Las Vegas to DL and back in 1 day. Crazy?

[simba2]

We will have an extra day in our itinerary while in Las Vegas. I'd love to visit DL, as I've only ever been to WDW and would like to see the differences. Driving looks like 3 hrs 43 mins (if no traffic). We'd have to leave Vegas by 5:00 if the park is opening at 9:00 am. Then the park closes at 8:00 -- would we feel like driving that far back to our hotel in Vegas? I really don't want to stay overnight. Our friends, who don't understand the "mouse addiction" will be visiting the Grand Canyon that day and we'd like to "run over" to the mouse while they are gone on their 14 hr tour. Southwest has $19 flights but the best schedules are in to LAX. How awful is the traffic there. I checked out John Wayne/Orange Co. airport, but the flight times would not give us even close to a whole day at DL. Also, the map to drive shows freeway driving. Has anyone else from a "small town" gone there and driven on the freeway? I grew up in a town with only 1 traffic light in the entire town -- I'm a little bit scared to think of all the fast moving traffic! Anyway, tell me if I'm nuts, please.

 

[Michelle]

Definitely DO NOT attempt to drive here and back in one day, the traffic on I-15 can be horrendous and if you hit an accident along the way it can take WAY longer than 4 hours to get here or back. If you stayed overnight it might be worth it, but it's WAAAY too much driving for one day.

You definitely COULD fly here and back in a day, though, the flight is only 45 minutes each way. You could fly in an out of John Wayne (SNA) as it is a smaller airport and closer to Disneyland, and just rent a car to get to and from the park, or even take the Airport Bus. That would drop you off at the DL hotels, but it's just a short walk from the hotel to the park.

Good luck deciding!

 

[scanmom]

We are from a town that has NO traffic lights, and my DH did fine on the freeways! I think if the times for the LAX flights are alot better, I would not let a little freeway traffic stop me! Maybe someone on these boards will know an alternate route to DLR from LAX!!! Have a great time!

 

[TheLionKing]

My route at that time of day would be to take Lincoln Blvd south and take the ( number is blank to me) east. It will end at the 605. Take the 605 south to the 91. Take the 91 east and it will join with Interstate 5 and take that south. Hopefully you will be going against traffic most of the way.

I always am interested to hear other people's "shortcuts" to Disneyland from LAX.

I will hopefully give you the Interstate number when I find a map.

Good luck and be careful about the return trip and schedule time for possible traffic congestion depending on when you plan to leave the park.

 

[simba2]

Thanks for the replies. That's exactly the kind of info I needed to know, i.e. I'm nuts to try and do it in one day I would fly no problem except to get the $19 airfare specials, you must stay over one night. I didn't want to be gone for 2 days. Guess I will have to decide. The prob. with John Wayne is that the flights in and out are not at times that would allow us to spend an entire day at the park. LAX has a ton of flights in and out, but it would be so much more crowded. Someone on another post mentioned Burbank airport. What are your thoughts on that one? I haven't checked the flight schedule into there yet.

 

[TheLionKing]

I would guess that if you arrived before 9 at Burbank would put you in the middle of the morning commute on the Interstate 5 heading into downtown Los Angeles.

I would think LAX would be better. I am thinking it is the Interstate 105 from LAX to the 605.

I preface my remarks that I am not living currently in Los Angeles. Mary Jo or Michele... do you have any comments?

 

[jlima]

I've lived in Las Vegas for 5 years. Before that I lived in LA for 11 years. We kept our APs because we go to DL often enough to make it worth the $$.

I've driven to DL & back to LV in the same day once. It was 2 months after we moved here and I totally under-estimated how tiring the drive back would be after spending the day with DS3. I'll never do it again.

The $19 flight to LAX sounds like a deal. Did you check if there are flights from Long Beach to Vegas? Or can you do a combination of airports?

If there are 2 of you, maybe one can drive there & the other drive home. FYI, DH's world-record time from Orange County to LV is 3 hrs 45 minutes; this was after an Angels baseball game that ended at 10:30pm and he drove straight home to LV without stopping. Hope this helps!

 

[almostGoofy]

I agree with Michelle: DO NOT try to drive back and forth in one day. I just returned from a weekend in Las Vegas and the I-15 was like a parking lot around Barstow. No accident, just too many cars. The I-15 goes from three lanes to two just beyond Barstow so it bottle-necked. If you were planning a weekday, traffic might be better but I still wouldn't do it. You'll have a tiring day at DL. I wouldn't add a long drive at the end a day like that.

