Phoenix to DLR

[DLfan4]

What is the drive like from Phoenix to DLR using the Highway I-10 ?

any hints and tips would be great. tia

 

[superlarz]

There is a lot of desert and some mountains. There are a few points where there are long strecthes of road with no where to stop and use facilities. I would recommend fueling before you leave Arizona, gas in the middle of the desert can get a lot more expensive. The drive is easy, there is not usually a ton of traffic until you get close to Riverside, depending on the day and time. If during the day the scenery is nice, if at night it is really boring.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

The first hour getting out of Phoenix can be congested depending on time of day. The next 2-3 hours are easy going, lots of trucks, etc. We usually stop overnight in Palm Desert/Palm Springs. Nice outlet shopping near there. The next 2-3 hours into California is no problem, try to hit Orange County in a non-high traffic time of day.....

 

[mich311e]

We live in Phoenix and always drive to Disneyland. I print a google map before we go because I can never remember the exits. We usually plan our trips so we leave morning-ish, probably about 8 or 9, and then go straight to a beach like Huntington Beach. Then we check in to our hotel in the afternoon/evening and do Disneyland the next day.

Our biggest issue is we are never in a hurry to leave Disneyland and end up staying until 2 or 3 pm. Then we're stuck in rush hour getting out of town.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

What is the drive like from Phoenix to DLR using the Highway I-10 ?

any hints and tips would be great. tia

It's an ugly, desert drive---seriously, some of the ugliest landscape you'll ever come across!

We endure it because of the prize at the end of the drive!

It takes us about 5 hours with no traffic snarls--avoid rush hour traffic if you can. We've left from Mesa before, around 6:00am and got through Phoenix pretty quickly. If you have to leave later than that, I'd wait until around 9:00am(just my opinion).

It gets pretty windy as you approach Palm Springs, just be aware and ready for dust storms.

We like to take the 60(Moreno Valley Freeway), after you hit Banning and Beaumont, just because it's prettier, and we find it a bit less trafficky.

If you choose to do that, the 60 spits you onto the 91 after about 22 miles, and you stay on the 91 for about 33 miles, then take exit 31 onto 57south. You can exit right onto Katella(exit 2) and be about two miles from Disneyland Drive.

It sounds more complicated than it really is, and this is the fastest way we've found, to get there.

You can, of course, stay on I-10(straight shot) and come south on the 57 to Anaheim(we've done that, but it's not our favorite), it just depends on which drive you might like personally!

 

[kuusimo]

Stop in Quartzsite to fill up with gas before crossing the AZ/CA border. We can make it in our van to Disneyland and back to Quartzsite on one tank if we are not driving around a lot while in California.

 

[sunflare]

Stop in Quartzsite to fill up with gas before crossing the AZ/CA border. We can make it in our van to Disneyland and back to Quartzsite on one tank if we are not driving around a lot while in California.

THIS^^^^ I prefer stopping at the exit right before the last AZ exit. Prices are slightly cheaper than before the border and the prices in CA are insanely high comparatively.

 

[I<3MyGoldMiner]

Pretty much all the rest stops are closed going i10 east from palm springs to quartzite. They're open on the I10 west side tho.

 

[nannyz]

We have done the drive from Tucson to DLR many times in the past 30 years.

Once you get past Palm Springs, it starts getting hectic.

These days, I would never do the drive without my TomTom because it tells me what lane to be in, etc.

People drive like idiots and show no mercy.

I am petrified of that part of the drive and usually hunker down in the back seat and do not look up until we pull into the HoJo lot.

 

[whoever]

We do it. Generally in 5 hours time provided the Phx or LA traffic isn't horrid. The drive is pretty boring, just a straight road going through the desert forever.

