Driving from DL to San Diego Port....any advice?

[ColoradoSoprano]

Hello!

My family of 4 is taking the Halloween on the High Seas cruise in October out of the San Diego Port. My husband found a great deal and decided to rent a car and drive from our hotel at Disneyland. We are leaving around 8:00am the morning of the cruise and I would love your advice! Any routes (other than the one on the disney website) that you suggest? Any experience with dropping off an Alamo rental car and getting to the port?

Thanks everyone for your help!! ^_^

 

[undertheradar]

Hello!

My family of 4 is taking the Halloween on the High Seas cruise in October out of the San Diego Port. My husband found a great deal and decided to rent a car and drive from our hotel at Disneyland. We are leaving around 8:00am the morning of the cruise and I would love your advice! Any routes (other than the one on the disney website) that you suggest? Any experience with dropping off an Alamo rental car and getting to the port?

Thanks everyone for your help!! ^_^

I would post this question on the California boards. Traffic in LA is always crazy, so a plan to depart at 8:00am might not be advisable.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Hello!

My family of 4 is taking the Halloween on the High Seas cruise in October out of the San Diego Port. My husband found a great deal and decided to rent a car and drive from our hotel at Disneyland. We are leaving around 8:00am the morning of the cruise and I would love your advice! Any routes (other than the one on the disney website) that you suggest? Any experience with dropping off an Alamo rental car and getting to the port?

Thanks everyone for your help!! ^_^

We drove down from Anaheim to San Diego for our cruise. There's really only one way to get there. It takes about 2 hours (with good traffic). We've also taken the train to/from SD to Anaheim. You might look into that. The train station in San Diego is about 2 blocks from the terminal. So it's really easy. And no rental car to turn in.

 

[FlyingVFR]

The 5 fwy is really the only way to go. It's a minimum 2 hour drive but I would give yourself plenty of extra time just in case. SoCal traffic is always heavy and always unpredictable.

 

[mmouse37]

We did it in 2015 for the Panama Canal cruise. It was not bad at all. We stopped at Walmart after we checked out of our DL hotel and then headed down to San Diego. We had a rental but I honestly can't remember from which place. We took a taxi from the rental location to the port. Very easy.

We hit some rush hour traffic but nothing terrible.

MJ

 

[DLgal]

What day of the week will this be and what time do you want to be at the port?

I also recommend looking into the train. Might not be cheaper, but will be easier on you all. Also, I'm surprised that a one way rental is "cheap." You will likely have to pay for the mileage as most one way rentals don't include mileage. And gas as well. You will use up half a tank getting to San Diego. Did you figure that into the cost?

My husband recently took a train to SD (we live close to Disneyland) for $10 for a baseball game. Said it beats the heck out of driving. The train has WiFi and they are clean and comfortable.

 

[Rabb it]

Like a couple other people said , traffic is unpredictable in Southern California. You can be driving at night, early morning and get a traffic jam at either time. Give yourself extra time to get there!

 

[bumbershoot]

If you're returning the car to the airport know that it's one big facility now. Get off at the exit, there's a gas station at the corner. If you're lucky a plane will land, seemingly on top of your head, while you fill up. Follow the signs. Them catch a cab. Traffic can be rough going from the airport to the downtown area.

Not sure when you can embark or what you'll do between arrival and embarkation, but knowing how problematic traffic can be in between I might leave earlier.

Except if you're renting from an Anaheim agency other than an airport they don't tend to open until 8 anyway. Consider getting the car the afternoon before, so you're truly in charge of when to leave Anaheim. Rental cars are priced in 24 hour increments so a 5 hour rental will be the same as 24.

 

[3Down1Up]

As a SoCal resident - I would recommend not leaving at 8am; I'd leave either by 7am before the worst of rush hour begins, or 9am or later after the worst is over. Your worst traffic in the morning will only be to Irvine, about 15 miles south, then after that should be pretty smooth.

This is assuming you are talking about a weekday. If a weekend, I'd leave earlier than later - traffic to San Diego on weekends gets worse as the morning goes on.

And use the carpool lanes! That will save you so much time.

 

[longboard55]

nice drive, not a full 2 hours, you will hit traffic until Irvine but will be clear after that, there is a turn out half way down camp pendelton where you might find some navy games going on out at sea, I would not leave earlier or you will hit san diego traffic.

You have time to cut into pacific coast highway, maybe around Palomar Airport Road and drive along the coast thru Encinitas Leucadia Del Mar and La Jolla.

 

[oakleycat]

At 8 you'll probably hit traffic getting out of Orange County, but the worst of the SD traffic should be over by the time you get there. Just leave plenty of time to get the car in the morning as the cars get long, and maybe get a FasTrak from the rental agency in case you want to use the express lanes (not sure what the fastest way will be when you're leaving). I prefer driving to the train too, and we do one-way rentals for cruises in FL and have never been charged mileage.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

At 8 you'll probably hit traffic getting out of Orange County, but the worst of the SD traffic should be over by the time you get there. Just leave plenty of time to get the car in the morning as the cars get long, and maybe get a FasTrak from the rental agency in case you want to use the express lanes (not sure what the fastest way will be when you're leaving). I prefer driving to the train too, and we do one-way rentals for cruises in FL and have never been charged mileage.

In Florida, the one way rental premium is generally not charged. In other places it is.

 

[gunka]

If its a weekday traffic, as mentioned, can be very tough. If its a weekend day traffic will be easy.

 

[dtrain]

We're doing the same thing, so exciting! We drive from Phoenix to DL, then will be taking the I-5 to SD and parking our car at The Wyndham.

The Wonder sails away on Sunday for our 7 day, so traffic shouldn't be a problem. We figure to leave DL at 9am.

Which cruise are you on? Are you going to Mickey's Halloween Party while at DL? We're doing Friday the 13th party.

 

[DetroitDisney]

Take the train. Sit on the right side, and enjoy the majestic views and the train zips along the california coast.

 

[Sun_soakin]

We are planning to drive down from Anaheim morning of, on a Sunday, and I wasn't too worried about it. I didn't do the online stuff early enough to get an early PAT (I think we have 1:30). I almost considered going into the parks that morning, but I think we'll hit the road at 9 . Unless EMH is at 8 am that day, then we might do that and hope to leave by 10.

ETA - I know many people want to get on the boat ASAP, but what's the harm in being a bit later?

 

[cruisehopeful]

I wouldn't drive on the freeway at 8am on a weekday. I'd wait until at least 9am. Not sure about the rental car drop off when you get there. Ubers/Lyfts are easy, though, so if you need to use one, it will come quickly.

Do look into taking the train instead. It's a very scenic ride to downtown San Diego and very convenient to the port.

Port arrival time is very loose in San Diego. I was in line for over 90 minutes past my PAT the first time I sailed out of San Diego. So, PAT was really just a joke. The second time, they were just letting anyone go in. It didn't seem like anyone cared what time it was. So, if you are trying to arrive at a particular time, it may not be very important.