How long from DL to San Diego?

[wdwfanatic316]

I know this discussion is a couple of weeks old, but when I read your posts, I was thinking the same thing. This by far has been the hardest trip to plan. We are flying into LAX doing DL for 2 days then heading South. From there is where it is getting complicated. Can't decide about LL, SW, getting a city pass, a Go card, etc. Any insights would be appreciated. We are flying home from SAN.

We're going for the first trip to SoCal/DL at the end of June and thought sharing our schedule might help your planning (or at least give you comfort to know there's someone else out there who feels lost with planning this DL trip!)

Sun-arrive at LAX, drive to San Diego, stay at Dana-Mission Bay
Mon-SeaWorld
Tues-SD Zoo
Wed-beach (maybe La Jolla), Mission Bay activities
Thurs-check out Dana-Mission Bay, Legoland, drive to Anaheim and ck in HoJo
Fri-Disneyland
Sat-California Adventure
Sun-fly out of LAX

In San Diego, I'm hoping we have time to fit in visiting some of the museums at Balboa Park and maybe a visit to Coronado Island.

I'm not sure if the schedule is way too ambitious or not, but I'm hoping we get most of it in! Good luck with your planning and hope we get some good tips!

 

[kymom94]

Thanks for the reply. It IS encouraging. This is going to be a great trip, I just had no idea how hard it would be to plan. Our schedule sounds very similar to yours, but backwards. We start in DL (we are staying at HoJo too!) and end in SD with the SW, the beach, La Jolla and the zoo. We are flying home from SD. For whatever reason it was a cheaper flight and the times were nicer since we are flying with kids. I don't think we would do well on an overnight flight home. I hope your trip is wonderful! And thanks again!

 

[Koda]

We are visiting Southern CA at the end of June/early July. I too struggled with how to schedule our trip. My daughter has a gymnastic meet in San Diego at the end of June, so that part was locked in. Since we don't know when we will ever be back in CA, we really want to work in LA/Hollywood, and of course, DL!

I wound up booking 2 one way flights...we fly into SNA, and out of LAX. I actually got some pretty good deals ($100/person for non-stop flights), but I booked months ago. Of course when you add the fees, and travel insurance (which I always get when booking so far in advance), with the 2 flights, it comes to about $250/person. We could have saved $ flying in/out of the same airport, but I figure we are paying for our extra vacation time.

I just booked a rental car through rentalcars.com. I got a premium car that holds 5 passengers, and 5 suitcases (we are a family of 5) for $590/2 weeks. That is the best deal I have found. I also priced it out as if we were returning to the same airport, and the price was not much different. My DH is adament that we can do this 2 week trip with only a carry-on each! It will be a challenge for my 14 y.o. DDs!

We will be switching hotels more often than I would like... San Diego for 5 nights, DL for 3 nights, Hollywood for 2 nights, Santa Monica for 3 nights. Timewise it just seemed to work out the best that way. Hopefully, it will all go smoothly!

Good Luck with your planning!

 

[nemofans]

We are planning a SD/DL trip & trying to figure out the best way to do this. Right now, we are thinking of flying one way to LAX or SNA & staying at DL for about 3 days. Then rent car & drive to SD & stay for 3 days. Then we will fly out of SD one way. We have been to SD once & DL once separately. This is the 1st time combining the 2 as 1 trip.

 

[kymom94]

We are planning a SD/DL trip & trying to figure out the best way to do this. Right now, we are thinking of flying one way to LAX or SNA & staying at DL for about 3 days. Then rent car & drive to SD & stay for 3 days. Then we will fly out of SD one way. We have been to SD once & DL once separately. This is the 1st time combining the 2 as 1 trip.

We had to check prices for our flight. We are in CVG (cincinnati) and it was cheaper to fly to LAX and home out of SAN. We have young children so the flight times also had to be considered. It was a few dollars more for a morning flight for us to LAX, but otherwise we would be getting in at 11:30pm PST which would be like 2:30am EST. No way I was going to start my vacation out that way!

Good luck to you both on your vacations!

