Planning a Griswold-style car trip to Disneyland

[MaxSkywalker]

We've never been to Disneyland, but we did WDW in 2019 and the kids loved it. I have family in LA, so we want to drive out and make a big trip out of it, and see the western part of the US we've never seen before. Kids are 13,10, 7. So this is my tentative agenda:

Day 1 - Drive Kansas City to Breckenridge, CO (10 hours)
Day 2 - Spend day in Colorado
Day 3 - Drive to Bryce Canyon, UT (7.5 hours)
Day 4-5 - Spent day in Utah
Day 6 - Drive to Anaheim (8 hours)
Day 7 - Relax, beach, visit family (Angels game?)
Day 8 - Disneyland
Day 9 - DCA
Day 10 - Universal
Day 11 - Drive to Grand Canyon (9 hours)
Day 12 - Spend day at Grand Canyon
Day 13 - Drive to Denver (11 hours)
Day 14 - Drive back to Kansas City (8.5 hours)

Kids are pretty good travelers, we drove to Outer Banks, NC last year in two days and they did fine. General thoughts? Is this too ambitious? Any tips for Utah or Arizona?

 

[MICKIMINI]

Day 12 is way too short. I'd give up anything on your list to spend another day at this amazing National Park! Get your reservation for accommodations at GCNP asap. El Tovar is the classic vintage hotel, but the Kachina and Thunderbird are right next door and much less expensive. Make sure you bring food.

We've driven a motor home from NH across I90 to Yellowstone, over to Idaho and then down including both the south and north side of the Grand Canyon. These drives from place to place are long and tedious and you seem to have a packed agenda without a moment to breath...

If you are AAA members, order a large US map. Let your kids examine it closely and they can make lists of potential stops along the way. It's a good way for kids to learn about maps and plan out a trip. Our son was the "navigator" at 11 on this particular trip. At 33 he is a seasoned road warrior!

The fun part of a family road trip is to stop at places that look interesting along the route, treat everyone to an ice cream or dip your toes into a stream at a park. I'd suggest you either increase your trip by a week or modify it or IMO you will miss so many of the wonderful places along the way! Happy trails!

 

[StageTek]

Looks great to me.

One day pretty much anywhere is going to seem too short.
One day at Disneyland - too short.
One day at DCA - too short.
One day at Universal - well that's fine...

My only suggestion is to reverse the order of the parks; Universal > DCA > Disneyland. It's pretty ambitious, no doubt, but very doable.

 

[MaxSkywalker]

Ooh, I like the idea of a big map!

I wish we had more time to devote to each stop, I know one day is not enough, but hopefully this will give the kids a taste and we can come out again next year. I think we wanted to hit Disneyland first because - (a) let's do the more fun stuff first! and (b) we wanted to hit Disneyland/DCA on Monday/Tuesday when hopefully its not as crowded as later in the week.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Is there a way you can add in another rest day? Maybe 2 days at the Grand Canyon? Or is the drive there going to be shared that will allow some resting time.

DL is usually less crowded on Wednesday than Monday because of the weekend crowd that may add that extra day.

 

[VandVsmama]

Get park hopper tickets for Disneyland.

 

[sjmac42]

I would skip the day in Colorado so you can spend 2 days at the Grand Canyon on the way back, maybe a drive through Monument Valley with a couple of stops on the way to Denver.
I too would reverse the theme parks and do Universal first, then Disneyland/DCA.

 

[evilmommie]

I agree with the other posters about the Grand Canyon! It’s so mesmerizing. At least two days. What a wonderful trip this will be for your family!

 

[ChanaC]

Agree with the comment above Universal. Did you do it in FL? There are a lot of duplicate rides. Even if you haven't, you can get through everything fairly quickly if the park isn't too busy, and there isn't much going on at night. Have you done Los Angeles at all before? It's kind of touristy, but maybe plan on doing the evening in Hollywood and seeing Hollywood Blvd. It's one of those "you got to do it once" kind of experiences, even if it's admittedly kind of underwhelming. Even a quick drive down it is probably enough, and it's really just over the hill from Universal. Depending on the time of day and traffic you can get from Universal to Hollywood and Highland (the main intersection) in about 15 minutes.

