Does anyone drive from WA or OR to DLR?

[Dakota_Lynn]

We've driven from Bellingham to Disneyland several times. I love the road trip! I say do it!

 

[challada]

I'll be the dissenting eastern WA voice!

Frankly, I HATE driving down (and yes, we've done it before). You will lose at least FOUR days of vacation by sitting in the car. To me, my time is more valuable than that. With the cost of gas and hotels these days, I also don't think you would save very much by driving versus a cheap flight down. Alaska is running "kids fly free" right now to DL, FYI.

It ain't a pretty drive either...more like pretty boring.

 

[ericamanda01]

DH and I are going to make the drive in Sept. Normally we would be leaving from our home in Portland, which is 2 minutes from I-5, but we have to go to Redmond WA first. So that will add 3 hours to our trip. But we are planning on driving to Stockton CA and stopping for the night. Then power threw to DL the next day. We have made the trip coming up from San Diego in Febuary, and the weather was really rough. But i'm sure it will be a vast difference in April.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I'll be the dissenting eastern WA voice!

Frankly, I HATE driving down (and yes, we've done it before). You will lose at least FOUR days of vacation by sitting in the car. To me, my time is more valuable than that. With the cost of gas and hotels these days, I also don't think you would save very much by driving versus a cheap flight down. Alaska is running "kids fly free" right now to DL, FYI.

It ain't a pretty drive either...more like pretty boring.

Just checked with 3 airlines and for 6 of us it is $2700 RT and it cost us last year to drive $1200. My kids are 20-14, kids fly free does not seem to help here.
The drive only gets bad when you hit Valencia on down.

Jack

 

[teacups]

Ok, now wait. There are different ways one could drive. Go all freeway, and thats what you get... freeway. I agree with the previous poster... that would be boring, long and ugly. BUT 101 is a coastal drive and NOBODY would say that is boring, or ugly. Long? Yes. Depends on what kind of vacation you want. If its all about getting to DL, than OF COURSE FLY! If you want to see the sights and experience them...take 101. Either way, have fun along the way!

 

[DMP]

Yep - we fly - our goal (at this stage) is to get there as soon as possible. I am sure that we will drive when my child is older... as one of my childhood memories is going down the California coastal highway and stopping at Hearst Castle, Monterey and Solvang...

 

[challada]

Just checked with 3 airlines and for 6 of us it is $2700 RT and it cost us last year to drive $1200. My kids are 20-14, kids fly free does not seem to help here.
The drive only gets bad when you hit Valencia on down.

Jack

Yes, but she's flying 3 people, not six...which comes to half of your flights for 6= $1350 which in my book ain't too far from $1200.
I would also be concerned w/only one driver for that distance as the kids aren't old enough to drive yet.

Yes, you could drive 101...and add at least SIX hours more to your already long drive. You would be better off flying down, renting a car and driving an hour of the coast to get it out of your system. Also, FYI, my parents LIVE on the coast highway which was CLOSED just north of their house for the last 8 months and just now opened....no guarantee that you will get thru on 101.

 

[disneedee]

and we do the drive. we have favorite places to stop. rice hill. harry and davids. dunsmuir. corning. fresno (brother lives there). which make the ride interesting. or aleast give you something to anticipate. you would have no snow problems in april from i5 west. not sure about getting over those middle of the state mts.

we have done the coast trip, but not on the way to dl. to serious about getting there.

i think your kids are a great age to enjoy the different things you mentioned, they will however add a day or 2 to your trip. but hey i've heard there are other things in life than disney. lol.

my vote is do it

 

[hugabearjo]

As for the concern of only one driver, as long as you stop and enjoy the sights and stretch. I guess, I don't like to drive but do like to go and see the sights. I have driven to calif and back doing all the driving. I have also driven to Oklahoma and back from Oregon being the only driver. I don't think that is a problem with someone to talk to and keep you company. We did it on our way to DLR and loved the other part of our vacation just as much. It was just a different experience, a good one.

My vote is still to do it

 

[Catrinabeach]

We're planning to drive down from Vancouver, BC next Christmas.

We know it's a long drive but when you have a large family it just makes it that much cheaper to do. We have 7 people going. We figure it will cost us about 2000.00 to drive there. Flights would be a heck of a lot more.

We have never driven before but from what we have checked online it should take us about 19 hrs to get to DL.

