Any Input on Driving from TX to AZ to DL?

DaisyT

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
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We will be taking our first trip to Disneyland the 3rd week of June 2010 and plan to be at DL Tue, Wed, and Thurs. I have a pretty good plan for these three days, as in I believe the So Cal APs are not blocked out 6/22 and 6/24 is a grad night. We will be purchasing a Disney pkg. so will have MM and MTMM and will "focus" on rides the first part of each day (yes, I agree with the Infamous Hydroguy) and after our afternoon break at the hotel we will just "wing it" in the evenings.
In order for DH to be excited about this trip it must be a road trip with a stop at the Grand Canyon along the way. The working plan is to leave Austin, TX early (3:30-4:30am) Sunday morning, drive as far as we can towards the Grand Canyon, spend 1 night along the way, drive to the Grand Canyon the next morning, spend some time there and then drive to DL, arriving late evening (no plans). Tue, Wed, and Thurs at DL. Also, there is a 2hr time difference working in our favor.
Oh, almost forgot to mention we will be traveling with our DD (6) and her BFF(8).
Soooo- any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
 
Sounds like you won't be spending much time at the GC unless you decide to not spend that entire 2nd day driving to Anaheim. If you reconsider I'd suggest either spending the night at the GC (at this point, might be hard to get a reservation "on-site") or in Laughlin, which is about 20 miles north of I-40 on the NV-AZ border. I mention Laughlin because the casinos there subsidize the hotel rooms, keeping the costs low for decent rooms (like $30-$40). I'd recommend Harrah's if you decide to do that - nice family pool, nice buffet, large arcade for the kids, and you don't need to gamble (unless you really want to). :rolleyes1
 
Trying making it so that if you're driving at night you drive through AZ at sunrise...it's AMAZING. I've done the drive from Tulsa, OK to L.A at least 5 times and it's really a great drive.
 
you can also stay in Kingman, which is directly ON the 40 (laughlin is a good half hour + away, and then you'll just have to drive back to the 40 (unless you were planning to go through vegas, but i'm pretty sure that route will add time to your drive).

directly off of the 40, on andy devine road (aka route 66) there are motels that have rooms for $30-$40 a night. laughlin is a LOT hotter than kingman (usually about 10 degrees!).

remember that getting to the grand canyon from the 40 is close to an hour's drive. and honestly, you don't need a ton of time for the grand canyon if your goal is just to see it. we've stayed for as little as half an hour before (because we lived nearby, in kingman, which is about 3.5 hours away).

be VERY CAREFUL at the canyon with the young kids you will have with you! the barriers are flimsy and short, and have large gaps in some places (big enough for a kid to fall through). i'm amazed that more kids do not fall to their deaths at that place, as every time we are there it seems there are people just sort of letting their kids wander. we physically hold on to all of our kids the entire time we are there.

when we lived in kingman, we could get to disneyland in about 4.5 hours. so, from the grand canyon, you've got about 8 hours drive to the parks. that's just drive time, though, and doesn't account for any meal or bathroom stops along the way.

if you need to plan a meal sometime close to your grand canyon visit, might be best to find something in williams, which is where you catch the 64 up to the canyon. williams is a neat little place, with some places to eat. it looks like the kind of town that Disney's Cars was based on, lol.

hope that helps!
 

This is exactly the kind of info. I was looking for. Thanks to all of you for your help. I will definitely physically hold on to both girls!
 
Is there anyway that you can leave on Sat? I am born and raised in TX and now live at the Grand Canyon and it is a long drive. I have never driven from Austin, but it is about an 11 hr drive from Lubbock to the GC. When we drive to Disneyland from the Grand Canyon it takes us about 8-9 hrs. That drive really depends on the traffic you hi in CA. It is also a very boring drive. You will go through areas of TX, NM, AZ, and CA that really do not have that much scenery and not many town to stop in. I find that on these types of drives it feels longer and wears us out quicker.

Typically people only spend on average about 2 hrs here, also keep in mind that it is the park's busy season (and this is a really busy park) and sometimes the line through the entrance station can be over an hour long.

If you are going to add the GC, then I would add at least 1 or 2 more days of the trip, just for the extra drive. If you were orginally going to take I-10 into CA, then you are adding about 8 hrs to the trip by adding the GC.

Feel free to PM if you have any questions on the drive or GC.
 
If you can manage the time, take the GC railway from Williams for a day trip. This way, you do not have to hunt for parking at the GC village or spend the time waiting in line at the gate. If you feel the need to drive into the canyon, the east gate (take HWY 89 out of Flagstaff to HWY 64) usually has a shorter line up to get into the park. Then you have to drive about 20 miles through the park to get to the village, but I have to say that my favorite overlook is right inside the east gate (Desert View). Also, if you take I-40 across, Barstow is a good place to stay the night. I've stayed at the Hampton Inn in Barstow, and it was a very nice place that was built in the last 3 years. Have a great trip!
 



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