? for those who have driven from Seattle/Vancouver

[Catrinabeach]

We are planning to drive to Disneyland in Sept. It might be Dh, myself and our 3 yr old and possibly my 9 yr old neice.

It may be just me with the girls.

Can anyone tell me how long it took you to drive there, how many stops you made, and what speed you usually drive lol.

My plan is to leave on the 5:15 ferry (We are on Vancouver Island), and stop in Portland Oregon to visit some friends from 3pm - 5pm (assuming we get there by 3pm), and then drive to Medford Oregon that evening arriving in Medford around 9pm.

It said Twassessen to Portland was 5 hrs. So I figured an hr at the border puts us there by 3 with delays. (we will get off the ferry at 7:15 am)

This is using the times that mappoint says it takes. So I don't know how accurate they are.

Then the next day we will leave the hotel by 7am and drive to Anaheim. I'm thinking we will get there around 6pm since they say it's a 10 hr drive.

We won't be stopping for restaurant meals. I figure sandwiches in the car on the first day, with food while visiting our friends, and some kind of fast food on the second day with dinner when we arrive.

Does this sound reasonable ?

 

[bumbershoot]

I personally think you are really underestimating the time it's going to take. Or you're good at just driving without stopping for much of anything.

We left at a decent hour from Tacoma last September, and got into Medford after dark. Do NOT stay at the Super8 there, it's hideous.

We went from Medford to the Santa Cruz area, and again got there after dark.

Several days later (we were in the bay area for my HS reunion) we left the Santa Cruz area at 7am and got to Paradise Pier after 7 pm. We stopped for a bathroom break, we changed drivers at one point, and we had a meal at Andersen's split pea soup place, and at some point entered some vortex where a 6 hour drive took 12. We still can't figure out what happened, well there was a backup in one coastal area but we were moving the whole time, never just stopped, so there's nothing that took 5-6 hours.

Other people have better luck, and when I was in college I used to to Tacoma to Santa Cruz in 12 hours stopping maybe once, but we fully expected our trip to be simple and easy, and it was NOT.

On the way back up to Santa Cruz, we had to stop somewhere along the way b/c it was already dark and we were beyond exhausted. We felt like idiots stopping on the drive between Anaheim and Santa Cruz, but it wouldn't have been safe for us to keep driving. (the Travelodge in Coalinga isn't bad, by the way, though it's near a feed lot and stinks to high heaven in the morning, and the flies are atrocious)

We drive the posted speed limit.

 

[captnmgd23]

Hi There,

I would agree with the above poster, it will take longer than you think. We have made the drive from Bellingham (North of Seattle) to DL numerous times. We made it once with 4 drives without stopping (except to eat and stuff) in about 25 hours.

Other than that going down we normally stop once in Southern Oregon to sleep, and then get up way early about 5 am, and we always end up in Anaheim very very late at night, normally after 11 pm.

Coming home from pure exhaustion we now plan to stop and sleep twice.

Especially with kids, it will take longer than you expect.

 

[Catrinabeach]

So you think Seattle to Medford is longer than 7 hrs apart ?

And Medford to Anaheim more than 10 hrs ? Without stops I'm meaning.

We won't stop much at all. When we went to Edmonton from here I drove from Brooks, Alberta to Edmonton to Merritt BC in one day. We stopped in Edmonton to pick up my nephew and get some lunch, then in Jasper to get dinner.

We left Brooks at 8am, picked up my nephew at 1pm and we were in Merritt by Midnight.

We had my DD with us who was 2 at the time.

Basically we will stop when we need fuel only. We can grab food and use the potty while we stop for fuel.

 

[Catrinabeach]

Hi There,

I would agree with the above poster, it will take longer than you think. We have made the drive from Bellingham (North of Seattle) to DL numerous times. We made it once with 4 drives without stopping (except to eat and stuff) in about 25 hours.

Other than that going down we normally stop once in Southern Oregon to sleep, and then get up way early about 5 am, and we always end up in Anaheim very very late at night, normally after 11 pm.

Coming home from pure exhaustion we now plan to stop and sleep twice.

Especially with kids, it will take longer than you expect.

How long does it take to get from Bellingham to Portland ? I'm stopping to see friends there. And then driving on to Medford for the night.

 

[trodrigue]

Hi,
We made the trip last December in an amazingly short time, like less than 16driving hours. We stayed overnight at Redding, at the Best Western there, which was wonderful and had a really awesome breakfast. But, we were wishing we had done it in one long drive, because it was such easy driving. Even the Siskous!

Now on the way home we hit snow in the Siskous and it really slowed us down.

We are from Mukilteo, just north of Seattle.

Right now, with our family of four, our breaking point is $200 airfare. If we have to pay much more than that, then we are driving. Unless gas goes to $10. a gallon that is.

