Tips for driving from Seattle to DL?

[chrissiecutie]

GASP! I cannot believe you just said that! That's a disgrace to all things Disney!! Walt would be so ashamed.

Bwhahahaha, I am totally kidding!

I get the rental car thing, that can be pricey if you want to go to lots of other places for sure! We have family we visit in Cali sometimes, so yea, having your vehicle can be handy! Thanks for the tips on the melatonin, that's interesting, I will have to look into that!

I know!! I'm almost in disbelief myself!!

But alas...DH is not a huge Disney fan so I must make our trips more then just the Mouse. But if I had my way....

 

[joihan777]

We live in Elk Grove, CA... the city just south of Sacramento. If you are more interested in DL time & less sightseeing... Hwy5 straight through is perfect. Our city has a few SAFE hotels (but are pretty boring). Sacramento has many expensive safe ones and MANY rattraps used by the homeless etc... I'd be REAL careful. Stockton has lots of crime.

If you pop over to the coast via San Francisco, morning traffic from Hwy 5 to San Fran is tough, but not too bad if you use the car pool lanes. Use Richmond bridge to get to 101 then head south through Golden Gate Bridge. Stop @ Marin Headlands (the last exit before GGB) for wonderful scenery... especially the little drive up the hill on the west side of freeway. Best 15 minutes!

Be cautioned... Hwy 101 (or Hwy 1) are both VERY twisty (& congested)... so your main factor here is TIME. 101 goes along the [completely] urban San Fran peninsula, and THEN through San Jose/ Silicon Valley. Monterey is further down Hwy 1 but again, the traffic is usually thick... so time becomes important.

Hwy 5 is definitely faster... and much more boring... may be worth it to have some type of movie viewing, games etc.

Also, "Gas Buddy" for android works well for to find best prices on fuel.

 

[kylie71]

I live in Reno, and we have spent the night numerous times on the way down, although it's only 10ish hours from here, depending on how late we leave.
We are pretty familar with Sacramento, and prefer the Courtyard Inn at Notamas, right near the Sacramento river. Nice place to stretch the legs.

Have also stayed on I-5, in Santa Nella at the Pea Soup Best Western, nice clean rooms, not fancy.

Have fun, we all have the memories of long road trips to DLR, but I think it's half the fun!! Make some magical memories...

Lori

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

I know!! I'm almost in disbelief myself!!

But alas...DH is not a huge Disney fan so I must make our trips more then just the Mouse. But if I had my way....

LOL, oh believe me, MY Dh is EXACTLY the same. He will humor my Disney obsession cuz he loves me so much, but it's not his cup-o-tea...heck, just this morning he said rides like Ariel and the old classic dark rides are stupid because there is no thrill. He said "What is the point?" I tried to explain that it's about getting to experience the story and he was like "Isn't that what books and movies are for?" sigh. Yea, he doesn't get it at all. Oh well. So, to make sure to do things that make HIM happy too, this time we are doing Universal, Knotts Scary Farm Halloween and Magic Mountain too. I think I just might actually die on some of those roller coasters...but a deal is a deal! He's taking me to my most happy place and so I promised to ride the roller coasters of death with him ....if I'm not back on here with a trip report the second week of October...well you will know what happened to me. giggle.

 

[Stitch35]

We are driving from Olympia down to Disneyland this fall with DS6 and DS4. We are taking our time this time. We have driven strait through before, leaving just before bed time for the boys. This resulted in starting our vacation tired and never really getting rested up (let's face it, we don't really want to miss anything while we are at Disneyland, so no naps for us adults at least!). This time we are driving in the morning down to Crescent City and camping in a cabin for 2 nights while enjoying the redwoods, then driving down to Santa Cruz for 2 nights and then making our way to Disneyland. This should make sure we are relaxed and rested and ready to enjoy our 8 days at DLR. On the way back we will take I-5 with a stop half way.

 

[blackjackdelta]

We drive down every year from the Tri-Cities, no one want to go further than Redding, Ca we stay at the BW Hilltop Inn, do the hot breakfast at 0600 and then on to Anaheim. We are usually there by 1500 all depends on how the traffic is outside Buttonwillow and over the grapevine into LA.
An easy drive, I am the only one who drives though.

