Driving to Disneyland from Canada

[KristinRiess]

We are going to be driving down to Disneyland. We are coming from the Edmonton Alberta area. For those who have driven, where did you stop each night on your way down?

 

[Disneylovers2000]

Hi there KristinRiess! Welcome to the Dis boards!! Your post caught my eye as we are planning on the exact same trip in July. I too am from your neck of the woods!! We have not driven before but are very excited to this year! I will be as interested as you on the replies you get! We were planning on driving the coast down and then the fast track back home (the I-15) I think it is. Do you want to sight see on the way down or are you heading straight there and at what time of the year do you plan on going? That might make a difference to the type of information you will get. Are you travelling with kids? and how far do you think you would like to drive each day?

 

[KristinRiess]

We will have a 4 yr old, 1 yr old and 14 yr old. We will be driving down end of April. I think we want to do 1 or 2 nights in Vegas on the way. We have a week that is dedicated to a wedding in San Diego and a week in Vegas. We also have another week timeframe for travel.

 

[Bossy22]

Hey felllow Albertans!!! I am from a little town just an hour and a half away. My wife and I have driven it twice in the last couple of years and will be driving again in less than 2 months!!! Here is some tips we picked up along the way!

1.) The first time we did this drive we did the coast down and the I15 back. The coast is beautiful and well worth the time but it takes time. We planned three days and couldn't stop much at all as the roads are soo twisty and curvy that it takes longer than a computer programs extimate by a mile!!!

2.) We have driven the I15 and stopped at different places each time. There is quite a few options so we never plan ahead and just see where we are when we are getting tired!


3.) This time we are driving straight (with multiple drivers) on the way down and then taking a night on the way back. We know we will be tired when we get there so we are thinking of one day in the parks, then a day at the beach, then some more Disney!!!

 

[SGDisneyFam]

Hello fellow Spruce Grover, we've never drove down although I have entertained the idea of it.

 

[Virgoinab]

Morning everyone

Was the snow/wind yesterday just a blast......

Fellow Alberta Disney lover here.

We drove down at Christmas went via sweetgrass/montana, utah etc.

Our overnight was in Idaho falls,which is about the halfway point. Great drive, not too tasking.

 

[tdhickey]

I have done this one and will not likely ever do it again. Drove from BC to Anaheim in 22 hours straight (multiple drivers).

- We stopped at lots of Denny's since they are always open
- Driving was cheaper than flying than, it isn't anymore
- We did the drive back in under 20 hours, I5 all the way

If you are just driving for the sake of getting there, I would avoid it if possible since it is a long drive and kind of boring. If you are making a trip out of it and going to other places, than go for it.

Flying is way cheaper!

 

[Virgoinab]

I have done this one and will not likely ever do it again. Drove from BC to Anaheim in 22 hours straight (multiple drivers).

- We stopped at lots of Denny's since they are always open
- Driving was cheaper than flying than, it isn't anymore
- We did the drive back in under 20 hours, I5 all the way

If you are just driving for the sake of getting there, I would avoid it if possible since it is a long drive and kind of boring. If you are making a trip out of it and going to other places, than go for it.

Flying is way cheaper!

MMmm ya, gotta disagree with you on that, only in so far as where you are coming from.

We drove down over christmas, and it cost us about $600.00 in gas all total, if we had flown? Try more like $1900.00 from Edmonton for two ppl. That was me looking for two month's for deals, and we are west jet frequent flyer's with the M/C.

Even factoring in meals, and the one hotel night, is was cheaper to drive.


Now, coming from Vancouver, I am sure I could have gotten a cheaper flight, but again, not from Edmonton at that time. Heck even now we are looking at flights for April, and they are, just, too much. We will book anyway, but we would drive if we had the time again.

 

[mom2girls1974]

We are doing our second road trip (from BC though) this Sept long weekend. We will take 5 days each way, last time we did it in 2 1/2 days each way. We only drive because our dd will not fly (she is Autistic and HATES planes!) but it is fun, we travel from place to eat to place to eat LOL as our youngest and has Celiac and a Anaphylactic allergy and eating is hard -so that is a challange, but fun. We stick to major cites and try some really neat places. We make the road trip alot of fun -not just "getting there" if you know what I mean.

 

[squirrel]

Even driving down to Bellingham or Seattle will give you a huge savings on flights.

 

[SweetAlex]

MMmm ya, gotta disagree with you on that, only in so far as where you are coming from.

We drove down over christmas, and it cost us about $600.00 in gas all total, if we had flown? Try more like $1900.00 from Edmonton for two ppl. That was me looking for two month's for deals, and we are west jet frequent flyer's with the M/C.

Even factoring in meals, and the one hotel night, is was cheaper to drive.


