Driving Vegas to DLR help!

[lvdis]

Kind of a spin off from another thread I was just reading. We will be renting a car and driving from Vegas to DLR. I'm in the beginning stages of planning the trip for June 2013. Currently I had the plan to leave Vegas mid afternoon on Sunday, June 16 and drive to Anaheim to start our Disney portion of the trip. After reading that post I've discovered that driving that route on a Sunday afternoon can be a bad idea. I'm flexible with my plans right now, so my question is, would driving on a Saturday afternoon be better? Others on that thread suggested Monday. What do you think?

Another question about the dates we are going. I was planning on being at DLR 6/16 - 6/20 (Sun - Thurs). Do you think the week before would be better (6/9 - 6/13)? Of course if I shift my drive from Vegas back a day that will put us there on a Sat - Wed. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[skiingfast]

If you drive from Vegas on Saturday it's fine, if you do on Monday it's good unless you hit traffic coming into LA in the late afternoon and evening. You can also leave Vegas early Sunday and be fine, just be in the car by 9am or earlier.

Going earlier in June helps because a few less kids are on Summer Vacation.

 

[mama2dutchies]

Kind of a spin off from another thread I was just reading. We will be renting a car and driving from Vegas to DLR. I'm in the beginning stages of planning the trip for June 2013. Currently I had the plan to leave Vegas mid afternoon on Sunday, June 16 and drive to Anaheim to start our Disney portion of the trip. After reading that post I've discovered that driving that route on a Sunday afternoon can be a bad idea. I'm flexible with my plans right now, so my question is, would driving on a Saturday afternoon be better? Others on that thread suggested Monday. What do you think?

Another question about the dates we are going. I was planning on being at DLR 6/16 - 6/20 (Sun - Thurs). Do you think the week before would be better (6/9 - 6/13)? Of course if I shift my drive from Vegas back a day that will put us there on a Sat - Wed. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

I think either weekend you are bound to hit a grad night..

 

[eeyora68]

You might want to rethink leaving Vegas mid day in June,I always leave early morning. June temps run in the 100's

 

[Tiradan]

My sister does this often as she lives in Las Vegas and is completely in love with all things Disney (especially Ariel, do not sit next to my sister on that new Ariel ride in DCA, you will be deaf for days). She usually leaves at 3:30AM on Saturday to get there when the gates open, then they go back late Sunday afternoon. I think she's crazy to drive so much in such a short amount of time, but then again I basically do the same thing, except in a plane

 

[ParkHopper1]

I would avoid Sunday afternoon...it can be brutal...but don't think you need to push it all the way back to Saturday. Sunday AM you would be fine and the best time to go as you will also miss the Monday traffic in LA.

A LOT of So Cal'ers and Nor Cal'ers head to Vegas for the weekend hence the high volume headed back later Sunday on the stretch of 15 south of Vegas and into the LA basin.

I used to live in Vegas and drive to CA weekly...would leave Sunday 8-9am ish and was usually free sailing.

 

[DisneyBiskit]

I live in Vegas and I would NOT leave for California in the afternoon. You will be looking at an 6-8 hour drive (No joke!). Either leave early in the morning or leave after 5:00pm. And this is the case for just about any given Sunday. Also, the previous post is correct in that you may not want to drive in 100 degree weather.

 

[Tonyspad]

We drove from LV to DL last June- We left the Mirage on Monday morning at 8am and after two stops, made it to DLH at 12:30. Practically no traffic at all.

I believe the rule of thumb is to be on the road before 9am.

 

[Mr Snappy]

As others have stated, dont even consider Sunday for leaving Las Vegas....just dont

But let me ask you something else. You did not state, but are your plans to go to DLR the next day or that same day? I assume you would be going to DLR some day after Sunday, but wanted to make sure. I highly recommend NOT going to a Sunday in June to DLR after making that drive.

Remember, you don't have to worry about not only schools being out in California, but everywhere else. Our schools get out in early May as well as many others.

