Driving to Disneyland

[gethane]

disneywondergirl, while staying at DLH, I have to take my daughter over to USC for a campus tour (she's a jr in high school). Does your advice to not take 5, and instead take one of the alternate routes indicated by google maps hold for this circumstance as well?
I-105 W
OR
CA-91 W and I-110 N

Thanks! I appreciate these knowledgeable answers about LA traffic

 

[jlmarr]

i can provide more specific directions if you need, too. as someone who drives 37 miles EACH WAY to get to work from LA to Anaheim, I know all the side highways, and let me tell you, the 5 is ALWAYS the worst, 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

I don't know, I've always found the 405 to be much worse than the I-5. I imagine the I-5 can be bad during rush hour, but not 24/7. There's a lot to be said for taking the direct route.

 

[c&m]

We go to Portland a lot, most recently over the Easter long weekend. Here're some good places to stay in the areas as recommended in previous posts from the Oregonians:

Lake Oswego:
Hilton Garden Inn Lake Oswego/Tigard - have stayed here on Priceline and non-Priceline reservations. Priceline is the better deal, having gotten it for $35/night). Close to Bridgeport Village, and a 20-min drive south will take you to Woodburn (the outlets are there).

PDX:
Hyatt Place Cascade Station - $76 online rate, includes a continental breakfast. New hotel, very nice.
Residence Inn Cascade Station - $87 rate, includes a hot breakfast in the morning. Also a new hotel in the same area as Hyatt Place.

Hope that helps!

 

[visitingapril09]

I live in the town by Peace Arch border crossing. The line ups have been extemely bad to cross the border with the dollar being at par. Take into account that you may be waiting for awhile to cross. I didn't see when you are going but keep this mind.

 

[Littleprincess2010]

I just typed this all out and lost it, so here I go again

i can't answer your major question, because since moving to the west coast, i've never driven anywhere outside of LA haha but i CAN tell you this:

any part of your travels in LA that you can avoid driving on the 5 until you get just a few miles away from Anaheim will SERIOUSLY cut time off of your drive.

i can tell you that as someone who drives there 5 days a week, if your directions tell you to take the 5... dont. until the very end.

traffic in this area can take you HOURS, so be sure to plan for significantly more time than your directions thing mentions, just for passing through the LA area.

here is MY suggestion if you are coming from the north. remembering, of course, that i don't know how or where you are starting.

405 South
110 N (but really, you don't get on the 110, you get off right away, stay in the far right lane)
91 East (don't get off on the earlier 91 e exit, wait for the 110, trust me)
to the 5 South

this alone will typically shave off over an hour of travel once you get near the LA area. depending on the time of day you arrive, it could even cut off 2 hours.

and when you head home, follow these directions as well. seriously, the 5 is a complete parking lot in both directions in and around LA and Anaheim. it's usually ok once you get to Anaheim, which is about where the 91 lets you off.

Thank you for this, I've looked at the route and it seems totally logical to avoid downtown LA and it seems pretty straight forward. Although I might PM you closer to the date and get some more detailed info from you. I love locals, you have so much great information

8timesblessed: We are driving down from the Seattle area in May and you asked about taking I-5 or 405?? I just wanted to say, just stay on I-5 through Seattle because you can utilize the carpool lane and yes it will be slow but 405 is usually alot worse. There are alot more lanes on I-5.

Thank you, its so hard knowing which way is the best to go. I really appreciate the first hand experience. And have fun in May, cant wait to read your Trip Report

c&m: We go to Portland a lot, most recently over the Easter long weekend. Here're some good places to stay in the areas as recommended in previous posts from the Oregonians:

Lake Oswego:
Hilton Garden Inn Lake Oswego/Tigard - have stayed here on Priceline and non-Priceline reservations. Priceline is the better deal, having gotten it for $35/night). Close to Bridgeport Village, and a 20-min drive south will take you to Woodburn (the outlets are there).

PDX:
Hyatt Place Cascade Station - $76 online rate, includes a continental breakfast. New hotel, very nice.
Residence Inn Cascade Station - $87 rate, includes a hot breakfast in the morning. Also a new hotel in the same area as Hyatt Place.

Hope that helps!

This is great, we are planning on stopping at the outlet malls on our way back so this is perfect!! Yay Shopping!!!

visitingapril09: I live in the town by Peace Arch border crossing. The line ups have been extemely bad to cross the border with the dollar being at par. Take into account that you may be waiting for awhile to cross. I didn't see when you are going but keep this mind.

We're going in November but if the Dollar stays this high (we're buying american $$$ now at parity so hopefully it doesnt go up too much higher ) then we will be sure to add some extra time to our crossing, thank you for the tip!!


Everyone who has posted on this thread has my thanks, all the tips and advice will help make our trip that much more enjoyable.

