Driving from Portland & Flight Increases

[ORMom2Four]

Wow, there are a lot of us in the Pacific NW Thanks to everyone for the great ideas!

This morning I was able to find flights on AlaskaAir. $99 each way (plus $30 each ticket in fees--ugh) Total came to $229 round trip from PDX to LAX. That is the least expensive I have seen in a long time!

Dh and I decided to bite the bullet (and our checkbook) and book the flight

While we could do the drive pretty easy with our older kids (16 & 14), it would be pretty tough on the little ones (5 & 3). Our 5 year old is developmentally disabled, and even taking him though airport security makes him very anxious.

Thanks again for all of the great ideas! We might still do the drive down in early spring to get one more trip in before ur AP expires. I think, based on what everyone says, it might be more realistic to plan for a two day drive. Dalepool had a great idea, we should get a Oregon/Washington to Disneyland carpool going

 

[IASWAM]

Dalepool had a great idea, we should get a Oregon/Washington to Disneyland carpool going

I think there should be a dedicated lane that runs from Seattle all the way to DL with no speed limits, and open only to DIS board members. That way we could get to DL REAL quick!

 

[dzy76]

Eastern Oregon here! Pendleton to be exact. There's a few Disney nuts here, too.

If you start that carpool lane, I'm up for it!

Every time I start planning a trip I think of driving. For about 15 minutes, then I book a flight! But it's getting cost prohibitive! We took the train down last December and flew back. Not a bad way to go. But boy was that a long train trip, about 34 hours or so. Was glad we were flying back.

 

[splash5]

ORMom2Four, when are you traveling? We couldn't find any cheap flights on Alaska air.

 

[avalon451]

I was just looking, and if you go up to Seattle, you can still get $99 each way fares from Seattle to Long Beach (LGB) all during October. With tax it's $219. Not bad.

 

[splash5]

I guess we are out of luck for August on cheap flights.

 

[Whidbey5]

We just drove from north of Seattle to D-land last week (got home Saturday). 15 hours from Portland sounds about right.

We stayed in Medford the first night and the Disney Grand Californian the second night! My dh is a road warrior ("What do you mean you have to stop for a bathroom break??") so we make good time. On the way home we took a side trip to Yosemite (don't do it in summer--that place is a mad house!). After a night in the park, we headed north. Our original plan to to stay in Klammath Falls, but we got the bug to be home, so we drove through. THAT was a long day...started driving at 8 am and pulled into our driveway at 12:30 am on the nose.

We're heading back down in December, with not enough time to drive, so I'm looking for good air fare. As of right now, Alaska has the best...but at $384 per person! We have two companion fares we can use, but that's still going to be around $1000 to fly. I'm booking our room tomorrow, and will just have to cross my fingers for a good air price to appear!

 

[CrazyDuck]

When I bought my plane tickets (HNL-SAN then LAX-HNL) I paid $400 each back in April. Last month the same plane ticket was over $1000. Today it is back to $650. Maybe now that oil prices are coming back down to Earth, airline prices may follow!!!

 

[dalepool]

Oh Yes I can feel A dis-meet soon in the Longview -Kelso area. I am so happy there are so many of us from the same small town here on the Dis. I makes my heart smile. Maybe a trip to the out let disney store that is at Lloyd center ( fairly new opening). Any how I am not a good planner but If anyone does opt for a lunch to talk over Disney trips past or future Please let me know I like lunch and I love Disney.

Hope we can all gather soon

 

[Lynzer Torte]

Beaverton, Oregon here!

I hope you guys are all signed up to receive SW Airlines DINGS! I'm always getting good fares for PDX-LAX (usually $79-$99).

We paid $79 each way for the 4 of us in February.

 

[tink2dw]

Driving Portland to DL Here is info on Driving thru the Siskiyou Mts in winter with/with out Snow.
From tripadvisor.com,read thru, best response is on page 2,

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...o_Southern_CA_in_Mid_Dec-Portland_Oregon.html

 

[reynmagsmom]

Oh Yes I can feel A dis-meet soon in the Longview -Kelso area. I am so happy there are so many of us from the same small town here on the Dis. I makes my heart smile. Maybe a trip to the out let disney store that is at Lloyd center ( fairly new opening). Any how I am not a good planner but If anyone does opt for a lunch to talk over Disney trips past or future Please let me know I like lunch and I love Disney.

Hope we can all gather soon

I would totally be up for lunch.....I love talking disney and don't have many besides my daughter who share that obsession pm me and ill pass on my phone # and maybe we can meet sometime!!!

 

[ORMom2Four]

I think there should be a dedicated lane that runs from Seattle all the way to DL with no speed limits, and open only to DIS board members. That way we could get to DL REAL quick!

That would be PERFECT

ORMom2Four, when are you traveling? We couldn't find any cheap flights on Alaska air.

I went to the Alaska Air website and moved my dates around a bit to get the $99 each way fare. We are leaving the 4th, coming back the 11th. We wanted to come back the 12th, but the only flights left were $134. When you do a search from the main page, you can now choose "Low Fare Calendar". That helps you pick the dates that have the lowest fares.

 

[50sjayne]

I've driven straight through before. Before the kids, it took us about 18 hours to get there (I am on the WA coast). when we went with the kids, 11 months and 3 1/2 it took about 20 hours all together. We had a DVD player games, bubbles, crayons, Plenty for them to do to keep them entertained. I entertained them, hubby drove. We stopped several times for leg stretching time and potty breaks. Only thing is the trip home is a bit tough, because we were so worn out from our fun days. Hubby was ok until we hit longview. Just be prepared with snacks and plenty of water, and stop if you need to.

Yeah--driving straight sthrough down no problem, back up through the Siskiyous no way. I decided our last trip we will never drive through the Siskiyous at night again. Well worth the stop to see dh's Uncle and just get a motel 6 or priceline it in Sacramento. If we get up early enough we should make it through the Siskiyous before dark.

 

[splash5]

Add me to the list for the get together of Longview/Kelso people. Portland too! I think that my husband and son tire of my Disneyland chatter. Although, DH was the one who said we could go back to Disneyland in August - woo hoo! He just wants to take some non-disney vacations too! DS loves the parks too, but is getting to the age (14) where he doesn't get really excited about anything. (at least outwardly).

Fellow Washingtonians unite!!

 

[50sjayne]

If you are going last minute I'd check Priceline vacation packages, I was playing around yesterday because I found out I have another week of vacation to take next week or I lose it and for a 3 day round trip hotel + airfare package it is 330 per person for the convention center Extended stay america (kind of a good cheaper hotel). Of course I can't go because husband won't allow anyone to go to Disneyland without him. Hmph. The dates I put in were the 5th through the 8th. All kinds of hotels come up too.

 

[1 goofy family]

When I bought my plane tickets (HNL-SAN then LAX-HNL) I paid $400 each back in April. Last month the same plane ticket was over $1000. Today it is back to $650. Maybe now that oil prices are coming back down to Earth, airline prices may follow!!!

We're doing the same route in Dec. I got 2 tickets on miles back in February and paid for 2 more for $450 each. The same ticket right now is $930 r/t .
I think for us Hawaiians having Aloha and ATA take a dive heavily contributed to our outrageous price increases. We're really going to have fun on this vacation because I honestly don't know if we'll be able to afford it again next year .

For all you lucky people driving in, have a safe and happy drive over. I would love to make that drive from Oregon to Anaheim. I doubt if I could do it all in one day though!