Driving to DL from Oregon

[Captain Hindsight]

I see you have 2 daughters.. So that would be you, your girlfriend, her daughter and your 2 daughters... I think I know why your husband is not doing the trip! Hahaha!

 

[stevejanelle]

We drove last August, with only 2 drivers. My husband slept all day and he drove from 7pm until 5am when I took over and drove to our hotel. We went to the park that day since we all had some rest. We left at night so my young children would sleep most of the drive. We also drove strait through on the way back. It was an easy drive. If you're worried about breaking down, make sure to have some kind of road side assistance. We love to drive, it gives up time to talk about what we want to do or what our favorite part of the trip was. We always decorate the window of the car with sayings like 'to the mouse or bust!' Enjoy your trip!

We leave in the early evening (6pm) and drive straight through. Kids sleep when it gets dark. DVD player is great. Get to DL at about 8am (from Bend, OR). We did this in the summer w/o any worries of snow on passes.
LOVE doing it this way. The ride back, though, we usually leave in the morning from DL, about 9am and get to Bend about 11pm. Seems to be a much longer trip going home.

 

[Bungle]

We have made this drive from Portland MANY times. Here is how we usually do it:

The night before car packed everything except the purse and kids.

3:30 I am up and getting ready. Double checking bag for all the paperwork we need.

4 am all sleepy people in the car!

This way I am through salem before 5 am and miss all the traffic. I find I can get a lot of driving done while they are sleeping. I get a really strong coffee and just enjoy the drive.

Depending on plans we try to stop at the redwoods, or we just stop somewhere on I5 after dh wakes up and he takes over driving. Lunch time we stop and eat a sit down meal and let the kids run around for an hour or so.

We typically stop at fairview for the evening. You can get there pretty early in the afternoon if you bypass a lot of rest areas. In the morning hit up the jelly bean factory and grab some breakfast. DL is about 6-7 hours from there. We try to leave at a time to avoid traffic but really coming into DL no time is a good time.

We bring travel games and portable dvd players to keep everyone busy. Of course a good friend and great conversation always helps the ride too.

It can be done in one day but we find we aren't that cranky or frustrated if we take our time.

 

[briangl]

You can't ignore the other costs besides gas when you drive. Driving typically cost about $0.50 per mile. Flying is cheaper.

 

[Mister Skellington]

We are driving next month from Grants Pass. Allegiant was cheap at $125 incl. taxes round trip! We are driving for other reasons, but if it was just the wife and I we would be flying for sure.
Have fun!

 

[smsles]

I would rather fly. I think I would dread the trip home!

 

[Dobie]

We leave in the early evening (6pm) and drive straight through. Kids sleep when it gets dark. DVD player is great. Get to DL at about 8am (from Bend, OR). We did this in the summer w/o any worries of snow on passes.
LOVE doing it this way. The ride back, though, we usually leave in the morning from DL, about 9am and get to Bend about 11pm. Seems to be a much longer trip going home.

That is because you are going north, which is uphill. Gravity is working against you.

 

[Davids-Coco]

We wouldn't drive... but we have friends who did with a 3 yr old and a 6 mo old. To each their own. Alaska has run a lot of deals off and on and has some pretty reasonable deals to look into.

 

[I5Blazer]

We have made this drive from Portland MANY times. Here is how we usually do it:

The night before car packed everything except the purse and kids.

3:30 I am up and getting ready. Double checking bag for all the paperwork we need.

4 am all sleepy people in the car!

This way I am through salem before 5 am and miss all the traffic. I find I can get a lot of driving done while they are sleeping. I get a really strong coffee and just enjoy the drive.

Depending on plans we try to stop at the redwoods, or we just stop somewhere on I5 after dh wakes up and he takes over driving. Lunch time we stop and eat a sit down meal and let the kids run around for an hour or so.

We typically stop at fairview for the evening. You can get there pretty early in the afternoon if you bypass a lot of rest areas. In the morning hit up the jelly bean factory and grab some breakfast. DL is about 6-7 hours from there. We try to leave at a time to avoid traffic but really coming into DL no time is a good time.

We bring travel games and portable dvd players to keep everyone busy. Of course a good friend and great conversation always helps the ride too.

It can be done in one day but we find we aren't that cranky or frustrated if we take our time.

yeah 330 is about my takeoff time. i don't like to hit L.A to early because of traffic. 10pm is about right for me. there are so many things to stop and check out on the way. plus nice to stretch the legs also remember to mix some awesome music before you hit the road.

 

[taaren]

I've done the drive from NorCal a bunch when we lived there but usually found it cheaper to fly Southwest. If you subscribe to their e-mail promos they occasionally have $30/60/90 sales depending on mileage and Oregon should fall into the $60 each way category, which would be $120 per person RT, or $600 for 5 people, and very worth it to avoid a 16 hour drive. But 8 hours in a car straight is about the limit for this island girl - DH loves to drive from NorCal to Phoenix to visit the in-laws and back (for a weekend trip!!).

