Last minute trip, drive in from Phoenix

[jrsharp21]

We are headed to the Phoenix area for Spring Break to watch Spring Training. When looking at maps I got an idea to check out how far Anaheim was from Phoenix. 5.5 hour to 6 hour drive, hmmmm. I suggested to the family that maybe after the last game we have tickets for on Wednesday (1:15pm game start) that we load up the car and drive to Anaheim, grab a hotel there, go to DL on Thursday, and then drive back to Phoenix on Friday to catch our evening flight. It looks like this is going to be decision made on a whim while we are there in Phoenix.

How is the drive from Phoenix to Anaheim? I am guessing we may hit traffic getting out of the Phoenix area since it will be around the time everyone is headed home. But if we get over the California boarder around 7:30-8pm, is there any bad traffic spots on I-10 to worry about?

 

[PlutoRocks]

It is straight desert once you leave the west side of the Phoenix metro area. Not a ton of traffic there tends to be a lot of semi trucks headed to LA. You hit traffic around the Indio area and then you have LA traffic all the way into Anaheim. LA traffic seems to be heavy no matter what time it is. That being said even in heavy traffic I've always made it in around 6 hours to the Disneyland area. It's not a bad drive just make sure you're awake because there is NOTHING to see once you leave Phoenix until you get to the LA area - just open desert and mountains.

 

[mich311e]

I just drove last week leaving Phoenix at 6:30 am Friday and had a little stop and go traffic once we got to the CA91 & 57. We were in the park by 12:05 (thanks daylight savings!)

We usually drive home on a Sunday evening leaving Disneyland at 1 or 2 pm and hit an hour delay between Quartzite, Salome, and Wintersberg. We've had this delay twice. Sometimes the 10 just comes to a stop when coming into the Valley before and after the 85 South exit.

It's doable...have fun!

 

[Mandi Bartz]

The drive is super easy. You should be leaving Phoenix before rush hour hits. Go for it!

 

[cagirl4life]

Its an easy drive. Traffic in Phoenix will depend on what side of the Valley you are in. If you are on the west side (Surprise/Glendale stadiums) you should be fine. As far as California goes you might hit traffic in Riverside 60/91 interchange because of construction. But you should be going the opposite way of traffic on the 91 until the 55. Then its close and you can actually do streets if its too bad. Though that time of night is easy. Just make sure when you head back you give yourself plenty of time to make your flight because you never know in California.

 

[jrsharp21]

Thanks all. If we do go our flight in Phoenix isn't until 11pm. We would probably leave Anaheim around 10am. Are there any sights worth stopping and seeing on the drive back to Phoenix?

 

[MikeRx]

We are making the drive Sunday! It certainly doable, but I personally hate the drive. Apparently the airlines don't care that oil is down to 30 year lows....$350-400 from PHX to SNA! We will be there for 5 nights so it's worth it to us. I'd be hard pressed to justify a 1 day trip with 12 hours in the car. We have APs and go 3-4 times a year so our perspective is skewed.

 

[mich311e]

Thanks all. If we do go our flight in Phoenix isn't until 11pm. We would probably leave Anaheim around 10am. Are there any sights worth stopping and seeing on the drive back to Phoenix?

Not sure if these are worth making the stop, but here are two things to see on the I-10:

Chiriaco Summit has the General Patton Museum http://generalpattonmuseum.com/

and the famous dinosaurs from the Pee Wee's Big Adventure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabazon_Dinosaurs

I love the dinosaurs but I've only stopped to visit them once since it became a creationist museum. We used to stop and see them every couple of years.

Also, the Cabazon outlets stores. http://www.cabazonoutlets.com/
One of the biggest outlet stores I've seen. I grew up going to these outlets but since it's become so huge and crowded and parking is a pain I don't go that often any more.

 

[jrsharp21]

Looks like we are making the drive. Hotel is booked! Giants baseball and Disneyland, gonna be a great Spring Break.

Now we are trying to decide if we do park hoppers or not. I am leaning towards hoppers as I think the kiddos will want to go over to DCA for a few hours and get on the big rides.

 

[Saimaeve]

Good to know! I'll be doing the drive next month. I live in Glendale so hopefully can miss some of the Phoenix traffic as we're not able to leave until 2-3pm on a Thursday.

 

[azdisneylover]

We are headed to the Phoenix area for Spring Break to watch Spring Training. When looking at maps I got an idea to check out how far Anaheim was from Phoenix. 5.5 hour to 6 hour drive, hmmmm. I suggested to the family that maybe after the last game we have tickets for on Wednesday (1:15pm game start) that we load up the car and drive to Anaheim, grab a hotel there, go to DL on Thursday, and then drive back to Phoenix on Friday to catch our evening flight. It looks like this is going to be decision made on a whim while we are there in Phoenix.

How is the drive from Phoenix to Anaheim? I am guessing we may hit traffic getting out of the Phoenix area since it will be around the time everyone is headed home. But if we get over the California boarder around 7:30-8pm, is there any bad traffic spots on I-10 to worry about?

What

The drive is boring...sahuaro, sahuaro, sahuaro, sahuaro...hey, there is a Joshua tree, we are in CA. Seriously, the drive is fine. What is the last game you are going to see? If you're planning to leave from the stadium, which game are you going to? What ballpark? You can get on the loop 101 and then onto the 303 to bypass some of the west side traffic.