Train from San Diego to Disneyland?

[JWelch62]

Probably a Friday.
I’ll tell him about traffic so hopefully we can get on the road by 10.
Thanks!

If you are travelling on a Friday you REALLY want to be through the 5/805 merge in Sorrento Valley before noon. Definitely leave by 10.

 

[DLgal]

If you are travelling on a Friday you REALLY want to be through the 5/805 merge in Sorrento Valley before noon. Definitely leave by 10.

Was gonna say exactly this.

Friday is the worst day to do this commute. Rush hour starts at noon.

 

[glocon]

I am so thankful to all of you!

 

[JWelch62]

Was gonna say exactly this.

Friday is the worst day to do this commute. Rush hour starts at noon.

Been doing this commute (Sorrento Valley to Encinitas/Carlsbad) for 34 years. It never gets better.

 

[DLgal]

Been doing this commute (Sorrento Valley to Encinitas/Carlsbad) for 34 years. It never gets better.

My husband is finally done working all the way down in SD. He is working in Oceanside now, so his commute is a "reverse" one and he is north of Carsbad, so he can do it in 40 minutes. Right now he works from home on Fridays. It's so much better.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

So, we live in Irvine and my husband just spent the last 3 years commuting to San Diego a few times a week.

If you are doing this drive on a weekday, try as hard as you can to leave BEFORE noon. If you do that, you will get to Anaheim within 2 hours.

If you leave too late, you will hit traffic snarls in several places. If you aren't past Irvine before 2pm, the last leg to Anaheim will take you a LONG time. It can be up to 45 min to just go those last 15 miles.

If this trip will be on a weekend, Saturday you will be fine. Sunday will be like a weekday.

The ideal time to do this drive is 10am.

We are usually driving home from Orange County on Sundays and northbound traffic can get pretty bad from just north of Del Mar until San O/San Clemente when it starts to loosen up. I’ve noticed it’s mostly on weekends when the weather is extra nice. I think a lot of people from the LA area travel to SD for the weekend and they all leave past noon on Sunday to go home.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Been doing this commute (Sorrento Valley to Encinitas/Carlsbad) for 34 years. It never gets better.

Sorrento Valley/UTC/UCSD area is the WORST. I was interviewed for a job in Hillcrest and was told I’d have to go to the Torrey Pines office twice a week. I declined the job offer. I spent years standing on the UCSD shuttle that ran that route and it’s miserable even if you’re not driving. Never again.

 

[JWelch62]

My husband is finally done working all the way down in SD. He is working in Oceanside now, so his commute is a "reverse" one and he is north of Carsbad, so he can do it in 40 minutes. Right now he works from home on Fridays. It's so much better.

I work from home 3 days a week, and in the office 2 days. And, don't tell anyone from my office, but I'm retiring in 8 weeks.

 

[chezcurrie]

Sorrento Valley/UTC/UCSD area is the WORST. I was interviewed for a job in Hillcrest and was told I’d have to go to the Torrey Pines office twice a week. I declined the job offer. I spent years standing on the UCSD shuttle that ran that route and it’s miserable even if you’re not driving. Never again.

I work in torrrey pines (hybrid 2 days/week in) and love my commute to South Carlsbad/Encinitas. It’s 22 min for me door to door. I feel like it gets nasty as soon as you get into Carlsbad proper and Oceanside?

Slight newbie here so I guess it depends on what you’re used to in terms of nasty…
When we lived in Toronto my husbands’s commute from the same distance was 90min+ into work in the am, and up to 2 1/2 hrs or more coming home. Worse in winter which was the > of the year. Gosh I do *not* miss winter!!

Thank goodness one good thing came out of the past few years and that’s normalizing remote work and work/life balance!!!

 

[Aspencreek]

I live in San Diego and do day trips to Orange County (and Disneyland) often. Depending on where you are in San Diego it can be an hour to 90 min, and it’s a pretty drive for the first stretch, and then again when the mountains come into view.

That said, if it’s simply a scenic drive you want there are plenty in San Diego county. I’d suggest hopping on the 101 and driving up through carlsbad. Once you hit the Encinitas/carlsbad border it opens up and is all ocean - lots of free parking on the southbound side as well. Further south you have Cardiff, del mar and La jolla that also have some amazing views and are fairly easy to pull over and check out (again, easier if driving southbound as that’s where the parking and turnoffs are, but we Californians love our u turns so no big deal. If you’re headed into La jolla look up the Torrey pines glider port and pull off the freeway for a spell and take in the views of Torrey pines. It’s stunning.

Big part of the idea was to test out what train travel is like in a small sample. I've seen how there are some routes you can do that go for day across the country. That looks like it could be fun if you rent the sleeper rooms, but I've never done a train (other than in a big city) so thought the little 2 hour jaunt might give me a chance to check it out in person. Not sure how much they let you wander around during the ride but would be nice to see the different rooms and facilities on the train and get an idea of it all.

As for the scenic drive, great info! We will have a car for the week so should have time to try your route.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I work in torrrey pines (hybrid 2 days/week in) and love my commute to South Carlsbad/Encinitas. It’s 22 min for me door to door. I feel like it gets nasty as soon as you get into Carlsbad proper and Oceanside?

Slight newbie here so I guess it depends on what you’re used to in terms of nasty…
When we lived in Toronto my husbands’s commute from the same distance was 90min+ into work in the am, and up to 2 1/2 hrs or more coming home. Worse in winter which was the > of the year. Gosh I do *not* miss winter!!

Thank goodness one good thing came out of the past few years and that’s normalizing remote work and work/life balance!!!

Sounds like you’re driving from the Carlsbad/Encinitas area in the morning for your commute which isn’t as bad. Going from downtown San Diego to that area in the mornings is miserable. Even worse coming home. I grew up in Orange County and LA so I know miserable traffic.

 

[JWelch62]

Quick update - Full train service between Anaheim and San Diego has been restored as of today, April 17th.

 

[JWelch62]

And down again - https://www.latimes.com/california/...-landslide-again-closes-railroad-to-san-diego

This article is a few weeks old, but the tracks are still closed with no quoted completion.