Please help with obsessive planning and driving times from Sacramento:)

[adventuregirl]

Thank you to the boards for the help already provided. We have picked a hotel across the street, got our MHP tickets and are getting excited to go! However, I am having trouble planning around the MHP hours.

We are a party of four - myself, my Mum, my Aunt and DD14. We will be going from Oct 27-31 (though we will not go to the park on the 31st). We are driving down from Sacramento on the 27th and plan to be at the park by 3pm, as we have tickets to MHP that evening. We will have 3 day park hoppers with one MM for the remaining days.

My original plan:
- Tuesday MM at DL. We tend to go full on with rides, stopping only for a brief snack until about 1:30pm. CO for late lunch. No firm plans after that.
- Wednesday - DCA (even though we do not have an early entry, I imagine it will not be too crowded midweek in the morning). Carthay Circle for WoC lunch.
- Thursday - whatever we wanted to repeat or catch up at either park

I realized that MHP will be on that Wednesday, which could mean WoC could be super busy that night. We will be at DCA regardless as we do not have tickets to MHP that night, but perhaps I should shift WoC to Thursday? It seems trivial, but I have never seen WoC and would really like to actually SEE it without waiting for 2 hours. Are the crowds really bad in October?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also, for those that drive down from the Sacramento area, would leaving at 6:30am on a Monday be adequate to get us to Anaheim by 3pm?

TIA

 

[Itinkso]

That should be plenty of time. Are you taking the 5 or the 99?

Either way, you'll have time for a couple of stops. Before you reach the Magic Mountain area, check Google Traffic Maps to see if the 5 is flowing. If it's red and stopped, you may want to take the 210 East to the 57 South and then get off on the Katella exit.

We travel from the Central Valley to San Diego quite often and will take the 210 if the 5 is looking backed up near Valencia. After driving that far from Sacramento, you don't want to spend your last two hours or so, sitting on the 5.

 

[figment_jii]

Also, for those that drive down from the Sacramento area, would leaving at 6:30am on a Monday be adequate to get us to Anaheim by 3pm?

It takes about seven hours to get from Sacramento to Disneyland without any major travel delays (using I5). I would generally think that if you left at 6:30 am, you should be able to get to DLR by 3:00 pm. You should get to LA before the traffic gets to bad and you should be leaving the Sacramento area before any traffic occurs there. If you have a smartphone or something that can connect to the internet while on the road, I would check LA traffic when you get to the Grapevine to see if I5 is clear or if you need to look into an alternate route.

In terms of WoC, you're planning on getting the dining package, so that should help with the crowds. You might hop over to HydroGuy's WoC SuperThread to see if folks there have more advice/info about how far in advance one should arrive with the dining package viewing.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2542717

 

[SMD]

I might reconsider using your MM on Tuesday after a 6:30 am departure and being up past midnight at the party. You could start in DCA Tuesday morning after the extra hour of sleep, then hop to DL later. Then use the MM on Thursday.

 

[larina]

I might reconsider using your MM on Tuesday after a 6:30 am departure and being up past midnight at the party. You could start in DCA Tuesday morning after the extra hour of sleep, then hop to DL later. Then use the MM on Thursday.

This is what I was going to recommend.

And I'm also.in Sac. You should be there in plenty of time!

 

[tarheelalum]

Are the crowds really bad in October? YES

 

[adventuregirl]

Thanks all! It may be best to use the MM for Thursday and WoC on a non MHP night (Tues or Thurs).

I'm not sure which highway we will end up taking, but I like the idea of checking traffic on the way. I usually get a temporary data plan when we head to the US, so my smart phone should work fine.

It will be here before we know it

 

[adventuregirl]

I think it will depend on the park opening hours, however. If DL opening time is 10am, MM would be 9am and that is pretty late I have previously only gone in summer, so we were up at 6am to make a 7am MM.

 

[Ride Junkie]

Another Sacramentan here. It typically takes us about 7 hours with 2 stops on the way down. We take I-5 instead of 99. Depending on traffic in L.A., we sometimes take 210 to 57 (but sometimes that traffic can be just as bad). I recommend using a traffic app such as Waze to show you where the traffic hot spots are. That helps us in choosing which way to go.

