Driving from LAX on our own.

[CO2CA]

Everyone has their own style, but when I'm on vacation I...will....not....drive. Too stressful. Also think about gas prices and any associated parking fees to factor into price. I think in a similar situation, I would just Uber.

 

[wallyeva123]

We live in St.Louis so interstate driving and the accompanying traffic is no biggie at all. I"m on them every day. Half hour to target is a 15-20 minutes to target is a norm. You all are certainly helping me feel better about this. My son and husband want to go to the museum, my youngest daughter is pushing for tidal pools. I have to admit crystal cove looks lovely so now it's just a matter of deciding who's going to be unhappy. i doubt we can see the museum and be at the beach for low tide in time.

 

[MillauFr]

Driving in LA is easy. They have the best freeway system in the world by far.

 

[KittyKitty]

A few years ago, I noticed that driving on the freeway in L.A. was not scary, but I had to be focused during that time. The cars move the speed limit. I usually stayed in the right lane,1 from the off ramps.

Another time I took S Harbor Ave. from around Orange County Airport. I know Disney was on this street, so figured I would run into it eventually! Didn't have a GPS.

 

[ktlm]

It isn't a hard drive, and it is pretty much all interstate (I'm talking about the regular- not scenic route). It is just that it can be bumper to bumper and slow moving for long stretches. Took us 2 hours to drive from the Universal area to SNA on a Sunday early afternoon (around 40 miles). It isn't really any different than being in bumper to bumper traffic on the interstate in any other city, it can just be for a longer time. As long as you have the patience to deal with bumper to bumper, it is fine.

 

[DLgal]

Everyone has their own style, but when I'm on vacation I...will....not....drive. Too stressful. Also think about gas prices and any associated parking fees to factor into price. I think in a similar situation, I would just Uber.

If gas prices and parking fees worry you, wait until you see Uber fees as of late.

It cost my husband $35 to go 2 miles from the San Diego Airport to where his car was parked, not too long ago.

 

[CO2CA]

If gas prices and parking fees worry you, wait until you see Uber fees as of late.

It cost my husband $35 to go 2 miles from the San Diego Airport to where his car was parked, not too long ago.

I'm not all that concerned with gas prices, but I know it's a deciding factor for many people which is why I mentioned it. My tank fill up has only increased by around $25-$30 (from $54 to $80) each week, so it's not really that bad.

Honestly, increased fees are still worth it to not have to drive for us.

 

[bennifer]

I was very worried about the traffic and the gas for our trip that we just got home from. Now I wish I had not listened to anyone saying it was crazy! Sure, there's traffic, sure gas is high (isn't it everywhere?), but it's way overblown. We had no problems.

 

[wabbott]

I was very worried about the traffic and the gas for our trip that we just got home from. Now I wish I had not listened to anyone saying it was crazy! Sure, there's traffic, sure gas is high (isn't it everywhere?), but it's way overblown. We had no problems.

Look at Google Maps in any urban area in the United States. At some point in the day, there's red in all of them. The LA Basin is just larger than most. In the last 2 years, we've driven from Santa Monica to Key West, to the Puget Sound, to Baltimore - probably 50 thousand miles. The key is picking your time to traverse the urban areas.

 

[disney-inspired]

I have driven to Disneyland from the LAX area several times and I hate it. Traffic is bad literally any time of the day. I worked in that area for 5+ years so very familiar with it.
I don't think your nuts but would suggest flying to John Wayne if you had the option.

ETA - I would even go as far as taking the train (Amtrak not metrolink) instead of driving. No stress, they have wifi and pretty comfortable. I've taken Amtrak down to Orange county several times. Then you could take a much shorter Uber from the Anaheim station to your hotel. Checking the site, it takes 45-50 min to get to Anaheim station from the LAX Union Station

 

[disney-inspired]

Driving in LA is easy. They have the best freeway system in the world by far.

Ha! The 405 is nightmare.

 

[ktlm]

If gas prices and parking fees worry you, wait until you see Uber fees as of late.
It cost my husband $35 to go 2 miles from the San Diego Airport to where his car was parked, not too long ago.