 

[TheZue]

If you don't stop in portland I think your timing might be right...really depends how fast you drive. We are in Nanaimo, generally catch the 8:30 Twassen and start looking for hotels in Grants Pass around nine and end up in Medford around 10 or 11 (obviously our search doesn't always go well hahaha), that stretch of road between the two is not nice; it's windy and really dark at night. The next day is about the timing we generally have; but it generally depends on the traffic. We usually end up in Anaheim for dinner though. Also enjoy the drive through Northern California in the morning; it's beautiful! And a fun thing to look out for is the bear crossing signs; although I am easily amused.

I would strongly recomend the holiday inn expresses. They have really nice breakfast lay outs in the morning and I think we've stayed at several in Oregon.

 

[kajcwman]

You can make the trip from Medford to Anaheim in a day. I'd be more worried about your 1st day. We traveled from Victoria, via Twassessen, back to Portland over Spring Break. I was exhausted. If I had to drive down to Medford right after that, well, it'd be tough, IMO.
We did drive to Disneyland a couple of years ago. We drove from Portland to Medford after work, then the next day we drove to Anaheim. So yes it can be done. Still, we had 4 adults (plus 2 kids) so we could rotate drivers.

I'll agree with the others here that your est. drive times seem a bit low. I'd be surprised if you could get to Portland from the ferry in 5 hours. (Of course, we had terrible traffic in Seattle during our Victoria trip.) Traffic in Portland can also be iffy during the eveing rush hour. It usually takes us about 4.5 hours to get to Medford. Also, mapquest states that Medford to Anaheim should take over 11 hours.

If DH travels with you, then of course, this becomes much more managable. It can be done, but it'll be a couple of long days.

Of course, driving back home is much worse.

 

[Queenbillabong]

Yikes, that is one LONG drive! I would be crying, I think - especially if I went with my sister and our three (between us) boys! Are we there YET????

 

[Catrinabeach]

ok. As long as going from Medford to Anaheim can be done in 1 day I should be good. Even if I don't get there until later that is fine. As long as I will get there that day. We don't have any plans for that evening. It will just be eating and going to sleep that night.

I just checked mapquest and it shows twassessen to Portland as 5 hrs 15 mins. Which is fine.

If I'm in Twassessen by 7:15 and don't need to be in Portland until 3 that gives us some leway. Since that's 7.5 hrs.

If it takes us longer from Portland to Medford than 4 hrs that is fine too. I'm used to driving long hrs on trips and that's ok. I did all the driving on our trip from Vancouver Island to Edmonton to Calgary and back. I had other adults but I was the only one with a drivers license lol.

We actually left when I got off work at 2pm catching the 3pm ferry and going to Merritt that night (about 5 hrs from the ferry).

Had car trouble and spend the next day getting it fixed and not getting out of there until the afternoon. Didn't make it to Edmonton until 1am since we ran into a blizzard outside of Edmonton. It took us 2 hrs on what should of taken us 20 mins lol. So much fun.

Thanks everyone. I'm sure I can make it time wise now that I know what other people have been able to do. I'm not worried about the long driving time. Just that I can be where I need to be. lol

I have booked a hotel in Medford and I wanted to make sure I can make it there that night even if it's late at night. I'll just let them know we will be arriving late.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oops, it wasn't Medford where we stopped, but Roseburg on the way down.

Have you been through Portland before? If not do you have a good map? Portland has caused some massive traffic and direction based arguments between me and my hubby...it can be complicated if you aren't sure of what direction and what highway you are on and want to go on.

Tacoma to Portland is over 2 hours (and that includes a portion of 70 mph). Then you get through Portland.

Anyway, I wish you luck! I won't ever do anything near a straight shot again, and I'm not 100% sure I'll ever drive through the Siskyous again. It just scares me too much nowadays, even though I used to be just fine going through there. And I hope you don't end up in the vortex we entered between the Bay Area and Anaheim! That was NOT fun!

 

[Catrinabeach]

Oops, it wasn't Medford where we stopped, but Roseburg on the way down.

Have you been through Portland before? If not do you have a good map? Portland has caused some massive traffic and direction based arguments between me and my hubby...it can be complicated if you aren't sure of what direction and what highway you are on and want to go on.

Tacoma to Portland is over 2 hours (and that includes a portion of 70 mph). Then you get through Portland.

Anyway, I wish you luck! I won't ever do anything near a straight shot again, and I'm not 100% sure I'll ever drive through the Siskyous again. It just scares me too much nowadays, even though I used to be just fine going through there. And I hope you don't end up in the vortex we entered between the Bay Area and Anaheim! That was NOT fun!

I don't have a map yet. I need to figure out where I'm meeting my friends. They live in Portland. The one is just off of the 5.

I intend to stay on the 5 the whole way. That way I don't get lost. lol

What is the Vortex ?

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't know what the vortex was, all I know is that it took us 12 hours to go what should have been 6, and there's no good explanation! It's crazy-making, even now, though the trip was in Sept.


The weird part about Portland is their "ring" highway...5 and 405 both go north/south, and there are complicated or at least confusing (b/c there are so MANY) signs about north south east west blah blah. If you go south on 405 you'll ultimately be OK and get to 5 again, but it can be scary.

