Road Trip - Washington To Disneyland

[DisneyloverinWA]

We are planning to take a road trip on December 2nd from Southwest Washington to California with a 2 year old and two 12 year olds. We are thinking about driving straight through on Saturday, December 2. Has anybody else ever made this trip? How long did it take you? Were the kids ready to go insane from the long trip? We have an SUV and a lot of patience....just curious if we are insane.

DisneyloverinWA

 

[mmmears]

If I remember correctly, it's about 11-12 hours from Portland (I'm not sure where you are in S. Washington) to the San Francisco area. It's about 6-7 hours from there to DL. If you stay on Hwy 5 and dont get off, it should be faster. There is an exit for DL right off of 5, from there it takes a few minutes to DL. But be aware that about an hour outside of DL you can hit some pretty bad traffic (even on weekend mornings). Good luck!

 

[darph nader]

I agree with mmmears. My brother and I drove from Seattle to D/L 30 some odd years ago,and it took us 2 days.Of course the driving rain in Ore. did'nt help (nothing like going down I-5 at 15mph). That and a 5 car pileup on some bridge near Portland.

 

[mAlien13]

Hi DisneyloverinWA!

My husband and I have always taken our kids everywhere, car, plane, train, you name it. We drove to DLR this last April with our two boys. We left Vancouver, WA at midnight, drove straight until we reached Buttonwillow at about 3:00-4:00pm, then stopped for the night. We woke up early and drove break-neck to Disney..we arrived to the park shortly after opening. So, altogether if you go the I-5 corridor, it's around 16 hours, taking quick bathroom breaks when we stopped for gas. With a 2-year old, you'd probably add a couple extra hours worth of breaks. And if you guys can trade drivers, you could, imo, drive straight through to Anaheim, if you weren't planning on going into the park till the day after anyway. The problem is you'd have to leave in the middle of the night and get there in the middle of the night. I know when I was on the boards planning my las trip, most people stopped about half way (Redmond).

We are actually going again in December ourselves. We are going to travel along the Oregon and California coast this time, take the kids through San Fran and mainly to avoid any nasty weather through Grants Pass and through the mountains when you first get into California. This trip takes a little longer, so we are taking an extra day and will stop in San Fran for an overnight.

I hope your planning goes well and your trip is amazing!

 

[DisneyloverinWA]

Thank you all for the advice. We are talking about either leaving at 4am and driving all the way to Anaheim on Saturday the 2nd or leaving Friday night and going to Redmond or Eureka, stopping for the night and then going the rest of the way into Anaheim.

I love traveling with the kids. Last year we did a two week trip to South Dakota, but we had a lot more time to "take our time". That was a challenge with a little baby, but we did it!

I can't wait for Disneyland! Have fun on your trip.

 

[MrsMork]

We do an annual trek with grandkids. Mapquest says like 15 hours from Portland to LA. We usually take 2 days for the trip. We drive from Portland to Lodi, just south of Sacramento. Then we have a fairly easy drive the second day - about 6 hours - and can time our entry into LA around the traffic. We have a wonderful book called "The Next Exit", you can find it online, that lists everything (gas, food, pharmacies, auto parts stores, hospitals, etc) at every exit on every interstate highway in the country. We use this book to plan our stops. With children we do not like to eat at restaurants where they have to do still more sitting. We go thru a drive-thru at an exit just prior to a reststop and then stop at the reststop to eat. That way the children can run and play on the grass abit before we get back in the car. Knowing there is a reststop just 15 miles down the road is often helpful for bathroom breaks also.

 

[CrystalCastle]

Before we moved to Southern California, we lived in Lynnwood, WA (north of Seattle). Every August we drove down to Disneyland with our kids. The first time the boys were 1 1/2 and 3 years old. We did the drive in two days. We stopped in Red Bluff on the way down and back for the night. It was about two 12 hour days of driving (including the necessary stops you make for young children). Very doable and very fun! I hope you and your family have a wonderful time!

 

[blackjackdelta]

We are in the park for the next few days. It took us 20 hours with traffic. The Bay bridge over lake Shasta is under repair and down to 1 lane from 3. Traffic backed up for miles. Other than LA traffic, a real good drive.