 

[disneywondergirl22]

disneywondergirl, while staying at DLH, I have to take my daughter over to USC for a campus tour (she's a jr in high school). Does your advice to not take 5, and instead take one of the alternate routes indicated by google maps hold for this circumstance as well?
I-105 W
OR
CA-91 W and I-110 N

Thanks! I appreciate these knowledgeable answers about LA traffic

personally, my GPS always says there's traffic on the 105. so i never take it.

 

[disneywondergirl22]

I don't know, I've always found the 405 to be much worse than the I-5. I imagine the I-5 can be bad during rush hour, but not 24/7. There's a lot to be said for taking the direct route.

let's be real here: they're both terrible. both.

the 5 is bad 24/7. my shifts have had me driving down there at 5am on some days. and you're right, no traffic then, but for shifts starting after 7am, i never ever ever take the 5; i always without fail get stuck in 1-2 hrs of traffic. yes, hours. not including regular drive time.

going home, when i work evening shifts, you can't even take the 5N, it automatically diverts you to the 91W right now, and has for several weeks. there must be road work somewhere.

but coming home, yes, it's the same. i used to take the 5 coming home, and without fail, whether it was 10am, 2pm, 9pm, even 1am, i have always hit significant traffic. and it's almost always worse coming home then going down.

when i left this morning, i took the 5 until the 91, and yes, at 1030am, i hit traffic on the 5 until i got to the 91.

then i drove the bulk of my ride on the 91.

and hit traffic again once i got off to take the 405 to my exit. but never on the 91. almost never, anyway.

5 days a week, which means 10 trips weekly. i know my traffic patterns from LA to Disney, in both directions. well.

 

[kimnjed]

I'm an Oregonian and I say if you can do it, pass through Portland and all it's suburbs and stay in Salem for the night. Salem is only one hour south of Portland, but cheaper. It's perfectly safe! Most everything in Salem is significantly cheaper than Portland, and I'm assuming the hotels are too. (although I live here so I've never needed to stay in one...it's worth checking the prices out though). There are plenty of hotels right off the Market St. exit. You can see them from I-5.

 

[Littleprincess2010]

I'm an Oregonian and I say if you can do it, pass through Portland and all it's suburbs and stay in Salem for the night. Salem is only one hour south of Portland, but cheaper. It's perfectly safe! Most everything in Salem is significantly cheaper than Portland, and I'm assuming the hotels are too. (although I live here so I've never needed to stay in one...it's worth checking the prices out though). There are plenty of hotels right off the Market St. exit. You can see them from I-5.

Thank you, we have 3 I've found to pick from. Anyone want to give their personal experience?

Salem, OR
Rodeway Inn 3340 Astoria Way NE, Salem, OR 97303 (503) 393-6000 $80 for 2 Queen
Best Western Pacific Hwy 4646 Portland Road Northeast, Salem, OR 97305 503/390-3200 $90 for 2 Queen
Howard Johnson Salem 2250 Mission St. SE 503-375-7710 $100 for 2 King

 

[jlmarr]

let's be real here: they're both terrible. both.

Maybe the better route for someone coming down I-5 from points north would be to divert to the 210 just past Santa Clarita, and take the 210 through Pasadena to the 57 south, then off at Ball Road or Katella in Anaheim. I've hit traffic with that tactic too, but it's got to be better than the 405. Here's a pretty good real-time traffic map in case any of the travellers are iPhone/iPad/smartPhone equipped:

http://www.sigalert.com/Map.asp

 

[jlmarr]

personally, my GPS always says there's traffic on the 105. so i never take it.

That's the route we normally take to LAX, but we've always got two or more people so can take the carpool lane. And we do pass lots of solo drivers in the other lanes. Maybe the 91 has carpool lanes as well, I don't know. (It would be great if GPS could take into account the speed in the carpool lanes and let you specify that you're carpool lane-qualified, but I'm not sure if any can do that.)

 

[Queen Elisabeth]

Stockton has good areas and bad areas. The further South that you go the more you run into undesireable territory. I recommend staying at LaQuinta Inn off of March Lane. The hotel is inexpensive and a decent value (we stayed there once and it was pretty clean and decent), the area isn't bad, and there are a ton of restaurants and stores and 2 gas stations within a block or two. Plus it's directly off of the freeway (I-5). I think that The Spaghetti Factory is right next door and In N Out Burger is right across the street.

I think it would be a perfect pit stop for you.

 

[kimnjed]

Thank you, we have 3 I've found to pick from. Anyone want to give their personal experience?

Salem, OR
Rodeway Inn 3340 Astoria Way NE, Salem, OR 97303 (503) 393-6000 $80 for 2 Queen
Best Western Pacific Hwy 4646 Portland Road Northeast, Salem, OR 97305 503/390-3200 $90 for 2 Queen
Howard Johnson Salem 2250 Mission St. SE 503-375-7710 $100 for 2 King

I haven't tried them, but I would go with the Howard Johnson. It's in a better part of town for sure! There are more restaurants near there than the others too. Those other two are closer off I-5, but there isn't much around them. Just my two cents!