaries, then of me and DH on our honeymoon and one of DD and DSIL on their honeymoon. Love stopping there on our way to the zoo!

 

[PixieDustD]

is...first one to spot the Matterhorn gets a prize. I remember this from when I was a little girl. We have continued the tradition with my daughter.

 

[kkmcan]

We drive from Tucson which is about a 7-8 hour drive. We always say we're going to leave at 6 but we never make it out of bed ontime so its more like 8. When the kids were little we would leave at 4:30 so they would sleep a bit and wake up to eat breakfast and then just have a short ride until we got there. Too old for those early mornings now. And the kids can keep themselves entertained with their ipods now.

We like to take I-8 to San DIego and then up I-5 from there. Much more scenic and less busy freeway than I-10 via Phoenix.

We always stop for gas and lunch in Yuma and then usually we need a potty stop at the Golden Acorn casino in the mountains before San Diego. Man that place gets cold too! We usually get out of the car there and run for the convenience store! Last year coming home in March there had been a snowstorm and we played in the snow when we stopped to potty. Love those photos and memories!

Another tradition that we laugh about is on the way home DD almost always gets nauseous in about the same part of I-5 and we end up doing a quick pullover at the rest stop near Camp Pendleton. We laugh now but its not so funny when we are telling her to hang on and not throw up that we are stopping at her favorite rest area! That road must be bumpy or curvy or something. If I can remember to pack the Bonine then we are good.

Some games we like to play are the license plate game, slug bug, and Disney trivia. We also like to bring the ipod and I usually get to play DJ and spin the requests for the family.

 

[DLRfan31]

Do you ever stop at Heaven on Earth in Azalea? Best HUGE cinnamon rolls and peanut brittle ever.

No, but it sounds like we should check it out!

 

[Rynosaur]

we drive from vegas and having our almost 8 month year old hasnt really changed our pattern. mainly since the wife and i basically have pea sized bladders.

towards disney we drop off the dogs around 7:30am at camp bow wow
i start playing about a weeks worth of DIS podcasts i'd been saving.
stop at baker chevron for a scratch ticket and some candy
barstow our stop has been panda express the last few trips. we dont eat at panda here but for some reason on vacation...
from there i turn down the radio and we just chit chat about the trip/life/etc. wifey gets sleepy and i floor it(not really) to disneyland.

on the way back from disneyland, after obvious sulking about having to leave, the only other tradition is stopping at The Hat in rancho. we get a small fry, which if you have been there know that that is plenty for two, and a cheeseburger. they are famous for pastrami, but i find it mediocre at best.

 

[DLRfan31]

I have a picture of my parents there on one of their early anniversaries, then of me and DH on our honeymoon and one of DD and DSIL on their honeymoon. Love stopping there on our way to the zoo!

We love it too. The history of the area is very interesting...Sutro Baths. And of course Golden Gate Park is just a short drive along the beach. We have never been to the zoo...there is just so much to see and do in SF!

 

[ludari]

My drive is only about 30 minutes but traditionally I like to have a drink at Trader Sams.

 

[melindaPR]

We come from the Bay Area. Pre-kids, we did a lot of spontaneous quick trips, sometimes leaving at midnight on a Friday night then all day at the parks on Saturday. Any planned trip always included a playlist from my husband with Disney songs, as well as current "guilty pleasures" (trendy pop songs we are a little embarrassed to like).

With kids (8 mos & 3 yrs), we haven't done the direct drive, but we are lucky to have my mom located between Fresno and Bakersfield in a small town called Corcoran, so we get to include a grandma visit in our trip. And sometimes we pick her up and take her with us! She's only about 3 hours from DLR.

We are always trying to figure out the next time we can make the trek!

Great thread!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[purplecrush]

I LOVE this thread!!

We come from Portland, OR. Leave at 3 am. Drive 10 hours till San Fran and spend the night, then get up at 7 and drive to Disneyland!

This year its different, we are going to FINALLY see the Redwoods! We say that every year and never make it

Then we are driving to Vallejo and hitting up Discovery Kingdom, then taking my DD14 to the One Direction concert !!!!! Then Disneyland!! So more stops this year, but its worth it!!

Aaaaaand what Disney Cd's am I hearing about????? I want them!!!

 

[Spwhoney]

You are? Small world. The thunder and rain and wind kept me awake last night. I very ready for Spring and some warmer temps but it looks like snow tonight and tomorrow.

Another tradition when driving south is getting a good chuckle out of being in the Filmore/Beaver area. Both are very small towns in Utah and right after the other. It's a joke between DH and myself and just about every other adult I know. The towns definitely make fun of their own names. The convenience stores have lots of tacky souvenirs. I may or may be very temped to buy a shot glass with said town names.

