Anyone drive from Colorado to Disneyland?

[BigCheese]

FWIW, I had a flight to SoCal last weekend and then back after the weekend. Our flight got delayed twice and then after fours hours canceled. We were very fortunate that we called quickly to the 800 # and got booked on a flight the next morning.

This is not the first time this has happened to me or probably many of you. Bottom line is that your "nice convenience" comment is not full proof.

I fly a lot and have things down to a science to keep this kind of thing to an absolute minimum. But flying is not always the most convenient and is often the most inconvenient. If the distance is 1000+ miles then flying is usually more convenient. But Colorado to DLR is about 1000 miles and so it depends. When we go to DLR we also usually go to the beach too in San Diego. Driving allows us to bring all our beach gear which we can't bring on an airplane. It also allows for last minute passenger changes.

I don't disagree. Nothing is really fool proof. You're absolutely right as the weather or airline mechanical issues are things out of a traveller's control and it's always good to have a contingency plan, monitor weather, check flight status of one's flight frequently, etc. On the flip side one could also get a flat tire or engine trouble out of the blue a hundred miles from Barstow, so having back up plans in any situation in case the worst happens is usually wise since there are so many variables out of a traveller's control. I was speaking more in a general nature (all else being equal).

I think we might have been in So Cal the same time as you last week. The weather in Denver caused our flight from SNA to be delayed, but luckily our flight got there only a few hours late (rather than cancelled).

 

[jedijill]

I just have to say that for $200 I would probably do the same but I really dislike LAX especially it involves DLR. It is anti-magic and to me always feels awful coming out of the airport. I was just there last weekend from Colorado.

SNA is just a nicer, smaller airport and feels more like Orlando for those who visit WDW. It is a much nicer place to arrive in general and especially when going to Disney. I would choose SNA every time if I could and even pay more to go to SNA within reason.

I hear ya! I looked at SNA first (athough I've never flown in there) but $200 is a lot of corn dogs. This is also a semi-budget bonus trip rotfl so I'll put up with the anti-magic.

Jill in CO

 

[Enchanted Minnie]

I just have to say that for $200 I would probably do the same but I really dislike LAX especially it involves DLR. It is anti-magic and to me always feels awful coming out of the airport. I was just there last weekend from Colorado.

SNA is just a nicer, smaller airport and feels more like Orlando for those who visit WDW. It is a much nicer place to arrive in general and especially when going to Disney. I would choose SNA every time if I could and even pay more to go to SNA within reason.

If we're talking about flying, I agree, SNA is a lot more like the Orlando feel. Once when my DH went to California for business I flew out to meet him for a few days. I flew into LAX because it was cheaper. Good grief that airport gave me a headache! It was just so big and confusing!

I went ahead and changed my flight coming home from LAX to SNA. Much smoother. Although, forgive me if I'm wrong but don't they have to haul hiney on take off, turn off the engines then turn them back on to not disturb resident on the ground? I thought they'd never turn those engines back on, it was a bit scary!

But for a big price difference I'd deal with LAX

 

[MickeyManiac]

Right now Frontier has direct flights from LAX and SNA for $99 ea way. It's a 2.5 hr flight. I am not good with road trips either so I could never handle that long in the car.

OP- A little O/T but I have family in Antonito and Alamosa and the 12 hr drives from SLC we used to do to visit them when I was a kid made me crazy. But we didn't have DVD players then.

 

[lisachrystine]

We did a Monument to Anaheim road trip a few years ago (about 17 hr total drive time each way).

Hello, neighbor - we are also in Monument

OP - We've done the drive from Monument. We go straight through in one day. Once you add the cost of hotels, it starts to negate the savings on the airfare. We usually save upwards of $700 by driving and we like having our car there. The first time, we found airfare for $160 ea and my youngest was still a lap child - THAT was worth flying. I've never done the southern route, but the northern (out I 70) was not a bad drive at all IMHO. We do have family in CA, so we stay in Hesperia, which knocks a couple hours off the drive. We don't go directly to DLR, we're usually with family a couple days first, so I can't speak to if everyone would be ready to hit the park the next day.

Here are things that work for us on long drives with little ones. Maybe some of them will work for you.

