Timeline questions for locals

disney minnie

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
We are staying near the intersection of Melrose and N La Brea Ave (we are renting a vrbo and they don’t give the exact address until a few days before check in) We will be leaving our Vrbo Tuesday, May 28th (the day after Memorial Day) and traveling to the Grand Californian. This is our first trip to California so I’m just going on the nightmare stories I’ve heard about traffic.

Is it better for us to leave early in the morning around 7:00 or wait until 9:00? I know our room won’t be ready but I would like to arrive around 10:00 since we have a tour at 12:00 and I don’t want to be rushed.

Also, we leave from LAX at 1:00 on Saturday. We are going to take Uber. What time do we need to leave the Grand Californian? We are traveling domestically.

Thank you for your help.
 
If you leave at 7 you will be driving in the middle of rush hour commuter traffic. That will probably add 30-45minutes to the drive. 9 is the tail end but you will still hit traffic. At the absolute worst, that drive will take around 2 hours.
Arrive 1.5-2 hours before your flight and give yourself 1.5 hours travel time on Saturday. That would give you a little cushion.
 
Is it better for us to leave early in the morning around 7:00 or wait until 9:00? I know our room won’t be ready but I would like to arrive around 10:00 since we have a tour at 12:00 and I don’t want to be rushed.
Traffic is about at its peak around 7:00. When I go to the park on weekdays and it opens at 9:00, I try to be on the road slightly before 6:00. It’s what I call “getting under the traffic.” For me, I’d rather skip traffic and arrive at the park early than suffer LA’s gridlock.

Also, we leave from LAX at 1:00 on Saturday. We are going to take Uber. What time do we need to leave the Grand Californian? We are traveling domestically.
To be on the safe side, I’d leave no later than 10:45. Traffic is lighter on Saturdays than it is on weekdays but better safe than sorry.[/QUOTE]
 
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The park actually opens at 7:00 so I wouldn’t mind getting there early. So if we left st 6:00 would it be about an hour drive?
 


You can check in earlier (before the park opens), leave the luggage in the car or with guest services and utilize extra morning hours at the parks
 
you can use Google maps. if you enter in departure or arrival times it will give you typical travel times.

if you can, use a GPS with traffic information. frequently if there is a tie-up there will still be a route that will get you where you want to go in a reasonable amount of time.
 

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