You didn't say when you were thinking about going. In October, Jet Blue will start flights between Las Vegas and Long Beach. I believe Long Beach is a little closer than John Wayne. It definintely will be faster getting in and out of Long Beach. It's been an under-utilized airport that is just beginning to pick up some air traffic. Warning though: it too may have the same noise restrictions as John Wayne and therefore flights might stop in the early evening. The schedule may not be any better than John Wayne.

 

[JLS]

I agree with the above posters - do NOT do this. You will be miserable. I hate that drive to Vegas - we always fly. The traffic is really bad (you don't realize that you can be sitting in bumper to bumper traffic although you are in the middle of nowhere). This is what you should do - take advantage of the $19 rate on Southwest (the total price with tax for RT is $55 - you would spend that much on gas!) and from LAX, take Century boulevard, turn Right on Aviation, and follow the signs to the 105 freeway East. Take that to the 605 freeway South, then merge to the 405 North. After a short ways on the 405, go to the 22 freeway East (Garden Grove freeway). Exit on Harbor Boulevard North. You make a left off of the freeway exit onto Harbor, and in 5 minutes you are at DL. Turn L on Katella and follow the signs to the big parking garage. Good luck.

FYI: Orange county traffic is horrible and the drive from John Wayne airport, while shorter than from LAX, can be just as bad if not worse.

 

[ivanova]

Keep in mind, when flying the flight itself may only be 45 minutes but you need to be at the airport approx. 90 minutes in advance, and then there's the drive time to/from the airports.

So if the park opens at 9 AM you're probably looking at landing at LAX or John Wayne around 8 AM, so a flight out of LV around 7AM meaning being at the LV airport at 5:30AM. If the park closes at 8PM, getting back to the airport by 9PM for a flight around 10:30PM putting you at the LV airport around 11:30PM and back to your LV hotel by midnight.

I'm sorry, it just sounds like an exhausting day, regardless of whether of fly or drive. I'd really recommend staying one night in Anaheim so as not to kill yourself.

 

[DW mouser]

We just got back from Vegas. Use that extra day to relax by the pool and recupe! We had a 2 hour time difference and with the heat too it threw us for a loop! We were exhausted and everything is so busy. People crowded everywhere!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>If you're going to go Southwest, keep in mind that since this is one of the lowest fares, and probably most popular, you'll need to be @ the airport at least 1.5 - 2 hours ahead of time to make it through security & get on your flight - not having check-in luggage will be a big plus. However, you might also want to check out America West or other airlines, where you don't have to wait as long....

If you don't want to drive, I'd recommend Supershuttle (make ressies ahead of time to arrange for them to pick you up). It's a $10 roundtrip cost to and from Disneyland Resort per person, and I think they guarantee no more than three stops before you reach your destination. You won't have to deal with taking a shuttle to the rental car agency and checking the car back in & getting another shuttle back to the airport, etc., plus, you'll get to rest after a long day instead of dealing with traffic, etc.

If you do rent a car, from the LAX airport, you can take Sepulveda south, or Century Blvd. East to Aviation South, and get the 105 fwy east from there (that's the freeway TLK was thinking about). If traffic is busy, get in the carpool lane. As said earlier, it ends at the 605, stay to the right, and catch the 91 east. Get in the carpool lane, and from there you can take the 5 south. Stay in the carpool lane, and get off on Disneyland Drive, which will take you to the parking structure for the themeparks. (my route would be: sepulveda s - 105E - 605S - 91E - 5S - disneyland dr s)

I also agree, that if you can do it, spend the night - it will greatly de-stress your need to get to the airport on time to make your flight & will give you more time to enjoy the Land.

Good luck,

 

[dletz]

It can be done, but it's pretty tiring. We've been on turn around trips where we take a bus from here to Las Vegas and back again in one day. We usually leave here at 6 am, and get back at 1:30 am. It's nice and relaxing because we are on a bus the whole time, no driving required. I don't know if I'd want to drive it myself. Also you will be going with the traffic both ways. Driving back after 8 wouldn't be too big a deal, but coming in will be awful. It will probably take at least an extra hour with traffic and maybe more.

flying to LAX would work, when you exit the airport head towards the 105. Take the 105 East (or south). Then take the 605 south (towards long beach) then the 91 east to the 5 south. There's a special exit to DL off the 5.

Even if you have to stay overnight, it might be worth it. You'd probably get back pretty early in the moring. Also they have shuttles from LAX to DL so you might not have to rent a car.

 

[roymccoy]

Just go ahead and do it! You're young...you'll heal!!

Roy