Driving from Texas to DL - advice welcome

[Boston Tea Party]

Has anyone braved barren west Texas to drive to DL?

We are leaving Houston on a Friday night and planning on stopping west of San Antonio, not going to make it to El Paso.

Advice welcome.

PS Please don't move this to the transportation board - it is decidedly WDW slanted. Thanks!

 

[NewbieMouse]

We drove from Houston to LA in the summer of 2009. We stopped in Las Cruces, NM the first night, but that is a VERY long drive and we like doing long days on our first day. We stopped again in Flagstaff, visited the Grand Canyon and stopped again in Kingman, and then Vegas before moving on to LA, but those were scheduled stops since we wanted to see things there. Are you interested in seeing anything else, or just bee-lining it to DL?

 

[Boston Tea Party]

No side trips this time. Just looking for the fastest way to get there, but will not leave until Friday at 4:30 so we will need somewhere west of San Antonio to stop, but there is no way we will make it to El Paso or further.

I've has someone from work recommend Junction, but then someone else from work cautioned against deer in the barren miles of west Texas and so we are hoping to save those miles for the daylight.

 

[NewbieMouse]

We didn't see any deer on our trip. But getting to the other side of San Antonio on Friday night would be good, if you could get as far as junction. Depends what time you leave Houston (and from where - as you know it can take forever to even get across just Houston; we came from Clear Lake). If you couldn't get to junction, maybe Boerne, Comfort or Kerrville?

We stayed in Drury Inns across the south as we like to drive from very early in the a.m. to around 5:00 or 6:00, and Drury's have both breakfast and an evening meal.

 

[Midnightred]

I live in West Texas, Alpine actually, and we make the trip from Alpine to Houston at least every year. We love to stay in Junction! We always stay at the Tre Rios Best Western, we love that hotel. I wouldn't worry too much about the deer, dusk is the worst, so drive a little more slowly. Maybe if you want to put a few more miles, Ft. Stockton or Van Horn might be an option. Let me know if I can help! We are driving too and spending the night in Bisbee, AZ, a really cool town!

Cheyenne-Headed to DLR 7/11
First trip for my DH, and my 2 boys ages 7 and 9

 

[papamouse1]

Are you going to do it in 3 days (w/ 2 stops)?

If you can make it to Ft. Stockton, that would probably be a good place to stop. There really isn't much after that until you hit El Paso. Then you robably would need to stop in Phoenix. That is where we usually go to and spend the night. Makes for a nice 6 hour drive from there. If you are actually thinking you're going to try this in 2 days... man you are crazy!

The fastest route is really pretty straightforward... get on I-10 and stay on it until the Hwy60 cutoff to Riveside, CA.

You could swing up to where we live in Carlsbad, NM
We'll take you out to lunch

 

[Boston Tea Party]

We didn't see any deer on our trip. But getting to the other side of San Antonio on Friday night would be good, if you could get as far as junction. Depends what time you leave Houston (and from where - as you know it can take forever to even get across just Houston; we came from Clear Lake). If you couldn't get to junction, maybe Boerne, Comfort or Kerrville?

We stayed in Drury Inns across the south as we like to drive from very early in the a.m. to around 5:00 or 6:00, and Drury's have both breakfast and an evening meal.

We will be leaving about 4:30 from the west side of Houston. In the past we have driven to WDW, but never DL. Usually when we head east we make it halfway to Mobile about midnight. Ft Stockton seems to be just about as far, but the idea of driving with such long stretches between towns is kind of creepy - too many movies - No Country For Old Men, anyone?

 

[Boston Tea Party]

I live in West Texas, Alpine actually, and we make the trip from Alpine to Houston at least every year. We love to stay in Junction! We always stay at the Tre Rios Best Western, we love that hotel. I wouldn't worry too much about the deer, dusk is the worst, so drive a little more slowly. Maybe if you want to put a few more miles, Ft. Stockton or Van Horn might be an option. Let me know if I can help! We are driving too and spending the night in Bisbee, AZ, a really cool town!

Cheyenne-Headed to DLR 7/11
First trip for my DH, and my 2 boys ages 7 and 9

Thanks for the tip, I'll check out the Best Western and Bisbee, too.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

Are you going to do it in 3 days (w/ 2 stops)?

If you can make it to Ft. Stockton, that would probably be a good place to stop. There really isn't much after that until you hit El Paso. Then you robably would need to stop in Phoenix. That is where we usually go to and spend the night. Makes for a nice 6 hour drive from there. If you are actually thinking you're going to try this in 2 days... man you are crazy!

The fastest route is really pretty straightforward... get on I-10 and stay on it until the Hwy60 cutoff to Riveside, CA.

You could swing up to where we live in Carlsbad, NM
We'll take you out to lunch

Yes, we are crazy. We want to knock some miles off the drive Friday and then Saturday will be a LONG day with lots of driving all the way into Anaheim. My parents are flying in Saturday afternoon. I've got a date with a mouse Sunday morning - MM AND a time change - Spring forward - going to be awesome.

