Traffic from Universal to Carlsbad

[Satye1]

We are finishing our 4 day Disney trip by heading down to Carlsbad after spending a day at Universal Studios....on a wednesday. Maps shows 2.5 hours of course not factoring traffic. Trying to figure best time to head down? how long it will take? any times to completly avoid heading south on I-5?
We would like to spend most of day at Universal given how much tickets cost

 

[TheLanes]

If you're leaving Universal after 7pm, you'll be fine. 6pm could still have lingering traffic. Use carpools as often as you can

 

[algae]

7 PM should be fine, but the longer you wait, the better. I would have dinner at Universal before heading out for sure. The tough part is the short stretch through LA traffic until you get to Anaheim where the carpool lane starts. Once there, you can pretty much fly all the way down to Carlsbad. Last time we did that, the min speed was about 90. Anything less and you get run over by people coming up from behind!

 

[Off to Neverland 7]

I agree, the later the better. LA traffic can be a horrible experience, especially at rush hour. I would avoid leaving anytime between 7am-9am & 2:30pm-7pm. On a Thursday, I left DTLA at 2:30 and didn't get to DTSD until 7pm. It's unpredictable with LA traffic. Take your time leaving Universal and you should be fine.