Driving Portland to Anaheim - where to stay in the middle?

[4evrdisney]

Hey all!
We are making the drive from Portland, OR to Disneyland this fall. We are making the trip in two days as our kids are 3 and 5. Wondering for you Oregonians who drive . . . how far do you go your first day of driving? What city to you stay in? Any suggestions on a good hotel to stay at?

 

[DizNee Luver]

We live in Salem & are going down towards the end of July. We are staying just south of Stockton in Lathrop. We'll be staying at the Hampton Inn in Lathrop, CA. TripAdvisor had great reviews & all of our experiences with Hampton Inns have been great!!

 

[4evrdisney]

Thanks! We were encouraged not to stay in Stockton, as it isn't the safest city (or so friends have said). Do you know if Lathrop is fairly safe?

 

[tlovesdis]

Thanks! We were encouraged not to stay in Stockton, as it isn't the safest city (or so friends have said). Do you know if Lathrop is fairly safe?

Lathrop is much much better than Stockton!!!

 

[reynmagsmom]

We drive every year from Kelso Wa about 40 miles north of you, my favorite stop off point is Santa Nella it is a long drive the first day but seems to go pretty fast, it's about a 12 hour drive but then the next day you only have about a 4 to 4 1/2 hour drive depending on LA traffic to Anaheim, The best hotel there is the Holiday Inn, decent price and great breaky in the morning, check roomsavers.com for specials we always use coupons from that site for a even more discounted room..... they have a great pool area to relax after a long day of driving.... There are also several places to eat dinner around the hotel, Whatever you choose have a great trip we are driving down in Aug for 6 days in Anaheim then on to Vegas for 2 nights I can't wait!!!!

 

[4evrdisney]

Thanks all for the suggestions! I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts. I am going to be 7 months pregnant when we make the drive. But, my past 2 pregnancies have been really easy and travelling even that late in pregnancy has been no big deal for me. We've just planning on stopping every 2 hours for me to stretch my legs/prevent blood clots!

Our kids are great car travellers so 12 hours doesn't sound too bad. I'll check out both Santa Nella and Lathrop.

Any other suggestions?

 

[farmgirljen]

Ok- we drove from Corvallis, and stayed Here :
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...Western_Apricot_Inn-Firebaugh_California.html

it is right off of I5 and was very comfortable. the pool was nice- and we had a nice little dinner at the diner across the street. There is a restaurant next door as well, called the Apricot Tree... and there were apricot trees dropping fresh fruit all over while we were there. It seems like we got there around 5 pm, so I think we drove for about 10 to 12 hours and then we left at 6am and were in anaheim before noon...

 

[DLovinFam]

We are also from the Portland area (Hillsboro). The last two trips we have staying in Elk Grove, just a few miles south of Sacramento.

http://www.elkgrovecity.org/

This was recommended to us by a DISer back in 2005 and they were right on! It's a real nice clean, and safe little town.

http://sacramento-california.onetravelsource.com/guide-hotels/US/CA/Elk-Grove/

We stayed at the Extended Stay and I believe the Holiday Inn Express. Both were were nice and worked well for us.

 

[disheadz]

We did the drive last fall and stayed at the HI Express in Santa Nella. We thought it was nice to have the second day be shorter.

 

[iLUVdisneyLAND]

I am originally from Portland and done the N. California drive a thousand times. I also have lived in Elk Grove for 2 years, and on and off in the East Bay for 8 years.

I would recommend NOT staying in Stockton or Lathrop. (really not a safe place!) Elk Grove is a great place, there are two places to stay, Comfort Inn and Extended Stay America. Great place to Original Pete's. From Elk Grove, it is about a 6 hour drive to Anaheim. I would stay south of Sacramento, so you don't have morning traffic, unless you will be traveling on Sat/Sun, then Natomas might be a good option too.

Good luck!

 

[Sleestack]

I just wish I lived in Portland!

 

[Ariel224]

I just wish I lived in Portland!

Ditto this ^^.

Another option would be, once you hit Sacramento, is to cut over to Hwy 99 instead of staying on I-5. There is a very nice, relatively new, Comfort Inn & Suites right off the highway in the sleepy little town of Galt, about 1/2 hour south of Sacramento. We have relatives there, and that's our favorite hotel by far. The 99 drive back from DLR was much more interesting than the I-5 drive down.

And I definitely concur with the previous posters about staying away from Stockton. We stayed there once and got to hear some guy beating up his girlfriend in the parking lot right outside our door at 1am.