 

[blackjackdelta]

One of the reasons we like to drive is that the car seems half full when we go down but when we come back it is crammed to the gills. My wife likes to read so she figures this is her only down time.
My 17 yo daughter is terrified of flying. I think she would if I sedated her and forced her to get on the plane but I won't do that. The drive is really no big deal to us.

Jack

 

[mhconley]

We used to live in the San Fernando Valley and my in-laws were in White Salmon, WA. We regularly made that drive in about 17 hours. The drive north of Redding is absolutely beautiful. The drive on I-5 from Redding to the Grapevine has to be the most boring on the planet.

These days one can almost always find airfare cheaper than the cost of gas, food and (if you stop) lodging. I'd do almost anything to avoid another drive through the central valley on I-5.

Martin

 

[DisneyDreamer8]

We used to live in the San Fernando Valley and my in-laws were in White Salmon, WA. We regularly made that drive in about 17 hours. The drive north of Redding is absolutely beautiful. The drive on I-5 from Redding to the Grapevine has to be the most boring on the planet.

These days one can almost always find airfare cheaper than the cost of gas, food and (if you stop) lodging. I'd do almost anything to avoid another drive through the central valley on I-5.

Martin

Yeah the drive can be boring but as for cheap airfare it depends on where you live. We live in Central Oregon so the airport is in Redmond. It is very hard to find tickets for less than $300 per person. We can find cheaper air out of PDX but that means driving 3 hours to get there and staying the night in a hotel plus pay for parking.

It costs us about $400 for gas to drive. As for food I pack snacks and lunches. We still stop once but it is usually at In-N-Out in Redding because we love it. The rest of the time we find a rest stop with picnic tables and eat or just eat in the car.

So even with staying the night somewhere our total last trip was around $600 total (we payed a little less because my Mom went with us and she picked up a couple tanks of gas). Or it would have been around $1000 to fly and get a shuttle to DL.

But to each his own. Long road trips don't bother me. Plus with the money we save we can spend an extra day on vacation. Works for me

 

[dalepool]

I would not give up 3-4 days of a vacation to drive. To me it seems to much to give up. Don't get me wrong I have driven to LA from WA state a few times but that was after we were retired and took the motor home with tow car. So the drive was part of trip. Driving straight thru would leave me so tired I would need a day or two to recoup.

Just my opinion.

What ever you plan Have a great trip

Patty

 

[nottellin']

I think you will be fine. We drive from Canada 2 or 3 times a year with a 8 and 9 year old. We actually started when they were 5 and 6.

For us it is a 26 hour drive. We can make it more than half way in the first day (but we stop at night). We normally get to Disneyland at 2 pm the next day and hit the park. So I don't think you will be too tired or anything like that.

I hate to fly so it is not an option for us either.

 

[I5Blazer]

I've done the drive from NorCal a bunch when we lived there but usually found it cheaper to fly Southwest. If you subscribe to their e-mail promos they occasionally have $30/60/90 sales depending on mileage and Oregon should fall into the $60 each way category, which would be $120 per person RT, or $600 for 5 people, and very worth it to avoid a 16 hour drive. But 8 hours in a car straight is about the limit for this island girl - DH loves to drive from NorCal to Phoenix to visit the in-laws and back (for a weekend trip!!).

those are pretty sweet deals. ive never seen them that low myself but dont get there email promos. then you have to factor in bag fees, shuttle from airport to hotel. rental car if you want to go anywhere else. parking at airport unless someone drops you off. in my experience so far i have spent less driving over flying when i go. nothin like in N out on the road 2

what are the running specials out of pdx right now?

 

[uncle duck]

don't like to fly, don't want to drive. take the train. amtrack, portland to anahiem around 30 hours. cheap. drops off real close to Disney.

 

[dalepool]

What a great idea-- take train. Kids travel for 1/2 to .. There is also a pass that can be used for a certain period of time so a fixed number of segments. I travel rails to get from Vancouver Wa area to Seattle for Dr. Appts. No traffic, I can sleep or enjoy a meal with out wasting time. They even had video to help time pass . Sounds good to me- Uncle Duck.


Patty

 

[I5Blazer]

don't like to fly, don't want to drive. take the train. amtrack, portland to anahiem around 30 hours. cheap. drops off real close to Disney.

that looks like a interesting option. seems to be about the same price you would pay in driving. the 1 drawback would be the longer travel time.

 

[Mackysmycat]

I bet it will cost even less than that in gas. We paid less than that when we drove from BC, Canada, down to DL. We leave around 4pm on Friday, drive through the night (the kids sleep through) and then grab a hotel room around 1pm the next day.... get a good rest, wake up, and drive the rest of the way there, maybe getting in around 6pm.