We are planning to drive to Yreka, Ca the first day and from there to DL the next day. That seems to be the half way point for us.

I would do it. But then I love to drive and we have bought our kids all the toys (DVD players, IPods etc) that will help entertain themselves in the car.

 

[MrsMork]

ROADTRIP!!! YES! We drive from Portland area at least once a year. Love those roadtrips. Do it!
I cannot imagine us spending $1200 to get there by car though. Even with the price of gas, a hotel for one night each way (Best Western on the freeway for us, book ahead and get Best Rate on the internt) and food we spend maybe $600. We have a great book called The Next Exit which you can google and order online. It lists everything at every exit on every interstate in the country. We use it to plan our gas stops at Arco to save that 10 cents per gallon and to plan our meal stops. We do not like to do sit down meals when we have been sitting for hours in the car. We use The Next Exit to find a rest area, with a fast food of some sort a mile or two prior to the rest area. We then go thru the drive thru and eat at the rest area. That allows us and whatever kids we have with us (grandkids, neices, nephews, friends) to run off some energy and not have to sit while eating. Grandpa and I get a bit of standing/walking time too that way.
We drive from Portland to Lodi first day then about 6 hours to DL from there. Folks drive 90/95 or so when you get south of Fresno. Whoa! Hold on tight or take Hwy 99 south out of Sacramento and the traffic is more sane. Still lots of traffic, but only driviing 75 or 80. Hwy 99 hooks back up wtih I-5 just north of LA. We also take I-10 thru Pasadena/Burbank then to Hwy 57 south to DL rather than I-5 thru the heart of LA.


We are planning on going mid May.

Have fun!

 

[blackjackdelta]

We're planning to drive down from Vancouver, BC next Christmas.

We know it's a long drive but when you have a large family it just makes it that much cheaper to do. We have 7 people going. We figure it will cost us about 2000.00 to drive there. Flights would be a heck of a lot more.

We have never driven before but from what we have checked online it should take us about 19 hrs to get to DL.

We are planning to drive to Yreka, Ca the first day and from there to DL the next day. That seems to be the half way point for us.

I would do it. But then I love to drive and we have bought our kids all the toys (DVD players, IPods etc) that will help entertain themselves in the car.

Think you are underestimating the drive time. Another will be the nasty weather in the higher elevations. Good luck!

Jack

 

[challada]

Still voting for a FLIGHT here!

You know, CA State is far more vacation than one road trip. Fly down to DL and have fun w/out wearing yourself out in the car. Take a different road trip to drive down to San Fran/northern coast area.

 

[staley7580]

Does any one know if you could drive from Tacoma to Fresno in 1 day without killing our selves? My dh works nights, so we would leave about 4am. Las time we did something like this, we went to reno, and I drove from Portland all the way to Reno in one stretch. Stopping a few times because for some reason my dd thinks of the car as her own personal bathroom. (shes in diapers by the way, so its not that gross!)

 

[Dobie]

I think the drive is long for spring break--since you typically have only nine days--driving commando will take at least four days round trip--planning to see the sights you are looking at 5-6 days, which doesn't leave much time for DL.

Also, I have driven from Washington to LA in April before and encountered horrible snow in the Siskyous, plus the Grapevine Pass south of Bakerfield on the 5 was closed due to snow. We had to wait around like 14 hours or something before it opened.

So, we fly now. Although flying out of the Tri Cities is spendy, its just a drop in the bucket compared to what we spend on the Grand Californian and Tinkerbelle souveniers!

 

[Catrinabeach]

Think you are underestimating the drive time. Another will be the nasty weather in the higher elevations. Good luck!

Jack

What's a more realistic drive time ? I only have what I got online to go by since we have never driven it before.

Has anyone ever driven in December before ? I've dealt with snow before. Just wondering how much snow is normal there.

 

[challada]

Well, driving from central WA to San Fran takes about 19 hours total. You are at least 2 more hours north in Vancouver, so that's 21 hours. We've also driven the SF to LA route (more than the WA to LA route) and can say that is 9 hours at least. So now you are talking 30 hours drive time.

 

[disneedee]

i would estimate it takes us about 20 hours from portland. that is allowing for some rest breaks and meals. i think we have done it in 16 hours once when leaving about 6pm and driving straight through. have to make less bathroom and meal breaks when the kids are asleep.

just be sure you have your chains along. we have made that winter trip maybe 10 times. have had to put the chains on 3-4 times. got stopped for a couple of hours one time in southern oregon until they opened the highway back up. but usually no problem. they have a lot of trucks on i5 and keep it moving pretty good.

