driving legoland to DL

[Oregonluvsdisney]

Hi,

I know there is always alot of talk about the commute from SD to DL, but I was wondering if the entire stretch between SD and DL is bad at rush hour or if it's just near SD itself.

We are going to be at legoland in Nov. on a Thursday and then we'll be heading up to DL. Is rush hour traffic just as bad from legoland to DL as lets say the zoo to DL? Or will we miss a good portion of the traffic since lego is north of SD?

Thanks for your input.

 

[amamax2]

What time are you thinking of heading up to DL?

It is not bumper to bumper the entire way - but there are bad spots, for instance, Mission Viejo and the area around the Discovery Center are always bad for some reason, day or night - and others made worse by the commuter traffic during those certain hours.

You best bet, really, is to wait it out. After Legoland, go to dinner some where, and don't head up to DL until about 7 p.m. It is not a long drive from LL to DL, you just don't want to double your time by siting in traffic.

 

[Oregonluvsdisney]

If legoland isn't very busy, I can see us wanting to head up to DL by later afternoon. We'll have DDs 5 and 1 with us, so waiting and killing time is tough for us.

So is rush hour from that location still 3 or 4 till 7pm?

Thanks!

 

[amamax2]

Yes, that is tough with little ones! Especially after a busy day.

If you get out by 3, I *think* you might be OK. Traffic generally picks up after that.

 

[jessica52877]

We have always left legoland around 5:30 with no issues, this past time it was a Sunday though. It does slow in spots, but nothing that I would call major. Then again, I live in Atlanta and nothing really phases me traffic wise. We have done this 3x, so not something I experience daily.

 

[joeysmommy]

We just did this drive from DL to Legoland last Thursday and it was a breeze.

We rented a car from Alamo in DTD and left at 9am expecting to hit tons of traffic.
The carpool lane made it a snap to get there in 1 hour.

On the way back at 4pm no issues at all.
The non-carpool lanes were moving slowly but carppol was smooth sailing the whole way.

Heavy traffic was expected for both directions but I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to make it back to the rental car return closing time to avoid paying for another day.

 

[Oregonluvsdisney]

Thanks for all of the tid bits. It makes me feel like we have a fighting chance if we leave in the later afternoon. Only 19 days till we leave! My DH is teasing me about getting out the suitcases, but hey for me packing is part of the fun.

 

[ScooterL]

You will miss just about all of the northbound San Diego county traffic since you are leaving from Legoland - the worst part of that is south of you. If you don't leave by 3:00 you'll still hit pretty slow rush hour traffic around Irvine and Tustin, though using the carpool lane (definitely recommended once you get past the 5-405 split) will help a lot. Even if you leave by 3:00 it'll probably be slow in that area just because it's almost always slow there - there's just lots of freeway on-ramps and off-ramps in that section.

 

[Feistygirl916]

California's traffic is nothing like Oregon's, I can tell you that! We have gotten stuck in traffic from Sea World and Legoland a few times, but it seems that (in the times we were in it) that the cars still move... There were so many vehicles, but yet we were still doing 50? That is so not the case in Portland! I also LOVE the carpool lanes down in Southern California! Those are a godsend!

 

[Kathy Z]

Hi, this is myfirst time on the Disneyland thread. We're ready for our third trip to WDW in 2 years but next September will be in So. CA. How many people constitute a car pool in So. CA?

 

[taaren]

Hi, this is myfirst time on the Disneyland thread. We're ready for our third trip to WDW in 2 years but next September will be in So. CA. How many people constitute a car pool in So. CA?

On most freeways its a minimum of 3 people in the carpool lane. There are a select few where 2 qualify, but I think those are further east of DLR, nowhere south.

 

[Kathy Z]

Thanks, I thought that might be the case. Just DH & I will have to be patient along with all the other single or double occupants of cars.

 

[ScooterL]

We (husband and I) use the carpool lanes on I5 south of Disneyland all the time - with the exception of one place that is no where near Disneyland, a carpool is considered two or more people.

 

[taaren]

Whoops. I must be mixing up NorCal and SoCal in my head. These metromaps help ... didn't find one for the I-5 but if you search around you might find it: http://www.ridemetro.org/SchedulesMaps/HOV.aspx