And the bridges, oh the bridges. Bridges scare me, LOL.

I love Portland, but I was glad to be done planning our Oregon wedding (engaged for 2 years) b/c it meant far fewer trips down there!

 

[melis79]

I have done the drive from Everett, WA to LA area a few times, and driven from here to Sacramento a few times.

From Everett (which is 2 hours south of Bellingham, maybe 90 minutes if you have no traffic and are cruising::cop: ) to border of Oregon traveling I-5 is 4 hours with no stops. So 6 hours from Bellingham, which you may need to stop in there for gas/food/potty.

From Oregon border to California border is another 4 hours. In my experience that stretch of I-5 rarely has any cops patrolling, and you can easily go 70 most of the way.

California border to Sacramento is another 4 hours with again only 1 stop for gas/food/bathroom (for me it was less than 20 minutes as I did this drive alone back in my college days)

So far from Bellingham to Sacramento we have 14 hours of driving.

From Sacramento to LA Area is usually at least another 8 hours. I drive fast and did this alone and never was under 22 hours total drive time. With a family I would plan on it being more than that obviously. Eating and bathroom breaks take alot longer than 20 minutes when there are kiddos involved.

Try to avoid the grapevine in the early morning, you will be bound to hit that early morning work commute and it sucks. Either early early morning or late morning.

Have fun on your roadtrip! I love roadtrips and really enjoy the drive down to S. Cali. Havent done it with kids yet, but I am driving down to the Coast Redwoods with them this summer to go camping. That should be an adventure!

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

I love Portland. I was born here, raised here.... and I refuse to flippin drive here.

I live in the suburbs outside the big city, but I will NOT drive in Portland. absolutely not. It is such a cluster. The roads make no sense, they're old, and it's hella confusing to navigate, even WITH a map and a co-pilot.

I don't say this to scare you, more to warn you. I would say if your friends live in Portland, maybe you could meet them for dinner somewhere off I-5 so you don't need to go into the city, so it's just a straight shot down for you.

Whatever you decide, I wish you luck with navigation!

 

[kajcwman]

I don't have a map yet. I need to figure out where I'm meeting my friends. They live in Portland. The one is just off of the 5.

I intend to stay on the 5 the whole way. That way I don't get lost. lol

What is the Vortex ?

The Vortex is one of those places where the laws of gravity and physics don't have any effect. Well, that's how they describe it anyway. I think we visited it when I was a kid, but I don't really remember.

As far as traveling through/around Portland: If you can take I-205 around the east side you should have better traffic than downtown on I-5 (at least till 205 merges with I-5 south of town). Of course, if your friends live on the west side of Portland, well, good luck to you.

 

[Sally_fan]

Oops, it wasn't Medford where we stopped, but Roseburg on the way down.

Have you been through Portland before? If not do you have a good map? Portland has caused some massive traffic and direction based arguments between me and my hubby...it can be complicated if you aren't sure of what direction and what highway you are on and want to go on.

Tacoma to Portland is over 2 hours (and that includes a portion of 70 mph). Then you get through Portland.

Anyway, I wish you luck! I won't ever do anything near a straight shot again, and I'm not 100% sure I'll ever drive through the Siskyous again. It just scares me too much nowadays, even though I used to be just fine going through there. And I hope you don't end up in the vortex we entered between the Bay Area and Anaheim! That was NOT fun!

Oh! I am pretty sure that we got caught somewhere in that vortex as well! Our hotel in Capitola (just outside of Santa Cruz) told us that it would take approx 4hrs to get to Anaheim which is interesting because when I plug it into Mapquest it says that it should take about 6. Anyhoo.......it took us over 10 hrs! We were very dissapointed as that was supposed to be our first day in the parks & we arrived after dark. Oh well, what can ya do? At least we know to plan for something like that on our upcoming trip! lol

 

[KelsiesMommy]

Medford to Olympia, WA- we just drove that last Sunday- took me from 9am- 5pm with one stop just before Portland for lunch and one other short gas/potty stop

 

[avalon451]

Did I miss it, or did you say what day of the week you're starting your drive? Because if you get off the ferry at 7:15 on a weekday, you're just hitting prime time rush hour down I-5.

 

[splash5]

Which hotel are you staying at in Medford? I grew up in the Central Point area and can tell you if it is in a good area.

About 5 years ago we drove from Anaheim to our home in Longview, Washington and it took 17 hours. We drove through restaurants to eat and had a couple bathroom breaks. The weather was a torrential downpour as soon as we crossed the Oregon border. I think it makes it much easier to stop somewhere for the night. We went from Longview, to Stockton the first day (about 10 hours), spent the night and continued onto Anaheim (about another 7-8 hours the next day).

I am partial to flying, because it is quicker and when we factor in the staying over night in a hotel and extra food, it ends up about the same cost wise for our family of 3. The last time we flew, our plane lost the computer to an engine and we had to make an emergency landing in Portland. Now, I just don't know which is better.