 

[kristie73]

I have a trip planned to San Diego in July. We will drive up to Disneyland for 3 nights. I really hadn't considered the traffic though. What's the best time to leave San Diego on a Monday morning to get to Disneyland?

 

[Monkey Monkey]

I have a trip planned to San Diego in July. We will drive up to Disneyland for 3 nights. I really hadn't considered the traffic though. What's the best time to leave San Diego on a Monday morning to get to Disneyland?

When I drive up to DLR during the week, I try to leave by 6:30am when the park opens at 9. It usually only takes me an hour and a half to get there, but I allow extra time for rush hour traffic and parking, waiting for the tram, etc.

I live in northeast San Diego, so I take a different route than from downtown (I take the 15 to 78 to 5), but you'll find that traffic is typically heavier going south in the morning than north.

Of course, if you don't mind getting there after the park opens, you can leave around 9am and miss most of the traffic.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

Oh, but if you're going to be there in July, the park will probably open at 8. I would leave by 5:30am and you probably won't hit much traffic at all, and will be at the gates with time to spare.

 

[Poly-Anna]

Just starting to research our Southern Cal trip for next year. HELP!

Game plan (and tell me if this is a doable plan) is for about 9-10 days, flying into SAN arriving about noon from the east coast and driving to/staying at DL for 3 days or so to visit Knotts and DL. Then down to SD for 6 or so days staying maybe at Loews Coronado and enjoying the beach there with a day trip or 2 to the Zoo, Legoland, Animal Park and/or SW (we've been to SW in Orlando many times so not a necessity to see the one in SD).

Then flight home from SAN leaving at noon. We like flying Southwest and LAX seems more expensive and maybe insane??!! I would like to try to avoid Los Angeles this trip if possible.

Is Coronado nice for a beach or is Mission Bay better for children? Any thoughts about Loews Coronado?

Any recommendations/suggestions welcome.

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

Is Coronado nice for a beach or is Mission Bay better for children?

Coronado is an awesome beach, especially for children. Surf is very mild.

 

[Poly-Anna]

Everything I've read so far said that Coronado was a really nice beach. Good to know! I think we might just stay there and drive in for the Zoo and a few other attractions when in SD. Thanks again!

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

It's a large beach, so even though is very popular (w/ tourists and locals) I rarely see it crowded.

Here are some pic of Coronado beach from last summer...

 

[Jenna319]

I had just planned on driving down to SD for a day but now, I'm really considering spending 3 nights & ending our SoCal trip there!

I currently have booked 6 nights at PPH from 9/2-9/8 Thursday-Wednesday, with the Buy 3, Get 2 free package and includes 5 day park hoppers. However, I've made up my mind that I do want to change to DH just because I've always wanted to stay there, it will be our 1st time staying on-site, & I don't know when we will get back to Cali as we visit WDW every year and decided on skipping that and heading to DLR. For some reason, I just cannot get myself excited about PPH.

The main reason we are heading to Cali (besides our obvious mutual love of Mickey Mouse) is my husband is a huge Dodgers fan so we plan on going to see 1 or 2 games in LA on Friday &/or Sat night, as well as driving down to see the Dodgers play the Padres in San Diego one day....

But now, as I am ADDICTED to planning our vacays and analyzing and pricing different scenarios, I'm starting to put together another idea in my head.... What if we stay 4 nights at DLH (cutting 2 nights off DLR stay but staying at dream hotel!!!), booking through the room only deal, which saves literally about half the cost especially since we do have 2 day park hoppers left over from WDW that we can trade in and use, and since we have other things on our itinerary (2 dodger games, hollywood, beach), 2 days would be enough for us to spend in the parks without feeling pressured to have to go everyday with the 5 day passes.....

And then..... from Monday-Thursday 9/6-9/9, stay in San Diego for 3 nights!! I never even considered staying 1 night in SD because we just planned on going to see the Dodgers but then I started thinking, who wants to drive back to Anaheim at 1030pm after a ballgame.... I started browsing the boards, found a recommendation for the Dana at Mission Bay, which offered a special package for birthday celebrations, if you stay on your bday, which it would be my husbands bday 9/8, you can stay 2 nights and get the 3rd night free! We have never been to San Diego, hear it is gorgeous, and maybe finding this deal is a sign we should split up our vacay??

