Drive from Sacto to DL?

[MillauFr]

Here is a trick we learned for drives with heavy traffic. Once you pass Magic Mountain watch for the 210. Take it east to the 605, take the 605 south (get in the HOV lane) to the 91 EAST, get in the HOV lane, and get back on the 5. If there is no traffic on the 5, my route will take you 20 mins longer, but if it is during rush hour, we have saved an hour (had my sister go down the 5 to compare.)

This way works good if you don't get stuck on the 210 leaving Pasadena. The section from 134 to the 605 is frequently backed up during the evening rush hour. Of course it is usually better than I-5 through downtown LA.

 

[kirstie101]

We also leave from Elk Grove. When we leave at 6:30 on a Saturday morning, we are at our hotel by 2-2:30. Thats traveling with a preschooler so figure in a stop for breakfast, a bathroom stop, a gas/bathroom stop and an hour long stop at Tito's Taco's in Culver City for lunch.

 

[cutedisneygirly]

DH and I can never seem to get up that early to leave from Elk Grove. We have tended to grab a large breakfast at Stagecoach Restaurant or something before leaving and head down 99. We stop in Bakersfield for gas and then don't stop until we get to our hotel in Anaheim. Generally we go down on a Sunday and leave around 10 am. Minus the one time there was a major accident that closed southbound I5 on the way down, it generally takes us about 6.5-7 hours (depending on DH's lead foot!)

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

So many Elk Grove peeps, cool. When we drive, we leave around 8, usually only stop once (generally pack lunch for way down) and arrive around 2:00.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

We take I5 from Modesto leave around 5 pack up the night before get there around 12. My question is what is the best time to leave to head home. It always seems like the trip home takes FOREVER! Any tips??

 

[Heymy]

I agree with everyone that posted above, and it seems that the best bet(for us at least) is to leave around 5 a.m. so that the kids can sleep in the car until about 7:00 or 7:30. About an hour later we stop for breakfast and then find that there are only a few hours left.

Can I just hijack this thread and say how GREAT it is to bring all of us Elk Grove Disney fanatics together on one thread!!!

Hi neighbors!

We just moved to the Bay Area last week...I'm sad to say we will no longer leave from Elk Grove. How easy was it to be on the 5 the whole way? I've told my girls that the trip will be closer from our new home (not sure if that's necessarily true LOL). And we are the crazy ones that leave in the middle of the night. I try to get on the road between 3 and 4 am...DH thinks I'm nuts, but he doesn't really have a say since I drive the whole way. That gives us a good amount of time in the park until we all pass out before 9 pm the first night. We left at 10 am once after a t-ball game....never again!!

 

[Scribble Kitty]

Leaving in the middle of the night just works out best for me. No one is on the road and it's just a straight shot down. Sometimes we'll stop for a light breakfast around 6 or 7am.

I would think it would be harder with kids to leave that early, but then again what kid wouldn't want to leave for Disneyland right away?

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

We just moved to the Bay Area last week...I'm sad to say we will no longer leave from Elk Grove. How easy was it to be on the 5 the whole way? I've told my girls that the trip will be closer from our new home (not sure if that's necessarily true LOL). And we are the crazy ones that leave in the middle of the night. I try to get on the road between 3 and 4 am...DH thinks I'm nuts, but he doesn't really have a say since I drive the whole way. That gives us a good amount of time in the park until we all pass out before 9 pm the first night. We left at 10 am once after a t-ball game....never again!!

We also leave the Bay Area at 3 or 4 in the morning! We have driven down after work a couple times for 1 day trips and it took forever...I was not a happy camper.