Drive from Las Vegas to Disneyland

[DLfan4]

Hello. We are thinking of flying to Las Vegas and then driving from Las Vegas to Disneyland!!!! I am interested to hear what others who have done this drive have to say. whats the drive like? do you recommend the drive? any place we should stop along the way? hints and tips ? thank you

 

[HappieMommie]

We are driving from Calgary to Butte to St. George to Anaheim. Pleeeease leave any tips you find here. And pray for us. Haha!

When are you going?

 

[kylieh]

We did the drive a couple of years ago. We weren't used to the scenery, it's all different to home, and really enjoyed it. We stopped at Barstow about 1/2 way between I guess. It was a souvenir type store with a few fast food outlets attached like McDonalds, and of course, toilets. There was also a major rest stop between Barstow and Las Vegas, which had a couple of vending machines and bathrooms as well.

DH did the driving, he found it pretty easy. The time including the stop was from memory around 4.5 hours.

 

[Dot2Vegas]

Hello. We are thinking of flying to Las Vegas and then driving from Las Vegas to Disneyland!!!! I am interested to hear what others who have done this drive have to say. whats the drive like? do you recommend the drive? any place we should stop along the way? hints and tips ? thank you

We do this drive often. Its really pretty boring...mostly flat desert! Make sure you have plenty of gas and water (especially if you are driving in the summer when it can get outrageously hot. We don't really stop along the way for anything special. We just stop in Barstow sometimes for a quick bite. Peggy Sues Diner looks really fun and I know others that enjoy it. Best advice is to leave early in the morning. We leave Vegas at 5am to beat the traffic. And coming back from Anaheim we usually do the same, or leave late at night.
Have a safe trip!

 

[DLfan4]

thank you everyone for the tips. we don't know when exactly we are going yet, just in planning stages. but we usually like to go in jan or feb as the crowds are low.

 

[CaliDisneyMama]

I can't even count the number of times I've made that drive. I don't really have anything to add that others haven't said: It's not a bad drive at all, boring for the most part (unless you enjoy endless expanses of desert lol), we usually stop in Barstow (sometimes in Baker, too, if someone needs to use the bathroom or get something to eat/drink before we make it that far; plus you get to see the World's Tallest Thermometer! Bonus! ), and leave early to beat the traffic, especially if you're making the drive at the beginning or the end of the weekend when everyone else is doing the same.

If you want, you can stop off in Calico, which is a ghost town which used to be owned and run by Knot's Berry Farm. It looks like it's part of the San Bernardino parks system now. It's on the way, right before you get to Barstow (http://cms.sbcounty.gov/parks/Parks/CalicoGhostTown.aspx).

 

[Cal-Pie]

Northbound traffic is very heavy on Fridays, with people travelling from California to Vegas for the weekend. Likewise southbound is very heavy on Sundays. I would avoid those times, it can really add a lot of time to your trip.

If you do stop for gas in Barstow, go a gas station a couple blocks from the freeway for a better price. (Always good advice, but I've noticed extremely high prices near the freeway there, sometimes .50 cents/gallon higher.)

 

[HydroGuy]

Northbound traffic is very heavy on Fridays, with people travelling from California to Vegas for the weekend. Likewise southbound is very heavy on Sundays. I would avoid those times, it can really add a lot of time to your trip.

If you do stop for gas in Barstow, go a gas station a couple blocks from the freeway for a better price. (Always good advice, but I've noticed extremely high prices near the freeway there, sometimes .50 cents/gallon higher.)

If at all possible I would never drive to SoCal from LV on a Sunday or - if a holiday weekend - a Monday. If I had to I would leave early morning.

Normally the drive will be 3-4 hours without traffic. On a Sunday it can easily be 8+ hours.

 

[DLfan4]

thank you all for the Tips.

 

[Dot2Vegas]

If at all possible I would never drive to SoCal from LV on a Sunday or - if a holiday weekend - a Monday. If I had to I would leave early morning.

Normally the drive will be 3-4 hours without traffic. On a Sunday it can easily be 8+ hours.

Very true! We always go on a Sunday, but at 5am. I have many friends that have spent their entire day stuck in Sunday traffic on the 15. Yuck!

 

[disneydeb64]

Very true! We always go on a Sunday, but at 5am. I have many friends that have spent their entire day stuck in Sunday traffic on the 15. Yuck!

UGH, yes...been there!! Learned my lesson the hard way

 

[Aaron70Monte]

My wife and I did a similar trip a few years ago. We flew into LAX, spent 3 days in DLR, drove to Vegas and spent 3 days there. It was pretty cool to have breakfast in Disneyland park and dinner in Vegas the same day.