Although it does sadden me to spend just 4 nights at DLR, it would be wonderful to do something new since we've been to DL 3 times before.... In the end, staying 4 nights at DLH (no tix), and 3 nights at the Dana would actually be total about $400 cheaper!!

So, my questions are: Anybody have any input on the Dana resort? Is it nice? Ive read the location is great and to upgrade to the newer buildings which I would plan on. How close is it to Petco Park? And most importantly, how far of a drive would it be to drive back to John Wayne from SD on an early Thursday morning? I have a camaro reserved as a bday surprise for my husband and it is required to be dropped off at the same airport it is picked up at. If we had a 10am flight out of Orange County, what time should we leave San Diego to give us enough time?? And does anyone know if there is a change/cancellation fee to switch hotels or switch from package to room only ressie and if so, how much? Thanks for any input!!! Only my wonderful DISers understand the obsession with planning Disney vacations!! Everyone else thinks I'm insane!

 

[wdwfanatic316]

Jenna319- I'm sorry, I don't have any answers to your questions since I'm a total newbie to DL and SD, but just wanted to say that I I totally understand your confusion with planning. I went back and forth with different options trying to decide what was best between SD and DL. We're staying at the Dana also, after a ton of reading online reviews. We reserved the newer section also. I hope it lives up to the good reviews and that you get your questions answered!

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

We have done DLR vacation many times, with a day trip to SeaWorld.
If I remember correctly, isn't it about a 2 hour drive to SeaWorld from DLR ?
It goes by fast when hubby is driving and I am sleeping !

 

[PortieOwner]

Data point: last week the trip from North County San Diego (Poway area off I-15) to DL was around 1:15 each way. There was jammed traffic on I-5 starting in Irvin or Santa Ana heading north but the carpool lanes get you past that. Traffic for most of the trip was moving at an average 75-80mph.

Coming home at 8pm traffic was heavy on I-5 but no jam-ups at all.

However, coming south through Orange County on I-5 there was jammed traffic in the morning, so watch for that or leave early.

Just like Disneyland, for Legoland and Seaworld and the San Diego Zoo you want to be there when they open, not 30 minutes later.

 

[soaringirl]

Hi! I read some of the older posts, and have a question.. I'm (well, DH really) driving to Anaheim from San Diego on a Friday in September. the park opens at 9am, and I would like to arrive 8amish, since we have to leave the bags at check in, grab a quick bite and then go to park-opening. I was thinking leaving San Diego at 530am, but it might be too early, what time do you recommend me to leave then?

 

[JaxsonsMom]

Hi! I read some of the older posts, and have a question.. I'm (well, DH really) driving to Anaheim from San Diego on a Friday in September. the park opens at 9am, and I would like to arrive 8amish, since we have to leave the bags at check in, grab a quick bite and then go to park-opening. I was thinking leaving San Diego at 530am, but it might be too early, what time do you recommend me to leave then?

I think it only takes about 1.5 hours, since you are leaving early, traffic shouldn't be that bad. I assume you are taking the 5 all the way north.

I live in Escondido, which in north east of SD, and with my driving I get there in a little over an hour.

It is a pretty easy (full) drive in the morning, use the carpool lanes and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[soaringirl]

I think it only takes about 1.5 hours, since you are leaving early, traffic shouldn't be that bad. I assume you are taking the 5 all the way north.

I live in Escondido, which in north east of SD, and with my driving I get there in a little over an hour.

It is a pretty easy (full) drive in the morning, use the carpool lanes and you shouldn't have a problem.

So maybe 6am should be better? and yes, I'm taking the 5, I already print the map in Mapquest with all directions!

 

[JaxsonsMom]

So maybe 6am should be better? and yes, I'm taking the 5, I already print the map in Mapquest with all directions!

I think 6 is good, this will allow a little time (just in case) because you never know!