That is definitely true! They have been crazy since before the recent gas price rise too. We have seen the same kind of prices you did for about a 2 mile drive also- last summer in San Francisco and last winter in Atlanta. In Atlanta, one time the app told me it was going to be $67 for about a 10 minute drive and it wasn't even a busy time of day--- I got out of UBER and tried lyft and got it for $25 (this is a route we typically had paid $13-15 for in the past).

For anyone debating between rental or uber/lyft, I would recommend "practicing" on the apps. You can put in a to and from destination and see what type prices are popping up. You can try it out for future dates too, or play around at different times of the day. That will give you an idea of what uber/lyft is running for your routes right now and you can figure out which way will cost you more.

 

[xipotec]

Traffic can be stop & go for like an hour during certain times of day but I don't think it's really that much worse than other big cities in the US. In some parts of LA, some of the freeway on-ramps are short and when freeways merge, you may often have to switch multiple lanes in traffic which can confuse some first time visitors. Additionally, it may take you longer than you expect to pick up a rental car at LAX because you have to wait for the shuttle of the specific company that you rented from.

I sometimes rent a car at LAX, do something for a day and then drive down to Disneyland area where I return the car. I recommend eating dinner in LA and then driving down after traffic has died down if you plan to visit the Academy of Motion Pictures Museum.

So I did a thread a while back with DIRE traffic predictions from the people answering….

Being a former NY driver, I know traffic….

How long would you say it would take to hit the road from landing , through the rental process in LAX, on Saturday afternoon?

We land at 11:00am.

What would you plan for traffic from Anaheim BACK the LAX on a Friday morning?

 

[Iceman93]

You'll be at Disneyland within two hours of landing. And you didn't say what time you'll be returning on Friday morning, but nominally it will take about an hour from Disneyland to your rental car place. Don't forget time to fill up the car with gas, then to ride the rental car shuttle to the airport, get through security, etc.

 

[Littlebitofsunshine]

Everyone has their own style, but when I'm on vacation I...will....not....drive. Too stressful. Also think about gas prices and any associated parking fees to factor into price. I think in a similar situation, I would just Uber.

That’s how I am

 

[DLgal]

So I did a thread a while back with DIRE traffic predictions from the people answering….

Being a former NY driver, I know traffic….

How long would you say it would take to hit the road from landing , through the rental process in LAX, on Saturday afternoon?

We land at 11:00am.

What would you plan for traffic from Anaheim BACK the LAX on a Friday morning?

If you need to collect luggage from baggage claim, I'd say a solid hour from wheels down to arrival at the rental car counter (longer if your flight lands in Terminals 1-3, since your rental shuttle will have to go all the way around the horseshoe and stop at every terminal to pick people up...cam take 30-45 minutes JUST to get out of LAX on a very busy day).

Once you are in the car, you should arrive at DL within 45 minutes or so, give or take 15-20 minutes depending on accidents along the way.

Going back to LAX, my recommendation is to leave 4 hours before flight time when you are returning a rental car. Again, have to account for the shuttle ride back to your terminal around that stupid LAX horseshoe.

 

[Timandalicia]

A rental car will cost as much as a hired car. How bad is the traffic really and are we nuts to do this? We don't have park tickets the day we arrive so we thought we'd go to the academy of motion pictures museum.

We ubered last time we went. Renting a car can be such a hassle at lax. If it’s the same price, why not save yourself the headache of renting and the headache of driving?

 

[nursejackie]

We flew in from the UK several years ago and hired a care at LAX. I drove us to Garden Grove and it was not bad at all, it was free-flowing most of the journey both ways. However we drove to Hollywood and that's when we encountered the gridlock, both ways. It took 2 hours each way from our hotel near Disneyland.

 

[xipotec]

We ubered last time we went. Renting a car can be such a hassle at lax. If it’s the same price, why not save yourself the headache of renting and the headache of driving?

In our case, we are visiting LA , Malibu and Laguna before DL , so a car is required for us.

 

[wabbott]

All y'all (that's the plural of y'all for those who don't speak southern) need to watch/re-watch Pixar's Cars before you decide on what route to take to any destination. You can believe it or not, but I just watched that movie for the first time a little while ago. It tells you all you need to know about the journey.