We opted to rent a car and travel between Anaheim and Vegas rather than fly. It was a lot less stressful being on our own schedule and not dealing with transport back to airport, baggage, etc. Total time to drive was about an hour longer than if we chose to fly. The car rental guy picked us up, we got the car and drove off. Even with the one-way car rental drop charge it was still cheaper than flying and much more enjoyable.

We stopped in Victorville, CA to check out the Route 66 museum there and even drove along part of route 66. Being in the classic car hobby, this was cool for me. I will say that it is not an exciting drive but I'd still rather do that than fly.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Oh Lordy. I'm leaving Vegas on a Sunday and driving to DLR. How early do I have to get on the road for the shortest drive?

Please tell me honestly. I'm from FL. You guys know a lot more than I do.

 

[trishakay84]

Very true! We always go on a Sunday, but at 5am. I have many friends that have spent their entire day stuck in Sunday traffic on the 15. Yuck!

Oh no! We are flying into Vegas because it was a lot less expensive than flying to CA... but our flight lands in Vegas at 9:30 am.

Would there be a different route we could take that wouldn't have as much traffic? We aren't going directly to Anaheim, if that makes a difference. We are staying the first night at a hotel along the PCH, by Dana Point/Capistrano Beach.

Thanks so much for any help/suggestions!

 

[HydroGuy]

Oh Lordy. I'm leaving Vegas on a Sunday and driving to DLR. How early do I have to get on the road for the shortest drive?

Please tell me honestly. I'm from FL. You guys know a lot more than I do.

I cannot tell you for sure as I avoid Sundays now after having a bad experience once. If it were me I would leave by 8AM. At the very, very latest 10AM.

 

[HydroGuy]

Oh no! We are flying into Vegas because it was a lot less expensive than flying to CA... but our flight lands in Vegas at 9:30 am.

Would there be a different route we could take that wouldn't have as much traffic? We aren't going directly to Anaheim, if that makes a difference. We are staying the first night at a hotel along the PCH, by Dana Point/Capistrano Beach.

Thanks so much for any help/suggestions!

There is no different route. There is I-15 and that is it.

If I were you I would plan to speed walk from the plane to the car and then start driving as soon as humanly possible. Don't stop for lunch until you get to say Victorville in CA. Well past Barstow.

 

[Dot2Vegas]

Oh no! We are flying into Vegas because it was a lot less expensive than flying to CA... but our flight lands in Vegas at 9:30 am.

Would there be a different route we could take that wouldn't have as much traffic? We aren't going directly to Anaheim, if that makes a difference. We are staying the first night at a hotel along the PCH, by Dana Point/Capistrano Beach.

Thanks so much for any help/suggestions!

No other routes :-( you don't split up to get onto other highways to get anywhere until well into the trip. Its usually 3-3 1/2 hours of straight I15.
I would not leave that late into the morning if it were me. However, I know that's not an option for you. Just get on the road as early as you can and hope for the best! If it is any consultation we have left around 9am on other days and have not experienced too much traffic.

 

[GrandBob]

I cannot tell you for sure as I avoid Sundays now after having a bad experience once. If it were me I would leave by 8AM. At the very, very latest 10AM.

Good call. We do the drive periodically from northern California. On return, it follows the same route from Vegas to Barstow, then diverges onto CA58 to Bakersfield. But it's the same as the route to LA for the first couple of hours, so we can see what traffic's like. By 10am, traffic is noticeably heavy, but still moving just fine. By noon it's getting pretty slow. But if you leave at 8am as Hydroguy suggests, it should be great.

We once spent Thanksgiving in Vegas. On the Sunday following, it took us over 12 hours to get home, normally a 7 hour trip. Several hours of it was with engine off, sitting at a standstill on CA58. Never again. If you're there on a holiday weekend, leave very early - I'd say 8am at the latest.

-Bob

 

[Cal-Pie]

What about Anaheim to Vegas on a Friday? If I leave Anaheim by 8am will I be able to get north of Vegas before I-15 gets really crazy northbound?

 

[Dot2Vegas]

What about Anaheim to Vegas on a Friday? If I leave Anaheim by 8am will I be able to get north of Vegas before I-15 gets really crazy northbound?

We have done Vegas to Anaheim on a Friday morning around this time. Obviously going in the opposite direction but I never noticed excessive traffic heading north. A lot of the LA to Vegas Friday traffic is in the later part of the day. People heading to Vegas for Friday night.