Driving Times?

[alanjones]

As mentioned in another thread, we're going to be staying at the Hyatt Regency OC while we're visiting the area. Some days we're going to want to get up to Hollywood/Universal Studios, and one day we're going to be heading up to Six Flags Magic Mountain. I know this is a Disney-orientated forum, but does anyone know roughly how long it would take to drive to both those places from our hotel, especially during the morning, because we'd like to get to the other parks for around 10am for opening time.

Any help appreciated!

 

[LuvTigger]

If you're doing the other parks on a weekday, I would say plan on leaving at LEAST an hour ahead to get to Universal, and an hour and a half to get to Magic Mountain. Morning traffic on the 101 freeway can be really bad. You might even want to leave an hour and a half earlier for Universal because you'll have to park in the parking structure and that in itself takes some time (unless you pay a little extra for the "premium" parking, which my friends and I did once!). It wouldn't hurt to get there a little early since you can always browse through Universal City Walk while you're waiting.

During my visits to Magic Mountain, the parking situation wasn't too bad, but the lines to buy tickets were really long.

 

[karylrocks]

We will also be visiting Universal and Magic Mountain on weekdays, and plan to wait until 9:00 to leave the DLH to avoid the worst of the morning rush hour. We may not get there right at park opening, but may be able to save up to a half hour (or more) of stressful driving time.

 

[alanjones]

When does traffic start to get busy? One option was to leave earlier and get breakfast up near the parks before actually going in. Also, whats the best route from Disney up there then? I though it would just be I-5, but you mentioned the 101?

 

[LuvTigger]

A S. Cal local can probably help you better with the traffic times, but as far as getting to Universal, you can take I-5 most of the way, but there's going to be a point where you can either stay on I-5 or take the 101, and we've always taken the 101. The 101 eventually meets up with I-5 again, but Universal is about half way between the point where they split and meet up again.

I'm sure others will chime in if there's a better route, but just be aware that Universal is not right off of I-5.

However, you can take I-5 all the way up to Magic Mountain.

If you decide to leave early and have breakfast near the parks, you shouldn't have any trouble finding something near Universal (you might even want to check if City Walk has something open early), but I don't know about Magic Mountain. It's been a while since I've been there, but when people asked me what the area was like near MM, I described it as almost like being in a desert! (Which reminds me, it gets hot there, and there are hills in the park -- you might want to consider bringing some bottled water with you.)