Now, coming from Vancouver, I am sure I could have gotten a cheaper flight, but again, not from Edmonton at that time. Heck even now we are looking at flights for April, and they are, just, too much. We will book anyway, but we would drive if we had the time again.

Ouch!! $1,900 for 2, flights only? That's insane. We're lucky to be close enough to Seattle to fly out of there. We managed flights AND hotel for 6 nights (family of 4) for less than $1,700. Flying out of Vancouver was about double that. I didn't realize Edmonton was so expensive to fly from!

If we had the vacation time, we'd love to drive it. We did it as kids and I still remember all the fun stops. I say go for it.

 

[Carolynleanne]

Ohhh this reminds me of my growing up days. We always drove from Vancouver to Anaheim. I only flew to Disneyland once I had moved out and gotten married haha.

Our stops were always in Eugene Oregon and Sacramento California for the night. Just took the I-5 the whole way there.

We packed tons of snacks, stayed at hotels with free breakfasts and tried to so only one big meal a day (supper)

Although I have many good memories, I so prefer flying haha.

 

[Virgoinab]

Ouch!! $1,900 for 2, flights only? That's insane. We're lucky to be close enough to Seattle to fly out of there. We managed flights AND hotel for 6 nights (family of 4) for less than $1,700. Flying out of Vancouver was about double that. I didn't realize Edmonton was so expensive to fly from!

If we had the vacation time, we'd love to drive it. We did it as kids and I still remember all the fun stops. I say go for it.

Depending on the time of year, yup it can be very expensive to fly from Edmonton, especially if you want non stop. We just do not have good flights from here.

In the past we have been able to fly at times for about $600.00 per person, but you have to be on top of the sites looking for sales. And again, finding a direct flight can be tough. I really do not like connections, it takes about 3 1/2 hrs to fly direct to L.A, why would I want too turn that into 7 hrs total with connections, no thanks

The drive from Edmonton can be split between two days, if you don't mind 12 drive days, and we don't, does not bother us in the least to drive 12 even 13 hrs in a day especially during the summer when it stays light for so long. But that is us, not everyone would want to make it in two days.

On the way back we usually take three days.

 

[KristinRiess]

I have done this one and will not likely ever do it again. Drove from BC to Anaheim in 22 hours straight (multiple drivers).

- We stopped at lots of Denny's since they are always open
- Driving was cheaper than flying than, it isn't anymore
- We did the drive back in under 20 hours, I5 all the way

If you are just driving for the sake of getting there, I would avoid it if possible since it is a long drive and kind of boring. If you are making a trip out of it and going to other places, than go for it.

Flying is way cheaper!

Since we are taking the babysitter for the wedding we wold be paying for her flights. We would be looking at at least $2,000 for flights then having to rent a car.

Not sure why I said a week in Vegas in my second post, it's a week in San Diego, week in Disney. Week for travel, I want to stay at least one night in vegas

 

[KristinRiess]

Depending on the time of year, yup it can be very expensive to fly from Edmonton, especially if you want non stop. We just do not have good flights from here.

In the past we have been able to fly at times for about $600.00 per person, but you have to be on top of the sites looking for sales. And again, finding a direct flight can be tough. I really do not like connections, it takes about 3 1/2 hrs to fly direct to L.A, why would I want too turn that into 7 hrs total with connections, no thanks

The drive from Edmonton can be split between two days, if you don't mind 12 drive days, and we don't, does not bother us in the least to drive 12 even 13 hrs in a day especially during the summer when it stays light for so long. But that is us, not everyone would want to make it in two days.

On the way back we usually take three days.

My husband is a non stop driver. He's driven from Ontario only stopping for 4 hrs sleep the whole trip. He's crazy. The length of our days depends on how well of a car rider the 1 yr old is.

 

[tdhickey]

MMmm ya, gotta disagree with you on that, only in so far as where you are coming from.

We drove down over christmas, and it cost us about $600.00 in gas all total, if we had flown? Try more like $1900.00 from Edmonton for two ppl. That was me looking for two month's for deals, and we are west jet frequent flyer's with the M/C.

Even factoring in meals, and the one hotel night, is was cheaper to drive.


Now, coming from Vancouver, I am sure I could have gotten a cheaper flight, but again, not from Edmonton at that time. Heck even now we are looking at flights for April, and they are, just, too much. We will book anyway, but we would drive if we had the time again.

I just expedia'd it and I can get a Return flight from Edmonton to LAX for $800-$1000 for two people with tax on WestJet (April 14 - 20). That is including tax and return. I checked Google Flights, this is a normal rate from Edmonton on almost any day of the week.

But hey, to each their own

 

[Virgoinab]

I just expedia'd it and I can get a Return flight from Edmonton to LAX for $800-$1000 for two people with tax on WestJet (April 14 - 20). That is including tax and return. I checked Google Flights, this is a normal rate from Edmonton on almost any day of the week.