- Leave early. Before breakfast. We drove three hours with them in their pjs and made the first stop their morning routine with a twist. Get dressed, have breakfast at a café... By telling them we were driving to <wherever>, we could hold off on getting into some of the time killers until we'd already put a few hours behind us.

- DVDs. We are not generally a DVD-in-the-car family. We only break it out for occasions like this. We have one that straps on to the headrest. I prefer it over tablets and the like because my oldest gets carsick if he's looking down (this was discovered on our first long drive, so you may want to practice run some of the things you're bringing so you can change plans ahead of time if you have to). We don't start the first DVD until we're at least an hour into the drive. The first hour is the easiest, especially if it's still dark. They think it's exciting and we KNOW they can make it to Denver with no issues.

- Change it up. We do not do back to back DVDs. We do two hours of screen time and a half hour to an hour of drawing, talking, singing, looking out the windows, whatever, between stops. They know that a movie and some time of something else means we're almost to the next stop. We also want them to actually *see* some of the country that we're driving through.

- Bring presents. Small ones. Just something that's new to them. Sometimes it's a small toy, sometimes a new DVD or book. Don't underestimate the value of novelty! We use them as rewards for good behavior. Bonus - we get two more hours of quiet while they "discover" the new toy!

- Bring snacks. Our kids don't get "junk" snacks very often. Packing up the car with things like chips and beef jerky and cookies makes it special and exciting for them. They usually get one or two snacks on each "leg" in between real meals.

- Plan a longer stop somewhere in the middle - for us it is a park in St. George, UT. An hour or two to run around and play outside after lunch set them up for naps once we got back in the car.

- Do your best to keep them on schedule. We planned our timing around their routines as best as we could. If you know your child is normally super active around mid-morning, for example, plan to stop and let them run around at that time instead of trying to force them to sit and watch a movie. If they normally fall asleep after lunch, plan to stop for lunch right before the normal nap time, then they'll be a lot more likely to conk out in the car - and you don't have to wake them up to eat.

- Spending money as incentive. I think I read about this one on the DIS a couple years ago. If they are old enough to understand the value of money, it works pretty well. We gave them each a roll of quarters and every time they got out of control or too loud or fought, they had to pay us for listening to it. Whatever was left when we got there, they had to spend however they wanted. I think they lost about 2 quarters before all it took was me saying to my DH "hmm. do you think we need to be paid for this one?" and they'd be quiet

Hope you find at least one of these helpful and applicable to your own kids. Have a great trip - however you get there!

 

[Midnightred]

Our family has driven from Texas to DLR a couple of times, and have flown a couple of times. I get a lot of joy from road trips. I love to read maps, plan where we are going to spend the night, and so on. My kids on the other hand, do not enjoy long car trips . What we have done in the past was to stop over in Bisbee, Arizona for a couple of nights to break up the trip. We make it part of the entire vacation.
The nice thing about driving is you can bring anything you want with you within reason, stuff for the beach, hotel, extra blankets, water, and so on. Now we fly, and my cousin drives (we live in the same little town). We give her an extra bag of food and plates and stuff for the hotel, as well as my husbands tripod.
As for flying from El Paso, the flights into LAX are hundreds of dollars cheaper, and are direct. It would take layovers and way more hours flying into SNA. I think when we get a new vehicle we will drive to Cali again, but for now we better fly. Good luck with everything, sounds like fun!

Midnightred

 

[mikana876]

I live in Colorado and have made the drive to California more times than I can count! We live on the western side of Colorado however, since you live in Pueblo that will add a couple hours to your drive.

We usually leave bright and early in the morning, around 6 or 7am and drive straight there. We usually get there by 6 or 7pm at night. We bring portable DVD players (and bonus; we watch Disney movies on the way there!).

If for whatever reason we can't leave early (sometimes we've left after I got off work) then we stop and stay the night in Las Vegas. This option might be better for you since you have an added 4 hours to your trip than we do.

Honestly I won't EVER pay for plane tickets. For us, the cost savings is definitely worth it. Not to mention we save money not having to rent a car. I find that we get some really good quality family time in the car too. I get creative and bring lots of family games for us to play, coloring books, books, magazines etc.

 

[Mackysmycat]

For us, the cost savings is definitely worth it. Not to mention we save money not having to rent a car. I find that we get some really good quality family time in the car too. I get creative and bring lots of family games for us to play, coloring books, books, magazines etc.

Love it. Us too!