Jack

 

[Captjackson]

We did the trip last February. It's almost exactly 1000 miles from our SE Portland suburb to DL. I thought we should make the trip in 1 day, but was voted down. I'd be more concerned about weather through the passes in S. OR. (BTW, DW would say "YES", you are insane. ) Have fun!

Vic

 

[Diva of Dragons]

DH and I just drove from Seattle to Orange County in June. There was an emergency at home and we had to drive straight through. It took 19 hours and I honestly don't recommend it!! We are commando road trippers but it was just a little too much!

 

[flipturngirl]

We drove straight through from portland to anaheim once. We will never do it again. 19 hours was a long wait. lol I would stay on I-5 and allow a day or so because you will be tired also....... Ask Mary Jo for places to stay along I-5 that might be good or she can help you. lol

 

[4girlsmom]

With children we do not like to eat at restaurants where they have to do still more sitting. We go thru a drive-thru at an exit just prior to a reststop and then stop at the reststop to eat. That way the children can run and play on the grass abit before we get back in the car.

What a great idea! We always pack a picnic for the way down and eat it at a rest area, but on the way home we end up stopping at a restaurant. Drive-thru makes good sense. Thanks for posting this.

 

[DisneyloverinWA]

Vic

It's the opposite in my house! DH thinks I am insane and he wants to leave a day early and stay in Grants Pass or Medford. Thank you for the response!

DisneyLoverinWA

 

[Snow Brite]

I made the drive from Portland to a Anaheim 2 weeks ago in one day. I left Portland at 7am and got to Anaheim at 11pm. I drove straight through with three potty breaks. Its possible, but I was alone, no kids, and I am not sure it would be much fun with the kids. Two days would be a better plan.

 

[drcorey]

geez, and I thought the trip to DL from Las Vegas was hard.

 

[SandiH]

We drove from Centralia to Anaheim over 20 years ago straight through and it was about 21 hours. We left at 1:00 p.m. and arrived about 9:00 a.m. Remember that in Dec. you may need to deal with snow driving over the Siskyous.

We've driven from Missouri to the Florida Georgia boarder (on the way to WDW) and drove about 19 hours straight before stopping. We had young kids at the time and although it was a great fun trip - it was also very long!

I would recommend planning on two days - if you get going and are pumped - you can always go farther or the whole way the first day.

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We're from the Seattle area and did this drive this past March. We drove straight through on the way down. We left at 10am and arrived the following morning at 8:30. We only stopped to eat(fast food) and gas up. We hit LA morning rush hour. On the way home, we spent the night in Redding, CA. That was roughly the half way point for us.

We originally wanted to do this drive in early January since we were able to get the DLH for $99 a night. But we ended up canceling due to recommendations that the Oregon-California border pass gets some serious snow and unsafe driving conditions. Even when we went in last March, we were constantly watching the weather reports to see if it would snow in the passes. Luckily the snow wasn't going to hit for another day. So be careful.

We're actually in Utah visting family right now, but we'll be on our way to DL in 2 days. Yeah !!!! Yes, we're driving again. We have a dvd in our car and they have their nintendo ds's and workbooks to keep them busy. We drove straight through from Kirkland, Wa - Salt Lake City, UT. We'll drive to Las Vegas on Saturday morning, spend the night and drive into Anaheim Sunday morning. We drive back the following Sunday and will probably spend teh night in Redding again on the way home.

 

[DisneyloverinWA]

I made the drive from Portland to a Anaheim 2 weeks ago in one day. I left Portland at 7am and got to Anaheim at 11pm. I drove straight through with three potty breaks. Its possible, but I was alone, no kids, and I am not sure it would be much fun with the kids. Two days would be a better plan.

This is great confirmation to me. I told my DH that if we left at 4am we could go straight through and probably get in around 8pm. I will probably conceded to my DH and leave the day before, drive for 5 or 6 hours, stay over night and make the Saturday trip not as horrible. Packing a picnic and eating at a rest area is definitely a great idea.

Thank you to all for your great advice and tips!

DisneyLoverinWA