But hey, to each their own

Is this a direct flight? Or are there stops?

Direct flights are as a rule, not always, more expensive. I do not like to turn what should be a 3 1/2 flight into a 5+ hr one because of stops.

Having said that, at christmas they where going for $1900.00 for two ppl.

Also, had you read some of my other posts on the flight issue, you would have read that in the past we have managed to find flights for about $600.00 per person, as well I did state the I like non stop.

But I realize how important it was for you to try and check flight times from Edmonton, even tho you don't live here, and won't be flying from here to DL. I guess you just needed to so very kindly give me a heads up that apparently somehow my past experiances must have been incorrect cause you just found some cheap flights!

Thank you, Have a great day!

 

[tdhickey]

Is this a direct flight? Or are there stops?

Direct flights are as a rule, not always, more expensive. I do not like to turn what should be a 3 1/2 flight into a 5+ hr one because of stops.

Having said that, at christmas they where going for $1900.00 for two ppl.

Also, had you read some of my other posts on the flight issue, you would have read that in the past we have managed to find flights for about $600.00 per person, as well I did state the I like non stop.

But I realize how important it was for you to try and check flight times from Edmonton, even tho you don't live here, and won't be flying from here to DL. I guess you just needed to so very kindly give me a heads up that apparently somehow my past experiances must have been incorrect cause you just found some cheap flights!

Thank you, Have a great day!

Direct flight, taxes in

 

[annadette]

Hi fellow Albertans!(BCers too!) We are from Grande Prairie, AB, and have made the trek by car twice so far - driving back again on May 1st. I was going to book flights this time, but I chickened out and we decided to drive again. When we have driven before, it was always just me, DH and two kids - DH did most of the driving - we drop our dog off in Edmonton at a doggie care place, so have to stay a night there, then drive to Idaho Falls and stay the night - then straight to DLR and usually get to Anaheim around dinner time. Same thing in reverse on the way back. This time, we are really making it worth our while because we are packing our minivan with me, DH, our three kids (new one will be just under a year old), plus my mom and my brother. Just to fly from Grande Prairie to LAX for the four of us (mom and brother were going to pay their own-so we are all benefitting) was going to cost $2300. We can drive there for around $1000 or so - maybe less because my DH and my brother are going to just drive all the way through - no hotels this time. We are leaving Edmonton at around 6am and plan to make it to DLR around lunchtime the next day. Like ripping a bandage off - we're just going to go for it. Of course, my mom and I can also drive too, so it helps to have extra adults to share the job. We love driving because we are saving about $400 on transportation to/from Universal and Sea World (grey line bus), also we can bring as much luggage as we can fit comfortably, and we can run to Target to pick up extras anytime we need to. Can't wait to do it again. Yes, it's a boring drive, but you quickly forget about that once you get to the Happiest Place on Earth!

 

[Virgoinab]

Hi fellow Albertans!(BCers too!) We are from Grande Prairie, AB, and have made the trek by car twice so far - driving back again on May 1st. I was going to book flights this time, but I chickened out and we decided to drive again. When we have driven before, it was always just me, DH and two kids - DH did most of the driving - we drop our dog off in Edmonton at a doggie care place, so have to stay a night there, then drive to Idaho Falls and stay the night - then straight to DLR and usually get to Anaheim around dinner time. Same thing in reverse on the way back. This time, we are really making it worth our while because we are packing our minivan with me, DH, our three kids (new one will be just under a year old), plus my mom and my brother. Just to fly from Grande Prairie to LAX for the four of us (mom and brother were going to pay their own-so we are all benefitting) was going to cost $2300. We can drive there for around $1000 or so - maybe less because my DH and my brother are going to just drive all the way through - no hotels this time. We are leaving Edmonton at around 6am and plan to make it to DLR around lunchtime the next day. Like ripping a bandage off - we're just going to go for it. Of course, my mom and I can also drive too, so it helps to have extra adults to share the job. We love driving because we are saving about $400 on transportation to/from Universal and Sea World (grey line bus), also we can bring as much luggage as we can fit comfortably, and we can run to Target to pick up extras anytime we need to. Can't wait to do it again. Yes, it's a boring drive, but you quickly forget about that once you get to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Well give us a wave as you drive by.

And we drive for the same reasons, it's cheaper, period, when you have more then a couple ppl. Or during high season like chirstmas.

For our april dates 27 to may 1 there will be 5 of us. Say we did get flights for $500.00 each, direct, with the times that work, for our work schedules, well that's $2500.00.

Cheaper to drive for us, if we have the time. If we don't we bite the bullet and fly, or hope to get some good seat sales.