 

[rgDizzyland]

We live in Beaverton Oregon and make several trips to Disneyland each year and we have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Woodland California on many of those trips (it is right off the freeway and is a new hotel). Their rooms have always been clean, spacious and they have free breakfast! And it seems to be the perfect distance for a two day drive.

Holiday Inn Express Hotel
2070 Freeway Drive
Woodland, CA 95776
(530) 662-7750

However do not stop at the Holiday Inn Express in Williams California, as it doesn't have an elevator!!

Once your kids get older and can endure a longer first day drive I recommend stopping at Harris Ranch Inn, if you can handle the smell of the near by cattle ranch The hotel is gorgeous, however the service at the restaurant is slow. But there is a McDonald's and Red Robin close by (other side of freeway). Harris Ranch is a nice distance from Disneyland as you can get up in the morning have a relaxing breakfast, and then drive the rest of the way to Disneyland and get there in time for lunch.

 

[iLUVdisneyLAND]

I just wish I lived in Portland!

Me too! I am being held hostage in California! hah! DH's job has us here for at least another 15 years!!

 

[reynmagsmom]

We love living in the Pacific Northwest.. It may rain alot here but our seasons are so pretty from fall to summer, I couldnt imagine living anywhere else, but living closer to DL would be nice.....

 

[DLovinFam]

I am originally from Portland and done the N. California drive a thousand times. I also have lived in Elk Grove for 2 years, and on and off in the East Bay for 8 years.

I would recommend NOT staying in Stockton or Lathrop. (really not a safe place!) Elk Grove is a great place, there are two places to stay, Comfort Inn and Extended Stay America. Great place to Original Pete's. From Elk Grove, it is about a 6 hour drive to Anaheim. I would stay south of Sacramento, so you don't have morning traffic, unless you will be traveling on Sat/Sun, then Natomas might be a good option too.

Good luck!

Oh yeah, It was *Comfort Inn* we stayed at last time. Not Holiday Inn Express. We did stay at Extended Stay America though. I agree...both great places to stay.

 

[DLovinFam]

We love living in the Pacific Northwest.. It may rain alot here but our seasons are so pretty from fall to summer, I couldnt imagine living anywhere else, but living closer to DL would be nice.....

I agree on all counts!!

 

[TSRE]

Ditto this ^^.

Another option would be, once you hit Sacramento, is to cut over to Hwy 99 instead of staying on I-5. There is a very nice, relatively new, Comfort Inn & Suites right off the highway in the sleepy little town of Galt, about 1/2 hour south of Sacramento. We have relatives there, and that's our favorite hotel by far. The 99 drive back from DLR was much more interesting than the I-5 drive down.

And I definitely concur with the previous posters about staying away from Stockton. We stayed there once and got to hear some guy beating up his girlfriend in the parking lot right outside our door at 1am.

I live in Elk Grove & would recommend taking 99 down from here. There are a Holiday Inn Express and a Hilton Garden Inn right off the freeway here (99), as well as the place mentioned in Galt, which is about 10 minutes south of Elk Grove. Anyway, there are a lot more places to stop along 99 than 5 from here to Bakersfield, and the drive takes about the same amount of time. Especially being pregnant, you might want to be able to stop whenever you want, and I prefer restaurant bathrooms over rest stop ones myself, which we always seem to end up at on 5.

All of the stuff about Stockton makes me feel bad! I do agree that you wouldn't want to stop there, because there are really bad parts of town, and they do have a high crime rate. In Stockton's defense, though, there are nicer parts of town. But, probably not where you would want to stop for the night

 

[akotecha]

Hi guys,
I live in the Lathrop area and work at a hotel off of I-5 and Louise Ave. I absolutely LOVE Disney!!!!! And I am one of those moms that stay online and scour the internet for the "best" and most convenient experiences for me and my family. My girls and hubby know me as our "planner." Poor me, but, I am fairly organized so it works out okay. So, here's the scoop. My hotel is PERFECT for you to stop on the way from Oregon or Washington down to Disney. We are a Hampton Inn & Suites off of I-5 and Louise Ave in Lathrop, CA. We offer free hot breakfast (saves tons of $$$$) and free high speed internet. We have an indoor heated pool and whirlpool with pool toys for the kids (yes!) and even an Entertainment Pavillion outside with foosball, basketball, and ping pong. We even have a snack shop and a fitness room. And if you really have a bad drive, and guest laundry room if you want to run a load of laundry. Many restaurants are located nearby, and even a Target and grocery store. Call us at 209-982-5070, and tell them you saw us on this site so my boss gives me some kudos. lol!!

 

[Mindy71]

We drove from Raymond, WA & stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Tracy. It was just fine & left us with only a few hours to get to Disneyland.