 

[cagirl4life]

Live in Phoenix and our family lives orange so we do this drive a lot! Quartzite is one of the better places as the bathrooms are pretty clean. When you cross the river at the boarder get in the fast lane because the trucks have to stop and the line sometimes gets long. Lately they haven't had anyone at that boarder check. Make sure you either leave early or late so you hit California not during rush hour as the 91 can become a parking lot. When you get on the 91 from the 60 get ready to get over 3 lanes immediately because the 2 right lanes disappear. Hadley's in Palm spring area by the outlets have a nice assortment of food and we get Disney snacks when we go. The drive is fairly un eventful and boring. I just suggest not stopping for bathroom breaks at the rest stops in California as they are never clean.

 

[Meriweather]

audio books!! Life saver for me!
It is hours of pretty boring stuff.

 

[DLfan4]

thank you for all the hints and tips.
thanks for letting me know that between Phoenix and DLR the best place to stop for gas is Quartzite. I will mark mark that on the map.

 

[whoever]

Stop in Quartzsite to fill up with gas before crossing the AZ/CA border. We can make it in our van to Disneyland and back to Quartzsite on one tank if we are not driving around a lot while in California.

We were able to do that on one trip, but not this past trip for whatever reason (I swear those valets were hotrodding my vehicle around Anaheim). The fuel is significantly cheaper in AZ to boot.

 

[KeKy4]

We usually stop in Blythe on the way there, pick up some food, use the bathroom and then it's desert road for a LONG time!
On the way home, we usually stop in Quartzsite. You'll see signs about beef jerky, it is yummy! Here's the site http://www.reallygoodfreshjerky.com/

Google maps will tell you to get off the 60 onto the 91, but we have friends that go frequently and say the traffic is much better if you stay on the 60 until the 57. We're going to try it on our next trip!

 

[aliceindisneyland]

Do get gas in Quartzite (or at least AZ)! I was looking on gasbuddy yesterday and Quartzite gas was the same price as it is in my north Phoenix town, but $0.40 more per gallon in Indio [CA].

 

[MotoWifey185]

I agree with the other posters here, the drive is a long boring drive through the desert, but it is way better than having a bunch of exits and interstates to worry about like it could coming from No Cal! I believe Texico is the last gas station in AZ before the border. Dh and I always stop at that one and usually can make it back to that same one on the way back. If we can't we fill up in Cali just enough to make it there. We have a few fun landmarks along the way we watch out for... keep your eyes peeled for the huge dinosaurs. Haha

 

[VandVsmama]

We have made the drive west from Arizona many times. Quartzsite is a funny little town. Most of the year, there is hardly anyone there and the place looks like a couple of gas stations and a McDonald's. During the winter, it becomes mobbed with snow birds who winter in Quartzsite in their campers & RVs. It's kind of amazing really. There is a used bookstore in there that I think is operated by a nudist guy who wears a loincloth, so you might want to skip that establishment. There was a PBS TV show here in Tucson a few months ago in which they featured the town and the show's host spent a good 5 minutes of the show talking with the guy. It was...unique.

It IS a pretty boring drive. But trust me... it is more interesting of a drive than I-8 westbound from Arizona to San Diego! I second the suggestions to gas up in Arizona on your way west. It can save you $0.40-$0.60/gallon! Once you cross the AZ-CA border into CA, the gas prices go up because of CA's higher fuel taxes.

I-10 right around Palm Springs is INCREDIBLY windy! That's probably why they have those huge windmills in the area. For most of the AZ side from Phoenix to the CA border, the speed limit is 75 mph, I think (once you get on the open road outside of Phoenix, that is).

 

[nannyz]

If you hit Indio at lunch time, there is a great little restaurant there called Andy's at 83-699 Indio Blvd. We stop there whenever we can. It's just a little hole in the wall and the food cops would hate it -- just good comfort food. We were there in 2012 and got four 1/4 lb burgers, 4 fries, and 4 drinks for $17.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

by a nudist guy who wears a loincloth,

OMG! I totally saw this guy walking down the road the last time we passed through on the way to Havasu!.....too funny! His skin was brown and looked like leather lol