Thunder woke me up too. Gotta love Beaver cheese factory. Great squeaky cheese for trip.

 

[Denton]

We live a little east of Salem. When we leave during the evening, I always stop at the 24 hr Dutch Bros in Sutherlin for my coffee fix. If we depart during the day, we make sure to stop at In-N-Out in Redding.

Then we continue on to San Francisco and stay with family for a few days before heading to Disneyland.

 

[ManusDei]

I'll add a few "traditions".

If I'm driving, I put on my continuously shuffled large mix of various Disney and Pixar music the whole way down (it's long enough to cover most of the distance without repeating) . But usually DGF drives, and she likes to cycle through her large catalog of CDs because changing them out helps keeps her awake. They include a handful of Disney music, but it's not limited to that like my playlist usually is.

In 2011, DGF and I saw a Costco deal, $55 for a 5 day pass to Universal Studios Hollywood, with few blackout dates and it didn't expire for the majority of the year. We snapped it up and subsequently did 5 individual trips to USH, some of which we combined with DLR and some were day-trips (USH takes like half a day or less to see everything in the park). Since then, we always point out the Universal Studios sign every time we pass along 101 it going to DLR nowadays.

In the same area is an exit for Cahuenga Ave (or Blvd, can't remember right now). That name always tickled DGF for some reason, she says it in a really silly way. After Hollywood Pictures Backlot was transformed into Hollywood Land, one of the buildings was emblazoned Cahuenga, and so it's now permanently stuck that we say that name in the silly way every time we see it.

Further down 101 you pass the Hollywood Tower, one of the inspirations for the Tower of Terror. This also has to be pointed out; it's kind of a landmark that signals we're in LA.

That's all I can think of for now, I'll add more later if I can remember any.

 

[DisneyMax74]

Wow sounds like lots of people from Utah drive to DL. We are in the salt lake valley, pretty much as far south as you can go and still be in SL County. lol

When we drive (which has been a few times) we don't have any major traditions but we always stop at Brad's in Cedar City for lunch or dinner depending on the time of day. Brad's is awesome by the way, just a little drive in burger place that makes great food.

Then we usually spend a night in St. George just because we love it there, will probably end up retiring there someday.

And then we usually spend two or three nights in Vegas on the way back. The kids love Excalibur because it's a castle of course, and mom and dad prefer Treasure Island or a couple other places. Although, last time we stayed at South Point just south of the main part of the strip. That place was great. Very nice hotel and away from the craziness of the strip but only a 5 minute drive to get to the strip when you want to. It may sound like a slogan but it really is a four star hotel with two star prices. lol I guess you have to be competative price-wise to pull people away from the strip.

Of course we always have fun driving down, snacking, listening to music and laughing. I really love flying just because we get there faster but you really can't replace the family time you get when you're all locked up in the car together for 10 hours over two days. lol

 

[awdsmama]

I LOVE this thread!!

We come from Portland, OR. Leave at 3 am. Drive 10 hours till San Fran and spend the night, then get up at 7 and drive to Disneyland!

This year its different, we are going to FINALLY see the Redwoods! We say that every year and never make it

Then we are driving to Vallejo and hitting up Discovery Kingdom, then taking my DD14 to the One Direction concert !!!!! Then Disneyland!! So more stops this year, but its worth it!!

Aaaaaand what Disney Cd's am I hearing about????? I want them!!!

We did a Redwoods vacation 2 years ago and it was wonderful!

Are you staying over in the area there a few days? If so, look into a jetboat ride up the Rogue River on Jerry's Rogue River Jets -- sooo fun!
PS, there is a liquor barn within 5mi of crossing the OR/CA border on 101, great discount prices compared to what we pay here ;-)

 

[awdsmama]

We live a little east of Salem. When we leave during the evening, I always stop at the 24 hr Dutch Bros in Sutherlin for my coffee fix. If we depart during the day, we make sure to stop at In-N-Out in Redding.

Then we continue on to San Francisco and stay with family for a few days before heading to Disneyland.

ummm i live a little east of Salem also. Wonder if we are same-town neighbors...

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

We drive from Orem and have nights in Vegas on the way there and back. DH likes to make a 'playlist' for the trip to hype us up once we hit the ugly parts of the drive LOL. (For example..California by Phantom Planet...)

Oh and we always try to be the first to spot the first cactus before you hit St G. LOL!!

We ALWAYS have sunflower seeds and baggies to spit the outsides into because you can seal it up. Sunflower seeds keep my mouth busy so I don't get carsick.

We're also jerky eaters. We stop in St G for gas and to feel the dramatic climate change hahahaha and always hit up the same gas station so we can spot 'my' palm tree which we take a picture of every time.

Have I mentioned we're totally dorks? LOL

ETA-I forgot that DH always has to buy a scorpion sucker in St. G. ROFL