DD is touring USC Monday, then Tues/Wed back to DL. I am debating on going to the parks Thur for half a day then stopping in Phoenix on the way back. So Phoenix is six hours out?

That would give us Friday and Saturday to make it back. I know that the trip back will be brutal. SO far, and we will be SO tired. Probably SO broke, too, so we may take you up on the lunch offer!

 

[papamouse1]

Yes, we are crazy. We want to knock some miles off the drive Friday and then Saturday will be a LONG day with lots of driving all the way into Anaheim. My parents are flying in Saturday afternoon. I've got a date with a mouse Sunday morning - MM AND a time change - Spring forward - going to be awesome.
DD is touring USC Monday, then Tues/Wed back to DL. I am debating on going to the parks Thur for half a day then stopping in Phoenix on the way back. So Phoenix is six hours out?

That would give us Friday and Saturday to make it back. I know that the trip back will be brutal. SO far, and we will be SO tired. Probably SO broke, too, so we may take you up on the lunch offer!

If you are cranking it out in 2 days, you defnitely want to at least make Ft. Stockton. I travel with my DW and 2 DD's so with 3 females, I never could pull that off ... too many potty breaks

Yes, Phoenix is 6 hours out, depending on traffic in SoCal and where you want to stop. It is a very nice stopping point distance-wise. If you do a half-day and get out of Anaheim BEFORE 2PM or so, you won't hit quite as much traffic. Keep in mind, you are heading out in the worst traffic pattern for the afternoon, so plan accordingly.

 

[ahutton]

You might check out Ozona as a stop - it is past San Antonio but before Fort Stockton. It was not a large town but had a couple hotels and food. Having driven Texas to Arizona several times, just know that there is always another town about 150 miles further down.

We usually try to stop in Van Horn, which was halfway between Phoenix and Austin because it broke the drive up nicely. There is a nice Hampton Inn there that is newer and clean. If you find yourselves running ahead of schedule you can press further!

What we always did was had a couple hotels and phone numbers at each of the towns along the way so if we had energy to keep going, we did, but if we wanted to stop we did.

If you are going to Anaheim you can look at if you want to come up to LA from the south. When we drive there next time we are going to catch I8 and take it to I5 in San Diego and come up I5 from the south. I've done the San Diego drive several times and am more comfortable going that way than going through LA, especially with their traffic!

 

[bumbershoot]

Since you're used to doing it the other way (ignoring the fact that you do drive back, LOL), just really pay attention to that pesky sun setting issue. I had a miserable experience crossing Lake Ponchartrain going into New Orleans from the East at sunset, because I'd forgotten about the sunset/glare issue. Miserable. If you're going to drive after dark, take a break as the sun goes down to rest your eyes a bit.

 

[papamouse1]

You might check out Ozona as a stop - it is past San Antonio but before Fort Stockton. It was not a large town but had a couple hotels and food. Having driven Texas to Arizona several times, just know that there is always another town about 150 miles further down.
We usually try to stop in Van Horn, which was halfway between Phoenix and Austin because it broke the drive up nicely. There is a nice Hampton Inn there that is newer and clean. If you find yourselves running ahead of schedule you can press further!
What we always did was had a couple hotels and phone numbers at each of the towns along the way so if we had energy to keep going, we did, but if we wanted to stop we did.

Good plan. There really isn't alot different between Ozona, Ft. Stockton, Van Horn... maybe just go until you are ready to stop wiht a list like ahutton said

If you are going to Anaheim you can look at if you want to come up to LA from the south. When we drive there next time we are going to catch I8 and take it to I5 in San Diego and come up I5 from the south. I've done the San Diego drive several times and am more comfortable going that way than going through LA, especially with their traffic!

Wow, really? When was the last time you actually drove the I-5 corridor? Not saying that this might work, but after living in SoCal for 7 years and having just driven the I-5 corridor just last Thanksgiving holiday, I personally wouldn't recommend this plan.

The thing is, coming in from I-10, then taking Hwy91 past Riverside can be a mess during rush hour I will grant you that. But that path is usually just rush hour one way (bad 1 way in AM, then reverse...)
The problem now with I-5 from SanDiego, it is usually stacked BOTH ways in the AM & PM. And from about Mission Viejo on it gets pretty crazy. We stacked really bad at the 405 all the way in to Long Beach on our last trip. The drive from Anaheim to Mission Viejo is almost the exact same distance as Ansheim to Riverside, so you are in gridlock just as long from the south (at least that has been our experience) And by going I-8 to SD then up you add 85-100 miles to your trip.
You may miss some of the heaviest spots that way but if you are going that way to save time, you probably won't save any time.

Now if the I-8 path is so you will enjoy your drive more and don't mind taking a little longer, then I think you are onto something....

 

[nunzia]

That really will be a long haul. From Alamogordo NM it is about 12 hours..12 l o n g hours...we used to do most of it in a long day then start out early the second to be fresh for the parks. Maybe stretch it out a bit more, make the third day really early then be fresh for the parks and not have to pay for an extra night wherever you're staying in Anaheim?