Jack

 

[TheZue]

We drive down from BC and have done the scenic route and the quick route. I love crossing over to the 101 at Grants Pass and going through Napa. Although the kids didn't want to stop and do anything on the way down so I think next time we'll save scenic for the way back.

When we go straight down the five we stop in Medford or grants pass. I usually am the morning driver and love my super early drive past all the lakes near the border. We usually get into Anaheim around dinner.

 

[smiley_face2]

In the last more than 20 years, we have flown twice and driven too many times to count! lol... we flew when our kids were really little, like 3, 7 and 9, then after that drove untill last December when we flew again with 2 of our grand kids aged 6 and 8. Our son drove with his young family ages 1, 3 and 5 on what was hoped to be the first of many family trips, but that was not meant to be Thus we took his 2 oldest girls this past christmas flying and will take the other 2 next year when they are a bit older also flying. Our son's widow, is not able to go back to DL yet, they had their honeymoon there Flying sure has changed a lot.... anyway, we have done the drive till you drop maybe 3 times. When we were younger and could stay awake longer the last time we tried it we were both dangerously tired even with a nap in a pull out and I refused to ever ever do it again. We took our kids on an awesome trip when they were younger, down the coast and through the redwoods and san francisco etc. took several days to do it, then drove back up the I5 in 2 days. Redding is a usual stop when we are doing that route. What I really love is what we have done and are doing again starting on monday morning.... we drive down to Lacey WA and stop at Cabela's and the mega Walmart for road supplies and spend the night. Just getting from where we live to the border is a 3 hour trip, then another 3 hours to Lacey so that is a day in itself. I can't believe we used to leave the house at 5:30 am and drive through to Redding! anyway from Lacey we stay on the I5 then take 199 to the coast, and make it to Eureka with a quick stop to see Paul Bunyan. Eureka is a very cool historical town and we like the Sea Grill restaurant. from there the next day it's an easy drive to San francisco with time to drive the Avenue of the Giants, and even another old historical town called Ferney. Then we like to and are, staying about 3 days in San Francisco. After that it's on through Monterey, and into Carmel for a stay. LOVE Carmel!! hubby and I plan on going back down there this fall, to stay for a week or so. that will be a non Disney trip shocking I know. anyway from there its down along the coast through Big Sur, onto Cambria and a stay overnight to see the Hearst Castle. In Cambria there is a highway that cuts through to the I5 which we will be taking this time so we can arrive at Disneyland by about 1 pm. Last summer we continued on down the coast along the 1 through all the other places like Santa Barbara, Long Beach, Malibu etc. then went up the 55 to the 5 which is right beside the DL area. So yes, lot's of different ways to skin the same cat. We are not choosing to drive with our grand daughters just because we are not really strong enough to cope with them on a several day roadtrip, with them it's get there in 2 and a half hours, have fun for a week, then get the heck home This trip we are also taking our daughter and her going on 3 son. her partner is staying home to work. We are also stopping on the way back in Gilroy for the garlic festival and Sacramento for a couple of days, cause it looks so cool there!! then a stop near Eugene and then home. Honestly, if we can't take several days to drive leisurely there and back, then I just want to fly. time and circumstance have taken their toll I'm afraid!

 

[Spassvogel]

We have done the drive from Portland to DL many times. We usually take two days. We could do it in one swift drive with two adults but I feel like we are safer drivers if we stop and get some sleep, a shower and some food in us.

We live 25miles SW of Portland and our usual pattern is:

Leave in the morning (hopefully by 8:30am or 9am)
Lunch at the IN n Out in Redding.
Stopover in Corning or Willows (cheap hotels with nice pools).
Drive the rest of the way to Anaheim and check in. Have dinner, swim the pool.
Wake up the next morning and do the park all day.

We usually drive home in one long stretch though. We'll wake up and I'll drive until we're out of the LA area then we'll switch and my wife will drive while I doze, then we'll switch off one more time when she's tired and drive the rest of the way.