 

[lvdis]

As others have stated, dont even consider Sunday for leaving Las Vegas....just dont

But let me ask you something else. You did not state, but are your plans to go to DLR the next day or that same day? I assume you would be going to DLR some day after Sunday, but wanted to make sure. I highly recommend NOT going to a Sunday in June to DLR after making that drive.

Remember, you don't have to worry about not only schools being out in California, but everywhere else. Our schools get out in early May as well as many others.

We are planning to go to DLR for 3 days starting the day after we arrive. I was thinking about just going to Downtown Disney on our arrival evening. That's kind of why I was hoping to drive on Sunday so we could use our tickets Mon-Wed. It sounds like if we leave early enough on Sunday the drive could be OK.

I guess if we move everything forward a day and drive on Monday we could be at DLR on Tues-Thurs which might be OK. I thought about moving our days back so we drive on Saturday and are at DLR Sun-Tues, but I was trying to avoid the weekend! The only problem is we still want to visit some friends in the area and go to San Diego for a couple of days. I'll be running out of time that week and I don't want to cut DLR down to only 2 days! Maybe early Sunday driving is the best...

 

[Mr Snappy]

The good thing is that it sounds like the biggest plan you have on Sunday is the drive from LV to DLR and are not trying to do some major attraction on that day, so you are actually in better shape than you realize. I like the idea of getting a very early start on Sunday and leave Vegas for anaheim as early as possible. Downtown Disney would be very "do-able" with this schedule.

 

[PattiPB]

Another question about the dates we are going. I was planning on being at DLR 6/16 - 6/20 (Sun - Thurs). Do you think the week before would be better (6/9 - 6/13)? Of course if I shift my drive from Vegas back a day that will put us there on a Sat - Wed. Any thoughts?Thanks!

If you can easily flip your time, I would do that. LV schools get out around 6/10/13. This past June we left the Sunday after school got out to California, and found that many schools there hadn't gotten out yet. Made touring better than I expected. If you hit DL that earlier week, you just might beat many of the vacationers from our area.

Also---leave by 9 am on a Sunday, or pack food and a port-a-potty for the road.

 

[Capt Silly]

We are planning to go to DLR for 3 days starting the day after we arrive. I was thinking about just going to Downtown Disney on our arrival evening. That's kind of why I was hoping to drive on Sunday so we could use our tickets Mon-Wed. It sounds like if we leave early enough on Sunday the drive could be OK.

I guess if we move everything forward a day and drive on Monday we could be at DLR on Tues-Thurs which might be OK. I thought about moving our days back so we drive on Saturday and are at DLR Sun-Tues, but I was trying to avoid the weekend! The only problem is we still want to visit some friends in the area and go to San Diego for a couple of days. I'll be running out of time that week and I don't want to cut DLR down to only 2 days! Maybe early Sunday driving is the best...

One more thing to factor in, since this is June you're talking about, is Grad Nights. If my memory serves me, they are often held on Thursdays, so the parks close early. If you drive on Monday, you might have one less evening in the parks.

Also, leaving early in the morning means you can take a nice leisurely drive and stop at....um ..maybe Rancho Cucamonga? Or someplace more interesting along the route...

 

[imjen]

I hope you don't mind if I ask a related question...how about driving the opposite direction on a Sunday afternoon? We are thinking of leaving Orange County on a Sunday in October and driving to Las Vegas at around noon. Will traffic most likely be fine going that direction since most are leaving Vegas to go to CA?

 

[Mr Snappy]

I hope you don't mind if I ask a related question...how about driving the opposite direction on a Sunday afternoon? We are thinking of leaving Orange County on a Sunday in October and driving to Las Vegas at around noon. Will traffic most likely be fine going that direction since most are leaving Vegas to go to CA?

It should be wide-open going the other direction. Friday is the day you want to stay off the road GOING to Vegas.

 

[LizzyS]

I hope you don't mind if I ask a related question...how about driving the opposite direction on a Sunday afternoon? We are thinking of leaving Orange County on a Sunday in October and driving to Las Vegas at around noon. Will traffic most likely be fine going that direction since most are leaving Vegas to go to CA?

I have done this and you will have no worries.