Driving time to LAX at 5pm?

[mrsincredible3]

We have a flight departing LAX at 10pm on a weekday night (not Friday). We will also need to return our rental car (remove car seats as well). How much time should we allow to get from Disneyland to LAX for this flight? I was thinking of leaving at 5pm? Would that be enough time to drive, return rental car, and get to flight with a little time to spare? I'd rather be there early as we will feed the kids at the airport before we fly (if they're even still awake at 10pm!). What time should we depart Disneyland?

Our other option is to visit the la brea tar pits before we depart. So we would drive from Anaheim to the tar pits around 1pm and spend the afternoon there. Then Depart from the tar pits around 5pm. How long would it take to drive from the tar pits to LAX at 5pm? Mapquest says the tar pits are 12 miles from lax, while Disneyland is like 35 miles, so I thought maybe Doing the tar pits before we leave would help us avoid the longer drive during rush hour.

Which is a better plan to avoid traffic and arrive to lax with time to spare?

Thanks!

 

[laeeyore]

I think your tar pits plan would be better to give you some breathing room. Trying to leave Anaheim at 5:00PM and get on the 5 into LA is not going to be a fun adventure. That freeway is a pit on the best of days but that time is going to be hellish. There is a lot of construction going on between Anaheim and LA right now which also slows everything down to a crawl. If you leave Anaheim around 1:00 PM you should get to the Tar Pits around 2:00 I think. The tar pits are right in the middle of LA. Leaving the tar pits around 5 you still have to get to the freeway and then get onto the 405 to get to LAX. I would say it might take you till 5:45 or 6 to get to LAX. Then you can return the rental car and do what you need.
Anytime we leave from LAX I always give myself so much time to get there b/c all you need is one good accident or police activity on either the 10 or 405 and you stuck. I'm paranoid about it.
Just one thing I don't think you could really spend a whole afternoon at the tar pits. It depends how much interest your family has in prehistoric animals. My daughter just wnet to spring break camp at the Page Museum(the Tar pits) and it is really small. You could walk up from there to the Grove and Farmers market to shop or eat. Its on 3rd and Fairfax and it maybe a 10 minute walk from where you would be. Your also next door to LACMA which is the art museum so maybe that could help fill up time.

Good Luck with your vacation!

 

[Micahisgood54]

I would give yourself more than an hour and a half just to be safe!

 

[SMD]

Don't take the 405 from La Brea Tar Pits to LAX. Just La Cienega is a better option. Plan on it taking significantly longer than 45 minutes at 5pm. 5pm is not the time to try to get anywhere in LA. You could get lucky and hit every signal but not likely in rush hour. I'd leave Anaheim earlier, do something like Pink's for lunch and leave the tar pits around 4pm. Barring a water main break or presidential motorcade you'd be at the rental place by 5pm, even with a stop at Randy's Donuts. Add extra time for the shuttle to the airport from the rental check in with luggage, car seats and traffic. Then you'd be having dinner in the terminal any time you want after 6pm-6:30 depending on the security lines. Leaving Anaheim at 5pm you'd arrive at the rental car return at 6:30 or 7pm and be significantly more rushed.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Don't take the 405 from La Brea Tar Pits to LAX. Just La Cienega is a better option. Plan on it taking significantly longer than 45 minutes at 5pm. 5pm is not the time to try to get anywhere in LA. You could get lucky and hit every signal but not likely in rush hour. I'd leave Anaheim earlier, do something like Pink's for lunch and leave the tar pits around 4pm. Barring a water main break or presidential motorcade you'd be at the rental place by 5pm, even with a stop at Randy's Donuts. Add extra time for the shuttle to the airport from the rental check in with luggage, car seats and traffic. Then you'd be having dinner in the terminal any time you want after 6pm-6:30 depending on the security lines. Leaving Anaheim at 5pm you'd arrive at the rental car return at 6:30 or 7pm and be significantly more rushed.

I did something like this. I had some friends over in Hollywood, and used Waze to get to LAX. We avoided the freeway, and were able to get in the vicinity and stop at In N Out before going to the airport. If we had gone via the 405 they wouldn't have made it in time.

 

[SMD]

I did something like this. I had some friends over in Hollywood, and used Waze to get to LAX. We avoided the freeway, and were able to get in the vicinity and stop at In N Out before going to the airport. If we had gone via the 405 they wouldn't have made it in time.

You have to go so far west to get to the 405 that you'll spend just as much time as you would just going south. Think of surface streets as the long side of a triangle instead of the right angle you'd trace going to a freeway. But obviously check Waze because it's still LA.

 

[MillauFr]

We have a flight departing LAX at 10pm on a weekday night (not Friday). We will also need to return our rental car (remove car seats as well). How much time should we allow to get from Disneyland to LAX for this flight? I was thinking of leaving at 5pm? Would that be enough time to drive, return rental car, and get to flight with a little time to spare? I'd rather be there early as we will feed the kids at the airport before we fly (if they're even still awake at 10pm!). What time should we depart Disneyland?

Our other option is to visit the la brea tar pits before we depart. So we would drive from Anaheim to the tar pits around 1pm and spend the afternoon there. Then Depart from the tar pits around 5pm. How long would it take to drive from the tar pits to LAX at 5pm? Mapquest says the tar pits are 12 miles from lax, while Disneyland is like 35 miles, so I thought maybe Doing the tar pits before we leave would help us avoid the longer drive during rush hour.

Which is a better plan to avoid traffic and arrive to lax with time to spare?

Thanks!

Google says the trip from Disneyland to LAX will take between 40 and 70 minutes at 5:00p. The historical traffic pattern maps show the traffic is not that bad. Most of the traffic is going the other direction at that time of day.

 

[bfost87]

I've got a 10pm flight from LAX to SEA on the Sunday of the D23 Expo, and I plan to leave the DL area around 6pm. I'm giving myself two hours to get to the National Car Rental facility (stop at In-n-Out) and take the shuttle back to the airport, and then two hours to check in and make it on the flight. I think on most days, this would be a safe bet.

 

[SMD]

I get 53 minutes from M&F to LAX if I leave now. That's to the airport, not a car rental return. But I live just north of LAX and know from experience that traffic can easily build ahead and the time may increase once I'm on the road. It would normally take me an hour if I leave after 3:30 or so, but if an accident closes a lane it has taken me 90 minutes or more.