(I have no idea when it's coming back, but whatever you do don't try doing this drive the night of a Hollywood Bowl performance. It's basically built into the hills between Universal and Hollywood and the traffic is the stuff of literal nightmares. I've had to drive home from work on this route and my half hour commute turns into an hour or more.)

Also, where are you planning on staying when visiting the parks? If you're not staying with family you might want to do a few nights in Anaheim and then stay closer to Universal that night. It can be a good hour drive between the two, and if you are planning on leaving in the morning there is no point driving back down to Anaheim just to stay in the same hotel. Universal has a good number of hotels in the area, and if you don't plan on doing anything after Universal you can still explore Citywalk.

 

[jlmarr]

If you really want to do homage to the Griswolds, you could include a visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. That was the theme park in the movie. That's about thirty miles north of Universal.

 

[Jason2015]

Looks good. Don't skip a day at Breck. Well worth the time. Bryce is a great choice and usually less busy the Arches or Zion. One day in each park should be enough as long as you don't have an expectation to get everything done. The Grand Canyon is great, make sure that you are there at sunset, it is truly breath taking. Have fun. Love adventures like these.

 

[MaxSkywalker]

Agree with the comment above Universal. Did you do it in FL? There are a lot of duplicate rides. Even if you haven't, you can get through everything fairly quickly if the park isn't too busy, and there isn't much going on at night. Have you done Los Angeles at all before? It's kind of touristy, but maybe plan on doing the evening in Hollywood and seeing Hollywood Blvd. It's one of those "you got to do it once" kind of experiences, even if it's admittedly kind of underwhelming. Even a quick drive down it is probably enough, and it's really just over the hill from Universal. Depending on the time of day and traffic you can get from Universal to Hollywood and Highland (the main intersection) in about 15 minutes.

(I have no idea when it's coming back, but whatever you do don't try doing this drive the night of a Hollywood Bowl performance. It's basically built into the hills between Universal and Hollywood and the traffic is the stuff of literal nightmares. I've had to drive home from work on this route and my half hour commute turns into an hour or more.)

Also, where are you planning on staying when visiting the parks? If you're not staying with family you might want to do a few nights in Anaheim and then stay closer to Universal that night. It can be a good hour drive between the two, and if you are planning on leaving in the morning there is no point driving back down to Anaheim just to stay in the same hotel. Universal has a good number of hotels in the area, and if you don't plan on doing anything after Universal you can still explore Citywalk.

Yea, we did it in FL, although we didn't plan it well and didn't get to do many rides there. I'm considering doing Knotts Berry instead, I think it might be a better fit for what my kids like.

We are staying within walking distance of Disneyland. Will consider spending some time in LA, I know there is one day we will probably just relax and go to the beach, maybe take in an Angels game. Thanks for the advice!

 

[kristasmom]

Be sure to keep checking the Disneyland site because it is currently only open to California residents, limited capacity and you have to pre-buy tickets and make reservations for the days you want to go. Last time I checked the first available reservations for Disneyland Park was in July.

 

[China Expat]

I've done the Grand Canyon a million times. I feel like one full day strolling the rim is plenty of time.

 

[raidermatt]

Looks great to me, though I do like the idea of taking out the Colorado day and adding Monument Valley. Monument Valley is stunning and has been used in many movies, including NL's Vacation.

Not sure if you are a big Vacation fan or just mentioned it. But somebody pointed out Magic Mountain was the park they used in the movie, which is true. Some of the rides are still there, but the big white wooden roller coaster is not, just fyi. It was replaced a few years back. I would only add Magic Mountain if you guys are big roller coaster fans, that is definitely it's focus.

Given the other places on your itinerary (Bryce, Grand Canyon), I'm not sure I would bother with Hollywood. Its fun, but definitely not the same type of vibe as a National Park. I'd try a beach, Newport and Huntington are the closest to DL.

 

[jlmarr]

If you really want to do homage to the Griswolds, you could include a visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. That was the theme park in the movie. That's about thirty miles north of Universal.

Also be sure to read director John Hughes original short story, which begins: "If Dad hadn’t shot Walt Disney in the leg, it would have been our best vacation ever! We were going to Disneyland.". Of course Disney the company didn't want any part of such a movie, so it became Wally World, with its proprietor that looked a lot like Walt.