 

[MomToOne]

Another Sacramentan. We are in DLR right now, having driven down Monday afternoon. We left a little before 1pm, took 99 to 4 to 5 to 210 to 57. The 99 to 4 part was a mistake -should have taken I5 that whole first part -there was construction on 99 near Stockton, and the 4 to I5 interchange was backed up for no good reason so we lost some time due to all that. The rest of it was a breeze. We arrived about 8:15pm, but we stopped at every rest stop on I5 for a 5 minute stretch break, and a quick dinner break at one of them. We cruised at a comfortable 75ish most of the way.

This was our first time taking the 210 to 57 route instead of I5 the whole way, after receiving advice from this board. It was brilliant

 

[larina]

Another Sacramentan. We are in DLR right now, having driven down Monday afternoon. We left a little before 1pm, took 99 to 4 to 5 to 210 to 57. The 99 to 4 part was a mistake -should have taken I5 that whole first part -there was construction on 99 near Stockton, and the 4 to I5 interchange was backed up for no good reason so we lost some time due to all that. The rest of it was a breeze. We arrived about 8:15pm, but we stopped at every rest stop on I5 for a 5 minute stretch break, and a quick dinner break at one of them. We cruised at a comfortable 75ish most of the way.

This was our first time taking the 210 to 57 route instead of I5 the whole way, after receiving advice from this board. It was brilliant

Can I ask why you took 99 instead of 5? I've heard others talk about this and I'm always curious as to why. We leave middle of the night thursday/Friday and I'm wondering if we should consider 99.

Thanks for the help!

 

[bcla]

Just for the OP - note the location of Harris Ranch, and set your vehicles A/C to recirculate before you get there.

As for the meeting the schedule, you'll never know what kind of road delays there might be. If there's an accident, then you could easily end up taking an hour (or more) longer.

 

[roflclaw]

We come from about 30 minutes south of Sac and leave between 6 and 6:30am and are in the park by 2pm. We usually only stop once for breakfast and then right before the Grapevine to get gas and use the restrooms. The longest part is once we're in the LA area and I KNOW we're so close but it still takes 30-60 minutes to get to our hotel. Especially once we hit the citadel outlets on the left lol

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

We take 99 because 5 is beyond long and boring, at least there is a little (really little) visual interest going down 99. The 5 always feels more painful.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Another from Sac here. We usually drive and always take 5. I would not take 99, but that's just my opinion.

I also suggest stopping at Lost Hills for a gas fill up. That's usually the cheapest (from what we have seen) and there are lots of food choices there as well.

 

[bcla]

Another from Sac here. We usually drive and always take 5. I would not take 99, but that's just my opinion.

I also suggest stopping at Lost Hills for a gas fill up. That's usually the cheapest (from what we have seen) and there are lots of food choices there as well.

There's a huge disparity in gas prices there. Gasbuddy is your friend.

http://www.californiagasprices.com/Lost Hills/index.aspx

For the OP, Arco is cash or debit only. The last few times we drove down there we stopped at the Valero station and got the 99 cent Icee along with hot dogs.

Yeah - I don't get taking 99. However, the OP never said exactly where in the Sac area. That could be anywhere from Roseville to Folsom, or West Sac to Elk Grove. Since Elk Grove is on 99, it makes sense to start there and cross over on 4 to meet up with 5. It might even make sense if you're near 50 east of where it meets up with 99.

 

[mvf-m11c]

I mostly take 99 over 5 every time we go down and back home since I have reasons to go on 99. For 99, I am so used to going down 99 that it is nice to go that way instead of 5. 99 can be annoying wiht all those 5 can be faster over 99 since it is open. But 99 have a lot of different towns to stop on the way (Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield). There is road construction going on 99 where it can slow down the drive.

 

[Peace.love.mickey]

We come from about 30 minutes south of Sac and leave between 6 and 6:30am and are in the park by 2pm. We usually only stop once for breakfast and then right before the Grapevine to get gas and use the restrooms. The longest part is once we're in the LA area and I KNOW we're so close but it still takes 30-60 minutes to get to our hotel. Especially once we hit the citadel outlets on the left lol

Seriously!!!!!!!

When I leave at 6 on a weekday, we usually are there no later than 1! I hate stopping though... Try to do 1 super quick 1!

 

[brocklesnar69]

When I come from Sac, I leave around 400am and take I5 all the way down at 75mph. I usually get to Anaheim before 11am or right around there.

 

[crystal1313]

We take the 5 and like to stop in Kettleman city to gas up, get a starbucks and grab In N Out, or in Button Willow to get gas and Starbucks. DH likes to only stop once. I agree, I always feel like we are almost there after the grapevine, and it still takes so long, especially with LA traffic!