 

[Catrinabeach]

This is what I found and what I have been going by. Is it the same route or completely different ? I figured it would take a bit longer than this due to weather and stops and what have you but not 30 hrs. Unless you mean 30 hrs total including stops. We figure we would leave Tsawwassen at 7:30 am and arrive in Yreka around 7pm ish. And leaving Yreka 8am the next morning and arrive in Anaheim by 8 or 9 pm that night.

Start: Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada
End: Yreka, California, United States
Total Distance: 1014.8 Kilometers
Estimated Total Time: 9 hours, 35 minutes
Directions Kilometers
Start: Depart Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada on 56 St (North) 1.8
1: Turn RIGHT (East) onto Hwy-17 7.2
2: Take Ramp (RIGHT) onto Hwy-99 towards Hwy-99 / Hope / Seattle / Hwy-1 28.1
3: Entering Washington
4: Road name changes to I-5 167.5
5: Reconstruction near Everett (March 14, 2006 - December 15, 2006)
6: *Turn potentially restricted* Take Ramp (LEFT) onto I-5 Express Ln towards Express Lanes 11.7
7: Merge onto I-5 797.9
8: Road widening between Federal Way and Tukwila (SB) (June 1, 2005 - July 13, 2007)
9: Construction between Woodland and Kelso (SB) (July 12, 2006 - August 31, 2007)
10: Entering Oregon
11: Construction between Roseburg and Oakland (SB) (March 25, 2005 - December 15, 2006)
12: Entering California
13: At exit 775, turn RIGHT onto Ramp towards Central Yreka 0.4
14: Turn RIGHT (West) onto E Miner St 0.2
15: Turn LEFT (South) onto SR-3 [S Main St] < 0.1
End: Arrive Yreka, California, United States

Start: Yreka, California, United States
End: Anaheim, California, United States
Total Distance: 1071.6 Kilometers
Estimated Total Time: 9 hours, 26 minutes
Directions Kilometers
Start: Depart Yreka, California, United States on SR-3 [S Main St] (South) < 0.1
1: Turn LEFT (East) onto E Center St 0.2
2: Take Ramp (RIGHT) onto I-5 towards I-5 1031.5
3: Construction between Lebec and Valencia (SB) (August 2, 2006 - December 29, 2006)
4: Road name changes to I-10 [I-5] 1.8
5: Keep LEFT onto I-5 [Golden State Fwy] towards I-5 / CA-60 East / Pomona / Soto St / Santa Ana 35.4
6: Reconstruction near Fullerton (SB) (July 3, 2006 - July 30, 2010)
7: At exit 111, turn LEFT onto Ramp towards Lincoln Ave 0.8
8: Bear RIGHT (South) onto Local road(s) < 0.1
9: Turn LEFT (East) onto W Lincoln Ave 1.5
10: Turn RIGHT (South) onto S Harbor Blvd 0.3
11: Turn LEFT (East) onto W Broadway 0.3
End: Arrive Anaheim, California, United States

 

[MrsMork]

Does any one know if you could drive from Tacoma to Fresno in 1 day without killing our selves? My dh works nights, so we would leave about 4am. Las time we did something like this, we went to reno, and I drove from Portland all the way to Reno in one stretch. Stopping a few times because for some reason my dd thinks of the car as her own personal bathroom. (shes in diapers by the way, so its not that gross!)

Portland to Fresno is 9 -10 hours. We do this drive at least once a year. Tacoma is 3 hours or so from Portland. Just be aware that you would come into Portland and be crossing the I-5 bridge right at rush hour leavng Tacoma at 4 am, if this is on a weekday. It can add an extra hour onto your trip some days. Long day, but certainly not out of the question. Fresno to Anaheim is then an easy 6-7 hours on the second day. You might break your trip up a bit better by stopping at Williams, CA or Corning area. The days would be about equal then. Happy Roadtrip!! We do love roadtrips, getting there is much of the fun for us. 4 days at DL is plenty and with 9 days off that gives time for a beach day or an extra couple of days coming home to see at least part of the coast highway. We have the 5 CD set of Disney music to get us there. Time goes by fast when we are singing.